A Sunday thread about sacks.

[Rain Man]

If we examine the top ten sack performances by years on league, we see that it takes pass rushers a year or so to hit their peak, but it happens quickly. Then they're on the top of their game through Season 6, then decline markedly in Seasons 7 through 9. Then it goes down from there, per the table below and accompanying graph.

Years In League Top Ten Players' Sack Total
1 127.5
2 178.0
3 167.5
4 183.0
5 172.5
6 182.5
7 160.5
8 162.5
9 155.0
10 136.0
11 138.0
12 123.0
13 111.5
14 111.0
15 80.5
16 30.0
17 11.5
18 12.5
19 11.5
20 0.0

If you're curious, here are the top ten sack totals by years in league. (The league only began recording sacks in 1982.)

The things I notice on this list are that guys who dominate early in their career typically have good careers. There aren't a lot of short-term wonders in the first 6 years.

Around Year 8 or so, you start seeing guys from the Hall of Pretty Good show up - the guys who were decent players who happened to have long careers.

Overall, it's an interesting list, and I think it shows that talent reigns supreme among sack leaders. You don't have a lot of guys making this list who weren't effective over the course of their careers.

Year 1
1 Jevon Kearse 14.5
2 Aldon Smith 14
3 Dwight Freeney 13
4 Reggie White* 13
5 Leslie O'Neal 12.5
6 Simeon Rice 12.5
7 Mark Anderson 12
8 Charles Haley* 12
9 Julius Peppers 12
10 Terrell Suggs 12
Year 2
1 J.J. Watt 20.5
2 Derrick Thomas* 20
3 Aldon Smith 19.5
4 Von Miller 18.5
5 Reggie White* 18
6 Richard Dent* 17.5
7 Shawne Merriman 17
8 Jason Pierre-Paul 16.5
9 Vic Beasley 15.5
10 Khalil Mack 15
11 Bruce Smith* 15
Year 3
1 Reggie White* 21
2 Robert Quinn 19
3 Andre Tippett* 18.5
4 Richard Dent* 17
5 Dwight Freeney 16
6 Sean Jones 15.5
7 Leonard Marshall 15.5
8 Mike Merriweather 15
9 Adewale Ogunleye 15
10 Lee Williams 15
Year 4
1 Justin Houston 22
2 J.J. Watt 20.5
3 DeMarcus Ware 20
4 Tim Harris 19.5
5 Reggie White* 18
6 Elvis Dumervil 17
7 Kevin Greene* 16.5
8 Simeon Rice 16.5
9 Pat Swilling 16.5
10 Andre Tippett* 16.5
Year 5
1 Chris Doleman* 21
2 Mark Gastineau 19
3 Keith Millard 18
4 J.J. Watt 17.5
5 Kevin Carter 17
6 La'Roi Glover 17
7 Kevin Greene* 16.5
8 Charles Haley* 16
9 Aaron Kampman 15.5
10 Peter Boulware 15
11 Dexter Manley 15
12 Dana Stubblefield 15
Year 6
1 Mark Gastineau 22
2 Lawrence Taylor* 20.5
3 Bruce Smith* 19
4 Dexter Manley 18.5
5 Jason Taylor* 18.5
6 Bryce Paup 17.5
7 Leslie O'Neal 17
8 Pat Swilling 17
9 Warren Sapp* 16.5
10 Doug Betters 16
11 James Harrison 16
Year 7
1 DeMarcus Ware 19.5
2 Clyde Simmons 19
3 Tim Harris 17
4 Michael Sinclair 16.5
5 Simeon Rice 15.5
6 Reggie White* 15
7 Bertrand Berry 14.5
8 Ezra Johnson 14.5
9 Julius Peppers 14.5
10 Art Still 14.5
Year 8
1 Jared Allen 22
2 Jason Babin 18
3 Elvis Dumervil 17
4 Simon Fletcher 16
5 John Randle* 15.5
6 Lawrence Taylor* 15.5
7 Robert Porcher 15
8 Simeon Rice 15
9 Chris Doleman* 14.5
10 Bruce Smith* 14
11 Reggie White* 14
Year 9
1 Michael Strahan* 22.5 - Note that figure is misleading since Brett Favre took a dive.
2 Fred Dean* 17.5
3 John Abraham 16.5
4 Lawrence Taylor* 15
5 Patrick Kerney 14.5
6 Mario Williams 14.5
7 Bruce Smith* 14
8 Terrell Suggs 14
9 Simon Fletcher 13.5
10 Leonard Little 13
11 Greg Townsend 13
12 Reggie White* 13
Year 10
1 Joey Porter 17.5
2 Kevin Greene* 14
3 Simeon Rice 14
4 Jason Taylor* 13.5
5 William Fuller 13
6 Sean Jones 13
7 Trevor Pryce 13
8 Pat Swilling 13
9 Lorenzo Alexander 12.5
10 Greg Ellis 12.5
11 Randy White* 12.5
Year 11
1 Robert Mathis 19.5
2 Michael Strahan* 18.5
3 John Abraham 13
4 William Fuller 13
5 Too Tall Jones 13
6 Richard Dent* 12.5
7 Jacob Green 12.5
8 Mike Vrabel 12.5
9 Reggie White* 12
10 Dave Butz 11.5
11 Rickey Jackson* 11.5
12 Julius Peppers 11.5
Year 12
1 Trace Armstrong 16.5
2 Kevin Greene* 14.5
3 Rickey Jackson* 13.5
4 Bruce Smith* 13.5
5 Terrell Suggs 12
6 Gary Jeter 11.5
7 Chris Doleman* 11
8 John Randle* 11
9 Warren Sapp* 10
10 John Abraham 9.5
Year 13
1 Bruce Smith* 14
2 Chris Doleman* 12
3 Rickey Jackson* 11.5
4 Michael Strahan* 11.5
5 Reggie White* 11
6 Kevin Greene* 10.5
7 Steve McMichael 10.5
8 Jack Youngblood* 10.5
9 John Abraham 10
10 Too Tall Jones 10
11 Tony McGee 10
Year 14
1 Reggie White* 16
2 Chris Doleman* 15
3 Kevin Greene* 15
4 John Abraham 11.5
5 Julius Peppers 10.5
6 Bruce Smith* 10
7 Jack Youngblood* 9.5
8 Dwight Freeney 8
9 Terrell Suggs 8
10 George Martin 7.5
Year 15
1 Kevin Greene* 12
2 Rickey Jackson* 9.5
3 Clay Matthews 9
4 Michael Strahan* 9
5 Chris Doleman* 8
6 Julius Peppers 7.5
7 Bruce Smith* 7
8 Jason Taylor* 7
9 Monte Coleman 6
10 Reggie White* 5.5
Year 16
1 Bruce Smith* 10
2 Clay Matthews 5.5
3 Brian Dawkins 3
4 London Fletcher 2
5 Ray Lewis 2
6 Bill Romanowski 2
7 Charles Woodson 2
8 Hardy Nickerson 1.5
9 Ronde Barber 1
10 Dave Butz 1
11 Albert Lewis 1
12 Junior Seau* 1
13 Keith Traylor 1
Year 17
1 Bruce Smith* 5
2 Jeff Zgonina 2.5
3 Ray Lewis 1
4 Clay Matthews 1
5 Junior Seau* 1
6 Charles Woodson 1
Year 18
1 Bruce Smith* 9
2 Junior Seau* 3.5
Year 19
1 Clay Matthews 6.5
2 Bruce Smith* 5
Year 20
0

