News: DC: Mailbag: Nolan Carroll's Place In Depth Chart? Cedric Thornton's Improvement?

[ghst187]

Thornton and Carroll are examples of getting what you pay for. They were cheap and depending on their contract details, I'd be surprised if either are here for two more seasons and I don't expect either to do much but placehold this year until someone takes their place.

 

[phildadon86]

I am a little appalled that he kept his spot after the DUI, to be honest. He is not a very good player. He is mediocre at best and still got the majority of reps at mini-camp.

But I bet he is starting week 1 at an outside CB spot against New York, no question about it.

Marshall will eat him alive.

 

[Sydla]

Broaddus mentioned that he thinks alot of fans think Carroll is Bradley Fletcher, who is the Eagles corner that got torched consistently. I even thought that initially when Dallas signed Carroll. After looking back and some of Carroll's play, he should be a slight upgrade over Carr. Hopefully the rookies are good enough to take his job at some point but I think he is solid.

I live here in Philly. So I know the difference. Carroll is a mediocre CB.

 

[jrumann59]

After Thornton's quote I guess Dallas is no longer camp cupcake

 

[Alexander]

I live here in Philly. So I know the difference. Carroll is a mediocre CB.

Pretty much. The Eagles were desperate to revamp their secondary. They dumped Leodis McKelvin and showed only mild interest in bringing him back, much like what we did with Carr and Claiborne. But we snatched him up like a prize.

 

[Bullflop]

I've got to say I'm really relieved to hear about what Cedric Thornton has been doing in the offseason this year. Obviously, he taking his physical conditioning much more seriously than he did last year and it appears to be paying off for him. For Cedric to practice with the first string is actually a pretty good sign that he'll see more action this season.

That extra conditioning should come in handy. Like Jimmy Johnson used to say, "being tired makes cowards of us all." I don't know what made him think he could show up out of shape last year but, at least, he's apparently seen the light this time around. Let's hope it pays off for him, as well as the team, whenever he's called upon.

 

[Sydla]

Pretty much. The Eagles were desperate to revamp their secondary. They dumped Leodis McKelvin and showed only mild interest in bringing him back, much like what we did with Carr and Claiborne. But we snatched him up like a prize.

Bizarrely, we've coveted this prize for multiple offseasons.

 

[Alexander]

Bizarrely, we've coveted this prize for multiple offseasons.

It blew my mind the first time much less the second.

Then after he is signed, he is lauded for his outstanding character and promptly gets a DUI.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I hope that is the case. I don't like the player and he is in the way of Awuzie and Lewis.

He was signed before we drafted those guys....back up plan

 

[LocimusPrime]

Good post newsbot

Newsbot is one of the best posters here. Gets no love though

 

[Alexander]

Newsbot is one of the best posters here. Gets no love though

Newsbot is stuck up. Never replies and does not give out likes either.

 

[kiheikiwi]

I have 2 questions about this, first off - glad to hear Thornton is now in shape and been working hard during the off-season. He was a disappointment last year, hopefully he "gets it" now, knows what is expected of him and knows the 1-tech position a lot better - having come from the 3/4 scheme in Philly. And he looks thick ! Not so much bigger than last year, but thick. That's a good thing for the position. Question is, Paea practiced in the OTA's to start with but missed all of the OTA's and we never hear anything on him. I trust he will be healed/ready come TC, but what is his ailment ? I have high hopes for him in this environment at the 1-tech with Thornton, he is instantly the strongest man on defense.
2nd question - Carrol was us covering our bases before the draft, quite happy to just let it play out at TC. Where I'm confused is that I keep hearing that they are planning to move Awuzie to safety ??? Why ? I assume to backup FS, but don't we already have plenty of those, and why would you take a second rounder to a backup spot ? (Is it just in case of Injury to Jones) He doesn't look big enough for a strong safety at 6'1" # 202, but I maybe wrong on that. Kavon Frazer is 6'1" # 215. Heath is 6'1" # 212. Those guys are big enough to take more of the pounding a SS takes - and gives. Hell Byron Jones is only #199.
Awuzie is super quick, good size for a corner and smart as all get out, and as our second round pick I would of assumed he would be groomed to be a starting outside corner with Brown eventually.
My hope and prayer is that they are not going to do to Awuzie what they did to Crawford, the dreaded "Position flex" bull---- ! And keep moving him back and forth.
Tell me where Im wrong on this, Awuzie is an outside corner, Brown is an outside corner, Lewis looks like a perfect inside/slot corner. Scandrick will be here maybe 2 more years, then Lewis takes his spot. And we have depth.
Oh and we have the little heat seeking missile in Woods at # 5'11" # 205 at Safety as well. So again, why all the chatter of moving Awuzie ???

 

[Stash]

I hope that Broaddus' claim about a position change for Awuzie is wrong. Given the need at cornerback, I'd consider a position switch as a failure. The team has a 1st round pick already invested in Byron Jones at free safety and they're looking at Jeff Heath to start at strong safety.

