Gaulden trying to turn corner from rough transition

[ladypanther]

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This summer, Gaulden decided to reshape the narrative — and to reset his approach to being in the NFL, with the opportunity for a more featured role in his sights.

The first step was to change the perception of that notorious photograph from the Alabama game from negative to positive. Gaulden auctioned it off to raise $2,600 for the Knoxville Change Center, which provides a safe place for recreation and leadership development for young adults.

 

I like this..he has learned something form the vets and matured.

 

 

Quote

 

Gaulden went home to Spring Hill, Tenn., less frequently this spring, instead sticking around the team facilities to develop relationships with the Panthers’ training staff.

“I just wanted to be around the facility more to show them that I’m a guy they can count on,” he said. “Really, I’m just trying to make myself more available. Because I know the kind of guy I am and who I can be for this team, the leader and infectious player I am on the field.”

Even in his hobbies, there are things Gaulden can learn. 
 

He watches a lot of soccer — Gaulden is a huge Liverpool fan. He even did some voice-overs for the CONCACAF Gold Cup broadcast ahead of the match that will be hosted by the Carolina Panthers and Bank of America Stadium this summer.

Watching soccer, a game of control and rhythm, can remind Gaulden about how he will need to see the field as a free safety, how the small pieces fit together into a bigger picture, and how he will carry that off the field with him, too.
 

It reminds him to find balance.

 

 

Sounds like this guy was not mentally prepared to be an NFL pro.  Good news...he got humbled...looked to the vet players and was willing to learn and change.  Who knows..this could turn out well.

 

 

 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

4 hours ago, top dawg said:

He had a pretty good college career, and was arguably the best or second best player on the Vols' defense for whatever that's worth. 

Honestly, not much. Michael Sam was the SEC DPOY. Jon Abbate was the ACC DPOY. Neither lasted long in the NFL. They just didn't have the physical tools to translate.

[jtm]

Guy was essentially a late 3rd round pick and folks here need to cut him some slack and allow him time to acclimate because he switched positions from college.  Hopefully, he can be a solid back up and it will be huge if the Panthers get a legit starting safety out of a 3rd round pick.

This place bashed Tre Boston every day when he was here and now everyone has a crush on this guy and wants him back.  

[panthers55]

2 hours ago, Lumps said:

Now all of a sudden where they were drafting is a huge difference when before the draft you were arguing 9v16 is absolutely no different and didn’t matter (and then insulted others who disagreed)

and now this, when the post you quoted said nothing about first round cbs, just the development of the in general which I’d have to agree

bradberry and Norman over a period off a long time especially when he said dbs not cbs so two players, four positions 10 years. Yea that’s bad.

take your meds bro damn

This post has nothing to do with our discussion before the draft.

Norman was a fourth rounder and both Bradberry and Jackson were second rounders. The rest have been lower picks. The point was that picks below the third round for example are not routinely considered as immediate impact players.  To your convoluted point.   Picks between 9 and 16 in the first round don't make a difference as Burns clearly showed. The difference between a  first rounder and fourth rounder can be as many as 100 picks.

Are you really that dense or just holding a grudge and morphing any argument to try to be right about something ?

[mc52beast]

Apparently there are some Huddle “experts” who think that if you don’t have a Peppers like rookie season that you’re trash . They also don’t take into account that we had Washington calling plays like that infamous 3-8 that worked so well.

[panthers55]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

We took him at 85. Justin Reid has a fantastic rookie season and was picked earlier in the same round.

Combine stats don’t make the player but they do tell you we way overdrafted him. As I mentioned in another thread about Gaulden, his quickness stats (40, 3 come, short shuttle) were bottom of the barrel DB wise. The people he beat out were 7th rounders or UDFAs. Only one guy was close (Averett, chosen in the 4th) in 3 cone or short shuttle but he ran in the 4.3s in the 40.

If we took him in the 5th+, most of us would be a bit more optimistic to give him a chance, but he was taken high enough that we should have done better. Package up 85, Haynes’ pick and something from this year and we’ve got a potential pro-bowler at FS.

