Before the flame throwers come out, let me say that Toast has been one of the banes of my existence over the last couple of years. But he is so young and HAS improved this year to the point that I see him eventually becoming a solid #2. It makes a big difference when you're getting a pass rush and have Joseph on the other side. There was a time that I thought a move to safety would be in order. Not now though ....Thoughts?
He hasn't played horrible this year, but his size (or lack there of) kills him. Many times he has good position but the ball is 1-2 inches out of his reach. He has to get better at using the sidelines to his advantage. He isn't going to out-jump receivers, so he has to do the little things like hitting them at the line or pushing them to the outside to make up for his physical shortcomings.
He has been better this year. Completely serviceable IMO. Hard to have a top 3 D if you have a terrible corner. I think many fans can't/won't look past last years performance. Hence, it will take a long time for KJ to get a fair shake from the fans.
He went from the worst defensive player in the NFL to just a well below average corner. He still should not be a starter. When a QB wants to pick on him, they do, and KJ does nothing about it.
I agree he has been serviceable but he is getting picked on each week. My biggest gripe with him is he doesn't see passes coming. He is not looking for the pass. All of the TD's and passes he gets beat big on he is usually not even looking up. Just seems so lost out there at times. I'm hoping Joseph is at least working with him. At the end of the day somethings are all instincts and I don't see him having that CB instinct.
I think KJ has improved a bit this year as well. I think he is still has upside as well. The other first round cornerbacks from the 2010 have actually been worse than Jackson with the exception of Joe Haden who was top 10 pick and is a stud. Devin McCourty is the worst starting cornerback in the NFL while Kyle Wilson and Patrick Robinson are also pretty bad.
Probably gets away with as much pass interference as any CB in the league. Hopefully that continues. His problem, unfortunately, is his lack of top tier closing speed. He gets beat on a double move and can't catch up. But as long as he is getting away with mugging receivers to cover his @ss, more power to him.
Improvement, indeed. On the game-losing TD last week, Toast actually saw that the ball was coming. That is marked improvement for sure. Next year, maybe he can learn to jump or something. Year after that, maybe he can add deflecting the ball to his deadly arsenal. Or, we can go get an NFL cornerback.
This is what I've seen. Jackson is generally on his man and has gotten away with a lot of PA this season. He needs to learn to turn his head sooner. For as maligned as Jackson is, the Texans have given up 16 TDs in the air. That is too low of a number to have a below average CB.
I have thought the same thing many times. I think most people overlook the fact that he is a great tackler. You rarely, if ever see guys get away from him once he gets there.
No excuse for not acquiring another quality corner this off season. Maybe not as important as acquiring another deep field threat, but both concerns must be addressed. And landing a 4th QB to develop, because, well, just because.
I don't think anyone overlooks it. It's pretty much his only strength. He's like Dunta after his leg break. I went to a couple of the open practices and Kareem was getting caught on repeatedly. He also developed this bad habit of grabbing the jersey once he was getting burnt. Despite all that, both interviews with Wade and Gary were that Kareem looked great in camp. I'm disappointed that Harris hasn't shown anything, but I really thought Allen would beat him for the other starting spot and McCain would surpass him sometime midseason. At least he hasnt' fallen down so much.
He often has solid coverage, but he fails to locate the ball . It seems like 2 or 3 times a game, he'll have his man covered, but the catch will still get made because he has no clue the ball is coming his way. That should be a mechanical thing he can fix, if so he could turn into a solid corner.
He is an awful cover corner. He has zero ball hawk in him. He is a good tackler. He still gets targeted for multiple consecutive completions. He has no business being on the field in the last 2 minutes of a game. He has no business ever being lined up on the other team's best receiver. I'm still more comfortable with Jason Allen than I am Kareem. They need to seek to acquire a real corner to play opposite Joseph. Obviously, doen't need to be a pro bowler..but needs to be far better than the below average Kareem Jackson.
