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- May 10, 2014
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- Kyle
So I was listening to a podcast today and the point was brought up that almost every team places their best pass rusher on the right side of the defensive line (left side of the OL). Why is this the case?
Think about it, most teams' best offensive lineman is their LT which means you're putting the best pass rusher against the best o-lineman. The right side of the OL is usually weaker so why not place your elite pass rusher over there (e.g. J.J. Watt).
There are two arguments I could think of to explain this, but neither is particularly strong:
I'd love to hear thoughts on this so chime in please.
Think about it, most teams' best offensive lineman is their LT which means you're putting the best pass rusher against the best o-lineman. The right side of the OL is usually weaker so why not place your elite pass rusher over there (e.g. J.J. Watt).
There are two arguments I could think of to explain this, but neither is particularly strong:
- The left side is the QB's blind side so you would want your best pass rusher coming from behind so the QB would never see it coming. ---- Wouldn't you rather have your pass rush going right into the QB's face to intimidate them? If nothing else this would cause them to get flustered or move around which would lead to another player getting a sack.
- Most offenses usually run more to the right side and will sometimes put an extra blocker on that side (TE) so you want a bigger DE to play on the left side of the DL (right side of the OL) to eat up these blocks. ---- This really depends on the truth of whether or not teams run more to the right side anymore, but to me it sure seems like a pretty minute point. It's pretty much a given that the right OT's in the NFL are not as good as the left OT's, so again, why not put the best pass rusher going up against the right OT's?
I'd love to hear thoughts on this so chime in please.