Colt's secondary got worse with the loss of Bethea, and IMO the resigining of Vontae Davis.
Texan's secondary did little to improve, signed Kendrick Lewis a to a one year 795k deal and did not lose anyone of note.
Titan lost Verner and resigned Bernard Pollard toa long term deal.
Jaguars resigned Will Blackmon and that is it.
I think the draft will be important to determine how vunerable the pass defense of the AFC South will be in 2014. Things do point up for the Jaguars, even if Henne is still manning the field. Hopefully a rookie will be able to take advantage of the situation too.
Jags defense won't really start to become amongst the ranks of the very good until they get some (or at least one) legitimate ball hawk back there, to the level of Rashean in his prime. They need to get some sort of game changer back there. I don't believe that player is currently on the roster.
Quote:Jags defense won't really start to become amongst the ranks of the very good until they get some (or at least one) legitimate ball hawk back there, to the level of Rashean in his prime. They need to get some sort of game changer back there. I don't believe that player is currently on the roster.
Passrush is more important. Pretty sure we've been last or near last in sacks for way too long
Quote:Passrush is more important. Pretty sure we've been last or near last in sacks for way too long
Not disputing or diminishing the importance of a quality pass rush. However, it doesn't alter my premise.
Cyp, Gratz and company will look more like ball hawks when the QB has to rush his throws.
Quote:Cyp, Gratz and company will look more like ball hawks when the QB has to rush his throws.
I disagree. You don't make ball hawks out of players that don't already possess those skills.
Now, a good pass rush can help CB that already possess that skill get more chances, but to think that guys like Cyp, Gratz and all will suddenly become Rashean Mathis, just because of an improved pass rush is kinda silly.
Quote:Jags defense won't really start to become amongst the ranks of the very good until they get some (or at least one) legitimate ball hawk back there, to the level of Rashean in his prime. They need to get some sort of game changer back there. I don't believe that player is currently on the roster.
Justin Gilbert
Quote:Justin Gilbert
not at 3, but after one or multiple trade-downs? Yes, please.
Colts defense didn't get worse by re-signing Vontae, lol..
I do agree they got worse because of the loss of Bethea though. Safety is the top concern for the Colts right now and will probably be addressed in the draft.
Quote:Colts defense didn't get worse by re-signing Vontae, lol..
I do agree they got worse because of the loss of Bethea though. Safety is the top concern for the Colts right now and will probably be addressed in the draft.
I'm not a Vontae fan, but I agree that saying a defense gets worse by re-signing a player is a beyond stupid statement. That particular move can only do one thing, i,e, keep it the same. Now, yes, the loss of
Bethea does indeed weaken it.
Quote:I disagree. You don't make ball hawks out of players that don't already possess those skills.
Now, a good pass rush can help CB that already possess that skill get more chances, but to think that guys like Cyp, Gratz and all will suddenly become Rashean Mathis, just because of an improved pass rush is kinda silly.
Gratz rookie INTs- 2
Mathis rookie INTs- 2
Well lookie here, Gratz and Mathis are on the same "ball hawk" career trajectory.
Quote:Gratz rookie INTs- 2
Mathis rookie INTs- 2
Well lookie here, Gratz and Mathis are on the same "ball hawk" career trajectory.
lol, you think you are making a good point, but in reality, you're just sounding like an [BLEEP],
Gratz in college totaled 8 INT's over 4 years of play. He never totaled more than 3 INT in ANY college season.
Mathis, OTOH, set an NCAA record with 14 INT in one SEASON. lolz.....almost doubling Gratz' college career INT totals with that record setting season.
Gratz is not anything close to being a ball-hawk.
But nice uhhh try, I guess?
Yeah, and Dan Lefevour set NCAA TD records.
College statistics don't get drafted into the NFL with the player. Sorry.
Quote:Yeah, and Dan Lefevour set NCAA TD records.
College statistics don't get drafted into the NFL with the player. Sorry.
Some college stats don't necessarily transfer, I agree....but in Rasheans case they clearly did. He was a sub 4.4 player with terrific athleticism and good size with great hands/ instincts. He was a ball hawk in college and continued as one in the pro's.
Gratz was never a ball hawk, and never will be. The Jags have zero players in their secondary with ball hawk capability.
Quote:The Jags have zero players in their secondary with ball hawk capability.
Based on college stats or your eye test?
Quote:Based on college stats or your eye test?
Both. The college stats bear out what my eyes show me of these players as Jags.
Quote:lol, you think you are making a good point, but in reality, you're just sounding like an [BAD WORD REMOVED],
Gratz in college totaled 8 INT's over 4 years of play. He never totaled more than 3 INT in ANY college season.
Mathis, OTOH, set an NCAA record with 14 INT in one SEASON. lolz.....almost doubling Gratz' college career INT totals with that record setting season.
Gratz is not anything close to being a ball-hawk.
But nice uhhh try, I guess
this is all impossible to judge. maybe they never tested gratz in college? maybe the qbs mathis played against were terrible and just lobbed the ball up for anyone? thats impossible to tell. i think cyprien will wind up causing a lot more turnovers once the pass rush gets improved. i still expect another cb to wind up getting drafted. im hoping for stanley jean-baptiste. he has a ton of upside and you would expect very good ball skills from someone converted from WR only 1 season ago (i think)
Kinda agree with TMD about Gratz he is a pass deflector and position CB who probably wont grab a ton of picks but he will force the QB to look at other options by keeping his guy covered forcing the QB to look elsewhere.
To be a BallHawk you have to jump routes routinely and get it correctly more than not, bait QBs by making the WR look open and then breaking to the ball with good instincts and be able to play off the QBs eyes and still keep near you assignment. These are all things Rashean did well much like other ballhawks from his time like Ed Reed, Asante Samuel ,Ty Law and DeAngelo Hall. Gratz to me doesnt do these things enough but that doesnt mean he cant be a lockdown CB.
Think nnamdi asomugha (think i spelled it right). Not alot of career ints but he just stayed in position so well QBs couldnt make the throws.
Quote:Jags defense won't really start to become amongst the ranks of the very good until they get some (or at least one) legitimate ball hawk back there, to the level of Rashean in his prime. They need to get some sort of game changer back there. I don't believe that player is currently on the roster.
That isn't likely to happen until they get a pass rush first.
Quote:this is all impossible to judge. maybe they never tested gratz in college? maybe the qbs mathis played against were terrible and just lobbed the ball up for anyone? thats impossible to tell. i think cyprien will wind up causing a lot more turnovers once the pass rush gets improved. i still expect another cb to wind up getting drafted. im hoping for stanley jean-baptiste. he has a ton of upside and you would expect very good ball skills from someone converted from WR only 1 season ago (i think)
lol, no it isn't impossible to judge. Mathis brought his same play to the pro's that he showed in college. By the end of his 4th NFL season he totaled 20 INT's. I guess all those NFL QB were terrible and just lobbed the ball up too.
Just face it, the Jags have no one that is ball hawks on the roster right now. No one. Thats right, no one. Gratz doesn't possess those skills. Nor does Cyprien, nor does Evans, nor does Ball/ Blackmon, so there.
Quote:That isn't likely to happen until they get a pass rush first.
I agree it isn't
likely to happen until the get the pass rush, but a player can have/ display ball hawk skills even before a pass rush has become very good. In 2004 Mathis picked off 5 passes and the Jags pass rush wasn't anything special to that point. The following year they added Hayward and Bobby McCray started showing some development the pass rush improved.