Range at free safety

[Austin Tatious]

Seems like we have four STRONG safeties on our roster. Bell, Hill, Cooper, and Tillman. Four middling players, none of whom seem to have great range against the pass.

I don't remotely pretend to know more about dbacks than Saban, but I find his selections interesting.

None of them have shown to be playmakers as far as interceptions go. I think we need more playmakers in the secondary. Will Allen also can't make the interception. So the concern is, who is going to pick off the ball back there? Turnovers are very key. I'd like to see someone back there who can pick off the ball.

 

[PhinsRock]

I think Saban picked these guys for their speed, strength, and stability. Saban loves moulding DBs and stopping the opponent's passing game is more important than interceptions, they're nice, but you can't live & die by them or you get burned sooner or later.

In Saban We Trust!

 

[BIGRED11]

well saban is a db coach @ hart.. so i think he'll whipp them into shape just fine

 

[Mr772]

Seems like we have four STRONG safeties on our roster. Bell, Hill, Cooper, and Tillman. Four middling players, none of whom seem to have great range against the pass.

I don't remotely pretend to know more about dbacks than Saban, but I find his selections interesting.

None of them have shown to be playmakers as far as interceptions go. I think we need more playmakers in the secondary. Will Allen also can't make the interception. So the concern is, who is going to pick off the ball back there? Turnovers are very key. I'd like to see someone back there who can pick off the ball.

All these guys are solid tacklers. I think Cooper and Bell have plenty of range.

 

[TXFinFan]

Saban believes in getting a lot of QB pressure from his front 7. The safeties and corners don't have to be the best in the world, they just have to cover long enough for one of the front 7 guys to get through to pressure the QB.

It worked pretty well for the Pats with a bunch of no name corners and safeties.

 

[305TillIDie]

I think Saban picked these guys for their speed, strength, and stability. Saban loves moulding DBs and stopping the opponent's passing game is more important than interceptions, they're nice, but you can't live & die by them or you get burned sooner or later.

In Saban We Trust!

:yeahthat:

 

[BennyVW]

Tillman, bell and Hill are all athletic. Cooper sounds more of a semi-LB/SS tweener...


Also there is no FS or SS...there is a left safety and a Right safety. Saban mixes up their responseablities to confuse the QB....

 

[Austin Tatious]

I wonder who'll start. I don't think anyone knows. I bet it will be a wide-open competition to see which two pick up the scheme best.

My wild guess is Hill at free safety (good tackler and the fact that he can play corner should show he's got range) and Cooper at strong safety. Cooper has good size for strong safety.

Bell is a good reserve who has shown the ability to blitz from dime packages (see the time he blew over Tomlinson and sacked Brees, cinching the game against the Chargers). Tillman was serviceable last year and I see him off the bench too. I kind of thought the position was UPgraded when Tillman replaced Tebucky.

The beauty is that starters will be decided on the field!

 

[Austin Tatious]

Also there is no FS or SS...there is a left safety and a Right safety. Saban mixes up their responseablities to confuse the QB....

That might be true, but doesn't one have primary responsibility against the deep pass? I thought Schulters was more of a free safety last year than Tebucky/Tillman because Lance roamed more and covered whereas Tebucky/Tillman attacked the line of scrimmage more.

 

[Disgustipate]

Seems like we have four STRONG safeties on our roster. Bell, Hill, Cooper, and Tillman. Four middling players, none of whom seem to have great range against the pass.

Wait a minute. All of those players are built like a FS, and all of them have experience playing FS. Hell, Bell and Hill have experience at CB even. :confused:

If anything, we dont have much in terms of SS.

 

[popularwar]

I like Tillman, he played well after Jones went down last year even having three picks in three consecutive games. I also like Bell's speed and ability to blitz but I don't know how good he is in coverage.
I can see the best two safeties starting, regardless of which is more of a free or strong safety.

 

[Pericles349]

Saban will make them fit into his system. I have no doubt.

 

[MexDolfan]

I think Saban picked these guys for their speed, strength, and stability. Saban loves moulding DBs and stopping the opponent's passing game is more important than interceptions, they're nice, but you can't live & die by them or you get burned sooner or later.

In Saban We Trust!

Agree. In that kind of chioces, you may see that during Wanny days everything was wrong.
Our offensive scheme never got priority, flexibility and was a quality hole.
Our defense may do great plays, but lots of sacks, cool ints and maybe very impressive situations. And everybody feel that we just have to upgrade our offense.
But today, i've changed my mind and still have in my mind that defensive heart that ZT showed last season, blocking 3 times red zone at the same serie.
That's the kind of defense we need.
And what about great ints??? Well maybe it's more important to stop and let the offense work on scoring.
If our opponents can't run and can't pass, they will punt. And with a good offense that must traslate into wins.d

 

[Jimmy James]

I'm starting to wonder if Saban even believes in having true starters in the secondary. With the number of bodies he has brought in this offseason, I think you can start to make an argument that he wants extreme flexability and that it may mean that whoever "starts" will actually end up getting a lot less playing time than a starter does on the typical team because folks are going to be going in and out a lot.

 

[vinivedivichi]

I'm starting to wonder if Saban even believes in having true starters in the secondary. With the number of bodies he has brought in this offseason, I think you can start to make an argument that he wants extreme flexability and that it may mean that whoever "starts" will actually end up getting a lot less playing time than a starter does on the typical team because folks are going to be going in and out a lot.

Exactly. People talk a lot about trying to find the hidden message behind what Saban is saying, but IMO he speaks pretty clearly. From day one he said he thought that depth was extremely important (can't remember the exact phrase but it was something about how important the last 10 or so guys on the roster are). I think these moves show that he was being clear when he said that. We are stockpiling guys that have the flexibility to play some different positions and have the talent to play well when put in the right situation.