It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…
The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.
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Jonathan Allen & Daron Payne
After two seasons of strong statistical results as a pair of interior pass rushers in 2021-22, Payne & Allen saw their sack totals fall off in 2023.
Phidarian Mathis
Phil Mathis has had an ice cold start to his NFL career. He played only 3 defensive snaps in his rookie season before being seriously injured. Last year, as he returned from injury, he was not active for the first 7 weeks of the season. In the final 10 games, he played 203 defensive snaps and was credited with 8 tackles.
Jer’Zhan Newton
Johnny Newton was seen by many draft analysts as an outstanding value when he was selected with the 36th pick in this year’s draft. In May, we learned that he had a foot injury and had to undergo surgery from which he is still recovering.
Dan Quinn says 2nd rounder Johnny Newton has an injury to his other foot, not the same foot as his college season but the same injury, and has a procedure scheduled for next week. “Not giving any timelines for that.”
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) May 11, 2024
A Google search for recovery time from Jones Fracture surgery indicates 3-4 months as a standard time to resume all activities, including playing sports. The same website also lists multiple potential complications of the surgery. A four-month recovery from a mid-May surgery would mean a mid-September availability.
The Commanders play their first game of the 2024 season on September 9. They play a total of 4 games in the month of September, with the last of these being on September 30th.
At minicamp, Newton was seen and filmed wearing a walking boot and using his arms only to power a exercise cycle on the sidelines. Head coach Dan Quinn answered a question about Newton during minicamp, saying that the player had hit all of his markers post-surgery (about 4 weeks after we learned about it) and that the staff continued to monitor his progress.
Ultimately, if he misses a few games at the start of his rookie year, it shouldn’t really change his value as a player or the significance of the pick for the Commanders. The team has a deep group of players at the position with Payne & Allen backed up by John Ridgeway and others.
Dorance Armstrong
Games | Off. | Def. | ST | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Num | Pct | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
2018 | 21 | DAL | DE | 92 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 273 | 29% | 49 | 13% |
2019 | 22 | DAL | DE | 92 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 262 | 26% | 198 | 48% |
2020 | 23 | DAL | DE | 92 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 369 | 33% | 287 | 62% |
2021 | 24 | DAL | RDE | 92 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0% | 507 | 56% | 84 | 23% |
2022 | 25 | DAL | RDE | 92 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0% | 543 | 47% | 97 | 20% |
2023 | 26 | DAL | DE | 92 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 446 | 42% | 97 | 22% |
Career | 1 | 2400 | 812 |
Playing in Dan Quinn’s defense in Dallas, Dorance Armstrong played between 446 – 507 snaps each season from 2021 to 2023, which ranged from 42% to 56% of all defensive snaps he was available to play in those seasons. In the two most recent seasons, when he played in all 17 games, his snap share was 47% & 42%.
Clelin Ferrell
Games | Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Tackles | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Yds | TD | Sk | Comb | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sfty | AV |
2019 | 22 | OAK | LDE | 96 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 38 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 6 | |
2020 | 23 | LVR | LDE | 96 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 27 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | |
2021 | 24 | LVR | DE | 99 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
2022 | 25 | LVR | DE | 99 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 26 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 2 | |
2023 | 26 | SFO | DL | 94 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 8 | |
Career | 75 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 133 | 73 | 60 | 21 | 45 | 21 | |||||
4 yrs | LVR-OAK | 58 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 105 | 58 | 47 | 15 | 32 | 13 | ||||
1 yr | SFO | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 8 |
In 75 career games, Clelin Ferrell has tallied 45 QB hits. His highest single-season total (13) was recorded last year with San Francisco; his lowest (6) was in 2021 with the Raiders.
Dante Fowler
Games | Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Tackles | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Yds | TD | Sk | Comb | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sfty | AV |
2016 | 22 | JAX | DE | 56 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 32 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 2 | |
2017 | 23 | JAX | DE | 56 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 1 | 8.0 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 3 | |||||
2018 | 24 | 2TM | DE-ROLB | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
JAX | DE | 56 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
LAR | ROLB | 56 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | |||
2019 | 25 | LAR | LOLB | 56 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 11.5 | 58 | 40 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 7 | |
2020 | 26 | ATL | RDE | 56 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 6 | |
2021 | 27 | ATL | ROLB | 56 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 36 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 3 | |
2022 | 28 | DAL | DE | 56 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 27 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 2 | |
2023 | 29 | DAL | DE | 56 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | |
Career | 125 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 79 | 2 | 45.0 | 240 | 167 | 73 | 56 | 75 | 29 | |||||
3 yrs | JAX | 39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 1 | 14.0 | 53 | 41 | 13 | 14 | 22 | 6 | ||||
2 yrs | ATL | 28 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 | 59 | 33 | 26 | 10 | 16 | 9 | ||||
2 yrs | DAL | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 40 | 30 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 4 | ||||
2 yrs | LAR | 24 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 13.5 | 58 | 40 | 24 | 20 | 21 | 10 |
Dante Fowler has tallied at least one pass defended in every NFL season except 2017. His two best seasons for knocking down passes were 2016 & 2019, when he was credited with 6 and 5 PDs, respectively. He also added 5 PDs over the past two seasons playing for Dan Quinn in Dallas.
Incredibly, Fowler has also been credited with at least one force fumble every season of his career except for 2016, and he’s been responsible for 6 forced fumbles over past three seasons.
With 125 career games, Fowler averages 0.152 PDs per game (2.6 per 17 games) and 0.104 FFs per game (1.8 per 17 games).