Rookies: Making Plays vs Making Mistakes

[jwooten15]

What do you guys expect to see out of our young guys in 2017? Especially in the secondary.

With this batch of young guys coming in, I think there are two perspectives to consider:

1. There are going to be rookie mistakes. It happens to everyone. Whether is be miscommunication, not recognizing what the offense is doing, mental lapses or what have you... We are dealing with young guys, so there is going to be a trial-by-fire since they're expected to come in and contribute from day one.
2. On the flip-side of that, though, is the fact that we really loaded up on guys who fit Marinelli's scheme and have play making ability! They're proactive rather than reactive, and have ball skills --- something this defense has sorely lacked for many years. In saying that, I think they will be forcing more turnovers and won't be as passive as previous secondaries have been. The days of "bend-but-don't-break" may be over.

So my question is, are you more excited or scared for the changes that we will see? No doubt, it's a double edge sword. More plays, but also more mistakes. Which will outweigh the other?

 

[Doomsday101]

What do you guys expect to see out of our young guys in 2017? Especially in the secondary.

With this batch of young guys coming in, I think there are two perspectives to consider:

1. There are going to be rookie mistakes. It happens to everyone. Whether is be miscommunication, not recognizing what the offense is doing, mental lapses or what have you... We are dealing with young guys, so there is going to be a trial-by-fire since they're expected to come in and contribute from day one.
2. On the flip-side of that, though, is the fact that we really loaded up on guys who fit Marinelli's scheme and have play making ability! They're proactive rather than reactive, and have ball skills --- something this defense has sorely lacked for many years. In saying that, I think they will be forcing more turnovers and won't be as passive as previous secondaries have been. The days of "bend-but-don't-break" may be over.

So my question is, are you more excited or scared for the changes that we will see? No doubt, it's a double edge sword. More plays, but also more mistakes. Which will outweigh the other?

Both excited and concerned. I do expect some mistakes by rookies, what I do not expect is seeing the same mistakes over and over.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I'm all for mistakes as long as they are not continuously repeated and they are complimented by big plays here and there.

Last season, the defensive secondary not only proved they were not capable of making big plays on a regular basis, they proved they were more break than bend when the game mattered. Granted, the entire defense was suspect, but it was already known the secondary was not up to the task against a big-time QB.

 

[jday]

What do you guys expect to see out of our young guys in 2017? Especially in the secondary.

With this batch of young guys coming in, I think there are two perspectives to consider:

1. There are going to be rookie mistakes. It happens to everyone. Whether is be miscommunication, not recognizing what the offense is doing, mental lapses or what have you... We are dealing with young guys, so there is going to be a trial-by-fire since they're expected to come in and contribute from day one.
2. On the flip-side of that, though, is the fact that we really loaded up on guys who fit Marinelli's scheme and have play making ability! They're proactive rather than reactive, and have ball skills --- something this defense has sorely lacked for many years. In saying that, I think they will be forcing more turnovers and won't be as passive as previous secondaries have been. The days of "bend-but-don't-break" may be over.

So my question is, are you more excited or scared for the changes that we will see? No doubt, it's a double edge sword. More plays, but also more mistakes. Which will outweigh the other?

I don't think bend, don't break is over. We are a few years away from that. I agree with you that there will be mistakes made across the board given how young this team is. Having said, I also believe you are correct that the Cowboys may be more opportunistic than past years, given the type of talent they brought in via draft. More than likely, it will take 5 to 6 games into the season before the Cowboys start to get an idea of what they have on defense. By the Thanksgiving game, I expect they will start playing their best football for this season.

 

[Jarv]

I expect the next batch of "Thurman's thieves"

 

[big dog cowboy]

So my question is, are you more excited or scared for the changes that we will see?

Super excited. By the time the playoffs get here they will be ready.

 

[kazzd58]

Love it bought time imo!! if we had kept the last cb crop we let go, it wld hv been same thing happening

no turnovers and giving up the catches when u not suppose to give up the catches in crucial times

 

[Seven]

I expect the next batch of "Thurman's thieves"

Yah, baby!

 

[CF74]

Growing pains mixed with wow plays...

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

I'm excited about the upside, but make no mistake, mistakes are what get you beat. As much as I think we'll be better off in the long run and could see more big plays, we will probably take some lumps early because of mistakes being made. Could cost us a couple games we would otherwise have won. That can be blatantly true in the secondary. But that's the price of youth. How quickly they stop making mistakes will dictate our ability to get to the next level this year.

 

[DC Cowboy]

not sure how much they will play b/c I believe our starters are OScan, Brown, and Carroll. However, I do think OScan and Carroll will be gone 2018 season therefore giving the rookies a year to learn/grow.

 

[Idgit]

The nice thing about our defense is that it's intentionally not a complex system. And, as usual, we did a decent job covering our starting positions with veterans heading into the draft, so, if a rookie takes a spot, he'll have won it outright over an experienced player.

We rotate the DLs heavily, so it's easy to see how we'll bring them up to speed. The top two CBs have reputations for being football-smart, especially Chido.

