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Rams' Brockers lands on "overrated" list
By Nate Latsch
http://www.scout.com/nfl/rams/story/1558741-rams-brockers-lands-on-overrated-list
CBS Sports senior NFL columnist Pete Prisco published his lists of the most overrated and underrated players of every NFL team on Thursday. He went with defensive tackle Michael Brockers as the most overrated for the St. Louis Rams.
Prisco labeled his list as players “who are good — not great” and that may be a fair description for the young defensive tackle after his first three seasons with the Rams.
“This 2012 first round pick hasn't lived up to the expectations inside and was clearly outplayed by 2014 rookie Aaron Donald next to him last season,” Prisco wrote of Brockers. Nick Fairley was signed to a one-year contract and could take some playing time away from Brockers.”
Brockers was the Rams’ first-round pick in 2012 at No. 14 overall after they traded back from the sixth overall pick with the Dallas Cowboys.
Three more high profile defensive players were picked between Claiborne at No. 6 and Brockers at No. 14. The Carolina Panthers plucked tackling-machine middle linebacker Luke Kuechly at No. 9, while the Kansas City Chiefs took defensive tackle Dontari Poe at No. 11 and the Philadelphia Eagles selected defensive tackle Fletcher Cox at No. 12.
Brockers, 24, has been a solid player for the Rams but hasn’t come close to matching the potential or production of guys like Kuechly, Poe or Fletcher. The LSU product has started 44 of his 44 career games with the Rams, including every game of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
He was credited with four sacks as a rookie in 2012 and then 5.5 the following season, but that number decreased to two in 2014 while playing alongside Kendall Langford and then Aaron Donald, a first-round pick who became the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year.
According to the Rams’ coaches’ video tape evaluations of the 2014 season, Brockers finished with 73 total tackles — which ranked behind defensive end William Hayes’ 75, but ahead of Donald’s 72 among the team’s defensive linemen — along with 14 quarterback pressures, two sacks, two quarterback hits and one fumble recovery.
His 14 QB pressures ranked sixth among Rams’ linemen — behind Hayes (39), Robert Quinn (37), Donald (32), Eugene Sims (24) and Langford (15).
Pro Football Focus rated Brockers with a 3.7 grade in run defense, which was the fourth highest among Rams’ defensive linemen, and gave him a -4.7 grade for pass rush. That mark was the third lowest among all St. Louis defensive players.
Overall, Brockers’ 0.4 grade from PFF was tied for 36th best among all defensive tackles and nose tackles for the 2014 season. He ranked 53rd in that same category in 2013 (-7.1 grade) and was tied for 40th in 2012 (-1.5).
Langford was released this offseason — he has since signed with the Indianapolis Colts — but the Rams signed Fairley to a one-year deal to bolster their defensive front. If Fairley is motivated this fall, and he should be on a one-year contract, he could push Brockers for playing time and may even end up taking his starting spot at some point.
Even though the Rams have already picked up the fifth-year option on Brockers’ rookie contract, extending him through the 2015 campaign, this 2014 season already looks like a big one for the big defensive tackle.
By Nate Latsch
http://www.scout.com/nfl/rams/story/1558741-rams-brockers-lands-on-overrated-list
CBS Sports senior NFL columnist Pete Prisco published his lists of the most overrated and underrated players of every NFL team on Thursday. He went with defensive tackle Michael Brockers as the most overrated for the St. Louis Rams.
Prisco labeled his list as players “who are good — not great” and that may be a fair description for the young defensive tackle after his first three seasons with the Rams.
“This 2012 first round pick hasn't lived up to the expectations inside and was clearly outplayed by 2014 rookie Aaron Donald next to him last season,” Prisco wrote of Brockers. Nick Fairley was signed to a one-year contract and could take some playing time away from Brockers.”
Brockers was the Rams’ first-round pick in 2012 at No. 14 overall after they traded back from the sixth overall pick with the Dallas Cowboys.
Three more high profile defensive players were picked between Claiborne at No. 6 and Brockers at No. 14. The Carolina Panthers plucked tackling-machine middle linebacker Luke Kuechly at No. 9, while the Kansas City Chiefs took defensive tackle Dontari Poe at No. 11 and the Philadelphia Eagles selected defensive tackle Fletcher Cox at No. 12.
Brockers, 24, has been a solid player for the Rams but hasn’t come close to matching the potential or production of guys like Kuechly, Poe or Fletcher. The LSU product has started 44 of his 44 career games with the Rams, including every game of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
He was credited with four sacks as a rookie in 2012 and then 5.5 the following season, but that number decreased to two in 2014 while playing alongside Kendall Langford and then Aaron Donald, a first-round pick who became the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year.
According to the Rams’ coaches’ video tape evaluations of the 2014 season, Brockers finished with 73 total tackles — which ranked behind defensive end William Hayes’ 75, but ahead of Donald’s 72 among the team’s defensive linemen — along with 14 quarterback pressures, two sacks, two quarterback hits and one fumble recovery.
His 14 QB pressures ranked sixth among Rams’ linemen — behind Hayes (39), Robert Quinn (37), Donald (32), Eugene Sims (24) and Langford (15).
Pro Football Focus rated Brockers with a 3.7 grade in run defense, which was the fourth highest among Rams’ defensive linemen, and gave him a -4.7 grade for pass rush. That mark was the third lowest among all St. Louis defensive players.
Overall, Brockers’ 0.4 grade from PFF was tied for 36th best among all defensive tackles and nose tackles for the 2014 season. He ranked 53rd in that same category in 2013 (-7.1 grade) and was tied for 40th in 2012 (-1.5).
Langford was released this offseason — he has since signed with the Indianapolis Colts — but the Rams signed Fairley to a one-year deal to bolster their defensive front. If Fairley is motivated this fall, and he should be on a one-year contract, he could push Brockers for playing time and may even end up taking his starting spot at some point.
Even though the Rams have already picked up the fifth-year option on Brockers’ rookie contract, extending him through the 2015 campaign, this 2014 season already looks like a big one for the big defensive tackle.
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