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- Dec 21, 2004
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Safety play is becoming more and more important in the NFL. Teams that lack a strong presence at this position tend to struggle in pass coverage. Most teams are scouring the college landscape looking for the next Ed Reed. Oakland overdrafted Huff a few years ago on the hope that he becomes the next Ed Reed.
Now that Wilson has excaped BB's doghouse and IF Merriweather is indeed moving to CB, that leaves us very thin at the safety position.
SS Rodney Harrison is not the player he was 3 years ago and is in steady decline. The jump ball he lost to the Giants WR still haunts me to this day. Three years ago, he lays out the Giants WR and we win.
FS Sanders is much better suited as a SS where he can get closer to the LOS.
SS tank Williams is JAG, and acts as insurance in case Rodney goes down.
I know BB likes to think of the safties as splitting the field instead of the traditional Free and Strong, but an analysis of the Pats season shows Sanders playing centerfield and acting like a FS for much of the season. And he really didn't get his hands on that many balls.
So what do we need, a thumper to replace Rodney after this season, or does Sanders move up to SS and we draft a ball hawking FS.
The best thumper of the SS class is Z-bit from Notre Dame. But he is under sized for the NFL and might break down fairly quickly.
The best ball hawking FS might be Phillips of Miami, but he is also the most likely to freelance and blow a coverage. Not to mention that in my opinion, he'll need at least a year and a half to learn the playbook.
Maybe we could package the #7 pick with a third rounder and send them to Oakland for Nnamdi and Huff. But somehow I can't see BB doing that even there was no salary cap.
I think we can pick up a quality ball hawking FS with a wart or two on day 2 and give him a year in the system to learn the playbook while contributing on special teams.
Now that Wilson has excaped BB's doghouse and IF Merriweather is indeed moving to CB, that leaves us very thin at the safety position.
SS Rodney Harrison is not the player he was 3 years ago and is in steady decline. The jump ball he lost to the Giants WR still haunts me to this day. Three years ago, he lays out the Giants WR and we win.
FS Sanders is much better suited as a SS where he can get closer to the LOS.
SS tank Williams is JAG, and acts as insurance in case Rodney goes down.
I know BB likes to think of the safties as splitting the field instead of the traditional Free and Strong, but an analysis of the Pats season shows Sanders playing centerfield and acting like a FS for much of the season. And he really didn't get his hands on that many balls.
So what do we need, a thumper to replace Rodney after this season, or does Sanders move up to SS and we draft a ball hawking FS.
The best thumper of the SS class is Z-bit from Notre Dame. But he is under sized for the NFL and might break down fairly quickly.
The best ball hawking FS might be Phillips of Miami, but he is also the most likely to freelance and blow a coverage. Not to mention that in my opinion, he'll need at least a year and a half to learn the playbook.
Maybe we could package the #7 pick with a third rounder and send them to Oakland for Nnamdi and Huff. But somehow I can't see BB doing that even there was no salary cap.
I think we can pick up a quality ball hawking FS with a wart or two on day 2 and give him a year in the system to learn the playbook while contributing on special teams.