Quote:
Originally Posted by aturnis
That was also before he destroyed his shoulder causing him to favor it and making him an even worse tackler than he already was. Even if he was good in coverage, he's such a liability as a tackler that he has to go.
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I know...
It just bothers me that he flashed some serious potential his rookie season. I thought he soundly outplayed Berry that year.
And I'm sure the shoulder situation has something to do with it. The position is a brutal position to play - you've got to keep your weight down to be effective going against speed guys, but then you are still asked to deal with huge tight ends, power backs, and then you've got to worry about getting clobbered by OL guys pulling out on the second level. It's no wonder that the safety guys always seem to be injured these days.
But it's really not the tackling that bothered me this past season, it was his inability to be in his spot in the zone or cover the back routes effectively. He was flat out horrible, where he didn't have much of a problem with it in previous seasons. And I've seen where it looks like that position is a serious premium under Sutton and his man press scheme.
That back safety is asked to cover a lot of ground and if our front seven isn't pressuring the QB, that safety is basically screwed with any type of accurate QB. It's a lot to ask, and as such, the position in this scheme is going to require a guy who not only has good ball skills, but the hyper athleticism to be able to react to either side of the back field quickly. Either that or the guy has to have Luke Kuechly level football instincts to go along with very good speed (as Kuechly has at the ILB spot).
I just don't know. I don't necessarily see anybody in the draft like that. I love Zimmerman's instincts, but I don't know about his speed at the next level for this system.
Personally, we had all better hope that Commings turns it on this off-season. He's got the speed required, and I liked what I saw from him at Georgia in terms of tackling and ball skills. He's got a thick build as well. If he makes the necessary strides, we've already got our man. If he doesn't, I think we're basically ****ed again.