Signed by Cowboys Safety George Iloka signed

[Rogerthat12]

 

[pupulehaole]

no no no no no this cant be right... I was told multiple times by different people on this board that we would sing Earl Thomas 100% this offseason... please check your sources and come back.

 

[Silver N Blue]

They didn’t sign him to be anything other than an in the box S. He’ll be a situational player if he makes the team.

Alright then. Clearly not as good as the two here.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

He's ranked outside the top 80s of starting safeties - it's not even just PFF that has him ranked low LOL

The dude was awful. Heath is a backup/special teams guy on every other team in this league. No amount of propping him up, excuses, homerism changes this. He sucks as a starter and needs replaced ASAP.

PFF also has Harrison Smith listed outside the Top 10. PFF is a terrible resource to backup an argument, particularly when you use it to claim a player is below average and it lists him as average.

 

[northerncowboynation]

Ren and Stimpy!! Man, haven't seen them in ages!! Thanks for the reminder

 

[glimmerman]

He seems pumped to be A Cowboy...

 

[Falco78]

I don't know if people realize how slow this guy is.

I agree Heath might be much better

 

[Sydla]

A quarter of a second slower than Heath on his 40. Fanfreakingtastic.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/george-iloka?id=2532869

JAG depth. Maybe he takes over for Heath as an in the box SS, but that's more about what Frazier and Heath lack than anything else.

That's precisely why he's here. I doubt the Cowboys have deluded themselves into thinking this guy solves their S concerns. He's on a one year deal, he's a clear stop gap. They wanted a safety net on someone they think might be better than Heath in case the draft doesn't fall their way and they can't grab a good safety.

 

[Sydla]

I agree Heath might be much better

In no world is Jeff Heath "much better" than Iloka.

I swear, I must be watching a different Jeff Heath than most of you guys.

 

[gimmesix]

In no world is Jeff Heath "much better" than Iloka.

I swear, I must be watching a different Jeff Heath than most of you guys.

Maybe you are watching the wrong Jeff Heath. If you are watching Jeff Heath the run defender, then Iloka is definitely the better player. Heath has speed and isn't afraid to hit, but he's not even close to a great run defender. The fact that Dallas' plan to replace Barry Church at SS with Heath when Church left was flawed from the beginning.

The reason Dallas had that plan was because of how good Heath was beginning to play as a deep safety. His speed and range allow him to be pretty good at that and better than anything Iloka is liable to provide in coverage.

If we start Iloka over Heath, we should be better at playing the run but worse in coverage. Considering the we like to play a lot of single-high safety and less of the Cover 2, this might not be a bad thing. If Iloka isn't spending a lot of his time isolated in coverage, he's got the football intelligence to handle the short zones/underneath stuff. Just expect him to get burned at times when offenses are able to get him matched up on a quick tight end or a receiver.

As an offensive coordinater, that's what you are looking to do is exploit the matchups, whether it is running at Heath or getting Iloka one-on-one. Ideally, you want a safety who doesn't really have any holes in his game, but we're not going to find that in the bargain bin.

 

[Sydla]

PFF also has Harrison Smith listed outside the Top 10. PFF is a terrible resource to backup an argument, particularly when you use it to claim a player is below average and it lists him as average.

Yes, but they had him 14th which would still put him in the "good" category. So even if you account for some fluctuations in their grading system, Smith still tested out as one of the better Ss in football.

Heath was 80th. They aren't that screwed up a grading system that they missed his ranking by like 50+ spots.

Heath is a mediocre to poor safety. Why in the world do people struggle with admitting this? It's downright bizarre. Crap, it seems people defend him more than some of our better players.

 

[silvrNblue]

Well, isn't it still a chance this turtle doesn't make the roster? I mean if he can't run down coverage or cover at all due to his speed, they can release him I'm sure.

 

[Sydla]

Maybe you are watching the wrong Jeff Heath. If you are watching Jeff Heath the run defender, then Iloka is definitely the better player. Heath has speed and isn't afraid to hit, but he's not even close to a great run defender. The fact that Dallas' plan to replace Barry Church at SS with Heath when Church left was flawed from the beginning.

The reason Dallas had that plan was because of how good Heath was beginning to play as a deep safety. His speed and range allow him to be pretty good at that and better than anything Iloka is liable to provide in coverage.

If we start Iloka over Heath, we should be better at playing the run but worse in coverage. Considering the we like to play a lot of single-high safety and less of the Cover 2, this might not be a bad thing. If Iloka isn't spending a lot of his time isolated in coverage, he's got the football intelligence to handle the short zones/underneath stuff. Just expect him to get burned at times when offenses are able to get him matched up on a quick tight end or a receiver.

As an offensive coordinater, that's what you are looking to do is exploit the matchups, whether it is running at Heath or getting Iloka one-on-one. Ideally, you want a safety who doesn't really have any holes in his game, but we're not going to find that in the bargain bin.

You overrate Heath's pass defense. If you look at the various analyses floating around, you won't find many that would suggest Heath is a better pass defender either.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

Yes, but they had him 14th which would still put him in the "good" category. So even if you account for some fluctuations in their grading system, Smith still tested out as one of the better Ss in football.

Heath was 80th. They aren't that screwed up a grading system that they missed his ranking by like 50+ spots.

Heath is a mediocre to poor safety. Why in the world do people struggle with admitting this? It's downright bizarre. Crap, it seems people defend him more than some of our better players.

I don't struggle admitting that Heath is a mediocre safety. I just don't believe he is awful, and I don't think the safety position, in general, is that important. Could we improve? Sure. But I'm certainly not worried about safety after the Iloka signing.

 

[Sydla]

I don't struggle admitting that Heath is a mediocre safety. I just don't believe he is awful, and I don't think the safety position, in general, is that important. Could we improve? Sure. But I'm certainly not worried about safety after the Iloka signing.

You and I have different opinions of the value of good to great safety.

 

[Denim Chicken]

 

[Denim Chicken]

 

[Denim Chicken]

 

[TheRomoSexual]

You and I have different opinions of the value of good to great safety.

No, I think a great safety can be a game changer. I feel the same way about the RB position -- I don't think you should put much resources into it unless you can get a great one. The thing is, I'm not sure there are many, if any, truly "great" safeties in today's NFL. The best, Harrison Smith, only had 3 ints last season, and modern rules don't permit the "Roy Williams" safety type anymore.

 

[gimmesix]

You overrate Heath's pass defense. If you look at the various analyses floating around, you won't find many that would suggest Heath is a better pass defender either.

I think you underrate it primarily because your viewpoint is affected by his poor run defense. Go back and watch Heath's play as a free safety, either as a reserve or starter. His play there as a reserve in 2016 was the reason Dallas was comfortable letting Church go. (Again, mistakenly believing that it would somehow translate to SS.) Then when he flubbed at strong safety in 2017 and we moved him to free safety midway through the season, his play there was a highlight for the defense.

If you need some numbers to quantify it. In the first seven games of 2017, when Heath was starting at SS, he had 1 pass defense and no interceptions. After Dallas switched him and Byron, he had four passes defensed and all three of his interceptions.

Now, I don't want you to think PDs and interceptions tell the whole story because Iloka has two years where he had three interceptions. However, I think fans tend to look at those more for validation because they are not watching the safety on every play to see how his positioning in coverage forces the QB to hold to ball and throw it elsewhere. I think this aspect of Heath's game is undervalued.

If Iloka proves to be better in coverage than Heath, then I'll gladly eat my words. His play will be better defending the run, though, so that may be enough to make the move worthwhile.