Is Darnell Dockett the second best defensive player in the NFC West?
May 24, 2011, 9:08 PM | Updated: 10:16 pm
Is Darnell Dockett the second best defensive player in the NFC West? That’s what ESPN’s Mike Sando is wondering.
On his NFC West blog Sando posed the question ‘Who is the best defensive player in the NFC West after Patrick Willis?’ with the Arizona Cardinals defensive end Dockett, the San Francisco 49ers defensive end Justin Smith and the St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris long as options.
So far Dockett isn’t faring well in the vote as he is in second place and trailing the leader Smith by over 23-percent with well over 2,000 votes cast.
Dockett’s perception with fans throughout the division probably took a hit in 2010 as the Cardinals failed to live up to expectations. He battled through injuries all season but surprisingly his stats were on par with his career averages.
With that said, Smith still had better stats for the 49ers recording more sacks and tackles than Dockett.
If this were a contest about who is the most entertaining defensive player who tweets questionable things, Dockett would win hands down. Fans don’t seem to be taking that into account. They seem to be voting strictly based on statistics. Which is probably the right call.