Who has the bigger year? Why?
1 Like
Hopefully, it’s Paschal. He’s got the higher ceiling.
If it’s Buggs, that likely means Paschal is injured or isn’t fulfilling his potential.
10 Likes
As long as paschal is healthy and put in the work this offseason he is the pick. He will rotate inside and outside. Buggs wont get as many pass rush snaps so statistically speaking it should be paschal as pressure will be considered more valuable on this team vs the dirty work buggs will do.
6 Likes
Paschal has a ceiling higher than most here give him credit for.
I don’t think he profiles as an elite defender, but someone who can set the edge against the run and provide 6-10 sacks.
I don’t think he gets there this year with how deep our edge group is, but we could be losing Both Okwara’s and Harris in 2024.
1 Like
Depends on how they use Pascal.
If they use him at his natural position, DE, Pascal should be the ying to Hutch’s yang.
1 Like
Different types of players playing different roles. I expect Paschal will get more snaps as Buggs will be on the sideline on passing downs.
3 Likes
Pascal 100%. He is a high end 10 sack guy……
5 Likes
You know, it’s a legitimate question. Buggs really came on at the end of last season esp in the GB game. 7 total tackles 3 solo and 2.5 stf. Paschal can absolutely have the bigger impact with his ears pinned back but making your opponent one dimensional is what you are trying to do.
Vs the Pack
" Buggs recorded a game-high five defensive stops against the Packers, posted a 22.1 defensive stop percentage —second among all interior defensive linemen in Week 18—and had a 1.4 yard average depth of tackle ." Guys, he’s the real deal.
3 Likes
Really would like to see Pascal come through. If he does, it helps justify why we didn’t go DE/DL in a pretty strong class.
Knowing where they went, who would you have taken in this class knowing the depth we already had?
Yep. But overall number of snaps will be intriguing. Paschal is like 900th option as a pass rush EDGE, #2/#3 SSDE, #2/#3 situational 3t. Meanwhile Buggs is #1/#2 NT and #2 base 4-3 DT. Paschal has more talent ahead of him, but can play more places. The answer is… Good problem to have and there will be a ton of snaps with both on the field IMO.
Our LOS is mostly 5 guys at the snap no matter what we are doing. It’s just 3 of those guys are going to be subbing in and out all the time with different skillset guys. But we can absolutely have those 5 guys be Romeo/Paschal/Buggs/Alim/Hutch and be pretty stout on first and second down against heavy run teams, that can still put some heat on the QB vs the pass.
Let’s hope it’s Buggs. We don’t need Paschal to be great given who else we expect to line up on the outside for the Lions (Hutch, Houston, Okwara, Cominsky). But we need Buggs at least to be good for that interior DL to be great.
If that secondary is all we hope it will be, teams are gonna be testing that DL, and especially that interior DL, early and often. Unlike Paschal, Buggs figures to start, and we need him to be stout.
3 Likes
I think Paschal could be a stud. Dude was just banged up all year, missed all of camp, all of preseason. His first game as a pro vs the Cowboys and he immediately played well. He set the edge well and had several pressures on Dak. He has a lot of potential. Super athletic for his size.
3 Likes
This ^ Paschal I think wins this one going away. Traits matter & he has them
3 Likes
It will be hard to compare them as they are apples and oranges. Buggs is the likely starter. He could have a huge impact on the defense that may only barely register in the box score.
2 Likes
Not to derail here, but don’t forget McNeil dropping like 40 pounds or whatever and putting back on 15-20 of muscle. In my eyes that’s another justification. Just have to hope it translates on the field.
(numbers are obviously a guestimate to make the point)
1 Like
In an ideal world, Paschal puts on 20 pounds and becomes the plus DT this team needs
I think it was @Thats2 who brought this up, but Paschal has a faster 10 yard split time than several elite pass rushers. Dude is a crazy athlete and also very strong. 30 reps of 225 and a vert close to Megatron’s. Gotta get him healthy, he could be a problem for offenses.
3 Likes
That’s where a Jack Campbell comes in (hopefully). There’s no one in Buggs lane depth chart wise on run downs. We’ll see a lot of Buggs/McNeil inside and a zillion combos of everyone else but Hutch. Glenn will play chess with the pieces he has and hopefully have limited damages when he get outmaneuvered.
1 Like
Lol Josh best season he has had is only 5 sacks. But he is now a high end 10 sack guy.
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *2017 | Kentucky | SEC | FR | LB | 8 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| *2018 | Kentucky | SEC | SO | DE | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| *2019 | Kentucky | SEC | SO | DL | 12 | 20 | 14 | 34 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||
| *2020 | Kentucky | SEC | JR | DE | 11 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 76 | 76.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| *2021 | Kentucky | SEC | SR | DE | 12 | 24 | 28 | 52 | 15.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Career | Kentucky | 72 | 65 | 137 | 35.5 | 13.0 | 1 | 76 | 76.0 |
1 Like