Taylor Looks To Become A Playmaker
- Thread starter DKphin
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cafinfan408
Punching Bag
I didnt know that jenkins numbers were that bad in STL last year.. Finnegan was not the only one. Im looking for Grimes and Taylor to be outside with Finn filling the nickel
Don't all NFL players say the same thing?
Still, I can see him starting this year.
Still, I can see him starting this year.
maralieus
Lets get those balls deep!!
I have a good feeling about Taylor. He just LOOKS like a CB. I think he is gonna be a great player for us. Maybe he can become the next Sam Madison. One can only hope! Last season against the Saints he allowed that td to Graham, but all I was thinking (besides "****ING JIMMY GRAHAM!!!) was how good Taylor played him on that play. There is only a few players in the league that make that catch over taylor like he did. Graham, Megatron, Marshall, well you get the idea.
Let's see Jamar Taylor vs Will Davis vs Walt Aikens in Training Camp. Taylor has the better build but Davis seems very determined and very smart, while Aikens could end up being the best of the three. Davis has boom or bust potential and had his moments making interceptions in practice. However, he was not strong enough last year. I expect Taylor to do well but I would not be too quick to annoint him.
I think the Taylor pick was so universally liked, because Taylor's skill set seems so well suited for Coyle's scheme. If he's healthy, I'll expect him to play well.
That's one play I remember too, he had perfect coverage just got out played by a behemoth of a man..
Taylor is one of the guys I'm most excited about this season. REALLY hope he can progress and be a quality corner
maralieus
Lets get those balls deep!!
I agree Davis has potential, but he is gonna lose some of that playmaking ability when he hits the field this year. I am sure they are all aware that everyone in the league knows he tries to jump routes a LOT. Who was it that burned him on 4th and 1 last year? I forget. I like the guy though, just hope he learns to play a little bit safer, i hate 80 yard td's when it's not us doing it.
I hope Taylor proves me wrong because I was not a big fan of his work in college. He struck me as a very talented athlete who was at the end of the day just not very instinctive. Much better in man to man coverage than zone because he didn't have to rely on his eyes. When you get him in a three deep zone, or even in off man, he struggles.
If you're looking for a comparison, he's a player in the Nolan Carroll mold, though perhaps a bit more instinctive and not quite as physically talented (Carroll is as physically talented as they come, imo).
I liked Will Davis even less, fwiw. Even at Utah State teams were eager to challenge him, especially deep. Look at his game against Louisiana Tech, where he was matched up against Quinton Patton most of the game. Davis fought but ended up looking like only a marginally draftable prospect. In Davis' defense I absolutely loved Patton as a prospect. He's a star waiting to happen. But the pattern repeated itself game after game. Nobody shied away from him, and for good reason. They got burned now and then with INTs but they won more than they lost.
Davis stood out at least as a premium athlete. I was down on Carroll originally but eventually he ended up being a serviceable player. Hard work really saw him through. Hopefully Davis works as hard and Coyle knows how to use him. Unfortunately Grimes is best in off man coverage, which is not the way to play Taylor right now.
If you're looking for a comparison, he's a player in the Nolan Carroll mold, though perhaps a bit more instinctive and not quite as physically talented (Carroll is as physically talented as they come, imo).
I liked Will Davis even less, fwiw. Even at Utah State teams were eager to challenge him, especially deep. Look at his game against Louisiana Tech, where he was matched up against Quinton Patton most of the game. Davis fought but ended up looking like only a marginally draftable prospect. In Davis' defense I absolutely loved Patton as a prospect. He's a star waiting to happen. But the pattern repeated itself game after game. Nobody shied away from him, and for good reason. They got burned now and then with INTs but they won more than they lost.
Davis stood out at least as a premium athlete. I was down on Carroll originally but eventually he ended up being a serviceable player. Hard work really saw him through. Hopefully Davis works as hard and Coyle knows how to use him. Unfortunately Grimes is best in off man coverage, which is not the way to play Taylor right now.
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Funny that you mentioned Nolan Carroll - I was one of his very few fans on here. What I saw was a good competitor who was disciplined and steadily improved. I was surprised that Coyle let him walk. I think it was a mistake, because he offered excellent depth at a minimum, but Hickey obviously liked Finnegan and believes he can bounce back.
Walrus - I didn't get to see much of Will Davis' college games, but if he was as bad as you and many others have suggested in college (and we know that physically he's puny and not very strong), how did he get drafted in the 3rd round? Ireland even gave up a low round draft pick to move up and take him. I think he's a very interesting player because of his inclination to go for interceptions - smart, confident, but a very big gamble. We should know this year if we have a real prospect or not.
I actually thought it was a canny move to let him walk. I like players like Carroll if you can develop them on a rookie deal but by year four they tend to be maxed out. When you sign a guy to a free agent contract you're hoping the trendline stay upward but for guys like Carroll they rarely do. He improved not just because of hard work but because Coyle figured out how to play to his strengths rather than his weaknesses. A new team isn't likely to be able to do that.
