What is with all the Hobbs hate? Look yeah he does get abused every now and then due to his size but he holds his own for the most part. Name another corner on our current roster who could have done better at #2.
I think people have a pretty unrealistic idea of what number two cornerbacks do in this league, and how effective they are at stopping the receivers they are up against (and most aren't playing against a team's number one receiver for most of two games, i.e., Hobbs against Plax in week 17 and that other game). Hobbs plays a lot against the best wide receivers (before his injury in '06 he was shadowing Laverneus Coles and Lee Evans, and doing so more than effectively). He has exceeded expectations, if those expectations are reasonable considering the role he has been asked to meet. But fans want to remember a busted team coverage against Pittsburgh that allowed Najeh Davenport to score a ridiculous touchdown, or Hobbs falling down to allow a 47-yard TD to Parrish, or the 35 yard reception where he had excellent coverage but an high ball and giving up eight inches to one of the better receivers in the league led to a reception... do you know why? Because when he has good coverage WE DON'T SEE IT. The reason why Asante Samuel (who plays with the same cushion, has just as much safety help, actually gets beaten for TDs more often) is widely considered "way better" is because of his gambles. Hobbs doesn't intercept as many passes as Samuel, but you know what? at this point in Samuels's career (ie., after three seasons) he wasn't picking off as many passes, either, and wasn't doing even close to as good a job as Hobbs has. In fact, it took Hobbs's insertion in the starting lineup to make a **** secondary in '05 look remotely serviceable, and that included the sixty million dollar man.
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