I think Awuzie could be a much better help to this team by playing at cornerback and giving us less of Nolan Carroll.

 

[dallasdave]

That said, it is really difficult to project how a player will perform given a different surrounding team. For instance, the Cowboys defense has a luxury the Eagles defense did not...the Cowboys offense. Furthermore, I don't believe the Cowboys will be asking Carroll to play the same amount of snaps. With reduced snaps, Carroll could actually play above the contract he signed.

Furthermore, with how young the overall defense is, I think we fans may underestimate the effect of having another veteran presence other than Scandrick in the classroom. Without Carroll, Scandrick would be the unquestioned leader in the room. Don't get me wrong, I want Scandrick to take that role...and take it seriously. Having another veteran presence may help with Scandrick's commitment to that role.

Vet leaders are important

 

[dallasdave]

I hope that Broaddus' claim about a position change for Awuzie is wrong. Given the need at cornerback, I'd consider a position switch as a failure. The team has a 1st round pick already invested in Byron Jones at free safety and they're looking at Jeff Heath to start at strong safety.

I think Awuzie could be a much better help to this team by playing at cornerback and giving us less of Nolan Carroll.

Grat point Stash !!!!

 

[dallasdave]

Newsbot is one of the best posters here. Gets no love though

I agree, let's give it up for NewsBot

 

[jday]

I have 2 questions about this, first off - glad to hear Thornton is now in shape and been working hard during the off-season. He was a disappointment last year, hopefully he "gets it" now, knows what is expected of him and knows the 1-tech position a lot better - having come from the 3/4 scheme in Philly. And he looks thick ! Not so much bigger than last year, but thick. That's a good thing for the position. Question is, Paea practiced in the OTA's to start with but missed all of the OTA's and we never hear anything on him. I trust he will be healed/ready come TC, but what is his ailment ? I have high hopes for him in this environment at the 1-tech with Thornton, he is instantly the strongest man on defense.
2nd question - Carrol was us covering our bases before the draft, quite happy to just let it play out at TC. Where I'm confused is that I keep hearing that they are planning to move Awuzie to safety ??? Why ? I assume to backup FS, but don't we already have plenty of those, and why would you take a second rounder to a backup spot ? (Is it just in case of Injury to Jones) He doesn't look big enough for a strong safety at 6'1" # 202, but I maybe wrong on that. Kavon Frazer is 6'1" # 215. Heath is 6'1" # 212. Those guys are big enough to take more of the pounding a SS takes - and gives. Hell Byron Jones is only #199.
Awuzie is super quick, good size for a corner and smart as all get out, and as our second round pick I would of assumed he would be groomed to be a starting outside corner with Brown eventually.
My hope and prayer is that they are not going to do to Awuzie what they did to Crawford, the dreaded "Position flex" bull---- ! And keep moving him back and forth.
Tell me where Im wrong on this, Awuzie is an outside corner, Brown is an outside corner, Lewis looks like a perfect inside/slot corner. Scandrick will be here maybe 2 more years, then Lewis takes his spot. And we have depth.
Oh and we have the little heat seeking missile in Woods at # 5'11" # 205 at Safety as well. So again, why all the chatter of moving Awuzie ???

Your guess is as good as mine as far as your first question is concerned. As for your second question, I don't think the plan is to move Awuzie to Safety and leave him there. I suspect they have a role much like Byron's first year in mind for him. He will be the swiss army knife. His role will depend on the all-encompassing situation. By "all-encompassing" I not only mean who is injured at that moment, but also what the situation of the game is.

To your point, you might not want Awuzie back there on a running play; for that you need a stockier breed of Safety that can act as a run-stopper. However, in Nickel and Dime situations, he could be perfect...especially if you like four other corners to be on the field at the same time as Awuzie.

So the Dime, for instance, could look like Scandrick and Lewis in the slot, with Anthony and Carroll on the outside. Byron and Awuzie deep and Sean Lee holding down the lone-middle linebacker spot. On the line, you would likely see Collins, Dlaw, Tcraw and potentially another DE, either Taco or Tapper...they may even consider a pure DE look, otherwise referred to as Nascar. David Irving will certainly be in that mix if he's not suspended, but for now I'm not considering him until we know more about his situation.

 

[Rockdoc]

good post
we should remember its early, they will try different things
we want the best players on the field. sometimes you have to play a different position.
if it looks Awuzie can play some safety. great let him get some reps there.

 

[Frozen700]

He needs to be replaced. I can't take another season of goofy non athletic cornerback play.

Something tells me he will be Reeves/Ball 2.0 for us. Just a goof of all sorts.

We don't need to reminisce on those days. Carr was the last of that horrible era, let it go.

 

[Frozen700]

It's like the cowboys know we need an automatic clear favorite for a whipping boy in the Secondary. That has to be the reason they signed Carroll.

Without him, there is no clear cut favorite to take the whipping.