Ramsey silenced his doubters with a fantastic rookie year and turned in a few performances that generated a healthy amount of "future superstar" talk.
Moving forward with some confidence that he'll handle his side of the field (or the opponents #1 receiver) we are left in doubt of who may complement him on the other side of the hash marks.
The short answer for many seems to be "re-sign Prince Amukamara." While nothing is guaranteed in free agency, Caldwell may have the inside track with Prince and his agent. Or - the Jags record and upcoming staff change may cause Amukamara to run for the hills.
He is in fact upgradeable and was picked on in a number of games this season.
He was solid the majority of the time, pretty-good some of the time, and a bit disappointing a few too many times to be considered a long term cure, IMO.
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Draft:
Personally - I feel like there will be a quality corner in round 2 or 3 in this year's draft. I was hoping Conley would be there in round 2, but he's climbed into the first on most boards.
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Here are some
free agents to consider:
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/cornerback/
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Current Depth:
Aaron Colvin
Josh Johnson
Davon House
Doran Grant (former 4th round pick - signed to PS in October)
^ Most of the other guys on the roster currently are nickel guys and lack the length to play outside or haven't really shown the skill set to excel there.
Thoughts on CB#2 moving forward?
I like the idea of resigning Prince for the right price. What were we like 4th in pass defense and he was a huge part of it. If we do sign him him then we could look towards the later rounds for adding another CB due to that position not being as much as a need as the other major holes we have. All bets are off if we don't retain Prince tho.
Agree about Prince. Would a safety be a higher priority than CB in the draft?
Quote:Agree about Prince. Would a safety be a higher priority than CB in the draft?
Good question.
Depends on FA activity, but they do still have James Sample under contract at SS if he can ever stay healthy. Gipson will be fine at FS with a new staff, IMO.
There are some impressive strong safeties in this draft class. May be tough
not to take one.
Since Jalen came forward with his criticism of the scheme (i.e. don't get beat deep, give up the short stuff), is it possible that Prince may have been affected by the same defensive game plan?
It's entirely within the realm of possibility he might excel in a scheme where he can be more aggressive by design.
Quote:Since Jalen came forward with his criticism of the scheme (i.e. don't get beat deep, give up the short stuff), is it possible that Prince may have been affected by the same defensive game plan?
It's entirely within the realm of possibility he might excel in a scheme where he can be more aggressive by design.
I do indeed believe that both Prince and Jalen would benefit by playing more press/man and less zone.
(Though Jalen started to show more and more awareness in zone as the year progressed, Amukamara wasn't as quick to adjust - and he also got beat in man coverage a bit too often for my taste as well. He was worlds better than House or Gratz though!)
They did both play a pretty solid amount of man coverage in 2016 however. It's not like they were
constantly in zone, it was just frustrating to watch Wash take his foot off of the gas defensively sometimes - and if was frustrating to me it must have been 100x more so to those guys.
Quote:Since Jalen came forward with his criticism of the scheme (i.e. don't get beat deep, give up the short stuff), is it possible that Prince may have been affected by the same defensive game plan?
It's entirely within the realm of possibility he might excel in a scheme where he can be more aggressive by design.
This. I've been thinking about how many people are coming forward about this coaching staff and not using pieces correctly. Deep coverage only for Gibson, Poz man coverage on speedy wr etc... with a new coaching staff that uses these pieces correctly and doesn't run the same 3 defenses plays who knows what we will have.
Stephon Gilmore.
Make it so.
I like the idea of Prince, but I'm not necessarily against a high draft pick for the spot either. Hell, it's the modern NFL so you can never have enough DBs.
Quote:I do indeed believe that both Prince and Jalen would benefit by playing more press/man and less zone.
(Though Jalen started to show more and more awareness in zone as the year progressed, Amukamara wasn't as quick to adjust - and he also got beat in man coverage a bit too often for my taste as well. He was worlds better than House or Gratz though!)
They did both play a pretty solid amount of man coverage in 2016 however. It's not like they were constantly in zone, it was just frustrating to watch Wash take his foot off of the gas defensively sometimes - and if was frustrating to me it must have been 100x more so to those guys.
Good points as always although now I'm going to full circle back to House. Do we really think this guys is irredeemable given what we know about the coaching staff misusing players?
I know he looked terrible this season in limited action but he appeared to have some talent on 2015. What gives there, I wonder...
Quote:This. I've been thinking about how many people are coming forward about this coaching staff and not using pieces correctly. Deep coverage only for Gibson, Poz man coverage on speedy wr etc... with a new coaching staff that uses these pieces correctly and doesn't run the same 3 defenses plays who knows what we will have.
Don't be hatin' on #PozIsland!
Another corner would be a luxury if we can resign prince, if not, yeah draft one in 2/3. We have other more pressing needs like o-line, pass rusher ect.
I think Prince had an unspectacular but solid year. At the right price I hope he sticks around. In a better scheme (press man) I think he and Ramsey could flourish. Add Hooker at safety and we could have a top 5 defensive backfield.
I just like the idea of keeping Prince's veteran presence in the secondary, he's a top flight corner in a pass-happy league. Corners are the most over-judged players in the league. Much like lineman, they only get noticed when they get beat. It's inevitable, the game favors receivers. Prince offers savvy veteran leadership you might not get from a rookie and I think he's better than Kirkpatrick and Trumaine Johnson
Stephon Gilmore, Marcus Cooper and Logan Ryan are probably getting big paydays, so I don't know where all of that fits
I'd imagine Prince might be looking for soemthing long-term
This is a deep year for CB's. One guy I'm very high on who can be had in the middle rounds is Damontae Kazee of San Diego State. The kid is a ballhawking playmaker who had 7 interceptions, 8 passes defended and 62 tackles last season. He is a little smaller than I'd like at 5'11", but he plays much bigger. He will be on display at the Senior Bowl with teammate, OG Nico Siragusa, another guy I like alot.
Every position on the team is upgradeable. I think prince is a very good #2 CB. If we can sign him back then I am very comfortable with him and Jalen outside and aaron in the slot. I'd rather spend that 2nd/3rd on O-line or another pass rusher.
I'm with everyone on keeping P.A.
That leaves one less hole to fill.
I'd like to draft a safety or sign one in FA. Not sold on Sample (he never gets on the field), and despite Gipson's explanations as to why he wasn't effective, I'm not buying it.
If you say that this draft is deep in safties, I wouldn't mind drafting one.
Guard is a priority - but it seems like every draft is deep with guards.
The idea of switching Myles Jack to safety is intriguing.
Quote:
Ramsey silenced his doubters with a fantastic rookie year and turned in a few performances that generated a healthy amount of "future superstar" talk.
Who were his doubters ? I thought everyone loved the pick.