Broaddus FO thinks they are set at safety

[Doomsday101]

Yeah, I wouldn't call them "set" at safety. But the young guys need to be given an opportunity.

I agree. You draft young players you have to give them the chance. If all we are going to do is draft a safety give him a season then draft another then it becomes a waste of time. I'm all in favor of drafting playmakers on defense regardless of the position even safety but I don't think safety is a must for this team at this stage.

 

[visionary]

You can't fix the whole defense in one offseason.

i like it MW, you are ahead of the curve

and by the time the defense is "fixed" in 3 years, we will need a new QB

and round and round we go

 

[Rockytop6]

what a freaking joke,i just cannot believe they are ok with t


safety is a huge need imo.we need safeties who can play in space for the tampa 2 and we dont have any on our roster,Qbs will just throw it to guys near our safeties and its a easy catch every time because they are poor in recognition and dont break early on the ball.

I think we need a safety, if it is one of the top three, a lb, a dt, a de (probably 2) an ol, (g and t) and a wr and rb. Do we have the ammunition to do all of this in this draft? No. However I think some of these needs can be met in the latter rounds. I am optimistic that rb, wr, and even a dt can be found in the later rounds. I really believe that when this draft is over, most of us will be encouraged at the way the draft improved our team. I don't mean stars at every position but good, solid players at the positions when stars were not available.
Anyway, we will see!

 

[tm1119]

I don't really care what Broaddus has to say so Im not overreacting to this......but this franchise has ignored the S position for far too long. Safety has become an increasingly important position in the modern nfl with the spread offense and TE's being pass catching freaks. Yet our front office hasnt adjusted to this. It's become a premium position yet we keep throwing small school projects at it hoping 1 will stick.

 

[theSHOW]

IMO we are 2-3 years away, so drafting a S this year is not a need. We have a year to see what we have if anything. OL and DL are critical, QB and LB are next. This team needs a FA S anyway, because apparently they can't draft one.

I agree that Dallas will look to bolster the trenches and give the current safety group an entire season to show us their games. Frankly I look forward to seeing these guys play. Add in a linebacker WR and corner and maybe a back. QB waits unless Orton leaves then we will taka flyer.

 

[chicago JK]

They are definitely not set at safety. If a player is not drafted high, they need to bring in a veteran after the draft who can compete for a starting job. You can't enter camp hoping Wilcox continues to develop, Chuch continues to improve and Health/Johnson prove to be NFL players as your only options to get an average starting lineup.

Although, that kind of hope more often than not is how the front office tends to view their roster.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

i like it MW, you are ahead of the curve

and by the time the defense is "fixed" in 3 years, we will need a new QB

and round and round we go

I understand what you are saying... But that's life in the NFL.

22 starting positions... Plus what? Another dozen key back-up spots.

You get on average 7 draft picks a year and the average career is what? 4 years.

The math doesn't work even if you hit on all 7 picks, which no team does..

Then you have roster size limitations and the salary cap.

It's "dog chasing its tail" scenario.

 

[visionary]

I understand what you are saying... But that's life in the NFL.

22 starting positions... Plus what? Another dozen key back-up spots.

You get on average 7 draft picks a year and the average career is what? 4 years.

The math doesn't work even if you hit on all 7 picks, which no team does..

Then you have roster size limitations and the salary cap.

It's "dog chasing its tail" scenario.

how do other teams do it?
same cap, same picks

i know, full time GM and real HC

 

[guag]

I understand what you are saying... But that's life in the NFL.

22 starting positions... Plus what? Another dozen key back-up spots.

You get on average 7 draft picks a year and the average career is what? 4 years.

The math doesn't work even if you hit on all 7 picks, which no team does..

Then you have roster size limitations and the salary cap.

It's "dog chasing its tail" scenario.

Exactly, and this is what makes the draft especially important.

 

[khiladi]

I'm not impressed by a safety who plays the run well, but whose ball-hawking skills are questionable. We've often had the former, but haven't touched a guy that could cover well and be a guy that could get players in the right position. We've been exposed all too many times in the deep zones and in the middle, between the LBs and safeties.

And the reason we sucked at pass defense last year just wasn't because of 'pressure', it was because we were flat-out in bad positions all over the field when it came to coverage. We switchd from zone back to man because our DBs were confused. Our intelligence in the secondary for years has been questionable.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

how do other teams do it?
same cap, same picks

i know, full time GM and real HC

Certainly the lousy drafting from '06 until '09 created a big void.