[Direckshun]

Why you are not running a 538-style sports statistics blog is beyond me.

[LoneWolf]

That list really shows what a great player Reggie White was. An argument could be made that he is the greatest defensive player in NFL history.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

That list really shows what a great player Reggie White was. An argument could be made that he is the greatest defensive player in NFL history.

and that Bruce Smith played a long ****ing time & Aldon Smith could have went down as one of the greatest if he hadn't ****ed up his life.


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[alpha_omega]

Good caveat on the Strahan sack. That is still a bit irritating.

and...nice to see Art Still on the list.

[Demonpenz]

Reggie White was as fast as a linebacker and as big as a d tacke

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

It's a plastic world now, but I believe there are still a few stores and shops in the US that use paper.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by alpha_omega

Good caveat on the Strahan sack. That is still a bit irritating.

and...nice to see Art Still on the list.

Yeah, nice to see Still. He's one of my favorite players ever. One of these years - I think it was Year 5 - had three Chiefs who were 11, 12, and 13 on the list, just barely missing it. I think it was Tamba, Jared Allen, and maybe Eric Hicks.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

That list really shows what a great player Reggie White was. An argument could be made that he is the greatest defensive player in NFL history.

You'd have to argue to me that he wasn't. He got a lot of those playing defensive tackle, while also making a huge number of run stops.

[raybec 4]

It also unfortunately illustrates that Justin Houston was up to this point a one year wonder.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by raybec 4

It also unfortunately illustrates that Justin Houston was up to this point a one year wonder.

Not really.

He had 10 sacks in 2012. Doesn't sound great on the surface but our offense averaged something like 14 PPG that year. We didn't hold a single lead until week 8 that season. I'd say 10 sacks under those circumstances is pretty impressive.

He had 11 sacks in 11 games in 2013 before injury. Came back in the playoff game and had another sack.

In 2015 I think he ended up with 7.5 sacks before injury but IIRC at the time he got injured Von Miller also only had around 8 sacks and he went on to have a legendary postseason run.

He was a great player for a while.

[RippedmyFlesh]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

That list really shows what a great player Reggie White was. An argument could be made that he is the greatest defensive player in NFL history.

Or Bruce Smith.

[lewdog]

How long does something like this take to put together, Rainman?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by lewdog

How long does something like this take to put together, Rainman?

Eh, not long. Pro-football-reference is a web site that is descended straight from the heavens to nourish threads like this. So maybe an hour, tops.

The franchise momentum thread is a bigger deal. That one was probably 3 or 4 hours starting out. The update was much faster, but it still took a while since it had been five years since the last update.

[KChiefs1]

Appreciate the effort.


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