His ability to set the edge in the run game or turn it all back inside can't be understated, nor his ability in pass coverage.
Not that it makes any difference, but by all rights it should be 9 1/2 sacks. One came when Fackrell had been pancaked and the QB tripped over his lineman's foot. The play was blown dead without the QB even being touched down. Fackrell just happened to be the closest to the action.
I think he has improved considerably over time in edge contain in this defense and he has looked pretty decent in dropping into short zone on the zone blitzes. Of course you would not want him running down the field on a wheel route. I think he's developed into a solid player, but the sack count is an exageration of overall impact. Given other needs, I would find him to be an acceptable starter if he's paired with an impactful threat on the other side, along with Clark, that demands attention. Matthews is not that guy anymore.
Fackrell, Gilbert and Spriggs have something in common--they play to the level of the competition.
We were encouraged by Gilbert's performance in preseason playing against 2nd., 3rd., 4th. stringers. He pretty much disappeared against legit competition. Fackrell and Spriggs show well against guys who are on the same talent and ability plane. Fackrell doesn't show up against better competition, and Spriggs gets blown up against those guys, and I'm not just talking about elite players like Mack.
What these guys have in common is they are 3 years in the league, with sufficient money game snaps to take their measure. They are pretty close to who they are going to be, average starters or rotational NFL players, give or take.
Unlike Lake Woebegone, not all of the children can be above average. But if a critical mass of impact players is not achieved, you end up in the "average" range where the difference between 6-9-1 and 9-7 pretty small and may hinge on just a few plays.
These 3 players also have in common playing at positions where is a changing of the guard. Perry's and Bulaga's injuries have mounted to the point of unreliability. Matthews has descended into mediocrity. Even if you roll with those average players there is no discernable depth or youthful progress toward that status.
The definition of idiocy is repeating what you've done and expecting a different result. The theme of the last free agency period was players long in the tooth and past their primes. Cap got squandered in a chunk with Graham if by "squandered" we mean production below cap cost. Frankly, I don't know what else that term can mean. And then an equal amount squandered in dribs and drabs with other players.
I think Gutekunst sees that as indicated in what I called his Draft 2.0, bringing in previously drafted guys with youth in-season and on the cheap who have a little or a lot of NFL experience, some with injury concerns in Breeland and Siragusa. I doubt he expected many of these guys to get the playing time they got because of the rash of injuries, but it certainly helps in evaluating whether they'd be wanted for 2019 camp. Some came and went already. It's an effort to do some bottom-up building of the roster for depth, maybe getting a starter out of the process.
I'd like to see some top down with fewer, younger FAs in than this last go-round to inject some impact. Now, we cannot expect all of Matthews, Cobb, Bulaga, Perry, Graham and Tramon Williams to go unsigned or cut, as the case may be. There simply isn't the depth to handle all of that unless the plan is a full-blown rebuild and taking lumps in 2019 in the process while not having and excess of cap and draft capital to execute it. Gutekunst, et. al. are not going to do that in plowing the middle ground between the now and the future. Gutekunst has said just that which is only reinforced by a restless fan base.
But I gotta say they ought to part with most of these aging guys to avoid a repeat of mediocrity. Plugging aging vets into holes as the difference in getting over the top didn't work then and will not work now. Paying a Matthews or a Cobb $5 mil as some suggest is just a repeat of the same mistake, and retaining Perry in the hopes of a healthy season in lieu of capturing the cap savings does not provide a good risk/reward proposition. On a less accute note, Bulaga is falling into the Perry category.
Much of this is a digression from the topic at hand, but no decision is taken in isolation.
The short answer is start Fackrell, let Matthews walk and capture the Perry cap savings, then shoot for impact at OLB in FA or the draft. Second, the right side of this O-Line needs to be seriously addressed. For my money, move Spriggs to RG and as a second key priority go find an RT in FA or the draft who presents the prospect of not getting regularly whipped by better pass rushers and capture cap savings by releasing Bulaga.
