cb

the more i think about it the more i want boykin back. 27 years old. golson will be on a new player learning curve. cockrell could fill one role as a starter i believe. grant should be improved and i hope they don't move him to safety. i think i'd try to keep boykin over trying to sign gay back as the slot corner. i'd like a vet corner added to start, about a 26-28 year old guy that has some starting experience. thoughts?

 

Everybody wants him back but why would he want to comeback after last year? Tomlin makes enemies out of all the dbs.

 

I would take Boykin back too but I will probably fall over if he does because I think he feels slighted. Just my two cents.

 

i think if he has the slot role without gay here it would smooth things over a bit. i think he could expand the gay role better if gay wasn't here. it would be his spot as the elder statesmen so to speak.

 

Not gonna lie. I giggled when I read the gay role. LOL!

 

Boykin will be gone and Blake will be resigned. As much as I hate that thought, it's the way MT rolls with his preferred players.

 

I would rather re-sign Gay he's a better tackler than Boykin, Steeler fans making Boykin out to be Revis or Sherman .

 

how is that making him out to be revis or sherman? i'm not as worried about his tackling he did fine. coverage from the slot and age over gay. he's a good slot corner.

 

not that there's anything wrong with that. LOL

 

They drafted Golson for a reason to play the slot, Gay can play outside and slot Cb I would take him on a 2-3 year deal instead of the overrated Boykin.

 

LOL!!!

 

I agreed with you Mac but I want them both back

 

Boom. We are on the same wavelength. I think Gay is better and can play both inside and out well. Boykin is limited to the slot. We just invested a 2nd round pick on a slot corner... I would hate it if we signed Boykin only to find out that we just overpaid for a guy who is going to be our backup slot corner. If it was a one year prove it deal, I'd love to have him back. I just don't see that happening. IMO his price tag will exceed an amount I'm comfortable paying for "Golson insurance".

We should just sign a cheaper option (like McCain a few years back) to be the back up slot and use the extra money we saved by not signing Boykin on a starting SS or outside CB.

I'm not totally convinced that our (very minor) improvement after Boykin got more PT was because Boykin was locking people down... To me just keeping Blake and Cockrell from playing together as the outside CB's helped more than anything.

 

I think we will try to retain both, Boykin is a good ballplayer. I am still frustrated as to why
the Steelers did not play Boykin and Golden more??????

 

If I had my choice I'd take gay over Boykin. I think gay gives us more options in the event of an injury.
I'd like to see a free agent brought in to start on the outside and a CB drafted in one of the first three rounds compete with Cockrell for the other outside starting position.

Gay/Golson -slot
Cockrel/draft pick -outside
FA/Grant -outside

This is assuming Cortez Allen is done with us.which is probably the case. But if somehow he could miraculously come back and play to his potential then maybe we don't need a free-agent signing at cornerback.

 

I've seen this said a few times, and I can see why people might think that based on playing time - but out of interest, have you seen any other info suggesting this?

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I also don't think we're in the Limas Sweed/Arians situation where he literally forgot the guy was on the team. I can fully imagine there's a breakdown from coaches as to why the starters are starting and the back ups aren't, especially in a secondary like ours where the starters aren't as clearly defined.

 

Seems like they would say stuff like this on Cooler Talk maybe. Things like "He's trying to keep a good attitude about it all" and things like that. There was just this sense that he was either dumbfounded or irritated it seemed. I certainly could have read it all wrong though.

 

I'd sign Boykin back, too. He was always around the ball and had a knack for making plays while not messing up in glaring ways like Blake and Cockrell did. I'm not too concerned about cornerback roles as some; if a guy has proven he can make a difference we should try to keep him on the team and play him. #1, #2, slot, outside....just give me a bunch of guys who can play first, and then we'll worry about proper roles.

I will guarantee that a Gay-Boykin-Golson lineup is oodles better than a Gay-Blake-Cockrell lineup. Then take a chance on a length guy in the draft if one is available to work on being a true #1 outside CB.

 

I like boykin but man he falls down a lot lol

 

I have said this before, but the major problem with the CB position is based on role. It is why Boykin wasn't used more and why Blake looks completely overmatched. Here is what we had this year:
Gay - #3 slot corner
Boykin - #3 slot corner
Cockrell - Potential #2 corner, but basically a rookie, so a #4
Blake - #4 corner
Grant - #5 corner

Golson and Allen on IR.

Boykin probably shouldn't be brought back no matter what. If Gay stays, he should be our #3 slot guy. If he goes, we might want to consider putting Golson in that role. We have no #1 shut down guy, and haven't since Ike slipped. Unless that happens we are going to continue to struggle even if we add overall talent to the position.

 

I think Boykin is better than Gay in the slot , but Gay can play some outside CB and probably SS . I would like to keep Gay and Boykin . Package Golson,Cockrell, and Grant and try and get a #2 pick...I would use that and our #2 along with Markus Wheaton to move up and get Jalen Ramsey to play FS/CB ...I would then turn to FA and get Patrick Robinson he has the most value and can be a true #1 CB..

Then I would chase Eric Berry hot and heavy and I would use a Multiple Safety look a bunch rotating Gay and Ramsey from SS,FS, and CB depending on the Team and the type of WR'S . My 2 constants would always be Berry deep and Robinson on the best WR ...

 

We're not trading all those players.