Deus Irae

Stafford got 10 starts in as a rookie, and another 3 in his sophomore season. Dowling has 2 starts in that same two year period, and has been active for 8 games total, I believe.

Stafford showed real talent before going down in those years, especially in year 2. Dowling has shown essentially nothing. At this point, if Dowling even gives the team a CB4, it's gravy.

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

Brady_to_Moss

over or under 5 games for him this year? I will take the under

ausbacker

Bulldust. In limited exposure Dowling showed he has some ability. He also has size. That isn't coachable.

Deus Irae

He's had two starts, did nothing to set the world on fire, and then was lost for the year. He then returned after missing most of that rookie year, as a backup, and he looked awful, and then was lost for the year, again. You're welcome to believe that showed something far beyond him actually being able to step foot on a football field if you wish. I don't think we saw what you think we saw.

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

mgteich

I agree. That is why I project him to be our #4 corner, if he is healthy.

betterthanthealternative

What we are evaluating is his potential value if healthy. If he's not healthy, he won't play, so it is a non issue. If he is healthy, then we have a preseason and two regular season games on which to evaluate him. In those games, he was very good for a rookie.

Hence, any scientific analysis would suggest that there is a chance he will be very good, albeit through a small sample size. That's the evaluation to be made here. People talking about how likely he is to be healthy or not are just pulling an answer out of the sky (unless there is someone on this board with a personal relationship with the guy).

Deus Irae

Your post makes almost no sense, particularly in light of what little we have actually seen and the content of the O.P..

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

ausbacker

He was just fine and he'll be a fine DB if he can stay healthy. I'm not questioning his talent but his ability to stay on the field.

Schmo

Low risk, high reward.... I say sign the bea.......... what? He's under contract? It's a position of need? We're talking about cutting him?

I honestly trust that you have a better eye than I do as far as these things go, but I could've sworn I saw flashes from him both this year and last. But as someone mentioned, Crable got 3 years (well, a chance at a 3rd), Dowling will get 3.

Deus Irae

Well, unless Jason's got the numbers wrong, he's not going to get cut for savings, because he'll be a negative savings of $83,569 if cut. That should get him into the offseason program, and I'm sure they'll take it from there. They're thin at the position, so mgteich's thought of him staying on as a CB4 are certainly not farfetched, and then the hope will be that he plays about a million times better than what we saw last season. Cutting him next year is where the cap savings (over $1 million) would kick in.

Of course, they could theoretically designate him as their post-june cut for cap purposes...

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius