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corners & safeties

badboy

badboy

Hall of Fame
Ok it is slow so sue me. Compare our corners and safeties. We have several new guys and I am interested in the draft pick we got who in February was rated #90 in top 100 players coming out of college. I'm ok with Okoye:cowboy1: but was hoping we would significantly strengthen CB. On paper, are we better are about the same?
 
Porky

Porky

Hall of Fame
Hey it's the offseason, and the mini camps and ota's haven't even started, so it's better to talk about something rather than nothing I guess.

I think secondary in general is the weakest area of our team. I know the experts will harp on the Oline, but I think our Oline is better than the secondary, especially at safety.

Having said that, we have made some strides, especially at CB.

I think the guy you mentioned as #90 is Fred Bennett. The knock on him is he isn't real physical, but he is a tall guy for a CB, and has the tools to succeed. My guess is he is a long term answer at nickel, and could be CB#2, but maybe not the best one we could have.

We also signed Jamal Fletcher, a former #1 draft pick, who has underpreformed, but did have his best year last year. I think he challenges for the #2 spot this year with Faggins, and if he surprises, maybe even Bennett, but again, long term, I think he is a nickel or dime CB.

So, I feel we have a decent #1, no real #2, and a decent crop of nickel and dime corners. All in all, I like our depth at CB now, just not real thrilled with the options for a really good #2 starter.

Safety is a mess. I'm getting a headache even thinking about it, so I will stop here. :gun:
 
badboy

badboy

Hall of Fame
How will the coaches improve on last season lack of a true #2 CB? Most seem to think Bennett, McKenzie, Faggans, et al are nickles.
 
TK_Gamer

TK_Gamer

Veteran
I'm thinkin we are gonna gather up all the nickles in camp and the best man cover guy will get the cb2 prize, the best zone cover/deep cover guy will get FS, it will be like a pick up game down at my friends house. should be interesting to say the least. my highest hopes are on the unprovens, like bennet, the udfa's and mckenzie. faggins, fletcher, cc, are all someday guys that never stepped up, but who knows. faggins I think is our true nickel, he hits good and too slow to be cb2. maybe someone is just waiting for this year to show his stuff, I hope so.
 
Allstar

Allstar

Bona fide
Hey guys, do yall think that Bennett has a real shot at starting opposite Dunta? I know he's not very good at tackling, but how good is his coverage skills? I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the Buffalo game when Faggins was burnt on I believe two 84 yard TDs. We need all the secondary help we can get. But then again, it's pretty hard for your secondary to look good when the opposing QB has all-day to throw.
 
PapaL

PapaL

Loose Screw
A strong push the DL can cover weaknesses at DB. In theory, with another 1st pick invested on the DL we should be able to compensate for our secondary.

But yeah, Petey should not be our #2 if the Saftey on his side is weak.
 
Goldensilence

Goldensilence

hipster elite
allstars said:
Hey guys, do yall think that Bennett has a real shot at starting opposite Dunta? I know he's not very good at tackling, but how good is his coverage skills? I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the Buffalo game when Faggins was burnt on I believe two 84 yard TDs. We need all the secondary help we can get. But then again, it's pretty hard for your secondary to look good when the opposing QB has all-day to throw.
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IMO after getting burnt the first time they should've thrown something different at Evans but it looked like the same coverage and scheme. Maybe Dunta should've matched up after that and let Petey Settle in, which he did, afterwards.

I think this will be a very interesting TC and Preseason. We'll definately have a LOT to talk about.
 
ledzeppelin229

ledzeppelin229

Hall of Fame
PapaL said:
A strong push the DL can cover weaknesses at DB. In theory, with another 1st pick invested on the DL we should be able to compensate for our secondary.

But yeah, Petey should not be our #2 if the Saftey on his side is weak.
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I hope so. We've said that every year after drafting Babin, Johnson, Williams, and now Okoye.
 
ledzeppelin229

ledzeppelin229

Hall of Fame
PapaL said:
Yeah thats the theory part.
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At least 'theory' is now backed by Kubiak and Rick Smith now. The old 'theory' with Casserly as the primary benefactor has turned out to be an F on the science project.

Like someone else said, everything Casserly got his hands on is turned to crap/tainted. Now that we are free from his grasp, I hope the new coaches can turn muddy water to wine. (ZZ Top reference...I'm listening to some Blues right now)
 
R

Rex King

Waterboy
I don't think McKenzie's with the team anymore. According to CBS, he wasn't tendered an offer.

