Thoughts on our secondary

[nfoligno]

Okay, been talking about the WRs, but wanted to put a similar discussion out there for the secondary. How do you see it playing out (staff's view). How would you like to see it play out?

 

Okay, the starters at corner are pretty well locked. They are switching sides, but I doubt there will really even be competition here. Depth? Well, that is one big cluster @#$#. If a starter goes down, I just do not see Jennings and his 5'8 (probably with shoes) frame stepping up. I have read Graham is again working at CB, and has been looking good through OTAs, not that that means too much. I have not heard much about the rookie Moore, and as for the other Moore, he could be looking for a new team by the end of camp. I never understand our drafting him, and to date, still have yet to read much of anything good. This is an area I still wish we could add a veteran. Even a lower tier veteran would likely bring more than what we currently have in reserve.

 

Back to the starters, I like the switching of sides. Tillman is a leader, and has all the qualities a fan could want, but his play has been going downhill. Many talk about injuries, but they seem to be happening more and more often. Maybe switching sides, and allowing him to play slightly lesser WRs will benefit him. As for Bowman, he is going to have to step up. I know he played well this year, but he will have to do even better playing opponents #1 WRs. A concern for me is, playing his side I think puts him more in line for run support, and he has a history of injuries himself, so that could be a concern.

 

I think most agree we have decent starters at corner but lack depth, and thus must pray to stay healthy.

 

Nickel could be interesting as we have several potential candidates. Who I would like to see is Manning. Jennings can play nickel, but due to our lack of depth, he is going to have to spend most of his practice time on the outside. Manning's only other duty is kickoff returns. I wish we would quit moving him around and just play him at nickel, where he has proven capable.

 

Safety. What I would like to do is play Harris at SS, and allow Steltz and Major to compete for the FS. Basically, to me, the job is Major's to lose. We drafted him to be our FS, and more than any other safety, his skills line up to play the role. The rest (i don't count DM as a S) are SS's. If Major really struggles though, and Steltz looks good, he can win the job, but it is Major's to lose.

 

So I would have Bowman-Tillman starting w/ DM as the nickel, and at safety, Major and Harris are the starters.

 

What I think we will see: Bowman/Tillman (lock) w/ Jennings at nickel. Harris at FS and DM at strong. I see huge issues with this S combo, as well as having our key nickel also being our first backup at CB.

[madlithuanian]

I'm in agreement with what you'd like to see.

 

I have no idea what will happen, since I know not who has nude pictures of Smith this season to blackmail him into a move that everone will question.

 

Okay, been talking about the WRs, but wanted to put a similar discussion out there for the secondary. How do you see it playing out (staff's view). How would you like to see it play out?

 

Okay, the starters at corner are pretty well locked. They are switching sides, but I doubt there will really even be competition here. Depth? Well, that is one big cluster @#$#. If a starter goes down, I just do not see Jennings and his 5'8 (probably with shoes) frame stepping up. I have read Graham is again working at CB, and has been looking good through OTAs, not that that means too much. I have not heard much about the rookie Moore, and as for the other Moore, he could be looking for a new team by the end of camp. I never understand our drafting him, and to date, still have yet to read much of anything good. This is an area I still wish we could add a veteran. Even a lower tier veteran would likely bring more than what we currently have in reserve.

 

Back to the starters, I like the switching of sides. Tillman is a leader, and has all the qualities a fan could want, but his play has been going downhill. Many talk about injuries, but they seem to be happening more and more often. Maybe switching sides, and allowing him to play slightly lesser WRs will benefit him. As for Bowman, he is going to have to step up. I know he played well this year, but he will have to do even better playing opponents #1 WRs. A concern for me is, playing his side I think puts him more in line for run support, and he has a history of injuries himself, so that could be a concern.

 

I think most agree we have decent starters at corner but lack depth, and thus must pray to stay healthy.

 

Nickel could be interesting as we have several potential candidates. Who I would like to see is Manning. Jennings can play nickel, but due to our lack of depth, he is going to have to spend most of his practice time on the outside. Manning's only other duty is kickoff returns. I wish we would quit moving him around and just play him at nickel, where he has proven capable.

 

Safety. What I would like to do is play Harris at SS, and allow Steltz and Major to compete for the FS. Basically, to me, the job is Major's to lose. We drafted him to be our FS, and more than any other safety, his skills line up to play the role. The rest (i don't count DM as a S) are SS's. If Major really struggles though, and Steltz looks good, he can win the job, but it is Major's to lose.

 

So I would have Bowman-Tillman starting w/ DM as the nickel, and at safety, Major and Harris are the starters.

 

What I think we will see: Bowman/Tillman (lock) w/ Jennings at nickel. Harris at FS and DM at strong. I see huge issues with this S combo, as well as having our key nickel also being our first backup at CB.