And then both Tapper and Jaylon Smith have the benefit of having been around for a year, so they're new to the defense but ought to be fairly familiar with what we do conceptually. In short, I'm not particularly worried about inexperience. We've got enough to stop the gaps and get everybody on the same page, and we've got a shot to have more talented players get on the field later in the season as their snaps ramp up and they get more comfortable with everything. The bigger issue is we just don't have enough talented defensive players yet. The talent is getting better, and it's consistent overall, but we need more play makers.

 

[tyke1doe]

It's all about the pass rush. If we get a pass rush from Tapper, Taco, Irving, Lawrence, et. al, then I expect the secondary to produce more turnovers.

If not, we'll see them get taken to school. We play Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Jordan Reed, Terrelle Pryor, Josh Doctson (a kid I hosted in my home when he was a wee little lad), Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Larry Fitzgerald, Julio Jones, etc.). They're about to lit if we can't get the opposing quarterback to sit.

But I won't be discouraged. It's a part of the growth process.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

The nice thing about our defense is that it's intentionally not a complex system. And, as usual, we did a decent job covering our starting positions with veterans heading into the draft, so, if a rookie takes a spot, he'll have won it outright over an experienced player.

We rotate the DLs heavily, so it's easy to see how we'll bring them up to speed. The top two CBs have reputations for being football-smart, especially Chido.

And then both Tapper and Jaylon Smith have the benefit of having been around for a year, so they're new to the defense but ought to be fairly familiar with what we do conceptually. In short, I'm not particularly worried about inexperience. We've got enough to stop the gaps and get everybody on the same page, and we've got a shot to have more talented players get on the field later in the season as their snaps ramp up and they get more comfortable with everything. The bigger issue is we just don't have enough talented defensive players yet. The talent is getting better, and it's consistent overall, but we need more play makers.

Good points. If we found one catalyst it would make everyone else better. We need it from the pass rush or the secondary. Someone who gets consistent pressure or someone QBs fear throwing toward. That makes decent players seem pretty good and pretty good players seem really good.

I think I like the talent level right now, just not the experience level.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Cautiously optimistic

 

[Melonfeud]

It's all about the pass rush. If we get a pass rush from Tapper, Taco, Irving, Lawrence, et. al, then I expect the secondary to produce more turnovers.

If not, we'll see them get taken to school. We play Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Jordan Reed, Terrelle Pryor, Josh Doctson (a kid I hosted in my home when he was a wee little lad), Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Larry Fitzgerald, Julio Jones, etc.). They're about to lit if we can't get the opposing quarterback to sit.

But I won't be discouraged. It's a part of the growth process.

Good post and you pretty muchit.

Although there is no beauty in seeing the rookie d.b.'s getting torched cuz it's gonna happen solely due to the caliber of the competition their gonna find themselves squaring off against BUT! that Dak Attack in a shootout ( J.G. in his element)
Can be something fierce, and there within lies the beauty! That Prescott is pretty much unshakable and if he's given enough reins / the staff gives him his head( racehorse jargon)
He's gonna move the ball and be effective while answering the need for points.
I'm not gonna venture a guess on his t.d. to int. Ratio for this year, other than both will be higher

 

[tyke1doe]

Good post and you pretty muchit.

Although there is no beauty in seeing the rookie d.b.'s getting torched cuz it's gonna happen solely due to the caliber of the competition their gonna find themselves squaring off against BUT! that Dak Attack in a shootout ( J.G. in his element)
Can be something fierce, and there within lies the beauty! That Prescott is pretty much unshakable and if he's given enough reins / the staff gives him his head( racehorse jargon)
He's gonna move the ball and be effective while answering the need for points.
I'm not gonna venture a guess on his t.d. to int. Ratio for this year, other than both will be higher

I agree. I said previously, he'll have more interceptions, but he'll be better.

 

[Idgit]

Good points. If we found one catalyst it would make everyone else better. We need it from the pass rush or the secondary. Someone who gets consistent pressure or someone QBs fear throwing toward. That makes decent players seem pretty good and pretty good players seem really good.

I think I like the talent level right now, just not the experience level.

I agree. One, or maybe two, catalytic player would make a huge difference on defense. We've got one of those for the time being in Lee. There's an outside shot that we added another in Jaylon Smith if he can get it together. One more would be a huge difference maker, especially if it were on the DL. That's why Gregory blowing his career up in smoke is such a disappointment.

Overall, I do really like the fact that we're solid and deep everyplace on defense. We lack special players there, but we're deep and we're solid and have a lot of the right sorts of players. It takes a special player on offense to beat them. Unfortunately, the NFC has a couple special offensive players, too.

 

[gmoney112]

Friggin' pumped.

Don't care about the mistakes, mistakes are a given. Even veterans aren't perfect.

This defense is going to be sexy.

 

[Longboysfan]

Question on this.

When Seattle rose from the ashes and player a dominant role in the NFL for three seasons.
Their players were basically all the same age - correct.
They got Russell Wilson and everything fell into place.