Trent Cole debate continues
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Trent Cole debate continues
Daily News staff
Trent Cole is rated as the top 4-3 defensive end in the NFL by highly regarded website Pro Football Focus when it graded plays from the last 3 years.
The site terms Cole as "criminally underrated." Cole tends to agree that he is underrated, given his reaction to being selected as low as he was in the NFL Network Top 100 players of 2010.
Writes the site: In the last three years, Cole has finished fifth (2008), third (2009) and first (2010) in our overall 4-3 DE rankings, so maybe the Eagles defensive end has a point when he talks about how criminally underrated he is. He gets credit for his pass rushing, but, interestingly, he may be stronger in run defense – where he has finished with our highest grade in each of the past two years. That’s certainly not a slight to his pass rushing ability in that time, where only three defenders have accumulated more total quarterback disruptions. Grade: +113.4
The site reviewed every play and assigned a grade in an effort to reward the complete player and added weighting so it is not just about sacks. The coverage grade is worth three quarters that of the pass rushing, run defense and penalties grades.
Cole is third in the NFL and second among 4-3 ends with 52.0 sacks since 2006. He led the Eagles with 10 sacks last season, although he continues to be dogged by the assertion that he wears down later in the season.
July 4th - do we really care???— M60tanker
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NFL WHO??— Kevinmac- NFL who?— bearsfriend
- Cole is rated correctly. I can't justify him being better than the DE's ranked ahead of him. Actually he was ranked ahead of Jared Allen, who I think is better DE. But Cole is still a beast. He just hasn't had that monster sack season yet.— MrMiles1
- Cole has had an outstanding career. He's done everything he possibly could. But he's not the classic disruptive defensive end that you have to game plan for. Not necessarily a hall of famer. He should grade out high because he's always honing his game, always becoming better rounded and understanding offenses. But that doesn't make him Reggie White or Clay Matthews.— armchairGM
- A tremendous record considering that he has no help on the other side. Thanks again Andy Reid.— Bob1
- Note to Trent: FUHGEDDABOUD this column. It means nothing. This is not a good time to try and renegotiate your contract with Joe Banner. I don't think he's in the mood.— 1republican
- Trent Cole is a beast and the top 100 voted by the players is a complete joke.— briandawkins20
- Who cares - END THE DAMN LOCKOUT NOW YOU MORONS!!!!— Justicek
- I don't think there's any question that he wears down in the latter part of the season. I think a large reason for that is the fact that the Eagles don't have anyone on the other side to help him out. Cole is always double teamed. A strong pass rushing end on the other side would take some of that pressure off of him.— SteveS11
- Comment removed.
Too bad he has had very little help on the other side. If he did, he'd probably have another 10-15 career sacks.— phillychaos- Any DE that gets double and triple teamed as much as Cole and still gets the job done is without a doubt grossly underated. What a shame the Eagles can't find someone, anyone, to help the guy out. At this point, they should consider taking a shot on Babin.— dapmman
- If the statistical evaluation of Trent Cole included measures of the abilities of his teammates to his immediate right or left he would likely rank first. Reason is, the Eagles DTs to his shoulder have consistently failed to create any push up the middle-type of pressure on the QB. This results in an overall lower sack rate as well as a shorter sustained performance in a season. When the DT can't push the pocket the DE has to cover a lot more ground and the QB has a lot more escape space. Stretch this out over a season and then add in the extra attention from opponents and you have a Trent Cole who is being used up too early in the season. I've been saying for a long while now, the Eagles need a pocket pushing DT. I have no doubts Washburn understands this and has already made his case with Eagles brass to get him a proper DT. Finally, anyone who hangs this problem on the lack of a better second DE is sorely mistaken. It's amazing how many mediots and fans blindly repeat the second DE analysis.— HeelYes
- Pretty good stuff for a 5th round pick.
- Yes, he wears down. Yes, he has NO help...not just from the other end position but from the middle. Patterson, Bunkley and the rest of those guys don't get pressure. It's been that way for years and it's frustrating. Because of that and the fact that our LBs are terrible we can't beat good qbs. I don't care if you have a hall of fame set of DBs, they can't do their jobs effectively if we don't pressure the QB. Note to management: Pressure the QB! Oh yeah, almost forgot, PROTECT your QB as well!— Jeffritoe
