Rupert
The Long Wind
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2005
- Messages
- 10,283
- Reaction score
- 3,678
CB:
Charles Woodson is the best corner on the team. Let's forget about all this franchise stuff for a minute. And let's throw the injury issue out with the bath water too. Woodson is a natural athlete with lots of experience and instincts playing the corner position. He's best at man coverage where his physical style works very well when the refs aren't looking too closely. In run support he's a monster tackler as far as corners go, but for maximum run support he has to be in a zone defense or off the WR at the snap or be taken in toward the line by the receiver. He's got great ball instincts, but they require he gets a better look at the QB, so he peeks a little too much for his coverage to remain stellar. And ever since the team stopped using him so much in zone coverage his picks have dropped way off. He also has a tendency to get bored if the opposition looks away from him for too long and softens his coverage.
Bringing the salary back into view, on par with everyone else in the league, he's a little below the top tier of CB's because of his recent lack of Int's. Blame it on teams looking the other way often enough to get Charles to slack off in his coverage if you want, it's entirely irrlevant in my book. His production at the position drops below where his salary demands are.
Brining the injury issue into light and we're talking about a guy who's missed substantial playing time the past 4 seasons. Blame it on luck (as I do) or call it an injury bug (which I think is preposterous), it's entirely irrelevant as well. His time on the field, coupled with his salary demands don't add up in my book. If he's willing to move to safety (at safety salary mind you) then I might be interested in keeping him. Otherwise...
Nnamdi Asomugha has emerged as a solid starter this season after Phillip Buchanon was jettisoned. He had plenty of on-the-job adjustments to make. He is also a physical corner, but he has cut his teeth in the newer (don't breathe hard on the WR) NFL and doesn't get caught with his hands on the WR as often as Woodson has. In man coverage he's pretty sharp, lacking a little in the change of direction area. He has a good feel for zone coverage and gets both good reads and breaks on the ball. His ball skills are sharp enough for knocking balls down, but I think his change of direction has prevented him from being in position for more picks. Unlike Woodson or Buchanon, Asomugha works the entire game and every down. He is a solid tackler and reminds me of Woodson in his younger days, with a little more pop, and a more head up tackling style (which could lead to a shorter life-span as a corner). He's about as good as Woodson in run support, just a little less instinctive.
Fabian Washington has also emerged as a talent at corner. Possessing exceptional speed and quickness he's proven very effective in both man and zone coverage. He's had lapses and experienced rookie schoolings, but all signs are that he'll be an effective corner and possibly an upper-tier player for many years.
Renaldo Hill has been a pleasant surprise with his versatility and toughness. Lacking a little of the speed and quickness to stay with today's elite wideouts, he has more than enough experience and desire to stay on the field. He's been both a nickel corner and a strong safety. He sticks his head in to disrupt blocks from much larger players and he's shown the toughness to tackle much larger players. He's been asked to cover RB's, TE's and WR's and does a solid job on all of them, showing the ability to use his leaping ability to break up passes to taller players.
Stanford Routt started the season as the nickel back and excelled at blanketing WR's in man coverage. Unfortunately, he didn't have good ball awareness, nor the experience to know what to do when the WR's eyes become silver dollars (turn toward the ball, baby) so was caught with his hands in the cookie jar (on the receiver pre-reception) too often. He also didn't demonstrate good angles when breaking on the ball in zone coverage. He's got all the speed a corner could want, lots of toughness, and good quicks. All the physicals you want at the position. His instincts seem a little lacking and his experience a little shy, but those will improve with time on the field.
Chris Carr is rough around the edges as a corner. He's got the physical skill, but, like Routt, lacks a little in the instincts and experience category. On top of his developmental needs, he lacks a little height. Listed at 5-10 he looks more like 5-8 on the field. Carr does bring good return skills, but those show a lack of experience as well. Regardless of that he brings more to the table than we've had in a returner for some time.
Denard Walker has been a non-factor for most of his Raiders career. He's getting long in the tooth and is losing some of the speed and desire that made him a good player for Tennesee and Denver.
