2018 Free Agency - Prospects for GB

[Packerraymond]

18 minutes ago, incognito_man said:

Or ability to locate the ball. That spatial awareness is not something that just improves imo.

Then why were our DBs and coaches so high on him? Seems if he were so unnatural we wouldn't have promoted him to keep him from being stolen.

[Mr. Fussnputz]

52 minutes ago, incognito_man said:

I'm the smallest fan of Clark on this site lol

Dude is completely lost out there. No future imo.

Agreed. I saw nothing in Clark. Don't understand the love.

[beekay414]

7 minutes ago, packfanfb said:

I've been a proponent of this move for a while. If Pitt would truly part with him for a 4th, I'd take that deal in a second. Bryant has his flaws off the field but hes a game breaker on the outside. These are types of moves I am waiting for Gute to make.

I'm all for that. Next year we'd have to pay him, though. Perhaps that's when we move on from Cobb and allocate his money to Bryant?

[Packerraymond]

7 minutes ago, packfanfb said:

I've been a proponent of this move for a while. If Pitt would truly part with him for a 4th, I'd take that deal in a second. Bryant has his flaws off the field but hes a game breaker on the outside. These are types of moves I am waiting for Gute to make.

No more money/draft capital should be spent on the offense until the defense is at an NFL average level.

Bryant isn't going to do anything to our W/L today like a component pass rusher/corner.

[beekay414]

1 minute ago, Packerraymond said:

No more money/draft capital should be spent on the offense until the defense is at an NFL average level.

Bryant isn't going to do anything to our W/L today like a component pass rusher/corner.

For a 4th round price tag, I'm fine with it. We can invest early in the draft in defense as well as bringing in stopgap veterans for this year. You don't pass up value when it's there.

[Packerraymond]

1 minute ago, bkobow05 said:

For a 4th round price tag, I'm fine with it. We can invest early in the draft in defense as well as bringing in stopgap veterans for this year. You don't pass up value when it's there.

I don't see value. He's a rental. I'd rather give the reps to the 2/3 round receiver who will become the next Jennings/Jones/Nelson/Cobb/Adams.

Bryant is going to want to be paid if he has a big year and I'm not giving a dime of guaranteed money to that guy.

[incognito_man]

9 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

Then why were our DBs and coaches so high on him? Seems if he were so unnatural we wouldn't have promoted him to keep him from being stolen.

I dunno, guess they can't see it, or can but are trying to be nicer than me?

[St Vince]

1 minute ago, Mr. Fussnputz said:

Agreed. I saw nothing in Clark. Don't understand the love.

He's almost 6'7. I was hoping they would've converted him to TE. He's got decent hands unfortunately he didn't have Rodgers throwing him the ball. Think Davis and Janis are in trouble if Clark shows anything in camp and preseason. I'm also hearing they're in love with Allison.

[Packerraymond]

Just now, incognito_man said:

I dunno, guess they can't see it, or can but are trying to be nicer than me?

Not sure man, just know that's an atypical body type for this staff so if they didn't really like him they would move on quick. Haven't had a body type like that since Ruvell Martin.

[incognito_man]

1 minute ago, Packerraymond said:

Not sure man, just know that's an atypical body type for this staff so if they didn't really like him they would move on quick. Haven't had a body type like that since Ruvell Martin.

I have zero expectations from him. Hopefully he surprises me, but I doubt it

[SpeightTheVillain]

11 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

Then why were our DBs and coaches so high on him? Seems if he were so unnatural we wouldn't have promoted him to keep him from being stolen.

Because he is a physical specimen. 6'6" at 4.51. Doesn't mean that he can control his body enough to be a legitimate NFL WR. 

I have no problem with him on the roster as a UDFA. But there was a reason he wasn't drafted. 

[squire12]

9 minutes ago, SpeightTheVillain said:

Because he is a physical specimen. 6'6" at 4.51. Doesn't mean that he can control his body enough to be a legitimate NFL WR. 

I have no problem with him on the roster as a UDFA. But there was a reason he wasn't drafted. 

Big reason was he only played 1 year of college football

Quote

 Clark, who measured at 6 feet and 5.5 inches on Wednesday, caught 37 passes for a team-high 632 yards and five touchdowns in his only season at Marshall

 

[Gopackgonerd]

31 minutes ago, packfanfb said:

I've been a proponent of this move for a while. If Pitt would truly part with him for a 4th, I'd take that deal in a second. Bryant has his flaws off the field but hes a game breaker on the outside. These are types of moves I am waiting for Gute to make.

I'll gladly trade a 4th rather than that other article saying where we should trade HaHa for him lol. 

[Chili]

I'm trying to better understand our defence and how certain positions can change into something else creating different looks using the same personnel. My knowledge is rudimentary at best. I understand that even though we're a 3-4 team we would be playing nickel the majority of the time essentially becoming our base defence.

4-2-5 or 2-4-5 or 3-3-5 are nickel defences which often employ 3 safeties with interchangable roles. Some people think Pettine might employ a 3-3-5 defence so based on that assumption I tried to see how our players would fit within that system. Below is our current depth chart I came up with. (note: Ahmad Thomas is a SS/LB hybrid, i've incorrectly put him at ILB). I may have incorrectly put some players in the wrong positions.

As you can see we have 3 safety positions but two of them are interchangeable. Sometimes one of the safeties becomes a linebacker or one can become a nickel corner. The nickle/SS is a crucial full time position- nickel corners are far more important than we think which is why we shouldn't dismiss any FA talk on nickel corners when everyone is focusing on outside corners. This was Randall's old spot and we have yet to replace him and I was hoping we would get Mathieu to fill that crucial position. Revis could in theory be ideal for this particular role if he's willing to do it. The SS/LB was Burnett's role but the torch is expected to pass on to Josh Jones.

