ckparrothead
Premium Member
I speculated about this in the Free Agency by OC/DC Connections thread.
Listen I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Reggie Nelson is an awesome free safety. But he's athletic and explosive, he has range, I liked him coming out of college, he did not do well for his first couple years out in Jacksonville but the last two years both in Jacksonville and in Cincinnati he has been thrown on 55 times with 32 completions for 462 yards, 2 TDs, 6 INTs and 8 PBUs. That's in 891 coverage snaps.
Those are good numbers for a free safety. He can miss tackles (they all do). He can take bad angles in run support (they all do). But he's developed better coverage skills the last few years and I think he's worth rolling the dice on because like I said, he's rangy, is explosive and has talent. He's been sent on the blitz 54 times the last two seasons and come up with 3 sacks, 2 hits and 5 pressures. That's pretty good in and of itself.
Can you find someone better in the Draft? Maybe. I say go ahead and try. Markelle Martin is the best free safety prospect I've seen in this Draft and he's nothing special. He's got good range and great closing speed, but his hands are small and as such he drops all his would-be interceptions. Maybe he or George Iloka pan out as starters. Janzen Jackson has upside if you're willing to abide by his stupidity, but that would be like grabbing the Reggie Nelson from 4 years ago. Reggie's already gone through his lumps, Janzen hasn't.
Tell me, which free safety prospect in this Draft is coming out averaging 1 interception per 4 games the last two years, at 6'0" and 200 lbs, running a 4.35 at his pro day, with a 35 inch vertical and a 6.67 second cone drill?
I'm just saying as long as he's not expensive, I have a tough time seeing the downside reuniting him with the defensive coach that helped get his career turned around.
Listen I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Reggie Nelson is an awesome free safety. But he's athletic and explosive, he has range, I liked him coming out of college, he did not do well for his first couple years out in Jacksonville but the last two years both in Jacksonville and in Cincinnati he has been thrown on 55 times with 32 completions for 462 yards, 2 TDs, 6 INTs and 8 PBUs. That's in 891 coverage snaps.
Those are good numbers for a free safety. He can miss tackles (they all do). He can take bad angles in run support (they all do). But he's developed better coverage skills the last few years and I think he's worth rolling the dice on because like I said, he's rangy, is explosive and has talent. He's been sent on the blitz 54 times the last two seasons and come up with 3 sacks, 2 hits and 5 pressures. That's pretty good in and of itself.
Can you find someone better in the Draft? Maybe. I say go ahead and try. Markelle Martin is the best free safety prospect I've seen in this Draft and he's nothing special. He's got good range and great closing speed, but his hands are small and as such he drops all his would-be interceptions. Maybe he or George Iloka pan out as starters. Janzen Jackson has upside if you're willing to abide by his stupidity, but that would be like grabbing the Reggie Nelson from 4 years ago. Reggie's already gone through his lumps, Janzen hasn't.
Tell me, which free safety prospect in this Draft is coming out averaging 1 interception per 4 games the last two years, at 6'0" and 200 lbs, running a 4.35 at his pro day, with a 35 inch vertical and a 6.67 second cone drill?
I'm just saying as long as he's not expensive, I have a tough time seeing the downside reuniting him with the defensive coach that helped get his career turned around.
