For those who remember the Giants teams in the 90s:
From what I can see on Michael Strahan, he was a relatively pedestrian 4-3 defensive end for his first few years, averaging 63 tackles and five sacks, not bad numbers per se, but nothing special. Then when Jim Fassel John Fox arrive in 1997, Strahan's production jumps dramatically to averaging 66 tackles and 13 sacks over the five years Fox was in New York. So what changed and allowed Strahan to be one of the best two-way defensive ends of his time? Was it the coaching change? Change in responsibilities as a lineman?
Link - ( New Window )
Check Strahan’s career stats to see this happen.
(OL and DL) to show their true potential
In 1994, they went to the 4-3 and he started to get into the rotation more, but he started to show flashes in 1995 and 1996 along with the rest of the defense (Armstead, Sehorn, Sparks, etc). It really was a case where you just had to be patient with him and the others as they got comfortable. Fox stepped into a good situation in 1997 with all these guys getting over their growing pains early on and were ready to dominate.
Also, Strahan didn't really slim down until later in his career, after 2000. He credited Bruce Smith with telling him to do that to extend his career. Strahan looked "puffy" even during his 1st Pro Bowl season in 1997.
Bottom line, it was a slow growth that he showed week after week as the defense started to grow along with him.
The next year the Giants switched to a 4-3 and he was used more as a pass rusher.
By year 3 he was the best pass rusher on the team.
Strahan was hurt as a rookie, and they also had a bunch of talented defensive lineman. At that time Hammer was considered the upcoming star of the team.
I don't care about 2008 hypotheticals anymore. They won in 2011.
I'm pretty sure that happened relatively late in Strahan's career, so one of us (it definitely could be me) doesn't remember it as clearly as we think.
Seems like he still had somewhat of a gut - ( New Window )
Strahan 2005 - ( New Window )