It looks like it's going to be a last-man standing battle royale for the no. 2 and nickel CB spots. I mean, by my count, it's 7 go in...
- Petey
- Jamar Fletcher
- Fred Bennett
- Dexter Wynn
- Dexter McCleon
- Von Hutchins
- Roc Alexander

Yeah, Goldensilence, I hope the Chron covers OTAs and Mini-Camp better than they have in the past. I'm not holding my breath, though.
 
Porky

Porky

Hall of Fame
Rex King said:
I don't think McKenzie's with the team anymore. According to CBS, he wasn't tendered an offer.

It looks like it's going to be a last-man standing battle royale for the no. 2 and nickel CB spots. I mean, by my count, it's 7 go in...
- Petey
- Jamar Fletcher
- Fred Bennett
- Dexter Wynn
- Dexter McCleon
- Von Hutchins
- Roc Alexander

Yeah, Goldensilence, I hope the Chron covers OTAs and Mini-Camp better than they have in the past. I'm not holding my breath, though.
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Only the first 3 are in contention for the #2 spot imo. The others will be fighting over the dime and last roster spots.

If someone can find out for sure on Mckenzie, please let us know, as I thought he might fit into the picture at dime as well I thought.
 
R

Rex King

Waterboy
Yeah, you're probably right Porky.

I don't know, infrantry. They've got all the rookies and UDFA's, but they also have Michael Stone up there. He got signed by someone else, I'm pretty sure.
 
badboy

badboy

Hall of Fame
So do Earl and Brown take the strong safety and one of the new CB move to free safety starter? I do not remember picking up anyone else end of last season or since who can contest for FS starter. We really do not have a LB on that side who can fall back and defend a pass, right? I just see "easy pickings" on that side of our defense for a good QB to fatten his stats on.
 
kiwitexansfan

kiwitexansfan

Hall of Fame
Its interesting on that Roster List on HT.com that they only list one FS and one SS, Curry Burns and Glen Earl respectively.

I think that you will see one of the rookie Brandon's (Mitchell or Harrison) given a shot at beating CC Brown out for the FS spot.



BTW does anyone else think that Curry Burns parents had a weird sense of humour??
 
NitroGSXR

NitroGSXR

Super Sic #58
The Pencil Neck said:
You have to wonder what his siblings names are.

I went to school (Oak Forest/Black/Waltrip) with a couple of guys named Bent and Rusty Nail.
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My dad worked with a guy named Rusty Nail. I kid you not! SMALL WORLD! He told me all about him.

I always thought he was full of it but APPARENTLY NOT!
 
The Pencil Neck

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
NitroHonda said:
My dad worked with a guy named Rusty Nail. I kid you not! SMALL WORLD! He told me all about him.

I always thought he was full of it but APPARENTLY NOT!
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Excellent. I put the schools I went to in there figuring that someone from the Houston area might have run into one of them.

Whenever the topic of parents giving their kids bad names, I always bring those guys up and no one ever believes me. :splits:
 
infantrycak

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
badboy said:
Aren't these two more SS than free?
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Most of the draft sites were projecting Harrison to SS, probably because of his size. At Stanford they do not play FS and SS but play left and right and he started about half his senior year at CB. Hutchins' experience is mostly at CB so he should be able to compete at FS in terms of coverage experience.
 
thunderkyss

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
infantrycak said:
Most of the draft sites were projecting Harrison to SS, probably because of his size. At Stanford they do not play FS and SS but play left and right and he started about half his senior year at CB. Hutchins' experience is mostly at CB so he should be able to compete at FS in terms of coverage experience.
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Last offseason, Kubiak said he'd like to run the same thing. A left & a right safety, giving us more freedom, and making us more unpredictable & confusing(to opposing QBs) on defense.

Our biggest problem with doing that, is actually Glenn Earl, not CC Brown. CC Brown IMHO has more range than Earl, and plays just as well in the box, and much better in coverage.

If Kubiak really wants to go with a LS & RS, Glenn's position may be the one "up for competition"

If we want a real SS/FS, then I still see Glenn Earl being benched, CC taking over, and one of the other options(Van Hutchins) taking over at FS.


& though Dunta may be the most talented player we have in the secondary, he was our worst CB in '06. He was probably our best safety, but our worst CB.
 
badboy

badboy

Hall of Fame
If we can just come up with an adequate player @ either left CB or left safety, our defense should be much better this season. If not, maybe we can do something like bump the receiver within 5 yds of scrimmage by a linebacker who then slides to the right to defend. The CB picks up that WR and defends with help from safety. This uitilizes 3 players, but Dunte should handle his side. The 2 remaining LB should do okay in the middle. The remaining safety becomes the "insurance".
 
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