What are everyone's opinions on Heath?

[Tusan_Homichi]

I didn't read everyone's posts before mine, but I'll give you my honest opinion.

He is the worst player on our team and possibly in all of the NFL. If we cut him, he wouldn't be in the league 2 years later.

That's ridiculous.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

He plays like a really athletic guy from a small school. That's exactly what he is. The more time he spends on the field, the more comfortable he'll be and instead of just being around plays, he'll actually make some.

 

[gimmesix]

Jones is the free safety we need, but he has to be a corner right now.Just the few plays we've seen him at FS this year show what it looks like to have a quality player back there. I think you could flip a coin between choosing Heath or Wilcox to hold down the spot for now. Both have some holes in their game.

 

[CF74]

He's been outplaying Wil-Can't-Tackle-Cox but so are about 31 other safeties.. Still he's shown vast improvement and has not hit the ceiling just yet either.. Trending up...

 

[mmohican29]

Heath is a project player that was forced into action much too soon, and had as poor of ball skills as I've seen since Tony Dixon was in Dallas.

That said, he is rounding into form as a true NFL-caliber safety. He can start in a pinch and not embarrass himself vs lesser QB's, he is a great situational player in a dime package, and can really wallop. If I were giving him a Madden rating, I'd give him an 83 overall: Good, assignment sound football player who can capitalize on mistakes- but tremendously lacking in ball skills.

 

[AsthmaField]

To me it feels like Heath is a perfect backup Safety. He probably won't single handedly kill your defense if he has to play for a while and he's also an excellent teams player by all accounts. Our safety issue is that we don't really have a starting FS, unless you count Jones, who is a CB right now and if he plays well I could see him never going back to FS.

I think Claiborne has been playing well enough to re-sign if his demands are reasonable enough (which remains to be seen). I would reallly, REALLY like to see BJ stay the starter at FS. Jones has the tools to be a very good corner... but he has the skills to be one of the best FS in the league.

Just my two cents.

 

[lane]

Heath has played very well for us..

Love the way he is smart and very physical...the man will hit you .

He also is the one that protects our punter in the middle and never misses that assignment.

The way he stoned Ryan when he was taking off on running plays made him think twice about doing it again...

 

[vlad]

Isn't he a very good athlete? Are people just saying he's not for the obvious reason? I think his ball awareness in fought had been his biggest issue. Seems like he's in the right place bitty not good at playing the ball.

 

[casmith07]

What are everyone's opinions on Heath? Was watching him Sunday and feel like he played a great game at safety. Good in centrefield and decent in run support. Way better than what Wilcox or Church have shown. What do you guys think flash in the pan or potential started going forward?

He has actually played nicely the last two games. He's a solid contributor on special teams and he can play if he's asked to get some snaps on defense. I don't hate him -- he's a good role player.

 

[Staubacher]

Heath leads our team in interceptions. Not sure if that says more about him or our team..

 

[Richmond Cowboy]

He's our bill bates in progress.

I think he's closer to Bill Gates than Bill Bates.

(Not really but I thought it was worth posting)

 

[cmoney23]

That's ridiculous.

No, it's not. That is the truth.
He is consistently out of position in coverage. He misses more tackles than he makes, he takes bad angles in pursuit. He has horribly stiff hips and can't flip them in coverage. He is a borderline Special Teams player and should never see the field.

 

[fortdick]

This. You can't have prime rib at every position in today's NFL. The budget mandates that you have hamburger at a position or three. He's not going to cost a lot to keep, and with a good supporting cast around him he's the type of player that will give you a very good return on your investment, IMO.

Dang, prime rib, candy bars, I am getting hungry!

 

[LandryFan]

Dang, prime rib, candy bars, I am getting hungry!

Don't forget about the hamburger!

 

[bigdnlaca]

It is a great candy bar but I'm torn between that and Skor.

 

[Proximo]

No, it's not. That is the truth.
He is consistently out of position in coverage. He misses more tackles than he makes, he takes bad angles in pursuit. He has horribly stiff hips and can't flip them in coverage. He is a borderline Special Teams player and should never see the field.

This is so far from the truth that it makes me think one of two things-

Either you're confusing Jeff Heath with someone else, or

You actually know Jeff Heath and have some sort of personal grudge or score to settle.

 

[Daillest88]

heath has been good in coverage , hes been taking good angles this year too

 

[alohawg]

Wasn't he the guy that cost us the Tampa game on the goal line?

 

[cmoney23]

This is so far from the truth that it makes me think one of two things-

Either you're confusing Jeff Heath with someone else, or

You actually know Jeff Heath and have some sort of personal grudge or score to settle.

Nope, neither.

I think a lot of people see a small school, white kid that tries realllllly hard and they want to root for him. And that's fine. It's ok to have "pet" players, but that doesn't mean they are good.
And Jeff Heath is not a good NFL Safety.

 

[Verdict]

Actually, it is arguable that Heath has outplayed the other safeties on the roster. In my opinion both Church and Wilcox have underperformed. Church has underperformed his contract for sure.