So how do you feel about our saftey position?

[fieryprophet]

That it's not very safe.

[Jackofalltrades]

I feel fine with it. Could we upgrade? Sure, but they won't be the huge liability they were last season.

[Growl]

I feel like we're staking the season on the hopeful development of some UDFAS in our defensive backfield.

[chef17]

I'm telling you guys IMO Mike Mitchell will be a player for us.

 

 

 

Have you actually seen him play some game? Because there were like 5 plays in that video, no way you can say he will be good based on that

[ItsPantone278]

Did Mitchell really say "I'm smart as ever" in that clip?

[CatMan72]

Okay, Godfrey is much better as a FS and Campbell had a good showing at SS and the end of last year. 

[CRA]

I feel fine with it. Could we upgrade? Sure, but they won't be the huge liability they were last season.

they have been a liability the past 2 seasons.....why won't be this year?

 

Also, we had the best pass rush in the NFL (pressure per snap)....so what other reason than talking about our defensive front

[CRA]

Okay, Godfrey is much better as a FS and Campbell had a good showing at SS and the end of last year. 

 

Godfrey went to SS b/c he sucked giant donkey balls at FS.  Godfrey sucks in space....both in coverage and as a tackler.  He is more geared to be a SS....b/c he play near the line, blitz, and try to flesh bomb.

 

Rivera praises guys who try all the time.  Godfrey isn't a FS....we have seen that.

[ItsPantone278]

I worry we over exposed Godfrey last year playing him at SS.  He was already only an average to at best slightly above average player.  He had a bad season and put some bad things down on film playing out of position.  Now we are going to play him in the back of the defense, where I'm sure most will agree he's looked better, but he will be tested by offenses.  They will try and play him on his tendencies.

 

I think Campbell is good, but do we really want to see him as the 3 down SS?  He ended last season being picked on pretty badly.  While he can play, I just don't think he's good enough to play with the smarter QBs.

 

As for Mitchell..  I think he is a complete wild card.  Could be good.  Could be a starter..  Could be a backup..  Will likely contribute on special teams..

 

Lester has a shot at making the team.  No idea if he has NFL speed.  Its not like he didn't have the platform to sell himself to the NFL yet went undrafted.

 

As of now I think those four are really the only ones worth discussing.  Doesn't look good on paper thats for sure.

[CRA]

I worry we over exposed Godfrey last year playing him at SS.  He was already only an average to at best slightly above average player.  He had a bad season and put some bad things down on film playing out of position.  Now we are going to play him in the back of the defense, where I'm sure most will agree he's looked better, but he will be tested by offenses.  They will try and play him on his tendencies.

 

 

You mean like they did for seasons before he moved to SS?

 

Sherod Martin sucks.  Sherod Martin is a better FS than Godfrey.  

[CatMan72]

Godfrey went to SS b/c he sucked giant donkey balls at FS.  Godfrey sucks in space....both in coverage and as a tackler.  He is more geared to be a SS....b/c he play near the line, blitz, and try to flesh bomb.

 

Rivera praises guys who try all the time.  Godfrey isn't a FS....we have seen that.

 

That's true, but it's been a couple years and Martin didn't pan out after showing early promise. FS is all about instincts where the SS has many more responsibilities. Godfrey is an instinctive player and now that his knowledge of the position has grown he's much less of a liability in space.

 

It takes a while for a guy who played the vast majority of his snaps in college as a corner to adjust to playing in space as a FS. 

[Raskle]

About the same as the guys struggling for lifeboats on the Titanic. Hopeful, yet pessimistic that anything good is going to happen.

[koolkatluke]

Have you actually seen him play some game? Because there were like 5 plays in that video, no way you can say he will be good based on that

 

I look at the size and speed of Mitchell (6'1 with a 4.49 in the 40'.) and the History & comments by Gettlemen (Pro player evaluator, has a skill in finding gold in FA). Then you look at this story

 

http://stripehype.com/2013/03/20/bengals-pursuing-raiders-free-agent-safety-mike-mitchell-will-decide-this-week/

 

The 25-year-old Mitchell has only nine starts in his NFL career. His career high 51 tackles came in 2010, and has been used in different packages as part of Oakland’s rotation.

Still, according to Pro Football Focus, among the 78 safeties who played in 25 percent of their team’s snaps in 2012, Mitchell ranked fifth in run-stop percentage when in the box (10.7 percent) and 20th in overall tackling efficiency (three missed tackles). He was the best pass rusher among NFL safeties with nine total pressures (one sack, six hits and two hurries) in 27 pass-rushing snaps. In fact, only four safeties had more total pressures than Mitchell, even though they played between three times and four times as many snaps.

Mitchel’s struggles came in the passing game, where he ranked a third-to-last in passer rating allowed (130.2).

 

Finally I watch this video

 

 

 

So I got a good feeling about this guy.

 

[jungleking]

I feel like Mitchell can be a good strong safety, but I would rather have two guys with solid coverage skills than a guy like Mitchell who plays the run well. The front seven needs to take care of itself and help out the secondary, not the other way around. We'll see how they use him, I guess.

 

I don't trust Lester at all. He's smart, he just doesn't have the athleticism to cover in this league, in this division. If he sees the field too much, I fear that we'll see a lot of big plays given up.