(02-22-2023, 01:29 PM)Caldrac Wrote: A lot of the shots being taken at Travon Walker should honestly be directed at Baalke and Caldwell. Same with Lloyd. Again, the glaring point that seems to get glossed over by all of these media outlets is that we selected two players in the first round last year and played them completely out of position.

Walker should have been playing inside with his hands down in the dirt more often than not. He did have a few nice plays here and there in coverage though. So, it goes to show you that he does indeed have range and good athleticism for his size. Lloyd should have been playing outside all year long on one side of the football field like he primarily did at Utah.

We saw him get crucified all year for offenses getting away with playing criss cross applesauce on him. Not his fault entirely. He was out of position.

I see lots and lots of this analysis flying around. 

Might be correct in the end, might not. 

Both Lloyd and Walker may turn out great at the roles envisioned for them despite some middling play in their rookie campaigns.
It could also turn out to be true that they were miscast as you suggest.
 Meaning the scouting done, combined with the coordinator's intent, were either misaligned or both were bad. 

When you combine this with this defense also miscasting Williams as a slot defender, there is a bit of a trend developing. 

Personally - I think that leaving Williams inside as long as they did was far more egregious than anything they did or didn't do with Lloyd and Walker. In fact - moving him outside sooner would have likely HELPED Walker quite a bit and even Lloyd to a lesser degree. 

I'm 100% patient enough to see what this staff has learned from these situations to wait and see how they address them in 2023.
And I'm not gonna trip if Walker is still getting plenty of edge snaps in September. It would be great if he grows into the role.
I do think he'd be great playing 4-3 DE on early downs and moving inside on 3rd and long, but I do think still believe he's raw and malleable and we don't play much straight up 4-3 unless that is part of the staff's 2nd year adjustment. 

 The thing I'm really not sure  about - is just sticking him at 3-4 end/5-tech and calling it a day. Don't think that's getting the most out of him. And that seems to be what many are asking this staff to do with him.

---