LOOK up Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher. In fact if you go to the EAGLES website, and look up their profiles you’ll see that “physical” the first term used to describe Williams. It’s the second word in his profile . For Fletcher the second word is “tough”. “Physical” doesn’t appear in his profile until word four.
First of all, when these guys were brought in they were brought in to play a style of ball that they excel at, but that NFL is trying to phase out. Across the board CB play in the NFL is “suffering”. When it’s not calls, it’s players trying not to draw calls. You’re now seeing WR’s (Brandon LaFell, Malcolm Floyd, and Julian Edelman for example) who once were disappointments, now posting respectable reception numbers and finding purpose in today’s game. That’s because the rules keep making it easier to play WR, while making it harder to play DB.
Secondly, I think fans here are just too damned hard on certain players. Think about how fans regarded our primary last 6 starting CB’s:
Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher: “Suck”
Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rogers-Cromartie: “Suck”
Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown: “Suck”
Fans keep throwing the CB’s under the bus despite the fact that they knew the “Wide 9” system didn’t work. Despite the fact that Bill Davis’s “Multiple” or “4-3 Under” scheme has massive, obvious flaws in it. (Those are easy flaws to hide when an opposing head coach can’t tell that his own QB is injured (Looking at YOU Ron Rivera), but harder to disguise against a legitimate playoff caliber team.)
Look, the days of CB’s like Eric Allen and Ben Smith, Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard, are gone. The NFL no longer allows for a CB to control his side of the field. It makes it easier to get those big highlights, to sell more tickets and garner larger TV contracts. I mean, do you honestly think Riley Cooper could have started 10 years ago; or that Jeff Maehl would even be on an NFL roster? Come on. WR is easier because CB is harder.
Our guys don’t suck. They’re just caught between old expectations and the new way things are.
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Your right Flip. Our conrers dont suck. The good ones just arent playing. Fletcher is average and WIlliams is a bum. Boykin hasnt done well on the outside, but could grow as a player (not in height) and Carroll is busy playing LB. I say move Boykin and Carroll outside. Move Boykin to the slot when needed and bring Fletcher outside. Then start Watkins at safety over Allen. He cant do much worse.
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I don’t think people are judging our CB’s on merit of the position. It’s hard to play great as a CB without effective Safety play. Otherwise you can be beaten fairly easily on routes like slants, ins, posts and comebacks. And the lackluster Safety play has been an acknowledged issue for YEARS now. It seems unfair that fans refuse to factor that in, despite how well our CB’s have covered routes from the “plus split” to the sideline.
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Na. The corners have sucked. Nnamdi drc were horrible. Now ones retired and the other is stealing money somewhere else. Williams gave up over a 94 passer rating before he came here and Fletcher was never anything more than an average corner. Just cause they put on a midnight green jersey doesn’t mean they get better all of a sudden.
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I don’t think Williams is a bad football player, but he’s been average at best. I think Fletcher has been up and down, but for the price tag he’s been more than adequate. Last week verses the Panthers he had five pass defenses and an interception for a touchdown. I don’t think Nnamdi had five passes defended his entire Eagle career. I also don’t agree with people who think we have better defenders on th bench. Does anyone ever watch what happens to Brandon Boykin plays Fritzgerald when he’s in the slot? He gets his lunch ate every time. Imagine him on the outside? He simply can’t play the big receivers, but he’s very good against slot guys of similar size. Nolan Carroll has been decent, but he has a specific role for the team as well and I don’t think Fletcher or Williams would be much better inside. Watkins we aren’t even sure if he’s a safety or a corner yet. He’s just too raw to say.
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