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There aren’t a lot of positive things to take away from the New York Jets‘ 2-11 campaign, but one of them has been the development of second year defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. Richardson, the No. 13 overall pick in last season’s draft, won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season and is already one of the two or three best players on the Jets’ roster.
Richardson made his name last season as an elite run defender, and the Jets were looking for him to improve as a pass rusher this year. While Richardson hadn’t racked up the sacks for most of the season, he had shown improvement in terms of his pass rushing moves and effectiveness. His major breakout came last week, however, when he racked up three sacks and a safety against the Minnesota Vikings.
That game really pushed Richardson into the Pro Bowl conversation, and he is certainly deserving of consideration. Richardson is fourth among all NFL defensive linemen in tackles with 57, including 10 for a loss. Richardson is now up to 6.5 sacks on the season, ranking fifth among all defensive tackles.Richardson has only forced one fumble, but his overall play against the run has been outstanding and is something few players can match.
If Richardson is going to make the Pro Bowl, he will probably need to improve his sack total a little bit more. Defensive linemen usually get selected based on high sack totals because they jump out to the casual voting fan more so than a player’s run defense. The fact that he plays for the 2-11 Jets won’t help either, but on the merits of his individual performance and his overall game he is certainly worthy of spot in the Pro Bowl.
Given that he plays a position where reputation often outweighs performance (the biggest of several reasons fans shouldn’t be allowed to vote) and the fact that he plays for the Jets, Richardson will probably be on the outside looking in when the Pro Bowl teams are announced. However, he has raised his game even higher from his extremely impressive rookie season, and he is proving again this year that he is one of the best young defensive tackles in football.
Richardson may not necessarily get selected this year, but he deserves to be in the Pro Bowl conversation and hopefully the voting fans will recognize that.
Greg Sulik is a New York Jets writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @GregSulik or add him to your network on Google
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