How bad has Darius Butler been?

[Sicilian]

Watched that last night, actually. What a weird movie.

Agreed, haven't really made up my mind about it yet... sbpatfan's comment just reminded me of it.

Back on topic:

Hell,Compared to Butler's play I miss Duane Starks right now

Come on now, let's not say things we can't take back

 

[Ochmed Jones]

While playing street football outside the Razor yesterday, it was reported a fire hydrant scored 4 TD's and drew 3 pass interference penalties with Butler covering.

Inital plans show that in next week's game BB is going to double cover the fire hydrant with Wilhite and Merriweather. Vegas oddsmakers have set the over under for TD's by the fire hydrant at 3.

 

[Kontradiction]

Wow, I knew it was bad but not that bad. He's looked pretty terrible so far this year (and that's not a word that I throw around a lot when it comes to Pats players) after finishing the year strong in 2009. He's in the midst of a sophomore slump.

 

[Calciumee]

Man, how much do the Pats miss Leigh Bodden?

We all miss him! But he tweeted at me on Friday

 

[drew4008]

Give it up with the "it's early, he'll get better". We're living in the now, and as of right now, he doesn't deserve to be playing in the NFL.

 

[upstater1]

Give it up with the "it's early, he'll get better". We're living in the now, and as of right now, he doesn't deserve to be playing in the NFL.

Speak for yourself.

I'm a fan who will wait patiently for Belichick to develop these kids into a Super-Bowl caliber unit.

I'm not going to be like you. Why? Because I didn't advise getting rid of Bruschi, McGinest, Asante, Kevin Faulk, and a dozen other great Patriots who didn't show up in their first 19 games.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Give it up with the "it's early, he'll get better". We're living in the now, and as of right now, he doesn't deserve to be playing in the NFL.

Not all the kids we have on this defense will be good in 3 years from now but then again I would doubt that some of the kids we have on this defense will be inexperienced and unproductive as they are now..some of these guys may improve some may not but I wouldn't give up on anyone of them until 2013 at the earliest.

We kept that bum Maroney as a wasted spot for 4 freaking years so why wouldn't we give Butler a chance to find his niche?

 

[unoriginal]

so you're saying that pryor is not filling gaps...

can a DL both rush the passer and fill a gap at the same time? or should pryor have been keeping it in mind?

and if hes doing so poorly, how come most ppl think hes doing well?

^^^honest questions, no irony

The answer to the first one is yes, it is possible to rush the passer and fill a gap at the same time; not only is it possible, it's the usual kind of pass rush, called contain rush.

Wilfork has been complaining publicly about the Pats runs defense in sub-packages, i.e. nickel and dime with a four man line. I think it's safe to say he wouldn't be complaining so loudly if he was the DT sucking at it.

 

[mb6592]

Agreed, haven't really made up my mind about it yet...

What's not to like? Superheroes that don't suffer from angst or moral relativism (i.e. the old B.S. - if I kill bad guys I risk becoming just like them).

 

[Triumph]

Butler's play has been incredibly poor so far, but I'm not panicking yet.

From what I've seen, Butler has shown that he has the athleticism to keep up with Chad 8-5 and Braylon 0.16 Edwards. Not too shabby at all. He just needs some serious coaching.

Like looking back for the ball.

You would think that would top on the list at CB school.

 

[Ring 6]

I think its sketchy to put QB ratings on a corner who plays mostly zone.
For there to be that many catches against him, you would have to count everything in between zones as his. Vs the Jets there were 5 completions(plus one that was impossible to determine whether it was his man or Chungs) where you could consider Butler in coverage and 3 were short passes in front of his zone. If a corner is playing an intermediate zone underneath and outside receiver and a receiver catches a 2 yards pass in front of him, I dont see the statistical relevance in using that in a QB rating vs him.
Not saying he played great, just that this is a weak set of stats, and would be no matter what they say about a corner playing mostly zone.

 

[Ring 6]

After reading a few blog posts on the Pats D I found a pretty alarming stat that shows just how much Darius Butler is struggling.



