Barber sucks. He'll immediately be one of the very worst starting safeties in the league Sunday, if not the worst. He is horrible. What Kubes sees in this guy is beyond me because he is trash as a starting NFL safety. Always has been and always will be.
Not only that, but he is an in the box SS not a FS so exactly how is he supposed to help the pass coverage again? Then again the only real FS on the roster is Eugene Wilson who is playing more like Flip Wilson this year...except Flip has better hands.
I blame this mess on Rick Smith and Kubiak who repeatedly have had chances to address the safety position with legit NFL talent but prefer UDFA's, and 6th and 7th rounders instead.
And the CB spot is equally bad, and it's painfully obvious that our 1st rounder is not going to ever meet up with his draft position. He'll get better, but he is mid round material at best. The rest of the guys are young, under-talented, or under-sized...or all of the above. And people wonder how we are giving up all this yardage? LMAO.
The only thing that can make a difference back there is Cushing. Thank God. He might save our season yet.
I agree with you on Barber. No clue what they see in this guy. He isn't even bacup FS material, at best backup SS.
I didn't have a huge problem with the FO drafting Jackson, but I would've rather drafted Kyle Wilson. No matter which rookie they would've put out on the field it wouldn't have mattered, every rookie starting CB in the league struggles their first year. It took a few years for Nnamdi and Darelle to transform into primier Cbs.
The biggest problem I do have however, is that I think the FO had a pretty good clue that they were going to go real young at CB. Problem is much as I like Quinn's game at best he's going to be a real solid #2. I like McCain's speed, but if they're going to have him in the nickle he's going to have problem covering the bigger possession receivers because of his size. If they were going to go this young they should've made a move for a solid veteran FS. Kerry Rhodes got traded for next to nothing. a 4th this year and a 7th in 2011. But hey we got another back up TE! Been a while but, I remember there being other possibilities for acquiring a FS.
Had it been me I would've kept Reeves, slotted him as the #1 and have Quinn as the #2. First work Jackson into the nickle so he can get a feel for the speed of NFL WRs and then as the season progressed move him into a starting role.
You're right though, my best hope for the secondary at this point is that Cushing coming back gives a big boost to the front seven in getting pressure on the CB and him being our best cover Lber.
All bitching and nit-picking aside. With some luck this team has a chance to go 3-1 for the first quarter of the season without our defensive MVP. That's a a great leg up to make a run at the playoffs. I hope that the FO realizes this and decides to get off its ass and start scouring the league for a trade to make at FS.