JJ Wilcox will be our starting FS, Stephen Jones pretty much says

[Doomsday101]

Absolutely, but once they have seen them play for a year and said player loses his job to an undrafted FA rookie, do they still proclaim them the starter the next year?

Heath took over after Wilcox went down with a knee injury.

 

[iceberg]

Heath took over after Wilcox went down with a knee injury.

that's gonna leave a mark...

 

[the_h0wey]

Heath took over after Wilcox went down with a knee injury.

Yes he did, and he never regained his starting job. He wasn't out for the rest of the season...

 

[Doomsday101]

Yes he did, and he never regained his starting job. He wasn't out for the rest of the season...

and yet played the rest of the season. They see these guys day in and day out what they do in practice. I have no doubt Wilcox is penciled in as the starter and it will fall to him to keep it. Dallas saying he is the starter is not wrong but no one said anything about any position being set in stone. Going in to camp yes you have to have a clue as to who your starters are and Wilcox evidently is just that.

 

[the_h0wey]

and yet played the rest of the season. They see these guys day in and day out what they do in practice. I have no doubt Wilcox is penciled in as the starter and it will fall to him to keep it. Dallas saying he is the starter is not wrong but no one said anything about any position being set in stone. Going in to camp yes you have to have a clue as to who your starters are and Wilcox evidently is just that.

that's gonna leave a mark...

I hope he turns out to be a great player. With our history in the last ten years of unsuccessfully drafting Secondary players I tend to be less then optimistic.

 

[iceberg]

I hope he turns out to be a great player. With our history in the last ten years of unsuccessfully drafting Secondary players I tend to be less then optimistic.

yea, but we can't give up after 1 year, esp with what he went through emotionally. fans tend to freak out early and once the player settles in, cheer up.

a-la, dez.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I'm surprised no one has directly compared Wilcox and Ward, stats wise and measurables to see if Ward it's even better than what we already have.

Ward is much more developed from a skill standpoint than Wilcox. While you can see Wilcox get incrementally better from game to game going back to his Georgia days, Ward plays at a top level. Ward also has excellent ball skills better than any safety the last two years. He can turn and high point balls like a WR.

Wilcox from a measurable standpoint is 20 lbs heavier but ran a 4.51 vs Wards 4.47. What Wilcox did that was impressive was a 4.02 shuttle which is very close to elite vs Ward who was in the 4.2 range. Both went 120ish on the bj and 3 ft verts. Ward does better on the 3 cone.

 

[the_h0wey]

yea, but we can't give up after 1 year, esp with what he went through emotionally. fans tend to freak out early and once the player settles in, cheer up.

a-la, dez.

Dez showed something early. I havent seen anything from Wilcox yet. I hope he can figure it out.

 

[pacboyX]

Dez showed something early. I havent seen anything from Wilcox yet. I hope he can figure it out.

Wr is a bit easier position to "show something". Dez also played Wr throughout all of college.

 

[gimmesix]

I understand but if we get Ward and he struggles in his rookie year do we then draft another? I'm not aginst getting a safety on the other hand you can't draft a player and after his rookie year give up on that player. Dafting another player does not mean we fixed it, it means we brought in a prospect that we hope will develop into a quality player.

I do agree that addressing the DL is critical and not just the pass rush but being able to stop the run that way safety is not having to creep up to the line as much.

Fans are often too quick to move on from young players, having been burnt by ones who failed to develop and forgetting the ones who did develop. The team is often too slow to move on from young players, remembering the ones who did develop and ignoring the ones who didn't.

There's a fine line between the two. Coaches have to accept the fact that they can't make everyone a success story; you can't make a silk purse out of a sour Costa. Fans have to accept the fact that some players just need time to adapt, especially those who come from smaller schools.

If Dallas had played Romo his first year with the team, he would have put up some pretty poor numbers because his mechanics needed a lot of work, and people would have been screaming for Dallas to move on. Plenty of other players didn't exactly light things up their first year, or even first few, in the league: Bradie James comes to mind; Jason Hatcher wasn't really much until the past couple of seasons. Some come in immediately ready, but others are just "late bloomers."

The fear is that they won't bloom, but I think it's a poor idea to overreact to that fear.

 

[Doomsday101]

Fans are often too quick to move on from young players, having been burnt by ones who failed to develop and forgetting the ones who did develop. The team is often too slow to move on from young players, remembering the ones who did develop and ignoring the ones who didn't.

There's a fine line between the two. Coaches have to accept the fact that they can't make everyone a success story; you can't make a silk purse out of a sour Costa. Fans have to accept the fact that some players just need time to adapt, especially those who come from smaller schools.

If Dallas had played Romo his first year with the team, he would have put up some pretty poor numbers because his mechanics needed a lot of work, and people would have been screaming for Dallas to move on. Plenty of other players didn't exactly light things up their first year, or even first few, in the league: Bradie James comes to mind; Jason Hatcher wasn't really much until the past couple of seasons. Some come in immediately ready, but others are just "late bloomers."

The fear is that they won't bloom, but I think it's a poor idea to overreact to that fear.

I fully agree. Most guys are not fully NFL ready just as most High School kids are not college ready. There is things they need to learn and skill to further develop. No long can the player rely on being superior over others since the gap in the NFL is a lot smaller. I can't sit here and say I know JJ Wilcox will be an outstanding pro after a rookie season that saw him missing time with a knee injury. He like most need some time and if we draft a safety likely he too will need time and will have his struggles.