Man, how much do the Pats miss Leigh Bodden?

Where is that quote from?

 

[Kasmir]

I think its sketchy to put QB ratings on a corner who plays mostly zone.
For there to be that many catches against him, you would have to count everything in between zones as his. Vs the Jets there were 5 completions(plus one that was impossible to determine whether it was his man or Chungs) where you could consider Butler in coverage and 3 were short passes in front of his zone. If a corner is playing an intermediate zone underneath and outside receiver and a receiver catches a 2 yards pass in front of him, I dont see the statistical relevance in using that in a QB rating vs him.
Not saying he played great, just that this is a weak set of stats, and would be no matter what they say about a corner playing mostly zone.

That's a great point. QB rating deducts incompletions from sacks as well, and a DB could presumably never get credited for a sack, so this kind of rating will be artificially high. You're absolutely right to ask to see the methodology.

 

[g-fresh]

What's not to like? Superheroes that don't suffer from angst or moral relativism (i.e. the old B.S. - if I kill bad guys I risk becoming just like them).

Oh I don't know, maybe it was the second half of the movie where grown men beat the **** out of a 10 year old girl. Talk about moral relativism...

Back on topic, Butler has been that bad. I am not saying we need to cut him or call him a bust, but he clearly has some adjustments to make before he is ready to see significant action again.

One thing to consider, he has been man to man with some pretty good receivers. Some people around here like to **** on any player on any other team, but Ochocinco (still can't get over that that is his real name and we all go along with it) and yes even Braylon Edwards are very good NFL receivers. They may not be superstars, but they are good players with years of experience in the league. Its a big jump to go from spot duty against Mark Clayton and other carefully picked matchups to being a starter against opposing teams best or second best receivers.

A lot of NE fans lack patience. We have been spoiled in the past 10 years, and it seems like we need someone to be a superstar right away or he is worthless. Obviously to this point Butler has player a lot closer to the later than the former, but with these young players and this young defense as a whole we are going to have to wait until at least the second half of the season to get an idea of where we are.

 

[patsfan-1982]

in todays NFL were you can't even look at a WR with out geting a PI called on you playing on a team with no pass rush at all is a no win for 90% of the CB's in the NFL

 

[patfanken]

For right now I think Butler is mis positioned on the outside. Had Boddin no been hurt, he would have missed a lot of this criticism by playing in the slot, where IMHO he is more suited. If I were BB I'd let Arrington stay out on the outside and get Butler his confidence back by playing the nickel CB

 

[patsfanboy]

The Bills put 30 points without him, he is not the source of the defense problems.

 

[Sicilian]

I think its sketchy to put QB ratings on a corner who plays mostly zone.
For there to be that many catches against him, you would have to count everything in between zones as his. Vs the Jets there were 5 completions(plus one that was impossible to determine whether it was his man or Chungs) where you could consider Butler in coverage and 3 were short passes in front of his zone. If a corner is playing an intermediate zone underneath and outside receiver and a receiver catches a 2 yards pass in front of him, I dont see the statistical relevance in using that in a QB rating vs him.
Not saying he played great, just that this is a weak set of stats, and would be no matter what they say about a corner playing mostly zone.

QB rating in general is kind of a sketchy stat. Also, as we've heard many times before, if your teammates aren't doing their job either, it's impossible to do yours well. For example, if you've got help over the top on a 3rd and long, you can gamble on a quick hitch to try to jump the route. If you miss, your safety should be there to tackle before the first down. That would count against you on your "QB rating against", but wouldn't be a bad play necessarily.

I didn't see any of those obvious moments with Butler so far this season, just using it as an example of why this particular set of stats is flawed.

 

[moosekill]

The Bills put 30 points without him, he is not the source of the defense problems.

The Bills put up 23 points against the D. 10 of which can be in large part credited to the O's giving the Bills great field position. Heck, the Bills hardly had to move at all to get the field goal. So now from 30 points we are down to lets say 20 to be fair. (Take away the one field goal, but not the touch down) Is 20 points that bad?