DKphin
Active Roster
The following are from two articles put out by Phinsider on Apr. 8 & 9. They give the Pros and Cons of Darius Butler and Sean Smith and it raised questions about both.
Darius Butler
The questions I want answered about Darius are, did Butler miss Tyvon Branch more than people think? Was that the reason for his lack of production in the int. department? Butler did allow two big recievers, Kenny Britt and Mardy Gilyard, to have big games against him. But in his defense the one clip I did see of Butler against Britt, he was playing alot of off coverage and if the pass was thrown to the edge he did come up and make the tackle. And alot of the passes to Britt were in the center of the field where Butler would have passed him off to the S. Was the defense designed to play off? IDK. Is this a forbodding to what is going to happen in the Pros? Will Darius' lack of physicality prohibit him from matching up with the bigger WRs in our division?
My bottom line is while Butler is not the most physical guy in the world, I think he still will come up and tackle the WR. His explosiveness and instincts will make up for lack of physicality. His experience at WR can only help his understanding of what it takes at CB. Plus his versatility is another asset that Butler has in his favor. While not making the comparison to Deion Sanders, he is an example of a cornerback that used every other asset than brute force to become one of the most successful CBs in NFL history.
Sean Smith
When you look at Smith the question always comes up, is he a safety or a CB? If the Trifecta does not feel that Smith is a CB and more suited at FS, would Parcells & Co. use a high draft pick on that player? If so, I think there is little chance that we will select him. We did just sign Wilson to a 5yr. $27.5mil. contract with $8mil. guaranteed.
I have seen the reports of Smith's hips not being fluid and his height as hinderance to his ability to play the position. But from what I have seen I would disagree with that assessment and the following are things that I think will allow him to play CB:
I think that people see his height and immediately assume that he is going to play S. But if you watched the video from his ProDay, he sat down in his backpedal. He also showed the ability to stick his foot in the ground and use his explosiveness to change directions. I think he can play CB and his height would surely be an asset. He might have to work on some of his technique, so that would be another thing to take into account when deciding to use a 1st rd. pick.
I hope this was not too long. Just me thinking out loud.:D
Darius Butler
The questions I want answered about Darius are, did Butler miss Tyvon Branch more than people think? Was that the reason for his lack of production in the int. department? Butler did allow two big recievers, Kenny Britt and Mardy Gilyard, to have big games against him. But in his defense the one clip I did see of Butler against Britt, he was playing alot of off coverage and if the pass was thrown to the edge he did come up and make the tackle. And alot of the passes to Britt were in the center of the field where Butler would have passed him off to the S. Was the defense designed to play off? IDK. Is this a forbodding to what is going to happen in the Pros? Will Darius' lack of physicality prohibit him from matching up with the bigger WRs in our division?
http://www.thephinsider.com/2009/4/8/826183/scouting-the-draft-darius-butler
My bottom line is while Butler is not the most physical guy in the world, I think he still will come up and tackle the WR. His explosiveness and instincts will make up for lack of physicality. His experience at WR can only help his understanding of what it takes at CB. Plus his versatility is another asset that Butler has in his favor. While not making the comparison to Deion Sanders, he is an example of a cornerback that used every other asset than brute force to become one of the most successful CBs in NFL history.
Sean Smith
When you look at Smith the question always comes up, is he a safety or a CB? If the Trifecta does not feel that Smith is a CB and more suited at FS, would Parcells & Co. use a high draft pick on that player? If so, I think there is little chance that we will select him. We did just sign Wilson to a 5yr. $27.5mil. contract with $8mil. guaranteed.
http://www.thephinsider.com/2009/4/9/827438/scouting-the-draft-sean-smith
I have seen the reports of Smith's hips not being fluid and his height as hinderance to his ability to play the position. But from what I have seen I would disagree with that assessment and the following are things that I think will allow him to play CB:
http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/profile_display.cfm?Prospect_ID=1881
http://www.draftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/cb/Sean-Smith.php
http://www.nfldraftdog.com/2009_NFL_Draft/sean_smith.htm
http://walterfootball.com/draft2009S.php
I think that people see his height and immediately assume that he is going to play S. But if you watched the video from his ProDay, he sat down in his backpedal. He also showed the ability to stick his foot in the ground and use his explosiveness to change directions. I think he can play CB and his height would surely be an asset. He might have to work on some of his technique, so that would be another thing to take into account when deciding to use a 1st rd. pick.
I hope this was not too long. Just me thinking out loud.:D
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