Safety Overhaul

[NinerSickness]

Would anyone feel nervous if we had two rookies in the secondary and Whitner and Goldson were both gone?

Like Eric Reid at SS, Culliver at FS, and then a rookie CB to go along with them?

What if Rogers was gone too, so 3/4 of our starting secondary was gone but replaced with 1st and 2nd round rookies and some younger free agents?

I would be nervous with any CB starting at CB. SS? I'd be fine with that. Especially Reid, who has been one of my favourite prospects all season.

Younger FA CBs? I like that idea. There are a ton of CBs in FA; sign a couple of younger ones long term.

 

[deep9er]

Would anyone feel nervous if we had two rookies in the secondary and Whitner and Goldson were both gone?

Like Eric Reid at SS, Culliver at FS, and then a rookie CB to go along with them?

What if Rogers was gone too, so 3/4 of our starting secondary was gone but replaced with 1st and 2nd round rookies and some younger free agents?

how can we not be concerned? but if it means good value, then do it.

 

[NinerSickness]

Just out of curiosity, did Nate Clements play CB or safety for the Bengals last season?

 

[ChrisPozz]

Just out of curiosity, did Nate Clements play CB or safety for the Bengals last season?

He saw some time at safety in camp and then started the first three of four games playing CB but then they moved him to strong safety. He also played some nickel, too, though. However, he didn't play many snaps anywhere down the stretch:

Week 11 - 71% of total defensive snaps
Week 13 - 1.4%
Week 14 - 9.6%
Week 15 - 5.1%
Week 16 - 7.7%
Week 17 - 98.9%
Wild Card - 98.8%

 

[NinerSickness]

I don't know where you find this stuf... Thanks CP.

What about bringing Nate Dawg back as a SS for 1 year instead of re-signing Goldson? (if they don't draft Reid)

 

[ChrisPozz]

I don't know where you find this stuf... Thanks CP.

What about bringing Nate Dawg back as a SS for 1 year instead of re-signing Goldson? (if they don't draft Reid)

Clements used to be one of my favorite players in the league but I wouldn't want him anymore. I really, really, really want to see Reid in SF next year. I'd need more time to decide if I had to pick somebody out in FA if Goldson departed.

 

[deep9er]

if Goldson leaves, then i'd think we'll draft a Safety over signing a FA? we've already read this draft class is strong at Safety, and we have all those picks.

this rookie will compete with Spillman, McBath, and Robinson to start the season. would guess Spillman starts off the season being he knows the system.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

If we lost both Goldson and Whitner they'll sign a cheaper vet, draft a FS in the first two rounds, and add another mid-late rounder S. I don't think Spillman will get the nod. He's an excellent STer who can something in goal line situations and as a backup, but he'd be exposed and targeted as a full time starter.

We'd probably see the vet and top pick rookie start immediately. The other rookie/Macbeth/Robinson could make a run to start over the vet by mid-season.

This will probably be the biggest weakness of the team, but our CB play should strengthen with a new body (either vet or rookie), and our front 7 should get stronger and more consistent with an active rotation and added depth. That trade off should improve the defense overall though.

 

[Tubbs1518]

I don't know where you find this stuf... Thanks CP.

What about bringing Nate Dawg back as a SS for 1 year instead of re-signing Goldson? (if they don't draft Reid)

You don't want Clements as your starting S....trust me on that one. He was so bad we had to bring Chris Crocker back off of his couch.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

You don't want Clements as your starting S....trust me on that one. He was so bad we had to bring Chris Crocker back off of his couch.

I'd probably be okay with him on the cheap in a SS role with plenty of competition, but definitely not FS at this point. That's crazy how fast these guys fall off. The problem is that our safeties are pretty interchangeable, so this might not be a good idea. But in general I think it would make sense for a team to take a stab at him in a defined SS role as compared to other options available out there on the cheap.

 

[Tubbs1518]

we played him at SS some too. He was absolutely horrible. Couldn't tackle in the run game, couldn't cover TE's or slot WR's in the pass game.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

we played him at SS some too. He was absolutely horrible. Couldn't tackle in the run game, couldn't cover TE's or slot WR's in the pass game.

Wow that is just crazy. He used to just come up and take out everyone in run support. He used to be one of the most physical corners I have ever seen. He was a ballhawk and wrecking ball in his prime. Then his coverage fell off before he got the axe, but I assumed he was still a tackling machine at minimum, and would make an awesome S to end his career.

Was he playing hurt or something do you think, or just lost his confidence?

And what do you think of Taylor Mays? Do you think he can do anything at SS? If he can't play SS in that scheme, I don't think he'll be able to do it anywhere.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Clements is just old, can't run with anyone and just can't tackle anymore.

Mays hurt more players on his own team than he made plays in games.