At the end of the day you need to have Nolan Carroll's on your team if you're going to be great, imo. But not as free agents coming in. You should be able to find a guy like that every two years or so on a rotation. With the young guys we have coming in he had to go but you look at the money he signed for and it really wasn't very much. There might be a better chance he improves than of Finnegan returning to form.
I don't know how he got drafted in the 3rd round to be honest. To me he was a seventh rounder flyer. I've been watching every pick of every draft since 1999, and the most thorough evaluation I've ever made of any position was of the defensive backs two years ago (Will Davis' class). As ridiculous as it sounds -- and it sounds incredibly ridiculous to me now -- I actually hand wrote evaluations for 13 corners that year.
Here's my write ups for Taylor and Davis, for what they're worth. I only subject them to you because it's hilarious to me that I wrote them at all:
Taylor: Late to react. Not confident/decisive in reads. Has closing speed, and needs it. Hits w/authority. Better in man? Blitzes well. Good timing. Physical. Inconsistent effort vs. run. Can force fumbles.
Davis: Competes. Feisty. Teams challenge him deep. Will give up separation deep but can close. Looks back for the ball too soon and slows down. Not great w/click and close. Can be fooled by double moves. Avg zone awareness. More of an off man corner. High backpedal.
For what it's worth I thought the best corner that year was D.J. Hayden, while I had a particular affection for Johnthan Banks (I'm always a sucker for super instinctive types). On the other hand I really disliked Desmond Trufant and he's apparently turned out pretty well. And I really hated Dwayne Gratz. He was so obviously a physical talent watching his games made me angry to the point I thought he was the worst draftable corner in the class, but iirc he had a decent season for Jacksonville. Other dislikes (relative to draft position): David Amerson, Darius Slay, Terry Hawthorne. Likes: Blidi Wrey Wilson, Kayvon Webster, Brandon McGee.
I've spent the last several minutes laughing at myself for doing all those write ups. What a world.
I actually thought it was a canny move to let him walk. I like players like Carroll if you can develop them on a rookie deal but by year four they tend to be maxed out. When you sign a guy to a free agent contract you're hoping the trendline stay upward but for guys like Carroll they rarely do. He improved not just because of hard work but because Coyle figured out how to play to his strengths rather than his weaknesses. A new team isn't likely to be able to do that.
At the end of the day you need to have Nolan Carroll's on your team if you're going to be great, imo. But not as free agents coming in. You should be able to find a guy like that every two years or so on a rotation. With the young guys we have coming in he had to go but you look at the money he signed for and it really wasn't very much. There might be a better chance he improves than of Finnegan returning to form.
I don't know how he got drafted in the 3rd round to be honest. To me he was a seventh rounder flyer. I've been watching every pick of every draft since 1999, and the most thorough evaluation I've ever made of any position was of the defensive backs two years ago (Will Davis' class). As ridiculous as it sounds -- and it sounds incredibly ridiculous to me now -- I actually hand wrote evaluations for 13 corners that year.
Here's my write ups for Taylor and Davis, for what they're worth. I only subject them to you because it's hilarious to me that I wrote them at all:
Taylor: Late to react. Not confident/decisive in reads. Has closing speed, and needs it. Hits w/authority. Better in man? Blitzes well. Good timing. Physical. Inconsistent effort vs. run. Can force fumbles.
Davis: Competes. Feisty. Teams challenge him deep. Will give up separation deep but can close. Looks back for the ball too soon and slows down. Not great w/click and close. Can be fooled by double moves. Avg zone awareness. More of an off man corner. High backpedal.
For what it's worth I thought the best corner that year was D.J. Hayden, while I had a particular affection for Johnthan Banks (I'm always a sucker for super instinctive types). On the other hand I really disliked Desmond Trufant and he's apparently turned out pretty well. And I really hated Dwayne Gratz. He was so obviously a physical talent watching his games made me angry to the point I thought he was the worst draftable corner in the class, but iirc he had a decent season for Jacksonville. Other dislikes (relative to draft position): David Amerson, Darius Slay, Terry Hawthorne. Likes: Blidi Wrey Wilson, Kayvon Webster, Brandon McGee.
Maybe you should have been working for Ireland 2 years ago. Although, I actually thought that Jeff was better at drafting DBs than most other positions. Jones, Clemons, Carroll, and especially Jimmy Wilson, were all pretty good late round draft picks. All I can say is that Jeff must have seen something really special in Will Davis, because he is physically very different to the others. I can see from Will's interviews that he has some terrific personal attributes. However, he will have major headaches competing against Wallace, Hartline, Landry, Gibson, Matthews, Binns and co in Training Camp. We know Davis will be going for the interceptions, but they also have the talent to potentially burn him. There should be some great contests for Grimes, Finnegan, Jamar Taylor, Aikens and Davis. We have more WR talent than I have seen in the joint in the past 15 years.