FS Terrence Brooks, Florida St

I think Brooks very well could be our pick. I think we may bring in a veteran safety to play FS for a year or 2 in addition though. Someone cheap, but someone DL will trust right up front. If it is a 2 year deal, Shamarko and Brooks would both end up starters at S in their 3rd year....at least that is my thought right now.

 

let's hope he will last till our 3c pick

 

I could live with this.

 

what to do with troy will have to be considered. he made a full season last year but we also had to kind of shield him in the defense. he really is a shell of what he once was, but my thoughts are who is the best to bring along these young guys.

clark most likely is gone. if ike goes and troy goes, that gives us a lot of money which is needed badly. of course we lose two guys that know the defense well. who will teach the young guys? just the coaches? well maybe not a bad choice, that's what they are here for, but that vet presence helps a lot.

I'm beginning to wonder if will allen and gay may not be enough to help them along though. I'm really torn on this subject, and love troy and ike, but mannnnnnn, how long can we really rely on these two, and do they hurt us more than help as we go forward. both are another year older this year. even if they take pay cuts. they hurt our defensive speed. they are not even close to what they once were for us either.

 

Ike and Troy...what to do.

First, let's just assume that Clark is gone. I think that is a given. The FS position will be Allen, Shamarko, a new draftee, or a veteran FA signing. The FA position will no longer be Clark. In addition, I think speed is going to play a MAJOR factor for us at that position moving forward.

Second, Ike can still be useful to us IF he takes a paycut. We cannot pay him the way he was paid this past year, we just can't. Look, Ike, you wanna stay here, we will give you a role, but you gotta take a paycut. IMO, you give Ike the #3 CB spot and tell him it is his job to eliminate him from getting a catch. You are still on an island, you will get no help as they are helping the other CBs, but you are no longer able to cover the other teams #1, but we have a role for you. If he doesn't accept that....he will probably be cut due to money.

Third, Troy I think has one more year left on his contract, and probably one more year left here in Pittsburgh. Shamarko is his replacement and they are prepping him for that role. By year 3 he should be ready to start.

Fourth, the year 3 starter thing on our D seems to play out very well. By that time you should know the D well enough to start. This is why it would not surprise me if W. Allen is a temporary starter in place of Clark with a draftee getting looks here and there or that we bring in a vet to fill that role on a 2 year contract with the draftee getting some lessons here or there. By year 3 that guy is a full time starter.

 

I think he goes 2nd or early 3rd. I don't see him making it to end of third. I would like him but is he not like the 3rd or 4th best safety in this draft? by that I mean if a run on safeties happens he wont last I don't think

 

who would be happy if we went dennard-brooks 1 and 2?

 

not bad

 

I would be happy with Gilbert 1st - BEST WR in 2nd - Brooks 3rd and Desir in the 4th.

 

I like dennard better than gilbert. I am sure both have had bad games but I remember seeing gilbert act like he was afraid to hit in the Baylor game. dennard has that swagger.

 

I agree. dennard is a fighter. I like roby and fuller better than gilbert. until we get some better pressure from the front 5, I'm not sure it matters who is back there.

 

I am concerned about Dennard's speed, or should I say lack thereof.

 

Mac, you make too much sense the majority
of the time. I have asked for years, where will
the pass rush come from? LOL PRESSURE
is always the key,any scrub QB can complete
passes if there is no pressure.Lets see Gradkowski killed us as a Raider, I am still mad about that one and others. This is one of
the reasons I like Seattle so much, they play the
game with pressure all the time.

 

to me it's not all about straight line speed, but short area quickness needed. that's where I want to see some numbers at the combine. one reason I'd love to see us grab huff at some point. he and Thomas at safety would be a fast pair of safeties, I mean real fast. fuller has some speed at corner and his ability to run routes better than the wr he's covering give him great quickness underneath.

if we could grab a guy like Sorensen for the back half of the field, we could do some damage with the speed of these safety/cb types they can cover like corners, which could mess with qb's reading coverage.

 

I love Sorensen and another guy that's talented and sort of snubbed this year at safety is a.j. marshall. I'd put these 3 against any safeties in the draft. Sorensen,huff and marshall. they are players. 3 guys not ranked near their talent level for some reason. it could be where they played, just not getting many looks, but the talent is there and they all make a ton of plays.

 

he is a strong safety. he reads qb's and routes quickly though, which allows him to get jumps on routes. I think shamarko is going to be used more as the cover safety. huff the same way. aj too. they all have a lot of corner coverage ability in them. Sorensen is all safety.

 

they had shamarko playing more of a corner role last year with his coverage skills. Syracuse used to do this with him from time to time to. they even put him on the other teams best receivers and he'd shut them down. not to mention yes he is a heat seeking missle. this is what I'm talking about as far as huff,thomas and marshall. they can play as both and that's more of what we are turning to with the 6 db system we have been using. that's what will make it harder for qb's to read who's the safety and who he's covering. again you have to start thinking outside the traditional cb/ safety role. with the changes that are happening on the offensive side of the ball, these type of guys will be more valuable to teams.

we have tried using extra safeties to help coverage in the past, but I don't think the speed has been there. even back when smith was here. this new breed of safety can play as guided missles but they also have great coverage skills and speed of corners. win win.