He did not start but a few games and played in a very dysfunctional team under two head coaches in 2008. This kid was a good player in 2007 when he was a SS for much of the season. Then they switched him to FS. You can see his game went down. He is 207 LBS. Can't tackle? What? He had 85 tackles in 2007. Our starting safety Mr. Sanders had 64 tackles. In 2006 Huff had 64 tackles as a rookie.
Can't cover? What ? He had 11 PDefs in 2007 and an INT. Our staring saftey Mr. Sanders had 5 PDefs.
He has been bounced around by that team like a ping pong ball from CB to SS to FS. He is only 25 years old.
To all of you "no thanks" dudes. Thanks for your input and opinions. I believe he is an upgrade and might work well with Merriweather.
I think it's worth taking a look at Huff. I don't know the details of his current contract, but I think that if there is still a lot of money remaining on it he will probably clear waivers. His productivity doesn't seem to warrant picking up a big contract.
Assuming he clears waivers, giving him a look and a chance at a new start with a winning team would seem to make sense. He's young, athletic, and his good size and speed. He has the athleticism and all-around game to do well opposite Meriweather, and he did better at SS than FS for Oakland. He could be a bust, but he could also be a decent player screwed up by overly high expectations, coaching and scheme changes, etc. If he did well he could easily play his way into a starting role for a championship caliber team. It will be interesting to see if Cleveland goes after him, since they need secondary help and Bob Ryan coached him at Oakland.
Sean Jones would certainly be a good FA pickup, but it's by no means certain that we can get him. I'm not saying Huff over Jones at this point, just that Huff is another option worth looking at.
I don't think Roy Williams is an option. He's purely an in the box guy who is probably best used as a hybrid SS/LB at this point. I think we value overall play (both run and pass) too much to go for him. Can't see him covering TEs much less WRs, whereas Huff has the speed and fluidity that converting him to CB was once considered seriously.
I think Otogwe may get franchised, and if he hits FA is likely to be too pricey for us, and is more of a pure centerfielder. He's sort of the opposite of Roy Williams - nice against the pass but limited against the run. Not worth it to my mind for the $$.
Of those options, I think that Sean Jones and Huff offer the greatest likelihood of being good fits. Again, Huff may be a total bust, but it's worth a look, and I'm sure that Moss and Jordan would have good insights about him (even though I don't see Jordan coming back he seems to have had a good relationship with the Pats and would probably be able to give input).
I'd personally be ecstatic if we could resign at least one of the Sanders guys and one of the other Sanders/Sean Jones/Huff. We would be going in to the draft with 3 players at S as opposed to 1 right now. If we could resign both Sanders and one of Jones/Huff then I think we would be in really good shape, and would not be under pressure to pick up a S early in the draft.
