Blake

Cortez was a limited participant in most of the games he played last year.

Still, this has been a season of surprises, and maybe he comes back and turns out to be another surprise. Maybe...

As for Blake: the guy is almost always put on the best receiver. He's not good enough to be a shut down, but on top form he can be good damage limitation. Unfortunately, he's not been on top form this season.

 

I think Blake could be our answer at safety for sure. I would love to see Boykin more it can't hurt and Cockrell has been a very nice pick up. Next year we get Golson back and I know a lot of people here didn't like the pick....I didn't but he is here we can only hope for the best now. We need to draft an stud CB this year, maybe the kid from VT Fuller. I haven't watched much college ball anyone know or see him? All I can say is I heard a lot of hype on him and he is said to be way better then his brother and the Bears screwed us on him.....

Now my question is why is Grant still on the practice squad? Get this kid some time and lets see what we have, right or wrong? The other question I have is why is Grant the only CB on the Practice squad? This is without a doubt our weakest position, some may say OT now with the Beachum injury but you all know what I mean. Someone here in this thread mentioned our coaching don't evaluate the CB position very well. If that is true that sucks cause isn't that Tomlin's specialty??

 

Gay would make a better safety than Blake.

 

as i said in the draft forum, i'd hope we look to duke and they're 3 safeties. one will be in the draft for sure and two others are red shirt juniors i believe. they are probably the best group in the nation and i'm betting probably quite smart coming out of duke. definately worth looking at. putting gay at safety next year at age 32 may not be the way to go. blake possibly or i always thought grant could play there too. maybe a couple of options for us besides a draft pick. as for boykin, he is productive. he has shown that production on the field too. i'm really not sure why he's not getting that time here. it's not like he could play at philly and our guys are just better. i don't buy that at all. production is production on an NFL field and we need production. at least in keeping guys healthy and not wearing them out during a long season.

 

I wouldn't want him re-signed as a starter, but as a back up (CB4 or CB5) I would be more than okay with it. He's been in our system for a while and has had a lot of on field experience. I'd be fine with him for a couple games at a time.

Agree about Allen tho. Cortez needs to go.

 

I understand the concerns with Golson's size. He's 5'8", and there's a big difference between that and 5'10". I really like his coverage skills and nose for the football though, so let's hope he works out.

And while it's not guaranteed that a smaller player has better hops, it's generally the case for the guys at the NFL level. There are only a couple guys that play CB at 6'3" that are blazing fast and have sweet hips. Those guys are just freaks. Most taller corners become successful in certain schemes. We are seeing how poorly Byron Maxwell is doing in Philly. We don't really run a system that would be conducive to taller guys like that.

 

I can agree with the general ability tendencies for corners of certain size. Some may be concerned about how Golson's size will equate to covering the outside against taller receivers and such, but my only worry is with the durability. I mean, I thought he was taken perhaps a round earlier than he rated out at the time, but I didn't hate the pick. He shows great instincts and hands; and as you note, his willingness and ability to cover the run is also ideal for the scheme we run. If his body holds up he should be fine.

 

we were both off on mitchell. he signed a 5 year deal with us. that is good i believe. we can keep some continuity going that way. gay, boykin, golden and w.allen are in their final year now and shamarko will be in his final next year. that leaves mitchell, shark, golson, grant, blake and cortez signed next year in the secondary.