I hope he shocks the world, but his athletic ability is 7th round/UDFA so he’s got to be the most instinctual player out there to be even average. I recall in last preseason that his lack of quickness got him eaten alive one game, almost as bad as that Seymour game (still amazes me when people bring him up as a viable option).

Measureables do matter for any DB that’s covering WRs. One move and Gaulden is behind a guy with no chance to make up ground. That’s where speed and quickness like Donte has can make up for a good move by a WR.

Not sure 7th round makes sense but you could argue we reached. It has been suggested in the past. Still I will reserve judgement until we see how it does.

Agree that speed makes up for mistakes but let's be real here, Jackson got beat several times last year so speed isn't more important than knowing what you should be doing.  And most free safeties don't cover one on one especially in a zone heavy approach like we employ. Now you could argue that having him as a nickel corner is likely more dicey than at free safety where he is the help,  not the primary cover guy. But let's be real here, Richard Sherman ran a 4.56 at the combine. I guess he is too slow to play corner looking just at speed.

[MasterAwesome]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

If we took him in the 5th+, most of us would be a bit more optimistic to give him a chance, but he was taken high enough that we should have done better. Package up 85, Haynes’ pick and something from this year and we’ve got a potential pro-bowler at FS.

Lol what?? “Let’s give up on this guy because he was a 3rd round pick. I mean, if he was a 5th round pick...then it’d be a different story”.

Don’t you have more of a vested interest in higher draft picks in hoping they succeed? What kind of logic is that? And why are you holding it against Gaulden because you don’t agree with our decision to draft him? Why does that preclude you from giving him a chance?

[panthers55]

13 minutes ago, mc52beast said:

Apparently there are some Huddle “experts” who think that if you don’t have a Peppers like rookie season that you’re trash . They also don’t take into account that we had Washington calling plays like that infamous 3-8 that worked so well.

We also dumped our secondary coach.

[jtm]

12 minutes ago, stbugs said:

If he’s a starter, which he appears to be there is no slack to cut. There were two other 3rd round safeties (that we had private visits with) that started most of the season or half the season and had to perform right away as well. Boston was a 4th rounder and started 5 of his 11 games his rookie year. Boston was just meh, never really got better, but 3rd rounders often start their rookie year.

I think the main reason his slack is shorter is because we took him over Harrison and didn’t seem to try and get Reid when surprisingly he was available at the top of the 3rd. We wouldn’t have a safety discussion for the next 3 years if we made a small move up to get Reid. Could you imagine if we felt that our safeties were a strength? Lol.

I hear you but its easy to question draft picks after the fact and no team nails every pick.  

As much as us fans want two stud safeties, this hasn't been a priority for the Panthers and they are all about the front seven and that's where they spend their money.  Say what you want about RR, but he is one of the best when it comes to putting together a defense.  

[top dawg]

24 minutes ago, stbugs said:

If he’s a starter, which he appears to be there is no slack to cut. There were two other 3rd round safeties (that we had private visits with) that started most of the season or half the season and had to perform right away as well. Boston was a 4th rounder and started 5 of his 11 games his rookie year. Boston was just meh, never really got better, but 3rd rounders often start their rookie year.

I think the main reason his slack is shorter is because we took him over Harrison and didn’t seem to try and get Reid when surprisingly he was available at the top of the 3rd. We wouldn’t have a safety discussion for the next 3 years if we made a small move up to get Reid. Could you imagine if we felt that our safeties were a strength? Lol.

You're just being a broken record. What's done is done, and the future hasn't revealed itself. How about living in the now and hoping for the best?

[LinvilleGorge]

1 hour ago, jtm said:

Guy was essentially a late 3rd round pick and folks here need to cut him some slack and allow him time to acclimate because he switched positions from college.  Hopefully, he can be a solid back up and it will be huge if the Panthers get a legit starting safety out of a 3rd round pick.

This place bashed Tre Boston every day when he was here and now everyone has a crush on this guy and wants him back.  

I think it's less direct bashing of Gaulden and more bashing our overall FS situation. Gaulden just happened to get the brunt of it because he's a recent draft pick and very well might be the best bad option we have at the moment.

