Translate that quote by Rick Smith to read: "Don't be surprised when we don't sign a notable free agent."
KJ was scouted as not having a lot of upside since he was so nfl ready right? A few of his many problems were that he reacted slow, couldn't bump off the line, and couldn't recover once he was passed up. So to improve in just those areas he would have to improve reflexes, learn to jam the receiver, and get faster. He can learn the technique, maybe reflexes can be improved, but rookies don't get faster.
I totally get the no love lost for KJ deal around the board, but don't you guys think at least part of the problem was the way he was thrown in and expected to be a shutdown corner for his first year? No veteran leadership in the secondary (or at least at positions similar to his) and maybe that's part of the reason he was so shell shocked for a lot of last season. That being said, we absolutely need a veteran CB to come in and provide some leadership/tutoring for not only Kareem but the guys we drafted as well. None of them are going to look very good if we don't get some veteran help for them.
He wasn't expected to be a shutdown corner, he was expected to hold his own as a #2 guy. Kubiak and the FO did blow it by handing him the job and entrenching him in it before he earned a thing. Most everyone is in agreement, and were in agreement in August, that not hiring a vet to at least warm the seat for him was high risk. He'll definitely benefit from having a real secondary coach instead of a doofus hired as a favor to his daddy. But what people were most alarmed by last year were his terrible anticipations and inability to close the gap. It's one thing to bite on fakes or not know how to position yourself...it's another when you are repeatedly torched in footraces game in and game out, and by guys not known to be speedsters.
I think David Gibbs was probably a large part of the problem too. Our secondary fell off dramatically since he got here, and while it's not like we had a lot of talent, not one single guy progressed under him. Quin had a solid rookie campaign followed by a pretty lousy season through the first 2/3 last year. He's really all we had to teach the young guys, too. Frank Bush was a d-line guy before, and Ray Rhodes probably didn't get too much time one on one with them in practice since they leaned on him for the whole defense. Just doesn't seem like their were many checks-and-balances there to make sure Gibbs was teaching them anything productive. Meanwhile, Jon Hoke, who's Bears secondary got to the conference championship, at least made guys like Fred Bennett, Jacques Reeves, and Will Demps look average. All 3 are out of the league or clinging for dear life. I think KJ can be an above average starter. Maybe not worth the 1st rd pick we used him on, but there's some hope now with Vance Joseph.
The Texans kind of tried to get a vet. They just didn't try very hard. Remember that they wined and dined Leigh Bodden who leveraged our interest to get a better deal from New England. I don't remember hearing about us pursuing anyone else though. I'm afraid that the same thing will happen this year. We'll "pursue" a couple of mid level vets most casual fans haven't heard of, we'll be unsuccessful, and we'll go into next season with roughly the same group of DB's we had last year plus a couple of rookies. Asomugha's agent won't even get a call from Rick Smith.
Either way, I'm super pumped to see a legitimate pass rush! http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...atches-made-in-heaven-after-the-draft/page/21
Rotowire is reporting that Mario Williams will play outside linebacker and Conner Barwin along with Brooks Reed will compete for the strong outside linebacker position. Guess we'll see how the biggest (height wise) linebacker has stacked up against competition in a 3-4 defense.
Sorry for the DP but I didn't start a new thread on it cause it belongs here, though I'm sure someone will do so regardless. Either way this explains why we passed on Nick Fairly/Robert Quinn types for JJ Watt. Should be interesting none the less.
Methinks Rotowire is making ***** up. Methinks that Wade Phillips will decide how to play Mario Williams by the end of training camp. I can see how one could jump to that conclusion though, since the Texans selected JJ Watt in the first round. Wade on draft day did not say MW was now his OLB, but that Watt would play DE and some NT on passing downs.
Mcclain seems to be passing it as fact that Mario will be primarily an OLB. Supposed to be a story on it tomorrow. I don't know what changed since they haven't even been able to work with the coaches, but it seems like more than speculation now.
http://twitter.com/#!/McClain_on_NFL/statuses/65975027224420352 At 6-7, 290, Mario Williams will become the largest OLB in NFL history. Wade Phillips plans to use him on the weak side. Since pancakes wrote it must not be true.
NFL Network just talked about it (they were all skeptical about the outcome of the move) so I guess that confirms it.
Methinks Rotowire was right. Methinks NFL Total Acces just ran an opening discussion on the move and will be running a second run of opinions after commercial break. Methinks somehow the coaching staff is contacting players even with the lockout looming over. Really though they're saying that he (Wade Phillips) plans on playing Mario the way he played DeMarcus Ware in Dallas, mainly on pass rush, rarely dropping back in coverage.
Did they discuss what it was primarily they were skeptical about? Is it that he's too big (around 3" and 35# above the average) or lacks the move versatility?
