Rolando McClain About to Get His Walking Papers. Should We Claim Him?

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

You must be confusing me with someone else. I just posted on this thread, and dont see any responses where you (or others) have gone over this with me and shown me the numbers. I havent had any recent conversations with you or anyone else debating Fletchers performance, so i dont know what youre talking about.

However, since you mentioned stats, i went to NFL.com to see where Fletcher ranked to see if i were just crazy. He definitely seems to have lost a step, but still seems to be playing at a very high level to me.

hes the 6th rated ILB in the league, according to NFL.com's "comb" stat, which combines total tackles and assists. Granted, thats only of teams that run the 3-4 defense, but if we rank him among all interior backers (ILB and MLBs), he's ranked 10th (out of all 32 teams). Granted, hes lost a step (we're used to him being #1), but i would say that number of tackles shows that he's playing at a high level. Not as high as he used to be, but still high. Interestingly, Perry Riley is ranked pretty high, too.

So what stats show that London is playing at a low level?

Granted, this was one game against the Steelers. But, from Pro Football Focus

Aging Fletcher?

In the NFL, good players can age seemingly overnight and unfortunately for LB London Fletcher, his best play may be well in the rearview mirror. He graded at -3.5 on Sunday, dropping to -11.7 for the season. Most alarming were his three missed tackles, which allowed him to not only match last year’s total of 14, but also to take the dubious distinction of the current leader in that category at his position. When he wasn’t missing tackles, Fletcher was getting wiped out at the second level in the running game, and even though he only allowed 4 yards into his coverage, Fletcher was responsible for fullback Will Johnson’s touchdown in the flat. His base numbers also benefited from a dropped pass from wide open tight end Miller. It may be too early to write off a player of Fletcher’s ability, but his play has taken a big hit so far this season.

Then there was another about his struggles covering LBs, which I can't find at the moment but is pretty evident

Then there's the fact that he's 37 years old, can hardly practice anymore and every week lately it's a "will he or won't he"

Planning to replace London Fletcher isn't "hate" it's just smart planning