 

[AZ54]

Nfol laid out the DB setup the way I'd like to see it with DM as our NB.

 

As far as what we will see from Lovie I think it might end up being anyone but DManning at NB. Do they like Jennings? Maybe, I don't think there is much there. I do expect us to cut DJ Moore and end up keeping Woodny Turrene.

 

I rank em: Bowman, Tillman, Graham, Joshua Moore, Jennings, Turrene, DJ Moore with the last two getting cut and Turrene hitting the practice squad again barring injury.

 

Why we are messing with Danieal Manning again this offseason I have no idea. Had we not picked up any new safeties perhaps it makes sense but given that we have Harris back in the fold along with Major Wright plus Steltz reportedly is playing well (but limited in speed as always) it seems like a waste of practice time.

 

All I can think of is they want Manning as part of the depth chart at SS but that is far from his strength. Is Afalava doing that poorly after getting so much playing time last year? Bullocks, we know he can't tackle. Is this just a depth move so Manning gets early reps in the offseason and then slots back to NB for camp? Or do we like Graham and/or Jennings as our NB this year and just expect Manning to be KR/backup SS? Yes, I'm not listing DM as our starting SS because that can't possibly be the plan.

[nfoligno]

As far as what we will see from Lovie I think it might end up being anyone but DManning at NB. Do they like Jennings? Maybe, I don't think there is much there. I do expect us to cut DJ Moore and end up keeping Woodny Turrene.

 

I rank em: Bowman, Tillman, Graham, Joshua Moore, Jennings, Turrene, DJ Moore with the last two getting cut and Turrene hitting the practice squad again barring injury.

 

Why down on Jennings? Understand, it isn't that I am high on him, but more have little opinion. I do not like his size, which is why I do not like him on the outside, but I have no real issue with him in the nickel, which is where I believe he played in Indy. No way I would list him behind Moore, at least not at the moment. From what I have read, he has looked good in OTAs, which means little, but enough to keep him ahead of a mid round rookie.

 

Otherwise I pretty much agree. I am still not 100% that I would rank Bowman ahead of Tillman. I think Tillman is still a bit better, but has hit his ceiling and is one the way down, while Bowman is on the way up. The expectation is Bowman will take that next step forward, but until he does, I would still rank Tillman ahead of him. Agreed Graham is next, but I would put Jennings ahead of Moore. Moore may have more potential, but as a rookie, he has to show something before I rank him ahead of even Jennings. And I agree Turrene is likely PS, while DJ is likely cut.

 

Why we are messing with Danieal Manning again this offseason I have no idea. Had we not picked up any new safeties perhaps it makes sense but given that we have Harris back in the fold along with Major Wright plus Steltz reportedly is playing well (but limited in speed as always) it seems like a waste of practice time.

 

All I can think of is they want Manning as part of the depth chart at SS but that is far from his strength. Is Afalava doing that poorly after getting so much playing time last year? Bullocks, we know he can't tackle. Is this just a depth move so Manning gets early reps in the offseason and then slots back to NB for camp? Or do we like Graham and/or Jennings as our NB this year and just expect Manning to be KR/backup SS? Yes, I'm not listing DM as our starting SS because that can't possibly be the plan.

 

Honestly, I think there is a good chance DM ends up as our nickel. If he does not win the starting SS spot, and I do not think he will, I am not sure he would simply ride the bench on defense. Why are we evening looking at him at SS? I have no clue. I assume the staff wants more athleticism in the secondary, but while he may be more athletic, he is weaker in instincts and run support that others would offer. For years I have not understand our handling of the safety positions, and this year is no exception.

 

In the end, I think I will get my wish and see Major and Harris starting, but the staff appears intent on Major proving himself first. As fans, we simply have to hope Major, much like Afalava last year, shows enough in camp for this move to happen sooner rather than later.

[AZ54]

Our best hope for the entire secondary lies with the Dline. This issue has been talked about all offseason but it isn't going away. If the Dline plays like last year our secondary is average at best no matter who they put where. However, help may be on the way!

 

I'm starting to see tidbits about Wooten looking like he belongs on the field, I think someone even mentioned him being a steal in the draft. It's way too early to get that hyped up since they haven't even put pads on but it's a good sign we might finally be able to bring more pressure off the edge this year from our 3-man DE rotation. Peppers is an obvious upgrade here but we must have Anderson and Wooten/Idonije be productive. I know what Izzy can do and I love his work ethic but he is what he is.

 

At DT Harris is reportedly working out all offseason and it appears he's moving better. The downside is that we have no clue if anyone can line up next to Harris and do anything productive. I assume Adams will make his usual occasional hustle play but that's far different from feeling you can count on consistent pressure on every down. Melton? Gilbert?