FBT said a while back that the team envisions McCray and Colvin as starters, with Gratz in the nickel. Given that he was dead-on about McCray, I see no reason to doubt him on Gratz as a nickel corner.

Gratz's coverage is So Questionable that even the Nickle is Questionable...


We need Press Coverage CBs at All Positions and Gratz isn't a Press Coverage CB...


NH3...

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"AZANE"

They'd have to re-sign Ball.  He's a FA in 2015.

 

 As an alternative to Colvin moving outside  -   I actually like the idea of Ball and McCray as starters, Colvin at nickel and Gratz as depth if they wanted to get a couple more years out of McCray.  In many games this season the defense has played 30+ snaps in nickel - so it's not like Colvin's talent would be going to waste. 

 

Of course - I'm sure the team has a vision and I'm just spitballing possibilities.  Regardless - I think we'll continue to see McCray play outside. Hopefully he holds up against Johnson and Hopkins this week.

I too would like to see Ball resigned. He'll add Seniorship at the least...


NH3...

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"AZANE"

Dude what do you have against McCray? You've been trying to belittle him since he got the starting job.

It's weird

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Whatever that stat is I'm pretty sure he didn't have 250 snaps in the game last week. Meaning they're talking about for the year. To the people trying to belittle the man you can all you want, but fact is you don't see him getting burnt at all. I know I saw the Cowboys get Dez Bryant away from him so he could shine on our other secondary players in that game. What other corner on this team has received that type of respect in the last ten years?

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Whatever that stat is I'm pretty sure he didn't have 250 snaps in the game last week. Meaning they're talking about for the year. To the people trying to belittle the man you can all you want, but fact is you don't see him getting burnt at all. I know I saw the Cowboys get Dez Bryant away from him so he could shine on our other secondary players in that game. What other corner on this team has received that type of respect in the last ten years?

Dez had little success on McCray. He caught a few ball but he was limited causing his coaches to switch CBs...


NH3...

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"AZANE"

I can't figure out how to post screenshots on this forum, but he's 29th overall with a +3.1, and and 34th in coverage with a +2.0. The top rated CB is Chris Harris and he's a +20.1 overall. Revis is 2nd at +17.8. I don't see how McCray can possibly be 2nd overall with those guys rated so far ahead. Maybe you're looking at a sub-ranking of some sort, rather than an overall ranking.

See the post above yours, that's what is being referenced. It's very odd that the two ranking are so different though.

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As much as I like McCray, this next couple weeks can make or break him. Both the Texans and Ravens have 2 quality receivers they love throwing to. He shuts his side down as he's done thus far,.....that's HUGE and he'll be on the map. If not.....well, it'll be unfortunate, cuz that Steelers game against Brown was a shining spot for me. He has to keep stacking these performances up. Would love to know we have a shutdown corner going into the offseason

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What other corner on this team has received that type of respect in the last ten years?

 

Mathis. Pre-2010.

 

(good point/post)

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Source: ESPN Insider and read the bold part. 
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<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We may have been too quick to forget just how good Darrelle Revis is.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richard Sherman became the self-proclaimed best cornerback in football while Revis was injured and later trapped in an ill-suited zone-heavy defense in Tampa Bay, but now with the Patriots and fully comfortable with the system, Revis is back at his best and is still the best corner in the NFL.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With both Revis and Sherman in mind, it's important to realize that there is really no such thing as a true "shutdown" corner. Even the best guys will give up some catches, and just because we can point to a play in which a guy got beaten doesn't mean they still aren't the best around. By definition, cornerback is a position of defending rather than attacking, and what defines the best guys is how successful their defense is, not whether they are perfect. How much can the best guys limit the best receivers? If they can't stop them from catching everything, can they at least limit the damage and make it a dangerous proposition for the quarterback to target his best receiver?

