Eric Weddle?

[MHS831]

Folks, we can upgrade more than one position. Some of you are passing because you feel we should upgrade somewhere else. Upgrade many places. I imagine that Pugh could go to corner; he seems a good fit for the defense. Then you have Weddle and Godfrey compete for the starting free safety spot.

[Mother Grabber]

Weddle is a stud. But as said before, we have bigger needs right now. He would bring a price tag that should be used for other spots.

[panthers55]

The only way I could see it happening is if Rivera & co. decided to move Martin back to CB. After all, that's the position he was originally drafted to play, and prior to the draft, many analysts felt he was a good fit at CB. He had really barely started to transition to CB (played only 1 or 2 pre-season games at CB) when we had a rash of injuries at Safety, which forced him to move back in order to give the team a body at the position (after they had experimented with Wesley there first, which failed)...and he promptly got hurt in his first pre-season game at Safety, forcing him to miss quite a bit of time.

Now, to be honest, I don't know how well Martin would do at CB, or if he would even fit Rivera's/McDermott's system. But if they do believe he can be a solid corner, I could definitely see them bringing in a Safety that they feel would upgrade our defense rather than bringing someone in to replace Marshall.

Martin actually was a free safety in college. He had corner type skills but was used at safety given they needed him there and he was their best athlete. Godfrey was a corner in college for the most part who we converted to a safety.

[panthers55]

Folks, we can upgrade more than one position. Some of you are passing because you feel we should upgrade somewhere else. Upgrade many places. I imagine that Pugh could go to corner; he seems a good fit for the defense. Then you have Weddle and Godfrey compete for the starting free safety spot.

Martin is the free safety and Godfrey plays strong safety. I don't see Godfrey going to free safety. You must have meant Martin and Weddle competing for free safety.

As for upgrading there, I would rather upgrade where we have gaping holes like at DT before worrying about safety where we are decent. More pressure on the opposing QB will make all our safeties and corners look better.

Besides with Martin still on his rookie contract, he is a better value for the dollar right now. Lets lock up all the core players and go through the draft. Then lets spend money on free agents.

[Woodie]

Martin actually was a free safety in college. He had corner type skills but was used at safety given they needed him there and he was their best athlete. Godfrey was a corner in college for the most part who we converted to a safety.

Yeah, I know. But Godfrey was a corner in college whose skill set was said to be a better fit at Safety in the NFL, while Martin was a Safety whose skill set was said to fit CB. So I think if one of them were to be moved to CB, it would most likely be Martin...but to be clear, I am not advocating it, just stating it as a possibility if the coaches feel he can effectively make the move and there is a Safety they have their eyes on.

[Actionman0z]

At what, exactly?

Look at our defense compared to theirs. I've seen Weddle play in both college and the pros, and quite frankly hes nothing to write home about. For whatever reason this board is really low on Godfrey, and high on Martin.. and I just dont see it. Neither of them are world beaters, but we werent great getting after the QB either... If you think Weddle is better than Godfrey, you're wrong.

Weddle plays closer to the line then our cover 2 scheme, so he makes more tackles... hes also played a year longer. Weddle has about 2x more tackles than Godfrey for his career... but again he plays close to the line.

Godfrey has 1 more career INT, more Career Forced fumbles, 8 less PD, way more INT yards.. and 2 less sacks in a year when Weddle clearly Blitzes more. I really feel like this board just jumps on people due more to name recognition as opposed to who they are. Godfrey is also bigger and ran a faster 40 time... so STFU.

PS. The safety spots are borderline the same with the old D. You could mix and match for either one. When we run more of a cover 1 scheme Martin did play free and Godfrey was in the box more often then not, but they did it the other way too.

[cookinbrak]

Godfrey is better than him.

This message brought to you by Charles Godfreys mom.