Keeping Woodson would really mean that Walker is expendable. Letting Woodson leave would make it smarter to keep Walker for his veteran leadership, but with him below everyone on the depth, how much helping will he be capable of? it's not like we need more youth at corner, but a late-round developmental guy would be a nice addition, especially a bigger physical guy like Woodson or Asomugha.
Safety:
Stuart Schweigert has all the skills you look for in a Free Safety. He's fast, very fast, makes good reads, gets a great jump on the ball, and can be counted on to tackle, often with authority. In his first season as the starter, he's had his growing pains, including taking bad angles and missing tackles. But he has been the embodiment of Pride and Poise in the secondary and often the vocal leader of it. I expect him to continue to improve and help lock down the secondary for years to come.
Jarrod Cooper has been a welcomed addition to the secondary, bringing a little more attitude and tackling skill than Derrick Gibson used to. There's something about seeing a SS react like a missle when he reads run. Unfortunately, he didn't bring the man coverage skills Gibson did, and was even worse in zones. In many ways he was a 7/8ths Marques Anderson. A little quicker, and possibly faster, but with less pop when tackling and the tendency to bite on play action a little too frequently.
Derrick Gibson is a decent player, but he's more athlete than football player. He's got the speed, the change of direction, and the size to be great; however, he lacks the instincts and some of the football basics to be a solid player. He can man cover like nobody's business, but beyond blanketing his man, he doesn't have ball awareness. In zone coverage, he doesn't read that well, and doesn't get good breaks on the ball. In tackling he attacks the ball carrier too high which takes away from his ability to stop him in place.
With Hill's ability to slide over, we've got an emergency solution at safety. Gibson and Cooper are okay at SS, but we really could use an upgrade, especially a guy with all-around skills AND instincts. Stu has everything we need at FS except a little experience, and that's been coming all season.
In summary, other than upgrading SS, which isn't absolutely necessary, and possibly adding a true backup FS, the secondary is in good shape. Another young corner might be worthwhile, but a declining veteran might fill in as both a backup corner and safety, and who could argue with doing that?
Charles Woodson is the best corner on the team. Let's forget about all this franchise stuff for a minute. And let's throw the injury issue out with the bath water too. Woodson is a natural athlete with lots of experience and instincts playing the corner position. He's best at man coverage where his physical style works very well when the refs aren't looking too closely. In run support he's a monster tackler as far as corners go, but for maximum run support he has to be in a zone defense or off the WR at the snap or be taken in toward the line by the receiver. He's got great ball instincts, but they require he gets a better look at the QB, so he peeks a little too much for his coverage to remain stellar. And ever since the team stopped using him so much in zone coverage his picks have dropped way off. He also has a tendency to get bored if the opposition looks away from him for too long and softens his coverage.
Bringing the salary back into view, on par with everyone else in the league, he's a little below the top tier of CB's because of his recent lack of Int's. Blame it on teams looking the other way often enough to get Charles to slack off in his coverage if you want, it's entirely irrlevant in my book. His production at the position drops below where his salary demands are.
Brining the injury issue into light and we're talking about a guy who's missed substantial playing time the past 4 seasons. Blame it on luck (as I do) or call it an injury bug (which I think is preposterous), it's entirely irrelevant as well. His time on the field, coupled with his salary demands don't add up in my book. If he's willing to move to safety (at safety salary mind you) then I might be interested in keeping him. Otherwise...
Nnamdi Asomugha has emerged as a solid starter this season after Phillip Buchanon was jettisoned. He had plenty of on-the-job adjustments to make. He is also a physical corner, but he has cut his teeth in the newer (don't breathe hard on the WR) NFL and doesn't get caught with his hands on the WR as often as Woodson has. In man coverage he's pretty sharp, lacking a little in the change of direction area. He has a good feel for zone coverage and gets both good reads and breaks on the ball. His ball skills are sharp enough for knocking balls down, but I think his change of direction has prevented him from being in position for more picks. Unlike Woodson or Buchanon, Asomugha works the entire game and every down. He is a solid tackler and reminds me of Woodson in his younger days, with a little more pop, and a more head up tackling style (which could lead to a shorter life-span as a corner). He's about as good as Woodson in run support, just a little less instinctive.