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<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's the key to elite cornerback play in the NFL.There isn't a starting corner in the league who is allowing fewer than 45 percent of passes thrown his way to be caught. Even in 2009, Revis' best season and probably the best season of cornerback play overall in the past decade, he allowed 36.9 percent of passes thrown his way to be hauled in, more than a third of all targets.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you accept that all corners get beaten eventually, the important thing becomes their comparison to everybody else.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Kansas City Chiefs game marks a watershed in the season of the New England Patriots. The team was embarrassed in that game, ridiculed thereafter, and it sparked their resurgence. Tom Brady had been playing poorly until that point, as had the offensive line and the defense. Almost across the board, the team has seen a massive uptick in performance since that Monday night. It ignited the fire that currently sees the team red-hot and sitting pretty as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Revis has experienced a similar upswing in performance. Over the first month of the season, he was PFF's 37th-ranked cornerback, after allowing one receiving touchdown and surrendering a catch on 57.9 percent of the balls thrown into his coverage. Since that Kansas City game, he has been the No. 1 cornerback, according to PFF, leading Denver's Chris Harris at the top of the rankings. He hasn't allowed a touchdown since that opening month, and has been beaten on only 46.3 percent of the passes thrown his way.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the Chiefs game, only Demetrius McCray has had more successful snaps in coverage between catches given up. Revis has gone 15.6 snaps in coverage between receptions, a better mark than Sherman, Harris, Vontae Davis or any of the other elite corners in the game.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though the Chiefs game clearly marked a turning point for the Patriots and for Revis, his performances have been improving with each passing week. October marked an improvement from September, but November marked a big improvement over both. With another month of the regular season still to go and then the postseason, which New England seems inevitably to play a big part in, Revis has the chance to cement his position as the league's best corner once again.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tate was thrown at seven times with Revis in coverage and caught just two passes for 41 yards, the same number of balls that Revis himself got hands on to break up. For his part, Browner held up pretty well, too, limiting Johnson to just three catches for 46 yards on the seven balls thrown his way.While the league was salivating over the prospect of Revis matching up with Calvin Johnson in last week's matchup with the Lions, the Patriots were crafting a different game plan behind the scenes. They elected to cover Johnson primarily with Brandon Browner, placing size and strength on size and strength -- then adding safety help over the top -- while Revis was tasked with shutting down the smaller, quicker Golden Tate. That sounds like a far easier assignment on paper, but in the seven games prior to this matchup, Tate had notched 52 receptions for 749 yards. He was on a tear, and getting Megatron back should have only helped that.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The week before, Revis held the Colts' Reggie Wayne to a single catch for 5 yards. Wayne might not be the force he once was, but that's still very tough to do. Against Chicago and Denver, teams with two of the best wide receiver stables in football, Revis gave up seven catches for 86 yards <i>total</i>.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are seeing Revis return to the level he was at when he was seen universally as the game's best corner. He was a player who could largely erase a single receiver from a game in man coverage and allow his defense to move things around to deal with the rest of the offense. The Bucs never played to that strength, but the Jets certainly made the most of it, and now the Patriots are beginning to exploit it as well.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It isn't that Revis will match up against the perceived best receiver that makes him so valuable, but that he can match up against all types of receivers, which gives a defense flexibility. That's valued above all else, especially in a Bill Belichick defense.

<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Revis has allowed just nine catches over the past four weeks of the season -- one more than Sherman had going into the San Francisco game (where we know Sherman shined), but on three more targets. Sherman might still view himself as the best, and is picking off passes, but Revis is showing that he isn't going to give up that crown easily.

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<p style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: ESPN Insider and read the bold part. 

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Overall I feel McCray has been playing well but one thing I've noticed in the last couple weeks is that he does not like contact.


There has been a few times over the last couple weeks where he's looked a little soft running up to make a tackles. Tonight in particular he had a chance to blast a guy but he came up soft. To me it looked like he didn't even want to hit the guy.

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"Sucess Is Not a Goal, It is a By-product"

Going into his 3rd year is where we should see some REAL improvement with him.

 

My goodness, though, he has ALL the ability.

 

Can't wait for him to get in the weight room and add that confidence that he will need to go to the next level.

 

Once he gets bigger, he will become more physical by default.

 

But I love his game and I am excited about his future.