There were a whole lotta draft picks that didn't help this club... There were a few that did for a bit, but overall that "black hole" created a lot of problems for this club.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I wouldn't put an ounce of stock into what Broaddus says this long before the draft. I suspect we address S in some way, even if not at the top of the draft.

 

[big dog cowboy]

We're relying on a former RB from a small school, Jeff Heath and an udfa in Hamilton.

Not really. But thanks for playing.

 

[BigStar]

Church is a very good safety . The only times he got burned last season was when he was ISO on a fast TE in the slot . That's more on the coaches than anything . When church is put back deep or near the line he is more than capable . The other guys however were inconsistent BUT rookies !

Church and Heath/Wilcox were consistently late providing help to the corners or being ready for the corner to pass off an assignemtnt, etc . It was one of the biggest flaws of this system's implementation last season (slow/inexperienced Safeties make it useless).

 

[khiladi]

Church and Heath/Wilcox were consistently late providing help to the corners or being ready for the corner to pass off an assignemtnt, etc . It was one of the biggest flaws of this system (slow Safeties make it useless).

Yep... Carr was blasted for Megatron going buck-wild, yet they were playing zone and the reason for many of the big plays was precisely because of the point you raised. I saw multiple times Carr leaving his man for the zone in the Detroit game and nobody was to be seen, whoever our safety help was.

 

[BigStar]

Yep... Carr was blasted for Megatron going buck-wild, yet they were playing zone and the reason for many of the big plays was precisely because of the point you raised. I saw multiple times Carr leaving his man for the zone in the Detroit game and nobody was to be seen, whoever our safety help was.

Agree on that observation. It seemed Carr tuned out after this game. The Safety play was going to leave him out to dry regarless of how well he got his jam, redirected the receiver, etc. I think the confidence lost was due to the inadequate JV level Safety play, not regarding his own coverage skills. Church is simply too slow for the modern game. He can't keep up with TEs, scat backs, god forbid a slot receiver at times, etc. Wilcox has the speed and the thump to his hits so he has the right attitude. That is the only S I would "give time" to figure it out. We have to let scrubs find their own way on this team?

 

[khiladi]

Agree on that observation. It seemed Carr tuned out after this game. The Safety play was going to leave him out to dry regarless of how well he got his jam, redirected the receiver, etc. I think the confidence lost was due to the inadequate JV level Safety play, not regarding his own coverage skills. Church is simply too slow for the modern game. He can't keep up with TEs, scat backs, god forbid a slot receiver at times, etc.

It's amazing we still haven't learned our lesson with Roy Williams and going for these hard-hitting safeties that aren't suited to the modern game. I remember they use to talk about Roy moving closer to the line to allow him to flourish, but it didn't help. Teams are using lots of deception even up-front with picks and formations. We need cerebral players. People talk about Seattle pressure, but they rush four a lot and their DBs are smart. They are in position because they know what is going on. They blanketed everything Peyton did in the SB, because they knew what was coming.

 

[BigStar]

They actually did have a veteran FS that they signed and brought to camp (Will Allen, I believe). He just happened to end up being a turd. It wasn't that they didn't try to take that approach. Could they have brought in someone better? To be honest I don't even remember who was available but Allan was a ten or eleven year veteran. I think that's exactly why he was signed. I think he was brought here to mentor the new guys and start as a last resort (in case the kids couldn't handle the duties yet). He ended up being bad. Really bad. I don't remember exactly when the Cowboys released him but they cut ties with him relatively quickly and he re-signed with the Steelers a short time later.

Will Allen was brought in for the vet minimum and had like 1 career interception or something terrible. They knew what they were "paying for"...

 

[Gaede]

Not really. But thanks for playing.

Quality post.

Thanks pal.

 

[BigStar]

It's amazing we still haven't learned our lesson with Roy Williams and going for these hard-hitting safeties that aren't suited to the modern game. I remember they use to talk about Roy moving closer to the line to allow him to flourish, but it didn't help. Teams are using lots of deception even up-front with picks and formations. We need cerebral players. People talk about Seattle pressure, but they rush four a lot and their DBs are smart. They are in position because they know what is going on. They blanketed everything Peyton did in the SB, because they knew what was coming.

Very true, if anything, modern Safeties are just big corners with slightly better tackling ability. Smart players can compensate for not having top notch athleticism and would love a Woody type who posseses both (not likely). Modern Safeties are much more integral to defending the pass than fans give them credit for. Esp considering we play a zone scheme, the value transfers from CBs to Safeties. Yet we don't value the position even a little? Just Odd to say the least.