The 49ers are halfway through their season. Today, I’ll give midseason awards for the best offensive and defensive players.
Best defensive player: Honorable mention – DT Justin Smith.
Justin Smith was the best defensive player in the NFL last season. This season, he’s more like the fourth or fifth best defensive tackle in the league.
He has zero sacks and 14 pressures. At the midpoint last season, he had five sacks and 37 pressures.
However, he regularly frees up Aldon Smith to get to the quarterback on the inside stunt, so Justin Smith creates more pressure than he’s credited for.
On top of that, he’s still one of the best run-stoppers in football. He’s made 20 “stops,” which Pro Football Focus defines as a tackle that results in an offensive failure. Smith’s “stop percentage” is 12 percent, which is one of the best percentages in the NFL.
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Ahh those Smith brothers.. Justin and Aldon with the stop numbers on defense, and Alex shutting the door on offense. Love it!
Grant, in your opinion, how has his play change from last year to this? Does he appear less effective? Are O-lines giving him even more attention? Is he just getting old?
He’s not penetrating into backfield as often, but he’s still stuffing the run. He’s beginning to hit the downside of his career.
Grant, penetration isn’t the end-all, be-all. A lot of it depends on how the DC wants his D to play and what the situation is. Penetration on the wrong down/distance/play call leaves you susceptible to draws, screens, traps, etc. Smith is getting up there in age, but there’s not been a significant drop-off.
Pressure is the key term. Smith is getting very little pressure this year, and he got a ton of it last year.
D-Linemen don’t need to have sacks to make a huge impact. Smith can’t be blocked one-on-one and he’s capable of consistently eliminating two gaps on runs to his side. That’s huge for a defense that also has guys like Willis, Bowman, and Aldon Smith.