You have three linebackers and they can either be outside pass rushers or inside which is where we can maximise Matthews and possibly Fackrell versatile skillsets. You will still get your normal 3-4 style edge rushers in this system.

The DL is the expected Daniels-Clark-Wilkerson however I can imagine the 3rd DT spot being interchangeable with DE giving Perry the opportunity to get his hands on the ground and rush from the edge with the other edge rusher standing up - essentially creating some 4-3 under looks.

What I've learned:

1. We got two spots without a clear defined starter. Nickle/SS position and Outside Cornerback. They're two of our biggest needs right now. I know everybody says we need a pass rusher but unlike corner we have two solid and highly paid starters in Matthews and Perry and we drafted Beigel to back them up. It makes me feel that we would be selecting a corner again with our first pick.

2. With many teams often using 3WR sets, the Nickel/SS has become the new starting position in the NFL and its absolutely crucial we shore that position up. Revis, Cockrell, Marcus Williams are potential FA candidates. I like Revis because he can play outside when needed.  I keep coming back to him and it makes too much sense. Sometimes you need to plug in an experienced player to steady the ship and Revis can be that guy. He can be this year's version of Jahri Evans.

3. Outside corner is definitely a problem. Not sure what we can do there. Few avenues left to pursue before we accept the fact we may need to rely on a rookie there. Not the end of the world as long as he is good. Difficult to find affordable All-Pro talent in free agency, however much easier to find one in the draft especially at 14.

4. If we sign Burnett or Vaccaro we will be paying starting money which means Jones is relegated to backup duties. Good that we have depth but bad as we would've wasted another 2nd round pick on a backup just like what we've done with Spriggs. I don't think we will do this.

5. Speaking of safeties I feel confident we will draft a couple of safeties to add depth. I don't think Whitehead, Evans and Brice are sufficient depth. One injury to one of our starting safeties and we would struggle immediately.

6. Do we have enough coverage ability at linebacker? Right now I don't think so.

7. Does this team look like they can stop the run? I think we should be ok in that regard.

[SpeightTheVillain]

9 minutes ago, Chili said:

I'm trying to better understand our defence and how certain positions can change into something else creating different looks using the same personnel. My knowledge is rudimentary at best. I understand that even though we're a 3-4 team we would be playing nickel the majority of the time essentially becoming our base defence.

4-2-5 or 2-4-5 or 3-3-5 are nickel defences which often employ 3 safeties with interchangable roles. Some people think Pettine might employ a 3-3-5 defence so based on that assumption I tried to see how our players would fit within that system. Below is our current depth chart I came up with. (note: Ahmad Thomas is a SS/LB hybrid, i've incorrectly put him at ILB). I may have incorrectly put some players in the wrong positions.

As you can see we have 3 safety positions but two of them are interchangeable. Sometimes one of the safeties becomes a linebacker or one can become a nickel corner. The nickle/SS is a crucial full time position- nickel corners are far more important than we think which is why we shouldn't dismiss any FA talk on nickel corners when everyone is focusing on outside corners. This was Randall's old spot and we have yet to replace him and I was hoping we would get Mathieu to fill that crucial position. Revis could in theory be ideal for this particular role if he's willing to do it. The SS/LB was Burnett's role but the torch is expected to pass on to Josh Jones.

You have three linebackers and they can either be outside pass rushers or inside which is where we can maximise Matthews and possibly Fackrell versatile skillsets. You will still get your normal 3-4 style edge rushers in this system.

The DL is the expected Daniels-Clark-Wilkerson however I can imagine the 3rd DT spot being interchangeable with DE giving Perry the opportunity to get his hands on the ground and rush from the edge with the other edge rusher standing up - essentially creating some 4-3 under looks.

What I've learned:

1. We got two spots without a clear defined starter. Nickle/SS position and Outside Cornerback. They're two of our biggest needs right now. I know everybody says we need a pass rusher but unlike corner we have two solid and highly paid starters in Matthews and Perry and we drafted Beigel to back them up. It makes me feel that we would be selecting a corner again with our first pick.

2. With many teams often using 3WR sets, the Nickel/SS has become the new starting position in the NFL and its absolutely crucial we shore that position up. Revis, Cockrell, Marcus Williams are potential FA candidates. I like Revis because he can play outside when needed.  I keep coming back to him and it makes too much sense. Sometimes you need to plug in an experienced player to steady the ship and Revis can be that guy. He can be this year's version of Jahri Evans.

3. Outside corner is definitely a problem. Not sure what we can do there. Few avenues left to pursue before we accept the fact we may need to rely on a rookie there. Not the end of the world as long as he is good. Difficult to find affordable All-Pro talent in free agency, however much easier to find one in the draft especially at 14.

4. If we sign Burnett or Vaccaro we will be paying starting money which means Jones is relegated to backup duties. Good that we have depth but bad as we would've wasted another 2nd round pick on a backup just like what we've done with Spriggs. I don't think we will do this.

5. Speaking of safeties I feel confident we will draft a couple of safeties to add depth. I don't think Whitehead, Evans and Brice are sufficient depth. One injury to one of our starting safeties and we would struggle immediately.

6. Do we have enough coverage ability at linebacker? Right now I don't think so.

7. Does this team look like they can stop the run? I think we should be ok in that regard.

We should be able to stop the run - no problem.

But looking at our DB group (as it stands now) any team is gonna run out 3 or 4 WR personnel and dominate.. 

We have the personnel to run a 46, a 4-3 under, or a 3-4 base but teams are just gonna sub-package us to death.

People always harped on Capers for being too sub. But this isn't 1985 and I don't know what Gute or Pettine has planned.