Shamarko Thomas Tape very bad

Thomas is terrible as a Cover 2 Safety . He misses his reads he takes horrible angles , he doesn't play well in space . He does play well in the box , but he is a waste of a body as a deep Safety . After watching his tape he will never be the answer.

I think we need to go Cover 2 inverted look. No way can any of the CB'S play as bad as he does back there. On the few snaps that Holliman got he looked twice as good as Thomas . I have no doubt that once the Coach watches the tape Safety is now our #1 concern.

The Cover 2 is predicated on Safety play to make up for weaker CB play it's going to be a huge mess with thumper Safeties .

Maybe just go Cover 1 and blitz Thomas on every play ? Lock him up on Gronk 1 on 1 ? Do anything besides Cover 2 , he will get burnt over and over and over again...

 

will allen takes bad angles too. remember we have lake doing alot of the coaching. he's never played a lot of tampa two in his career either. this isn't going to look great for awhile. it's going to be a work in progress. clark even took a couple of years to get better and he played with troy.

 

I get your point , but taking bad angles , awareness in space ,reading the field is more of an Instinctive thing than a Teaching thing . Under DL guys had so many things going on it would take a lot to know what to do and when to do it . Cover 2 is simple .

I look at it like a Boxer. Some guys have Power and use some finesse to win , some guys have Finesse and that creates their Power. Shamarko is the Power puncher without a doubt ,he does his best work in the phone booth he is simply not the same fighter when you get him in space .

If we intend to run the Cover 2 1 gap system in the future then a Finesse Safety is a must .

 

Steelers Depot was really downing Shamarko the other day but, in reality, he barely even has any tape. In a way I sorta feel sorry for the guy because I know I sure wouldn't want to follow Troy.

 

Let's not forget that Mitchell also takes bad angles. That makes all three safeties that take bad angles. Maybe they should teach them geometry. Lol

 

You are basing this whole evaluation based on the stories of cover 2, Tampa 2, 4-3, and 1 gap subpackages? Try grading him out with out all that but as safety in a 3-4 Lebeau style defense what does 5he tape say

 

Actually he plays well in the role of being like Troy for the most part . When Shamarko is in the box he looks the part, when he blitzes he looks the part in space a totally different situation.

Troy had great Instincts in space and understood concepts in space . Shamarko simply doesn't have that natural nose back there that Troy did. Running more Cover 2 just exposes the weakest part of Shamarko's game anyone who watches the tape can see it. He will get attacked early and often both on and off the field...

Is why I say the Coach needs to do something and keep him out of the deep Safety situation..He simply can't play it ..

 

Maybe they've not seen the tape of Mitchell literally looking at an open guy in the back of the end zone and then just turning back around as though it were nothing. That play will forever live in my mind as the epitome of stupidity.

 

There was a play in that Bills game seems like where he really blew up the backfield and would have leveled the qb but did take a bit of a weird angle and got taken down by a chip block. Watching that play was like the highest of highs and the lowest of lows because in the past few years it just seems like we can always get in to the backfield but can never seal the deal.

 

I saws a lot a these
right
equalaterally

 

yea pwp i'm not doubting you. you're preaching to the choir. i've been on the saftey upgrade since before the draft last season. the shark can single cover a man if he knows who to cover, and that i believe is part of the problem.

 

Really Mac? that is a change of position from the guy that was pimpin him the last few years and floated the name LandShark. Not saying you aren't free to re-evaluate your position on a player but your were a very vocal supporter of his until recently

 

different defense now if we are going to the cover two. he played pretty well when used more in the nickle role his rookie year in coverage. he is also not the same since his injury, i still say something is wrong there. he doesn't look like the same player with his quickness or speed. mitchell's awareness does't help either of them. if shark was healthy and in more of a troy role, i would stand by my position of him. something is a miss.

 

Like I said to PWP Mac, I will believe it when see it. I think too much is being made of the stories of cover-2, 1 gap and so on and still think the will bread and butter the defense until Butler is sure what he has. Thomas is still made for that type of system and I think they will put him up in run support and drop ILB's into coverage and bring pressure from him as well

 

S was a huge problem before FA/draft and they ignored it. No reason it wouldn't be a huge problem now then.

 

Yeah, it's really bad. All mental mistakes too. Has absolutely no clue what he's doing out there. IMO we can't trot him out on the field as a starter... We just can't. We have a decent band aid in Will Allen, and it needs to be utilized. 29 is gonna cost me a few remotes this year.

 

He was a fourth round draft pick... There's a good chance he'll never "get it" because he never "had it." Obviously, this is a make or break year for him.. But it's not like we are dealing with a highly touted safety coming out of college, just waiting for him to get comfortable. He was always a project, and addition to that, he can't stay healthy.

 

As I recall, the main knock on Shamarko coming into the draft was his size. He was considered to be a hard-hitting ballhawk of a safety whose skills projected him much higher if not for his diminutive stature. Also, I don't know that I agree with your generalization that just because a player was drafted in the 4th means he's a project. It really depends on the player and the depth at his position going in. I tend to look at picks in terms of ceiling/floor, and the risk involved with a certain player's potential being realized given his base. Shamarko was high risk because size can be a key determinant at the professional level not only in playing the position well, but in staying healthy - especially for a guy known for being such a hard-hitter. But that doesn't make him a project; he can't be inflated in height and reach by a few inches. What he can be taught is how to make good reads and in taking the proper angle to a given play, but again, that wasn't a knock of his coming out of college.

 

Mitchell took the same bad angles in Oakland. I'm still not sure what Pittsburgh saw that warranted his signing.

 

Mac, that is exactly what I have been thinking and I am really totally mystified. He showed plenty early on and now this. What is going on? It does not figure.

I also had a bad preseason. Between moving, no tv for a spell, and not taping the games I am lost. But what I have been reading has not been good. This has to turn around. Can it?

btw: "something is a miss." What was that again Sherlock?

uhh: something may be amiss but something better get afoot real quick/

 

Well folks, how much tape does Thomas really have to go by besides this pre season actually playing the position? If he wasn't injured, he was watching from the sidelines or playing special teams. Not backing up his play to date but he really hasn't seen much real game action. Handing him the starting position was the mistake without any competition. Then they resign Will Allen another year older and slower for insurance. I like Allen and has bailed the position out, but no real back up plan besides that. Mitchell is another injury concern and really hasn't shown he is the answer at FS. So yes, the safety position is a concern. Can they both STAY on the field is the real concern. So I will give Thomas a slight pass until he catches up and hope he can settle into the position.

 

don't get me wrong, i like the shark but he just doesn't seem to be moving like he did prior to this season. maybe he wasn't last year either but like ck said, we saw so little of him. i hope he comes around because we are very limited. golden also should be farther along too. when we are this thin at safety a ST's only guy makes little sense.

 

Will Allen named opening day starter at SS

 

Yep the Steelers still don't have no faith in Shark....

 

Or just less faith than they do in Allen, for whatever situational match up they see against the Patriots.

I still expect to see Shark on the field a fair bit on Thursday.