Fabian Washington has also emerged as a talent at corner. Possessing exceptional speed and quickness he's proven very effective in both man and zone coverage. He's had lapses and experienced rookie schoolings, but all signs are that he'll be an effective corner and possibly an upper-tier player for many years.
Renaldo Hill has been a pleasant surprise with his versatility and toughness. Lacking a little of the speed and quickness to stay with today's elite wideouts, he has more than enough experience and desire to stay on the field. He's been both a nickel corner and a strong safety. He sticks his head in to disrupt blocks from much larger players and he's shown the toughness to tackle much larger players. He's been asked to cover RB's, TE's and WR's and does a solid job on all of them, showing the ability to use his leaping ability to break up passes to taller players.
Stanford Routt started the season as the nickel back and excelled at blanketing WR's in man coverage. Unfortunately, he didn't have good ball awareness, nor the experience to know what to do when the WR's eyes become silver dollars (turn toward the ball, baby) so was caught with his hands in the cookie jar (on the receiver pre-reception) too often. He also didn't demonstrate good angles when breaking on the ball in zone coverage. He's got all the speed a corner could want, lots of toughness, and good quicks. All the physicals you want at the position. His instincts seem a little lacking and his experience a little shy, but those will improve with time on the field.
Chris Carr is rough around the edges as a corner. He's got the physical skill, but, like Routt, lacks a little in the instincts and experience category. On top of his developmental needs, he lacks a little height. Listed at 5-10 he looks more like 5-8 on the field. Carr does bring good return skills, but those show a lack of experience as well. Regardless of that he brings more to the table than we've had in a returner for some time.
Denard Walker has been a non-factor for most of his Raiders career. He's getting long in the tooth and is losing some of the speed and desire that made him a good player for Tennesee and Denver.
Keeping Woodson would really mean that Walker is expendable. Letting Woodson leave would make it smarter to keep Walker for his veteran leadership, but with him below everyone on the depth, how much helping will he be capable of? it's not like we need more youth at corner, but a late-round developmental guy would be a nice addition, especially a bigger physical guy like Woodson or Asomugha.
Safety:
Stuart Schweigert has all the skills you look for in a Free Safety. He's fast, very fast, makes good reads, gets a great jump on the ball, and can be counted on to tackle, often with authority. In his first season as the starter, he's had his growing pains, including taking bad angles and missing tackles. But he has been the embodiment of Pride and Poise in the secondary and often the vocal leader of it. I expect him to continue to improve and help lock down the secondary for years to come.
Jarrod Cooper has been a welcomed addition to the secondary, bringing a little more attitude and tackling skill than Derrick Gibson used to. There's something about seeing a SS react like a missle when he reads run. Unfortunately, he didn't bring the man coverage skills Gibson did, and was even worse in zones. In many ways he was a 7/8ths Marques Anderson. A little quicker, and possibly faster, but with less pop when tackling and the tendency to bite on play action a little too frequently.
Derrick Gibson is a decent player, but he's more athlete than football player. He's got the speed, the change of direction, and the size to be great; however, he lacks the instincts and some of the football basics to be a solid player. He can man cover like nobody's business, but beyond blanketing his man, he doesn't have ball awareness. In zone coverage, he doesn't read that well, and doesn't get good breaks on the ball. In tackling he attacks the ball carrier too high which takes away from his ability to stop him in place.
With Hill's ability to slide over, we've got an emergency solution at safety. Gibson and Cooper are okay at SS, but we really could use an upgrade, especially a guy with all-around skills AND instincts. Stu has everything we need at FS except a little experience, and that's been coming all season.
In summary, other than upgrading SS, which isn't absolutely necessary, and possibly adding a true backup FS, the secondary is in good shape. Another young corner might be worthwhile, but a declining veteran might fill in as both a backup corner and safety, and who could argue with doing that?
