Several reasons why Bud Dupree isn’t a one-year wonder
As I continue to see comments from a certain segment of Steelers Nation, I feel like this must be addressed: Bud Dupree is not a one-year wonder. However, that hasn’t stopped a contingent of fans from being vocal about the former first-round pick.
Last season, this group didn’t like the team using a fifth-year option on Bud Dupree. Never mind the fact that the Steelers had to show good faith in making that decision back in 2018, a full year before Dupree would be paid in 2019. Dupree’s option for $11 million, deemed “too much” money for a player who only totaled 14.5 sacks through three seasons.
Following a breakout year, Dupree is now scheduled to become a free agent in the upcoming weeks if a new deal or a franchise/transition tag isn’t applied to keep him with the Steelers.
Despite his stellar 2019 season, those same fans are still in denial and don’t want the organization to entertain bringing him back.
And I can’t fathom why.
The eyeball test is the only thing I can think of as to their strong dislike for a player who has technically never done anything wrong. If anything, Dupree is guilty by association: as a former first round pick, he was relied on to play as a rookie just as another former first round pick (and overall bust) Jarvis Jones did.
Many of people seem to forget the circumstances surrounding Dupree’s early years in Pittsburgh. He first arrived as part of an outside linebacker rotation, splitting time with the likes of James Harrison, Jarvis Jones, and Arthur Moats. He would finish the season with four sacks despite playing only 51% of the 1,106 defensive snaps that season.
Dupree’s 2016 season was stolen from him, as he began the season on injured reserve and appeared in a total of 7 games. He would return in Week 11, playing a single snap. In the following two weeks, Dupree would play 32% and 58% of the game before finishing as the full-time starter (with very little rest) for the Steelers final four games.
His 4.5 sacks would all come in those final four games.
The 2017 season would present another change in Pittsburgh, as the team drafted T.J. Watt to play opposite Dupree. James Harrison, the all-time franchise sacks leader, went largely unused, even being relegated to the inactives list for some games before he demanded to be released late in the season.
Harrison went from being relied upon a lot to not at all, as the coaching staff abandoned their previous outside linebacker “rotation” philosophy the previous season. This concept carried on from 2016 to 2017, as Watt entered the field as a rookie and never looked back.
Watt’s first season saw him appear in 15 games, playing 68% of the snaps to Dupree’s 73%. Watt would finish with 7 sacks while Dupree had 6 (in as many games).
About dead even, the two would swap spots between the left and right outside linebacker positions beginning in 2018. Watt would earn a Pro Bowl bid with his 13-sack season as Dupree finished with 5.5.
I long contended that part of Dupree’s sack total problem was Pittsburgh’s propensity to drop their outside linebackers into pass coverage. It’s simple math: if you’re not rushing the quarterback when he’s attempting to throw the ball, then the opportunities to get sacks are diminished. In other words, the slightest uptick in allowing Dupree to get after the quarterback means he could have more sacks.
It’s kind of like the having to play the lottery to win the lottery; and for Dupree, he would soon hit the jackpot.
Throughout 2017 and 2018, Dupree and Watt were among the league leaders in comparable edge rushers who dropped back into pass coverage. However, in 2019, that philosophy changed as Keith Butler took over his old duties coaching the outside linebackers.
Butler had held that position until 2015, when he became the Steelers defensive coordinator. Joey Porter, was the previous coach, coinciding with Dupree’s arrival to the team. With Porter let go, and the number of opportunities to get to the QB increased, Dupree flourished last season.
Dupree’s previous detractors were pleasantly surprised with the season he had, as Dupree racked up 11.5 sacks. Even Butler’s detractors were all but silenced as the Steelers defense surged to new heights.
Yet, Dupree’s critics are now saying that his success was only because he was motivated in a “contract year”. Coaching staff and philosophy changes be damned, as Dupree magically willed himself to a career season in order to get paid.
Give me a break!
Of course, money can be a motivator, but what if Dupree didn’t put up the numbers he had? Then what would be the criticism?
Given the year that the Steelers defense had, are we that confident in going forward without Dupree and starting all over with someone new in his position? I’d argue that would be a far more foolish decision for the organization to part ways rather than finding a way to retain Dupree.
If we follow the path of progress of Dupree’s predecessors, such as James Harrison, Joey Porter, and Jason Gildon, you’ll soon recognize that they were far from overnight sensations in their own right. If Dupree is on the same career trajectory as those all-time Steelers sack leaders, then we’ve only seen the beginning from Big Bud.
In that regard, I do believe that Dupree is more than a one-year wonder and that the Steelers must do everything in their power to keep him for the 2020 season, and beyond.