[Stroupe-a-loop]

Look at our defense compared to theirs. I've seen Weddle play in both college and the pros, and quite frankly hes nothing to write home about. For whatever reason this board is really low on Godfrey, and high on Martin.. and I just dont see it. Neither of them are world beaters, but we werent great getting after the QB either... If you think Weddle is better than Godfrey, you're wrong.

Weddle plays closer to the line then our cover 2 scheme, so he makes more tackles... hes also played a year longer. Weddle has about 2x more tackles than Godfrey for his career... but again he plays close to the line.

Godfrey has 1 more career INT, more Career Forced fumbles, 8 less PD, way more INT yards.. and 2 less sacks in a year when Weddle clearly Blitzes more. I really feel like this board just jumps on people due more to name recognition as opposed to who they are. Godfrey is also bigger and ran a faster 40 time... so STFU.

PS. The safety spots are borderline the same with the old D. You could mix and match for either one. When we run more of a cover 1 scheme Martin did play free and Godfrey was in the box more often then not, but they did it the other way too.

You seem to be defending Godfrey pretty hard which is fine, but you know Weddle could possibly replace Martin too right? As for Weddle being nothing special to right home about, I disagree and think he is a very versatile player who can do a number of things to really help this defense.

To the people saying we should spend the money elsewhere, you realize we are going to have a substantial amount of cap room right? That's why we suffered through this terrible season. We can upgrade a number of spots. I don't think the safety play was at a very high level this year. There were missed tackles, blown coverages, and bad angles taken all around. I think we could definitely upgrade one of the spots, while encouraging more competition at the other spot, and providing depth at both.

For the people who say San Diego won't let him walk, there is definitely a chance. AJ Smith basically has to franchise Vincent Jackson at this point to continue his holy war against the receiver. In addition to that, I think the Chargers front office is not willing to spend over what they consider "value" for a player even if it going to hurt the team in the short or long term (McNeil, Brees, Jackson, Merriman, Tomlinson, etc). It seems to work for them because Smith can find players, but it has increasingly cost the team some talented players. I hope Weddle ends up being one of those players.

I understand that the defensive line and quarterback spots need upgrades and better play next year, but the team needs those moves solely to not be atrocious again. We need to make upgrades at other positions if we want to be average again, or, God willing, good. I think Weddle would be a step in the right direction.

[thefuzz]

Weddle is going no where.

He is their biggest FA.

After him is Floyd, Burnett, Cooper, and Sproles.

[Actionman0z]

yes I know weddle could replace Martin as well, but like a lot of other people I see a need to upgrade at CB, and if we got Weddle I would think it would be because we like what we have in Pugh and RJ Stanford as S/CB, and maybe we look to move Martin over to CB? Either way, I'd like to see us make 2 moves from 1-3 with the bills for Newton, and then from 3-5 with the cards for Gabbert.

[Boltergeist]

Weddle's in the same position for us that Williams/Johnson is for you guys. We could just slap and RFA tender on him.

[MaineManPanther]

Weddle is one of the best safties, but Martin is a pretty good player, and that was in his first year starting. Godfrey could upgraded, but I don't think its significant enough that we should pay top money for (assuming Weddle is even available)

[panthers55]

yes I know weddle could replace Martin as well, but like a lot of other people I see a need to upgrade at CB, and if we got Weddle I would think it would be because we like what we have in Pugh and RJ Stanford as S/CB, and maybe we look to move Martin over to CB? Either way, I'd like to see us make 2 moves from 1-3 with the bills for Newton, and then from 3-5 with the cards for Gabbert.

We are not going to move Martin to corner. it has taken him 2 years to learn the free safety position so why would we move him to corner. Secondly he played free safety in college not corner. Godfrey was the one that played corner who we converted. If we were going to convert anyone it would Godfrey and that won't happen either. We have several folks who could be fine as a corner.

As for Gabbert, color me unimpressed.

[DCR]

don't really know how good he is now

but i can remember hoping we would draft him

But we got Dwayne Jarrett 8 picks later