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is it just me, or has this kid not been anywhere near the ball, nor made a single significant play yet on defense? for a guy we traded up into the first round to get, he sure hasn't looked like he is worth it. there were a couple of throws that he was so late on it reminded me of serwanga.

80 PurplePride 84 wrote:It's 2 games.

I think it's good we haven't noticed him. That means he aint getting burnt. He's been solid in run support too.

The INTs will come (hopefully).

I completely agree. We can't quite tell what he will be like now, but over time, we will find out what his potential may be.

mosscarter wrote:is it just me, or has this kid not been anywhere near the ball, nor made a single significant play yet on defense? for a guy we traded up into the first round to get, he sure hasn't looked like he is worth it. there were a couple of throws that he was so late on it reminded me of serwanga.

In OT vs. the Jaguars he made a diving play to knock a pass down on 3rd & 2. The next play was the 4th & 2 incomplete pass that ended the game. I'd say that was pretty significant. As others have stated, it's only been two games.

If it was a real defense I'd be worried. It's the stupid tampa 2 so the less you see him, the better he's doing his job.

Even Sharper vanished in Frasiers bend and then break defense

Lash Man wrote:Even Sharper vanished in Frasiers bend and then break defense

mosscarter wrote:is it just me, or has this kid not been anywhere near the ball, nor made a single significant play yet on defense? for a guy we traded up into the first round to get, he sure hasn't looked like he is worth it. there were a couple of throws that he was so late on it reminded me of serwanga.

2 games in the pros and you already writing off the kid? A little patience please, let's at least give the kid a season. He was not exactly the best safety to come out of college in the last 10 years or something so expecting him to play at or near pro bowl level in only two games is asking too much in my opinion.

i know its only been two games, and the entire defense has played bad. with that said, we did trade up to get this kid and i'm simply trying to figure out if that was the right move. i know its early, but he looks pretty lost so far. imagine if we had taken a receiver at that point in the draft.

It's just our defensive scheme. Must be in the playbook to cover nobody and have Chad Greenway have a pro bowl year in tackles made 20-30yards pass the first down marker.

mosscarter wrote:i know its only been two games, and the entire defense has played bad. with that said, we did trade up to get this kid and i'm simply trying to figure out if that was the right move. i know its early, but he looks pretty lost so far. imagine if we had taken a receiver at that point in the draft.

Against the Jaguars he made a diving play to knock a pass down on 3rd & 2. The next play was the 4th & 2 incomplete pass that ended the game. (Both pointed out by Juice) He also has some good play in the pre-season. He's a Rookie so I don't expect him to play like Joey Browner 2 games into his NFL career. He currently has 1 more tackle (14 total) than Mark Barron (the first Safety taken in the draft).

As far as taking a receiver, very rarely do you see one that has an immediate impact (Moss was fun to watch his Rookie year, I'll admit). We might have gotten Blackmon, but that doesn't impact Smith at all. We'd have had to forego the Kalil pick to get him, and Smith would have then still likely become a Viking for our next pick. Ponder would have had even less time to throw to Blackmon (if that's even possible) because our line would be noticeably worse.