3 potential edge rushers San Francisco could pursue for 2018
The Free Agent Route: DL Lamarr Houston
Most people remember this play when they think of Lamarr Houston:
Yeah, tearing your ACL celebrating a sack is not a good look for any player. Despite this folly, Houston has proven to be a capable outside option. From a pure risk-reward point of view, the 49ers would be foolish not to get him.
Houston’s career has been defined by inconsistency. But when he’s on, he’s been a force to reckon with.
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Sk | Tkl | Ast | Sfty | AV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 23 | OAK | DE | 99 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5.0 | 31 | 9 | 7 | ||
| 2011 | 24 | OAK | de | 99 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 | 36 | 15 | 6 | |
| 2012 | 25 | OAK | DE | 99 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 | 48 | 19 | 7 | |
| 2013 | 26 | OAK | DE | 99 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6.0 | 56 | 13 | 8 | ||
| 2014 | 27 | CHI | DE | 99 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2015 | 28 | CHI | lb | 99 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.0 | 36 | 6 | 3 | ||
| 2016 | 29 | CHI | 99 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||||||
| 2017 | 30 | 2TM | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.0 | 14 | 3 | 2 | |||
| CHI | lb | 99 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| HOU | 58 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Career | 100 | 71 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 30.5 | 231 | 70 | 36 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/18/2018.
As this graph shows, Houston has been up and down for his entire career. His career average of sacks per year is around 3.8.
That may not sound like a lot, but the stats don’t tell the whole story. As you see, in three of those years, Houston had two combined sacks. That’s right, two sacks for three years. He was injured for two of those years, and another was just a really down year for him. Take these three years away, his yearly average jumps up to 6.1 sacks.
Now that’s a lot of pressure.
Apart from his sacks, Houston also places well in advanced metrics. Pro Football Focus ranked him 24th in the league for pass-rush proficiency, albeit in the 2017 preseason. That season, Houston had five sacks in 10 games. For his time as a 4-3 defensive end, Houston had 216 total pressures, and according to PFF’s Mark Chichester, “Houston was one of the most promising pass-rushers in the NFL, earning PFF overall grades above 78.0 in every season from 2010 to 2014.”
Let’s go back to risk-reward. Naturally, there is a fair bit of risk that comes with Houston. He’s been injury prone and inconsistent. That’s why he’s still a free agent.
Yet the reward is incredible. At this point in the offseason, Houston won’t cost anything more than the veteran’s minimum. If he struggles, then the 49ers can cut their losses and move on. If he plays well, they now have an elite edge rusher.
But if old injury prone veterans aren’t what you’re looking for, don’t be worried. There are other options available on the trade market.