Total Packers: Raji's 2012 Performance (With Stats Analysis From Pro Football Focus)

titmfatiedNo Code

B.J. Raji Is The Worst
totalpackers.com

quote:
Pro Football Focus ranked Raji 46th out of 46 defensive tackles in run stop percentage in 2011. Here’s an explanation.

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It’s done by determining the amount of times a defender has caused an offensive failure as a percentage of how many plays he is in on run defense, excluding plays nullified by penalty. An offensive failure (a “stop” from the defense’s perspective) is a play that is unable to obtain 40% of required yardage on first down, 60% of required yardage on second down, or the entire required yardage on third or fourth.

Raji stopped opposing ball carriers only 2.4 percent of the time. Denver’s Brodrick Bunkley ranked first in the category, stopping opponents 11.3 percent of the time. Jenkins finished fourth, at 9.1 percent.

Raji’s ineffectiveness up front was a major reason the Packers defense was so bad in 2011. He wasn’t just ineffective against the run either.

After recording 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks in his breakout 2010 season, Raji regressed in 2011, finishing with only 22 tackles and three sacks. His push of the middle on passing downs was typically nil.

Clearly, he can’t do it alone, but Raji’s 2010 campaign shows us two things. The Packers really need help on the defensive line and Raji needs to play fewer snaps to be effective.continue

I think the last line sums it up. It's amazing he made it through the year uninjured with the amount of snaps he took.

3/11/1212:14 PM

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ammoCheese Master

Sophomore slump.

3/11/121:56 PM

Rusty42 inch pythons brother!

Bust.

3/11/122:52 PM

Rusty42 inch pythons brother!

Clet. Hunt v. 2.0

3/11/122:52 PM

Rusty42 inch pythons brother!

Most overrated player on the team.

3/11/122:52 PM

Rusty42 inch pythons brother!

People only like him because of that stupid dance he did.

3/11/122:52 PM

mr21mr21Member

#1 DT for commercials though

3/11/123:00 PM

TDMember

quote:
Originally posted by ammo:
Sophomore slump.

It was his third year.

3/11/124:07 PM

bubbleboy789Member

pro bowler.

3/11/125:01 PM

Rusty42 inch pythons brother!

quote:
Originally posted by TD:
quote:
Originally posted by ammo:
Sophomore slump.

It was his third year.

3/11/125:29 PM

Diggr14Member

Lots of talent, but he's tremendously overrated. He needs a heart transplant.

3/11/126:19 PM

TDMember

So does Bust Nelson?

3/11/126:22 PM

TravisLLMember

I disagree with this. Only thing I agree with is that he had a slightly off year and that he definately was playing too many snaps. He was probably playing against double or triple teams majority of the time. Almost anyone is going to be ineffective against that. You want someone to blame then put it on Capers. Very little creativity on defense and too many vanilla 3 man fronts. You can't ask the guy to shred double and triple teams with that many snaps. Capers put up a 3 man pass rush alot last season. Even if we are blitzing it was woodson or someone off the edge. That doesn't help out Raji at all in the running game.

3/11/127:58 PM

ammoCheese Master

quote:
Originally posted by TD:
quote:
Originally posted by ammo:
Sophomore slump.

It was his third year.

Wasn't he red shirted for a year?

3/11/128:18 PM

Pack-ManMember

Raji needs talent around him to be effective as a pass-rusher. He was freelancing and trying to do way too much last year in the absence of Cullen Jenkins. Way too many snaps to boot. Ryan Pickett is getting up there in years now, so the Pack probably needs a third big body to compliment Raji by jettisoning Green, Wilson or Wynn. If the news on Collins turns out to be good, DE/DT and OLB are the only two positions that are in serious need of talent infusion this year.

3/11/128:54 PM

HenryYou rang?

Pickett is a better traditional 3-4 NT. He's a plugger that jams up the run. Raji can do that but he is athletic enough to get some pass rush. He's playing like a tweener and that sure the hell isn't going to work in a 3-4. If you have one other guy like Jenkins was playing that can get the pass rush, he will shine. If you have two other hogs along side that can bottle up the run he will put on solid pressure.

Let's also be honest, you're running a 3-4. Your OLBs should be bringing the heat while a guy like Raji collapses the pocket. Didn't happen this year.

3/11/1210:33 PM

Pack-ManMember

Outside of Pickett and Raji, guys were just getting thrown backwards with ease. Wilson, Wynn and Green are not long term solutions, and it would be dumb for the Pack to hedge their bets on Neal again (still have hope he'll get it going though). Pass rushing DL may be a luxury, but it's hard to deny that there needs to be some talent upgrade up front. I'd agree that OLB needs to be the number one target in fixing that wretched "pass rush" we saw last year.

3/12/1212:51 AM

Diggr14Member

The only thing other teams double teamed Raji with is a bag of potato chips. This whole double/triple team thing is made up bull**** from the ballwashers. He was on skates all year. He was easily pushed around unless he decided he wanted to play that down. He's a buster and a bum.

3/12/1212:54 AM

Diggr14Member

quote:
Originally posted by Henry:

Let's also be honest, you're running a 3-4. Your OLBs should be bringing the heat while a guy like Raji collapses the pocket. Didn't happen this year.

