Why Shaquil Barrett is the best pass rusher in the NFL now
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers took a chance on a free agent pass rusher from Denver last season and were rewarded when Shaquil Barrett exploded onto the scene in 2019.
Shaquil Barrett was the best pass rusher in the NFL in 2019. That shouldn’t be a controversial statement, but unfortunately, it is. Barrett was dominant in his breakout season and still did not receive the personal accolades that he deserved.
Barrett was selected to the Pro Bowl, which was expected, but the disrespect started when he was named Second-team All-Pro.
This is a massive accomplishment for most players and certainly was for Barrett, but he deserved to be a First-team selection.
More from The Pewter Plank
- Devin White posts cryptic message to Lavonte David on Twitter
- ESPN predicts surprising outcome to Devin White trade saga
- Updated Buccaneers depth chart after signing two players from rookie minicamp
- Todd Bowles sends clear message about Baker Mayfield’s role with Bucs
- The Athletic is wrong about Bucs one ‘must-watch’ game in 2023
Shaquil Barrett was beaten out by two players that he outperformed in 2019, Chandler Jones and T.J. Watt, which only adds to the disrespect.
Here is the stat comparison:
Barrett: 19.5 sacks | 37 quarterback hits | 19 tackles for loss | 6 forced fumbles
Jones: 19 sacks | 26 quarterback hits| 11 tackles for loss | 8 forced fumbles
Watt: 14.5 sacks | 36 quarterback hits | 14 tackles for loss | 8 forced fumbles
Off the top of this evaluation, it should become immediately evident that Shaq Barrett led both of his competitors in three of the four categories.
Sacks are the most important category to evaluate when looking at a pass rusher as that is their number one job. Barrett had a small lead over Jones but had five more sacks than Watt
The next category is quarterback hits. QB hits is indicative of the player getting close to earning a sack. If the pass rusher can hit but not sack the quarterback, this shows that they were still able to apply pressure. This is also indicative of future success as more quarterback hits allude to continued sack success in the future.
Again, Barrett had a small lead over Watt but hit opposing quarterbacks 11 more times than Jones. Barrett has still not lost a category.
The third stat evaluated is tackles for loss. This is exactly what it sounds like and is generally a good indicator of the edge player’s success against the run, showing that they can blow up plays in the backfield.
Barrett maintains his lead over both competitors yet again.
The next stat is the first one that Barrett falls short. He posted a career-high of six forced fumbles in 2019 compared to eight by each of his competitors. Generating fumbles is important for a pass rusher, but this alone should not have given an edge to Jones or Watt in the All-Pro decision.
Despite having fewer forced fumbles, Barrett had more total tackles than the other two pass rushers and even added an interception which was only one less than Watt but one more than Jones.
The decision to leave “Sack” Barrett off of the First-team All-Pro is still a glaring mistake. Neither T.J. Watt nor Chandler Jones were able to put up the stats that Barrett did, and there is no statistical argument that can be made that puts anyone above Barrett in 2019.
Next. Caesars Sportsbook Tampa Bay Buccaneers predictions for 2020. dark
Shaq will use this as ammunition and will go into 2020 with a renewed purpose. He will get paid via the franchise tag in this upcoming season, but now Shaquil Barrett will be playing to earn a massive contract that will properly pay him as the best edge rusher in the NFL.