What Happened to Ziggy Ansah? Irresponsible Coaching Ruined the Rest of His Season
By Andria Dolan
What happened to Ziggy Ansah?
Many people have asked this question since the end of the season. He went from being #43 on the NFL’s Top 100 in 2016, to dropping like a rock when the season started.
How far to fall
Ziggy Ansah designs on being the next NFL sack leader. In 2015, he racked up 14.5 throughout the season, third only to defensive powerhouses JJ Watt and Khalil Mack. But when the 2016 season started, he seemed like a different player.
He started the first two games of the year, then an injury in week 2 forced him to sit out the next two weeks due to an ankle sprain. While he made the rest of the games during 2016, he was clearly not the same Ziggy. Suffering another injury in December to his should this time, it seemed like it was time for Ansah to take the time to rest. Even with the shoulder problem, he was still able to save face by notching two sacks for the season. But for a man who ran with the big dogs just a year earlier, one wonders how he fell so far.
Injury is the great equalizer
Speculation that the injuries that plagued him all season had a devastating impact on his play circulated throughout the league. He failed to take down a quarterback until week 14, when he sacked the Giants’ Eli Manning. The next week he sacked Dak Prescott, to bring his total on the season to two, a number nothing short of disappointing for the 4th-year defensive end. And Ansah would not improve on that number in the final game of the regular season, nor in the postseason.
Related Story: Ansah Ankle Injury an issue all season
When will the real Ziggy return?
To say that he fell from grace was understating the obvious. But what was it really that hurt the phenom on the field? Shoulder? Ankle? Something unrelated to football entirely? Over and over again, Ziggy made it clear. It was the ankle injury. Ansah commented throughout the season that the injury was still bothersome, if not downright painful. Common sense says that he didn’t take enough time off to set himself up to come back healthy and make the impact that he’s used to making for the Lions. Coaches should have taken that opportunity to give him a break that was sorely needed. But the powers that be let the dice roll and it was a detriment to player and team alike.
Time to heal
With the offseason here and the draft approaching, Ziggy Ansah still has some time to get himself back to 100% before OTAs. And perhaps when he’s back to full-speed, he’ll be the defensive powerhouse of old. And the playmaker that Detroit so desperately needs.
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