Very true Henry. Raji wasnt the only problem... the whole defensive front sucked the bag at bringing any kind of pressure. Raji gets extra scrutiny just like a guy like AJ Hawk because they were high draft picks. Raji has just been extra worthless.

3/12/1212:56 AM

Pack-ManMember

Nope, he wasn't getting pushed back. He generally gained the forward momentum, or at least stymied his man (which is still a win for a DL). You can get penetration and still be ineffective as a pass rusher if you have undersized Wynns and Wilsons getting pushed downfield. Also he played far too many plays, big guys like him should never play the amount of snaps he had. If the team successfully retools the DL rotation and gets another pass-rushing threat, he'll be a wrecking ball again. As you've proven again and again, you just know almost nothing about football and your opinions are worthless.

3/12/121:02 AM

Timmy!TIMMAAAAYYY!!

I don't know how to look up each individual week of this past season, but the Packers were very good vs the rush...until roughly the bye week. We were ranked #2 vs the rush at one point, then began a slide into the top-10, and eventually wound up sucking.
In any case, I'll take that the PFF article with a grain of salt.

3/12/121:23 AM

lambeausouthMember

quote:
Originally posted by Diggr14:
He's a buster and a bum.

Funny, my thoughts on you exactly.

3/12/124:31 AM

tundra_powerMember

Raji had 14 unassisted tackles last year......14! For those of you who say he played too many snaps, maybe we could have cut his minutes by a 1/3 and he woulda had 10 tackles all year! Stats don't show everything for sure but 14 tackles in a whole season speaks volumes. C.J. freakin Wilson had 20 solos and Pickett had 25. At some point it is about production and not your name, Raji had one and not the other, guess which.

3/12/126:38 AM

fightphoe93Member

quote:
Originally posted by Diggr14:
The only thing other teams double teamed Raji with is a bag of potato chips. This whole double/triple team thing is made up bull**** from the ballwashers. He was on skates all year. He was easily pushed around unless he decided he wanted to play that down. He's a buster and a bum.

I thought Raji played pretty valiantly in 2010 holding together a D-Line that often didn't have Jenkins or Pickett due to injury. But 2011 was a different story.

While your comments are pretty harsh, quite frankly, you can't get any worse than Raji was last year. He wasn't even mediocre or average, he was the worst graded NG there was last year. He's just way way too talented to play as poorly as he did last year.

I wouldn't say Raji needs a heart transplant, but the coaches need to monitor his off-season closely. Last off-season, nobody could be monitored and it certainly appeared that Raji may have been a little bit too satisfied with what he did in 2010. He may be guilty of enjoying a little more of the post Super Bowl banquet circuit than he should have. That's human nature and he's entitled to one subpar year.

If he has another season like last year, you'd almost have to avoid looking to resign him for any sort of big FA dollars. We can make excuses for Raji all we want, the bottom line is, he was not very good last year and the stats prove it out.

3/12/127:29 AM

CUPackFanMember

I don't know what the article is pointing to, but hard to blame Raji for the failings of the defense. The defense failed on every level but one last year: interceptions. They were subpar in every other area last year: pressuring the QB, run defense, tackling in the front 7, tackling in the secondary, and covering WR's, TE's and RB's. They all sucked, so saying that Raji sucked individually is pointless.

Raji's job is supposedly to occupy blockers so others behind him can make the tackle. But what happens when they miss the tackle (which happened A LOT last year)? Next time, Raji tries to make the tackle himself. Well now Raji isn't playing in the scheme and other issues arise because he's out of position. But can you blame Raji for trying to make the tackle on his own knowing how poor guys like Hawk, Walden and the rest of the secondary were at tackling? This year was a snowball effect and the blame lies on Capers. If it was just Raji playing poorly, then it's on Raji. But the entire defense sucked last year at everything but making interceptions, and when that happens, the blame is on Capers.

3/12/1210:35 AM

Grave DiggerMember

Raji hasn't been worthless, I think he's kind of suffering from what plagued Daryn Colledge in his career. They're moving Raji around a lot, moving him to a lot of different positions, and he's not getting comfortable at one spot. He was almost forced to slide over to a 5-technique spot due to Jenkins absence and Pickett's age, and that's way out of position for him. He's a NT, both in a 43 and 34, so playing further out than 3 is misusing his skills IMO. I don't think the misuse of his skills is a reflection of Trgovac or Capers, I don't think they had a choice really.

3/12/1210:49 AM

chickenboyTic Toc

quote:
Originally posted by fightphoe93:
I thought Raji played pretty valiantly in 2010 holding together a D-Line that often didn't have Jenkins or Pickett due to injury. But 2011 was a different story.

Raji had Jenkins for 11 games and Pick for 14. Sure, some time lost due to injury but nothing to the extent of a valiant effort, IMO. Also, the whole line was healthy (besides Neal) for the run.

Personally, I suspect Raji as a player is somewhere between worthless and All-Pro as the opinion of him ranges on here. He isn't a dominant player but is good when surrounded by talent. He didn't have that last year. I suspect if the team can add a player or get some of the same solid play like Jenkins brought to the table, you will see him become a playmaker again.

3/12/1210:59 AM