Dawan Landry Was 9th Most Overvalued Safety in 2012
By Luke Sims
November 8, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars strong safety Dawan Landry (26) intercepts the ball during the second quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dawan Landry and Dwight Lowery were two pretty good free agent signings by ex-GM Gene Smith. I like the way they play together and think that they are an effective backstop for the defense. In 2011 they performed very well together and were major contributors in a top-10 defense. In 2012…not so much. Landry in particular suffered. In my opinion, Landry really suffered when Lowery missed seven games during the season. Playing with Chris Prosinski in the backfield was a major step down in talent and experience from Lowery. So, naturally, Landry’s number dropped.
But numbers don’t lie, or so they say.
Pro Football Focus focuses on numbers and attempts to dig deeper than just the basic facts. In their latest stat, Performance Based Value, they seek to show a player’s value as compared to players at their position and their pay. For Landry, 2012 was not a good season to look at. He ended up ninth on the list overall.
Here’s what PFF had to say:
"Landry’s season was dragged down by three poor performances against Houston, Detroit, and Buffalo. Still, even without those poor games he didn’t offer much beyond average, not excelling in any part of his game. Average players shouldn’t be making that kind of money, even less so when they are prone to a few poor games per season."
While it is likely true that Landry’s pay is inflated (a lot of Smith’s pickups are), I think that a major part of Landry falling significantly is that he was missing his partner in the defensive backfield. Then again, Landry didn’t exactly play superbly in 2011, ending the season with a -1.9 overall grade from PFF.
– Luke N. Sims
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