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Whatever that stat is I'm pretty sure he didn't have 250 snaps in the game last week. Meaning they're talking about for the year. To the people trying to belittle the man you can all you want, but fact is you don't see him getting burnt at all. I know I saw the Cowboys get Dez Bryant away from him so he could shine on our other secondary players in that game. What other corner on this team has received that type of respect in the last ten years?

This is apparent to anyone who pays attention to his games. The guy has a very competative streak that I just dont see from Gratz in particular. Plus Gratz grabs all over the field and is a penalty waiting to happen. Honestly I think Grats isnt good enough to keep up with his man without grabbing. Which means hes not good enough for the outside.


But McCray is good. No doubt.

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Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

IMO Gratz will not make it through the off-season. The dude is just not very aggressive, nor good in coverage. With McCray, the one knock on him is he likes to sit on coverages too often and not play the ball, but rather play the player after the catch; even with over the top help. I have noticed numerous times if he had just stepped in even one step, he was in position for an interception, but instead, sat down and waited for the reception. If this gets fixed, we could have our "ballhawk"! The entire secondary seems to play it safe most times than not.

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"That's the key to elite cornerback play in the NFL.There isn't a starting corner in the league who is allowing fewer than 45 percent of passes thrown his way to be caught. Even in 2009, Revis' best season and probably the best season of cornerback play overall in the past decade, he allowed 36.9 percent of passes thrown his way to be hauled in, more than a third of all targets."

 

 

This just reinforces what most already know, it's a passing league. If 45 percent of passes thrown are caught, it shows that with just a decent line geared to pass blocking, an acccurate QB, an innovate coordinator, good tight ends,and two decent receivers, any team can score 30 points a game.The odds clearly show that if the first 3 plays in a series are passes, at least one will connect for a 1st down. You don't even need big names or great receivers to run this scheme. That is the reason a guy has great numbers in a passing system but is just a guy if he is in Jacksonville. With the Pats,everyone from the running backs, tight ends,are picked on their ability to catch the ball. There are no Mercedes Lewis kept around for their blocking ability. It's pass, pass, pass, mixed in with an occasional run.Green bay and New England with their 3 step drops, figured this out long ago. It also stops your QB from being sacked so often.

  They only run more to move the clock in the 4th quarter, or if the safeties start backing up 20 yards.

The Jack Del Rio's, and the Bradleys,run and stop the run types, never followed this air it out theory. JDR and Gus pass when they have to, and when the defense knows they have to. They also lose a lot. ( Note: I dont count Jedds 2 yard swing passes as a pass. it's not spreading the field,and they never work.). But in this last game Jedd throws down field, and gets first downs. He mixes in runs that work better because we are passing. Toby looks good again. Jags Win. Who would have thunk it? Maybe the 1000 fans screaming throw the ball Jedd!

Of course Gus will claim it is because he challenged his players, but I am starting to ignore Gus, hopefully Jedd keeps airing it out.

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Gus Bradley even compared McCray to Richard Sherman. Now that is really, saying something.

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I think we sign Byron Maxwell to play nickel and use Gratz for depth.

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I don't really care about PFF or their stats. Based off the eye test, mccray wins. In the cowboys game, mccray initially held his own, and the cowboys started lining Dez against Gratz. That tells me all I need to know. The only big play that has been thrown on him was that perfect pass by Rivers to Floyd. McCray needs to become a better tackler, but in terms of coverage, I love what I see

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There are not 15 corners I would rather have on my team than McCray. Big smart young cheap and coachable. He doesn't draw many flags either.

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I don't really care about PFF or their stats. Based off the eye test, mccray wins. In the cowboys game, mccray initially held his own, and the cowboys started lining Dez against Gratz. That tells me all I need to know. The only big play that has been thrown on him was that perfect pass by Rivers to Floyd. McCray needs to become a better tackler, but in terms of coverage, I love what I see

 

You could see it early here with McCray. He was pressed into action last year early in the season and did not look overwhelmed. A great seventh round find.

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I think Mccray and Colvin become our version of Sherman-Browner. That's pretty exciting. Now we just need to solidify FS, and Cyprien has to take better angles. He atleast is starting to flash with the big hits and some good coverage.

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No commercial messages in sigs