ckparrothead
Premium Member
Well, about 30 second ago I was quite sure he was a Dolphin. Now apparently he will take his trip to see the Jets, but still is leaning toward the Fins. We haven't seen the terms yet of the deal that is on the shelf. Supposedly the original hang-up was that Pace's agent kept trying to get the same deal Joey Porter got and the Dolphins were heavily resisting. It is now being speculated that he did indeed get Joey Porter's $20 million guaranteed offered to him.
Initially, I was highly critical of the move. I wanted Lance Briggs. If they give Pace a contract worth much more than $5 or $6 million per season in total money, I think I would still be a little bit on the critical side.
However, I took a look at Pace's 2007 season in Arizona and came away very surprised at what I found. I guess I don't get a lot of exposure to Cardinals football. As a Strong Side Linebacker in a 4-3 defense (which acted in some ways like a 3-4 defense), he had about 5.5 sacks, though he's listed as having 6.5 sacks. One of the sacks was actually an Antonio Smith sack/fumble, where the quarterback recovered the ball, and then Calvin Pace took down the quarterback for no gain. There was another play where Ben Roethlisberger bobbled the snap, recovered it 14 yards behind the LOS and Pace downed him, but that didn't go down as a sack officially...so his sack stats were between 5.5 and 7.5 sacks, depending on what you want to count.
What he did have though, were 9 QB Hurries as recorded in the NFL Gamebooks, one of which led directly to a Karlos Dansby interception. He also had 98 tackles which is very high for that position. He defensed 7 passes, two on 3rd down and one on 4th down. He recovered two fumbles, forced one, and had an interception. Overall, I account that as five possession-changing plays, which is the sack/ff/fr play, the fumble recovery, the pass he batted down at the line of scrimmage on 4th down, the interception, and the quarterback hurry that led directly to the Dansby interception.
But two things really intrigue me the most about him. One is his production on Punt Coverage. He made 6 tackles on Punt Coverage for a total of 50 yards given up, and also downed two punts himself for 0 yards given up. He wasn't a flyer, but clearly he made plays there, altogether punts he was involved with returned 6.3 yards on average on 8 punts.
The second thing that intrigues me is his tackle yardage. He made 54 tackles on run plays, not counting quarterback scrambles. The average yardage gained by the runner on those tackles was 2.2 yards per tackle! He made 6 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, 6 zero yardage tackles, and overall the runner failed to get a first down on 49 of the 54 tackles. And it wasn't just run plays. On completed passes where Pace made the tackle on the receiver, the play failed to result in a first down 23 of 26 times.
Overall, he had a damn fine year over there, the first time they put him at linebacker and let him run around and make plays. At 6'4" and 270 pounds, he'll definitely remind you of Adalius Thomas.
A couple of caveats. One, it may have been his first year at LB, but it was also a contract year. Any surprises he had his best year as a pro in his contract year? You should NEVER be surprised when a pro has his finest year during a contract year...never.
Two, penalties are a SERIOUS issue. He drew 9 total penalties throughout the year. Three offsides penalties on defense, one offsides on a punt block, one illegal man downfield on a punt coverage, two facemask penalties, one roughing the passer penalty, and one illegal block above the waist penalty on a punt. That's a a lot!
I'm waiting on the contract figures, encouraged by the initial reports that the hang-up was that Miami didn't want to pay Joey Porter money...but a lot more comfortable with this signing now that I've researched him a bit more...provided he does indeed sign....
Initially, I was highly critical of the move. I wanted Lance Briggs. If they give Pace a contract worth much more than $5 or $6 million per season in total money, I think I would still be a little bit on the critical side.
However, I took a look at Pace's 2007 season in Arizona and came away very surprised at what I found. I guess I don't get a lot of exposure to Cardinals football. As a Strong Side Linebacker in a 4-3 defense (which acted in some ways like a 3-4 defense), he had about 5.5 sacks, though he's listed as having 6.5 sacks. One of the sacks was actually an Antonio Smith sack/fumble, where the quarterback recovered the ball, and then Calvin Pace took down the quarterback for no gain. There was another play where Ben Roethlisberger bobbled the snap, recovered it 14 yards behind the LOS and Pace downed him, but that didn't go down as a sack officially...so his sack stats were between 5.5 and 7.5 sacks, depending on what you want to count.
What he did have though, were 9 QB Hurries as recorded in the NFL Gamebooks, one of which led directly to a Karlos Dansby interception. He also had 98 tackles which is very high for that position. He defensed 7 passes, two on 3rd down and one on 4th down. He recovered two fumbles, forced one, and had an interception. Overall, I account that as five possession-changing plays, which is the sack/ff/fr play, the fumble recovery, the pass he batted down at the line of scrimmage on 4th down, the interception, and the quarterback hurry that led directly to the Dansby interception.
But two things really intrigue me the most about him. One is his production on Punt Coverage. He made 6 tackles on Punt Coverage for a total of 50 yards given up, and also downed two punts himself for 0 yards given up. He wasn't a flyer, but clearly he made plays there, altogether punts he was involved with returned 6.3 yards on average on 8 punts.
The second thing that intrigues me is his tackle yardage. He made 54 tackles on run plays, not counting quarterback scrambles. The average yardage gained by the runner on those tackles was 2.2 yards per tackle! He made 6 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, 6 zero yardage tackles, and overall the runner failed to get a first down on 49 of the 54 tackles. And it wasn't just run plays. On completed passes where Pace made the tackle on the receiver, the play failed to result in a first down 23 of 26 times.
Overall, he had a damn fine year over there, the first time they put him at linebacker and let him run around and make plays. At 6'4" and 270 pounds, he'll definitely remind you of Adalius Thomas.
A couple of caveats. One, it may have been his first year at LB, but it was also a contract year. Any surprises he had his best year as a pro in his contract year? You should NEVER be surprised when a pro has his finest year during a contract year...never.
Two, penalties are a SERIOUS issue. He drew 9 total penalties throughout the year. Three offsides penalties on defense, one offsides on a punt block, one illegal man downfield on a punt coverage, two facemask penalties, one roughing the passer penalty, and one illegal block above the waist penalty on a punt. That's a a lot!
I'm waiting on the contract figures, encouraged by the initial reports that the hang-up was that Miami didn't want to pay Joey Porter money...but a lot more comfortable with this signing now that I've researched him a bit more...provided he does indeed sign....
