Richard Sherman: Most indispensable Defender?

[kidhawk]

[urltargetblank]http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000355044/article/richard-sherman-luke-kuechly-among-indispensable-defenders[/urltargetblank]

1) Richard Sherman, CB, Seattle Seahawks
He's right. Sherman's the best cornerback in the NFL, headlining the best defense in the NFL. And the "Legion of Boom" has changed a bit. Corner Brandon Browner and underrated nickelback Walter Thurmond left the team via free agency.

While Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor comprise the NFL's top safety combination (I voted both first team All-Pro in 2013), Sherman makes the defensive backfield tick. In addition to his timely play, knack for creating turnovers and leadership, Sherman spearheads the Seattle swagger. The Seahawks wouldn't be the Seahawks without him

While I think losing Sherman would be a HUGE blow, I think he's wrong on this one. Honestly, I think it's Earl Thomas that makes the Seahawks Defense tick. Yes Sherman is the most Vocal publicly of the bunch, but if you watch game day film, it's easy to see who's out there "quarterbacking" the defense, and it's Earl Thomas. Not only is he a leader out there, but it's his style of play that allows the others to play their styles.

 

[Seahawks1Fan]

Yep, I agree with Kidhawk. Sherman is the best corner out there but Earl Thomas is the most indespensable defender we have in my opinion.

Don't want to lose anyone, especially either one of those two but our defense would take a monster hit if we ever lost Thomas. God forbid!!!

 

[themunn]

It's hard to tell, ET looked like a pro bowl safety in year 1, but was over-aggressive and prone to giving up a big play or two. Also, even with ET at the helm, we gave up a ton of yardage in 2010, and the pass defense was brutal in games against Atlanta, NYG and the Steelers (although granted we can entirely pin that on BB). But Sherman came in against the Bengals and the pass defense has been lights out ever since.

Hopefully we'll never have to find out how good Sherm is without ET

 

[DavidSeven]

Inb4 this turns into the millionth Sherman vs. Thomas thread.

Losing either would change the complexion of the defense. The combination of both limits a QB's options to essentially his short-left where Seattle can buzz out underneath coverage for picks. Sherman and Thomas basically blanket the rest of the field. Losing either would have an immediate impact -- in the SB, Peyton started attacking his strongside as soon as Sherman left the game (not that it mattered at that point).

Both are invaluable.

I don't like that dude's list anyway. Kuechly? Elite ILB, but come on. He's never put his stamp on a game versus Seattle, and there are other guys whose defensive dominance jumps out way further to me when I watch them randomly (Watt, Quinn, Bowman, etc.). Carolina has good players on that D (particularly the front 7); it's not just him.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Earl Thomas makes the scheme easy with his range, no doubt.

Kam Chanchellor is likely the most intimidating DB in the league.

Browner one of the most physical.

But I kind of get where the author is coming from because the Seahawks had all 3 of those LOB members in 2011 and defense and passing defense was still average and certainly didn't have that swagger like it does today.

That came when Richard Sherman stepped in and it was like the last piece to a puzzle because the final half of the 2011 season is when the Seahawks became a dominant force to be reckon with on D.

Earl Thomas is invaluable for sure, the most complete S in the game but Richard Sherman just as well is the best CB in the game and he doesn't do it with pure athleticism, he is shut down because he thinks better than the QB 8x out of 10 and he thinks better than the WR 9x out of 10. There really isn't anybody like Richard Sherman in the NFL... definately one of a kind.

I love all the players in the LOB... just all unique but all fit together for the best formula of pass defense.

 

[kearly]

I think Kuechly is legit. Their defense was ranked in the 20s before they moved Kuechly to MLB, and after the move they were top 10 the rest of the season. And the season after that, only Seattle's defense was better. Moreover, watch a lot of Carolina games and you won't see any other defender on that defense making more beastly plays than Kuechly does.

And this is from a rangy LB with 4.4 speed with extremely good instincts who would be valuable just for his safety net ability even if he wasn't making big plays.

Carolina does have a great defensive line, though I can think of a few teams that are just a little better. Carolina compares well with SF in that their D-line is very good but their LB group is just as potent.

As far as Sherman, I do think he is right up there with Kuechly and Bowman for the most dominant back seven player in the league.

Earl Thomas has more value to Seattle because of scheme, but in terms of making plays and shutting down players, Sherman has the edge so I have no issue with Sherman's selection on this list as it was made from a non-Seahawks perspective.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Earl and Sherm go hand-in-hand. They're like peanut butter and jelly.

Earl allows Sherm to do what he does best. And Sherm allows Earl to be Earl. They are both very vital aspects of this defense.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

IMO Thomas and Shermy Sherm are both extremely important, but if you held a gun to my head and made me choose I'd choose Earl over Richard.

Who could we go the longest without if they were injured? We have other capable corners that could fill in, obviously not REPLACE, but we could get by with Lane. I can't imagine someone filling in for Earl without an ENORMOUS drop off in not only play..........but the entire defensive scheme.

 

[jdemps]

I don't think the author would necessarily disagree with these arguments. I took it as Sherm leading by example in terms of swagger/ identity. He exemplifies the cockiness of the defense. I think the rest of the defense embraces that without having to be the guy who opens himself to criticism. Kam sets the tone. ET makes the defense work. Sherm brings the swagger. In that sense, not AS replaceable.

 

[DavidSeven]

IMO Thomas and Shermy Sherm are both extremely important, but if you held a gun to my head and made me choose I'd choose Earl over Richard.

Who could we go the longest without if they were injured? We have other capable corners that could fill in, obviously not REPLACE, but we could get by with Lane. I can't imagine someone filling in for Earl without an ENORMOUS drop off in not only play..........but the entire defensive scheme.

No disrespect to Lane, but I think a Lane/Maxwell duo plus random depth guy at nickel would be an enormous drop off in quality in corner play. Which outside corner does ET shade over to in this scenario? Does our nickel guy get consistently abused like Trufant was in 2012? To me, this would open up the entire field. It's like Pandion mentioned, this defense went to from pedestrian to elite only once Sherman hit the field. The other pieces have largely been the same since early 2011. (Granted, ET and Kam have improved a lot since then.)

But I agree with your point that positional depth does change this equation a bit. For some reason, PC/JS haven't felt it too necessary to build depth at the FS position like they do at the corner spot. Maybe they feel we could get by with a different scheme if Earl was out, as long as our corners were good. Honestly, I'm pretty sure we'd run a different coverage if the safety personnel changed, because you can't really just count on someone to be Earl Thomas. Hopefully, we'll never have to find out what this Plan B scheme looks like.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

But I agree with your point that positional depth does change this equation a bit. For some reason, PC/JS haven't felt it too necessary to build depth at the FS position like they do at the corner spot. Maybe they feel we could get by with a different scheme if Earl was out, as long as our corners were good. Honestly, I'm pretty sure we'd run a different coverage if the safety personnel changed, because you can't really just count on someone to be Earl Thomas. Hopefully, we'll never have to find out what this Plan B scheme looks like.

Pete and John have drafted by fit, not need. They see a player that fits what they want at a particular position, and draft accordingly.

There has been no other player in the draft available to us that has Earl's skill set (or even raw talent to develop into Earl's skill set), thus no one's been drafted as his backup.

I still say the fact that we'd have to change our entire defensive scheme and philosophy without Earl in the game makes him more indispensable than Sherm...........but I agree it's super close.