Julius Peppers or Dwight Freeney

Freeney is the fastest DE in the history of the NFL, but Peppers is pretty quick in his own right. The place where Dwight has the biggest advantage is in technique, as Freeney gets great leverage and uses his hands exceptionally well. But yes, it would help if Peppers would just focus on rushing even if he doesn't improve his technique.

 

Sporting News had their "Top 100" list a while back and Peppers as their best DE, in front of guys like Strahan, Seymour, Freeney, Kearse, etc etc.

Why? Because a) he had the most natural talent, and mostly b) he could do more stuff - held against the run better than freeney, could be used in coverage better than strahan, etc etc.

I'm not saying that they are the bible of player evaluations, but the general belief in who is the best player at that position - the position, not as a pass rusher - peppers is the cream of the crop

 

The general belief of the media; not scouts, coaches, or general managers.

 

Not sure who is having the better year this year, Freeney I would think, but having the best production over their career? Sorry Collin, but that belongs to Peppers.

As a pure pash rusher Freeney has the better stats, but tackles, stopping the run, dropping into pass coverage with PD and INT, then Peppers has the big edge.

Now when you combine all areas of the game, depending on where you place the most importance, then I would say it's close to even over their careers.

 

I think bringing pressure on a QB and forcing double teams to fee up other linemen is the primary mission of a DE. Secondary to that is stopping the run. Pass coverage is a non-issue for most DEs. Interceptions and pass defenses should really not be used when comparing Peppers to Freeney.

 

Teams don't run as much on the Colts as they do against the Panthers, so Peppers is going to have a natural advantage there, although Julius is a slightly better run defender (still not above average in that respect). But if you want to talk about interceptions, then you might as well talk about turnovers as a whole. Peppers does have 3 INTs to Freeney's none, but Freeney has 18 fumbles forced to Peppers' 12. That means Freeney is causing more turnovers.

Sacks: Huge advantage for Freeney
Turnovers: Advantage for Freeney
Tackles: Advantage for Peppers

 

Agreed they shouldn't be used, but if that is part of his game and where the coaching staff has him playing a decent amount of the game then you have to count them.

I don't know how many times a game Peppers drops into coverage, but I know that I notice at least 5 or 6 times a game, so I am sure it's more than that since I won't see it everytime he does. Is he dropped back into coverage 25% of the time? Whatever the % does that hurt your pass rushing abilities?

Look at is this way, if Freeney has one thing he has to worry about, getting to the QB? That makes is easy from the standpoint that's all he has to worry about. Now for Peppers, his assignment on what to do could depend on the lineup of the O, who is in motion and to where. I played DE in high school, and I know for a fact the way our D was setup the flat was ALL mine, whether is was the TE or RB going out there. So I know before the snap, I was like rush, rush, rush, then shit the TE is a quick chip on me and heading on a quick slant to the flat. But all of this varys depending on the players and defensive scheme.

IMO, stopping the run is just as important, which I was say Peppers is better than Freeney to the point where Freeney is better at rushing the passer.

 

So if you are in pass coverage you won't have as many chances to cause a fumble as well correct? We can play point at the stats all day, but in the end you just won't be able to validate things because they both play differently and are used differently.

I would say Peppers is better than just "slightly better" against the run, since he has more stops against the run then Freeney and is away from the run more than Freeney since Peppers is in Pass coverage a lot as well.

 

Against the run: Advantage for Peppers
PD/cover against the pass: Huge advantage for Peppers


Maybe you can get Fox to use Peppers like Freeney, it would be interesting to see how they would compare then.

 

Look, I understand that you desperately want to believe that Peppers is as good as Freeney, but you're just plain wrong and you look absolutely ridiculous by claiming otherwise. Anyone who actually watched the two of them play would say that Freeney is the better defensive end, although they could very well say that Peppers was the better athlete. Freeney makes many more plays than Peppers; it's as simple as that.

And as caged boy said, the DE's primary responsibility is to rush the passer. Arguing on Peppers' behalf because of his pass coverage skills is like those deluded Cowboys fans who say that Roy Williams is the best strong safety in the league because he can blitz well.