Death Match 5 – Jairus Byrd vs. Aqib Talib

I was surprised to see Byrd go untagged, he is a fantastic player. He and McCourty would be the best safety tandem in the NFL (including Seattle).

Costs being equal, I'd take Byrd. He is so good back there, he makes corners look much better.

If Talib didn't have that hip, I'd reconsider - I'm just worried he'll never be a 16-game+playoffs player.

50-yard-line said:

Costs being equal, I'd take Byrd. He is so good back there, he makes corners look much better.

If Talib didn't have that hip, I'd reconsider - I'm just worried he'll never be a 16-game+playoffs player.

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But you think Byrd is a 16 game player?

Edit: He's actually played in more games than I thought, however, correct me if i'm wrong, he's battling through injury just as often, if not more often than Talib?

strngplyr said:

But you think Byrd is a 16 game player?

Edit: He's actually played in more games than I thought, however, correct me if i'm wrong, he's battling through injury just as often, if not more often than Talib?

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Byrd- 5 years- 73 regular season games (has played all 16 games in 3 seasons)
Talib- 6 years- 77 regular season games (never has played 16 games in a regular season)

Just to add on Byrd, he missed 2 games his rookie year. Which the Bills shut him down the last two games of the season.

So no Byrd has not battled injuries as often as Talib.

/discussion about that

strngplyr said:

But you think Byrd is a 16 game player?

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He missed 5 games last season but before that he had played in 48 of the last 48, and he has played in 73 of 80 in his career (the other 2 missed were in his rookie season so he did not miss a game in the prior 3 seasons).

JMC00 said:

Byrd- 5 years- 73 regular season games (has played all 16 games in 3 seasons)
Talib- 7 years- 77 regular season games (never has played 16 games in a season)

Just to add on Byrd, he missed 2 games his rookie year. No idea of that was injury related or just rookie related.

So now Byrd has not battled injuries as often as Talib.

/discussion about that

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• Talib has played 6 seasons in the NFL, which is 96 possible regular season games; he has played 77 of them, which is 80% of them.
• Byrd has played 5 seasons in the NFL, which is 80 possible regular season games; he has played in 73 of them, which is 91% of them.

Even beyond that, it's the type of injury for Talib that concerns me the most. Hips don't ever seem to heal...see Dowling, Ras-I.

he plays the same position as Devin McCourty only McCurty is half the price and I don't think Byrd is twice as good, if we are talking about T.J Ward and a pass rusher then yes ill take that over Talib but not Byrd

Brady6 said:

He missed 5 games last season but before that he had played in 48 of the last 48, and he has played in 73 of 80 in his career (the other 2 missed were in his rookie season so he did not miss a game in the prior 3 seasons).

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Yeah, thanks, I already realized such and edited my post accordingly.

patsfan-1982 said:

he plays the same position as Devin McCourty only McCurty is half the price and I don't think Byrd is twice as good, if we are talking about T.J Ward and a pass rusher then yes ill take that over Talib but not Byrd

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We played left and right safety. Byrd and McCourty would be great together.

Also Byrd played mostly strong safety last year with Aaron Williams playing free.

Brady6 said:

We played left and right safety. Byrd and McCourty would be great together.

Also Byrd played mostly strong safety last year with Aaron Williams playing free.

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this is just my opinion but the way I see it is Alfonzo Dennard and Logan Ryan cant cover the other teams #1 guy one on one the way Talib did at lest not for more then a play or two so Byrd will be over top the #1 WR all game so it will take two guys to do the job that Talib does and Byrd is the same price

patsfan-1982 said:

this is just my opinion but the way I see it is Alfonzo Dennard and Logan Ryan cant cover the other teams #1 guy one on one the way Talib did at lest not for more then a play or two so Byrd will be over top the #1 WR all game so it will take two guys to do the job that Talib does and Byrd is the same price

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Preach. +1

Tough question, but I'll go with Byrd.

Talib. We need someone that can both cover and bring the pain at SS. Byrd can cover but he's not too big of a hitter. I would go with Talib and then sign Ward.

Byrd...but it's close

50-yard-line said:

Even beyond that, it's the type of injury for Talib that concerns me the most. Hips don't ever seem to heal...see Dowling, Ras-I.

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And Colvin, Roosevelt.

I take Byrd. Less $ as a safety, more consistent player. I think a Ryan-McCourty-Byrd-Dennard secondary is better than a Talib-McCourty-Harmon-Dennard secondary. Also, I see no problem in playing two FS types. The game is changing, and a safety who can cover is much more valuable than a in the box hitter type.

Talib is a great player...when healthy. The problem is that he has a hip problem, and I'm not sure he can play all 16+ games in a season.

I love Talib, but I will have to go with Byrd here.

All things being equal in terms of availability and cap usage I'd take Talib.

Byrd is very similiar to McCourty in that they're both former CB's (Byrd at Oregon) and both are better in the deep half and aren't natural, rangy, center-fielders, nor are they strong in the box or overly physical-- good weakside safeties with CB versatility outside.

But if we were to lose out on Talib I wouldn't be opposed to signing Byrd with the intention of allowing McCourty to play CB with a mid-level Derek Cox signing as well...I don't know where the dis-connect with Cox and San Diego occured, but he was a really good cover corner for Jax, and is still a young veteran.

I think he would do well here.

Byrd. Byrd and McCourty would give them the best safety tandem in football and would help them shut down the middle of the field and help both corners. Talib is more dominant in certain one on one situations but Byrd would pair with McCourty to help the entire secondary. They can sign another mid range CB and draft one to help at CB but the middle of the unit would be set for years.*( I'm counting on a McCourty restructure as well, spend at Safety)

stinkypete said:

And Colvin, Roosevelt.

I take Byrd. Less $ as a safety, more consistent player. I think a Ryan-McCourty-Byrd-Dennard secondary is better than a Talib-McCourty-Harmon-Dennard secondary. Also, I see no problem in playing two FS types. The game is changing, and a safety who can cover is much more valuable than a in the box hitter type.

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And laid out like that it's hard to argue it. I think the game has shifted and being able to cover the middle of the field against the passing game has a new priority to it. Two TE offenses with slot receivers playing a major role are becoming the norm and teams have to be able to cover inside or pay dearly for it, as we have seen with the Patriots of recent years. Collins, Fletcher, and the return of Mayo and loss of spikes will improve that on it's own, but adding an All pro safety with McCourty would give them an exceptional interior pass defense and force the action outside while giving their young corners the support of great safeties. I would spend the money on byrd, no question, it helps them much more as a team.