Leonard Little and the Grant Wistrom Factor (Hawk fans will love this)

In 2002-03, Leonard Little had 24.5 sacks in 38 games played (.65 sacks per game).

In 2004-05, he has 11 sacks in 24 games (.46 sacks per game).

What's the difference?

Could it be Grant Wistrom? While I, admittedly, was okay with Grant's departure given the high salary he obtained (and I still think he's overpaid), I have to wonder if Wistrom's presence on the opposite side of Little impacted Leonard's productivity.

To further investigate, I looked at the DEs Wistrom has played with in Seattle.

Chike Okeafor, who played opposite Wistrom in 2004, had his best year with Wistrom on the other side (though, to be fair, Wistrom did miss a few games). He registered 8.5 sacks in 16 games (.53 per game), which was his best production to date in this category.

Bryce Fisher, who plays opposite Wistrom this year, is also having his best career output in sacks, registering 7.5 in 10 games.

Now, before you misconstrue my point, I don't think the Rams should have paid Wistrom what the Hawks did in 2004. That said, I think these stats show how important it is to have two quality pass rushers at the DE position. When you have only one person who can consistently pressure the QB, that person can be nullified with blocking schemes.

I think this is one of the key problems with the Rams defense.

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I don't think the Rams should have paid Wistrom what the Hawks did in 2004.

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Agreed, however, is it possible that they could have worked out a new contract before he became a FA?

It seems like they just let him go and yet they keep the likes of a manu....lol


:helmet:

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Originally Posted by Ferter

Agreed, however, is it possible that they could have worked out a new contract before he became a FA?

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That's a good question and a good point. If the Rams had been aggressive in trying to resign Wistrom, he may have never realized that a "dream contract" would be offered to him by another team.

yep I agree AV, wistrom had one hell of a motor, that never quit and he was a leader on the field...he was overpaid BUT!!!

Little needs help, hargrove won't get in done, the rams must find a quality DE to take some of the attention that Little has week in week out of him


steve:clanram:

I love the guy, but I do agree, we paid him too much. That's because at the time we had an idiot running the show in the FO, not Tim Ruskell.

Jail time and his brother passing might have something to do with it.

Little wasn't in jail last year or this year.

Facing jail time, might have had something to do with it.

Maybe, but I don't buy that this was the whole reason.

I think Little is a very good player, but he is stoppable. The Rams need another DE who will make offenses pay for devoting so much attention to LL.

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Originally Posted by SeahawkerSteve30

I love the guy, but I do agree, we paid him too much. That's because at the time we had an idiot running the show in the FO, not Tim Ruskell.

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Steve, I totally agree. I really don't think Seattle would have signed him with Ruskell at the helm.

Hargrove is horrible right now that could be a factor. I said now before everyone that likes Hargrove and loves rooting for potential in our players disagree. We have to many players with potential that never pan out.

I think that Hargrove could still develop into a good player. The problem is, he was not ready to be a starter.

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Originally Posted by AvengerRam

I think that Hargrove could still develop into a good player. The problem is, he was not ready to be a starter.

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Simply stated but so true.

There are a lot of people that are not satisfied with Wistrom...

Let's not forget, the guy will always be tagged at the $14 million signing bonus guy...

or the fact that once the #98 became available, he abandoned his old #96 and claimed #98 off the jersey waivers...so there's an entire legion of Hawk fans that shelled out good hard-earned money for a #96 Wistrom jersey only for him to change numbers in his 2nd year...

I have never liked Wistrom, I think he's overpaid and he'll have to restructure his contract in the next few years...but the real reason i don't like him is because in 2003 when he was still a Ram he took a pretty mean cheap shot at Hass when the play was whistled dead. now I'm all for players getting up for rivalry games, but not when the whistle was blown.

It reminds of this years game at St. Louis when one of the Ram's D-linemen kept going after Hass after the whistle was blown. Instead of giving into a guy that easily outweighed him by a good 150 pounds, Hass just held him off with his football and kept him at bay...but I digress...

Wistrom is very overpaid...the one thing that is good about him is that he is a motor-guy that really fits our team. I think Fisher is the better pass-rusher but he's also going up against lesser talents at the RT spot.

Most Seattle fans wouldn't take Wistrom again with his production in the past 1 1/2 years. 2 sacks through 10 games is pretty pathetic especially when he's gone up against rookie LT's more than several times this year.

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