[jtm]

19 minutes ago, stbugs said:

I understand. Some of us are pretty active in here leading up to the draft and we had some discussions about Reid in round one to address the safety spot. It’s not surprising that those talks carry over into other threads. If someone told us before the draft that Reid would be there at the top of the 3rd, I don’t think anyone of us would have complained about moving up from 85. Unfortunately, in hindsight, he’s turned out to be a potential stud.

Ron’s a good DC, not sure what the heck he was thinking about letting Washington call games though, but you have to admit that our safeties have gone from 2015 Coleman to thank god Eric Reid was sitting on a couch last year. Safeties have been a very weak spot the past two years and have definitely cost us points.

I hear you and us fans love to question draft picks after the fact and certainly nothing wrong with this.

I use to research draft prospects like crazy and thought I knew a bunch until I tried to talk shop with a good bud of mine that is an NFL scout.  I quickly realized how little I knew and us armchair QBs are clueless compared to the pros.  I mean CLUELESS and I pretty much quit questioning draft picks unless it is something really bad.  

[panthers55]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

Of course speed isn’t everything, but you seem hung up on just the 40 time, but Sherman also has a good 3 cone time (.33 seconds better than Gaulden). Sherman doesn’t have long speed but does have much better quickness. That said Sherman’s numbers dropped him to the 5th, 70 picks after Gaulden.

I’m definitely aware that Donte got beat but you can’t be serious if you can’t acknowledge the fast DBs be able to break up balls by making up the separation a WR gains on a move. Gaulden has nothing to make up any separation except hoping for an underthrow. I don’t want a FS that can’t really cover and isn’t athletic enough to really help.

Gaulden’s numbers were equivalent to DBs going in the 7th or undrafted. I’m not saying he would have lasted that long, but before the 5th was a big reach. I didn’t like the pick and really wish we did everything we could to get Reid like we did for Little. Having a difference maker FS would be so helpful for Bradberry and Jackson.

And you are hung on microseconds. Do you have any idea how little time .33 seconds is?  If you did you wouldn't keep bringing miniscule differences when they got tested one day years ago.  Remember you are the one hung up with times and stats not me. My point with Sherman was that his slow 40 time simply has little to nothing to do with how well he plays corner. I take your hero's approach which is combine times mean little with guys running around in their underwear.  I used to believe that combine numbers matter but guys like Poe broke of that. Too many times combine times are overemphasized only to find the guy is a workout warrior and little else. Gaulden on the other hand was very productive in college which is more important than a 3 cone race or bench presses. Sure college performance doesn't guarantee success at the next level but it matters more than a 40 yard dash and the ever important  broad jump that just shows up often so often  in a game.  LOL.

[top dawg]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

Lol. Stop replying to me then. Some of us like to think about alternatives and don’t like smoke being blown up our asses by rose colored glass guys like you. I’ve already said a hundred times that I hope he proves me wrong. If I want to state what I would have done and why I’m not optimistic then I can regardless of what you think, which doesn’t actually matter to me. Get off your high horse, it’s just plain annoying and predictable.

Although, I am a bit confused about your thread on Kyle Allen. Why aren’t you hoping that he parlays his great game against NO into a solid career? You seem overly negative on the poor guy.

I'm not being overly negative on anyone that doesn't have a body of work, and I've said even in that thread that he basically has to show me before I anoint him, so what you're trying to ascribe to me is bullshit. That's what I love about the written record, it's all there.

Furthermore, like I told you in a few days ago, it takes all kind of people to make the forum go 'round. If you want to be a broken record, essentially saying the same thing again and again across threads, then you have every right to do so.

Having rose-colored glasses and giving reasons as to why it's pretty stupid to declare someone a bust before they've had a real opportunity to show you what they have as a pro are two different things. I've been critical a plenty over the years, so much so that people got perturbed with my opinion on this or that, but I've been right quite a bit, so that's another reason why your rose-colored glasses comment really doesn't make any sense.  You have referred to me and some "high horse" a couple of times recently, but you're the one who needs to hop off yours. Give young players time to either prove or disprove their worth! It's not an abnormal concept, and try and refrain from sounding like a broken record across the forum. People will better appreciate what you have to say.