Assessment of young players

[Seneschal2]

Well, in fairness, part of the reason that Wheatley couldn't get on the field was that he seemed always to be nursing one injury or another. Never a good sign, but maybe, at this stage, worth a bit of slack.

Perhaps all injured players deserve some slack. Exactly how fair is it to evaluate them unless they're healthy?

As I mentioned earlier, Wilhite got burned for 6 TDs and there were several regular starting CBs around the league who got burned for as many or more. In terms of completion percentage allowed, he was right there with Marcus Trufant, Dunta Robinson, Chris Houston, Richard Marshall and Asante Samuel (who gave up 5 TDs, BTW). Wilhite was also one of the better tacklers of that bunch.

It should also be noted that the entire secondary was at its worst in terms of getting burned for long gains and scores when McGowan was on the field miscommunicating the coverages. My hope is that, with (possibly) better coaching and Chung perhaps stepping up far enough for the in-the-box role to keep McGowan off the field, all of these guys will perform a whole lot more consistently. Remains to be seen, of course.

You forgot to add how a consistent pass rush can affect an entire secondary.

 

[MaineMan]

Perhaps all injured players deserve some slack. Exactly how fair is it to evaluate them unless they're healthy?

You forgot to add how a consistent pass rush can affect an entire secondary.

Not pertinent. I'm talking about instantly blown coverages that even a good pass rush can't compensate for.

 

[Seneschal2]

Not pertinent. I'm talking about instantly blown coverages that even a good pass rush can't compensate for.

Not pertinent huh? How about lack of experience/leadership in the secondary? Would that account for some of the blown coverages?

 

[MaineMan]

Not pertinent huh? How about lack of experience/leadership in the secondary? Would that account for some of the blown coverages?

Absolutely. Add in a young guy who was essentially a rookie DB coach and there's bound to be a lot of confusion about who's supposed to have what assignment, about what to watch for and about how to react to it.

But that still has nothing to do with the pass rush, or lack thereof. Those are issues that take their toll just before, or at, the snap, not 3 to 5 seconds later. At that point, the damage has already been done. So, consistent or not, the pass rush is not pertinent unless the coverage is good to begin with.