Gerald McCoy is a Stud.

I don’t think there’s any question about it. Ndamakong Suh is a freak of nature.

With 10 sacks and 66 tackles as a rookie, its safe to say that Suh is on his way to becoming an elite defensive player in the NFL. 

Hes not alone though. There’s a young DT in Tampa Bay that everyone seems to be overlooking; His name, is Gerald McCoy.

I dont understand why everyone is ready to call McCoy a bust. In fact, I don’t even come close to understanding why. Is it really because he didn’t have double digit sacks and whatever tackles? If that’s the case, then the evaluation of DT’s has drastically changed and I wasn’t told.

DT’s are meant to penetrate, draw double teams, and free up the line backers so that they can get to the ball carrier and McCoy did that better than many people realize, especially during the second half of the year when he was starting to make plays in the backfield on a regular basis.

McCoy finished the 2010 season with 3 sacks and 28 tackles along with 17 quarterback pressures. No where near the stats that Suh had, but the stat you need to be looking at is the 17 pressures.

Just because McCoy didn’t make a huge splash on the stat sheet, doesn’t mean that he wasn’t being a major contributor. McCoy was constantly being double teamed and much of his “lack of production” stemmed from poor play from the ends and a steep learning curve at the beginning of the year.

I knew that McCoy wouldnt dominate from a statistical standpoint in his first year merly because besides McCoy, no one was considered a threat to make any plays on the defense and DT is one of the toughest positions to adjust to in the NFL.

After watching McCoy last year, I know that hes only going to get better. When he came into the league last year as the 3rd overall pick, he wasn’t NFL ready like Suh was, but hes close. McCoy has an elite first step (which is the most important part of being a great defensive lineman) and quickness along with a motor that never stops. All he needs to do is add more strength and he will be just fine. 

McCoy is a stud. I refuse to listen to people who say hes a bust just because he didn’t have the stats that Suh had in their first year in the NFL. Another former DT by the name of Warren Sapp also struggled in his first two years, and he ended up having a fabulous career.

Gerald is the real deal, he just needs to get experience and a little bit of help from the defensive ends.