This point is spot on. He had so much trouble getting his head around to locate the ball. He did not have trouble with this in college, but it just shows how much faster the game is.
I'm willing to bet that that's exactly what Revis is working with Wilson on (also how to not get torched on double moves and pump fakes) because his coverage seems to be a strength. QBs release the football within 3 seconds on most plays, so you gotta be looking for it immediately. If Kyle can start doing this, other teams might have to start throwing to Revis' side for a change.
Who mans the slot in that situation? Wilson is going to be a lot better outside than in. If you bring back Cromartie, and pay him what he's going to command from other teams, you'd better be prepared to write Wilson off as a wasted pick. If it comes down to keeping our WR corps and losing Cromartie or keeping Cromartie, I'm throwing Wilson into the fire and signing a vet backup to add to the DBs.
Man I really he gets his timing down. He was always their just did not turn his head quick enough. Watch out if he can get this timing issue down.
Well when they drafted Wilson, Rex said a big thing was how they thought he would really be good inside. It just didn't happen last year.. doesn't mean that in year 2 he won't be ready to handle that nickel role.
We could also look at undrafted free agents like Ryan Hill or Kendrick Burney. And hope we hit a Sam Shields.
Don't forget about Dwight Lowery. He made a couple huge plays for us (pick-six against Favre). Then again, Favre throwing a pick-six is like him retiring and un-retiring...it's just expected. But yeah, definitely need to sign a vet DB to add to the rotation if Cro isn't signed. What cheap options are on the market?
The last clause in this post completely negates the one preceeding it. For the amount of time this defense is going to spend in nickle they cannot afford their first option at nickle to be injured for half the season. Coleman stepped his coverage game up a lot this past season. There were a couple of games where he seemed to outplay the other CBs while Revis was nursing his hamstring. I'd rather see Coleman awarded the spot while we let someone compete with him for it rather than spend the roster spot on a guy we can safely bet will be spending too much time with the trainers.
Due to the emergence of Coleman, I don't want him gone and have Strickland take his spot with his high injury risk. He really did a hell of a job this year and looked real good on the outside for a 5'9 corner when Revis was down. But if Strickland is a FA, and he can be signed on the cheap, he's an awesome depth CB to have.
This is a problem that is typical of rookies. Part of it has to do with the game simply being too fast for incoming players, as you mentioned. Another part is due to lacking the proper anticipation developed from playing against this level of competition. Wilson was a great corner in college but he never played anything as complex as the offenses he came up against in the NFL. Wilson was caught in a weird position last year where he was the best outside CB available to sub in while Revis was hurt but just didn't have enough experience to play inside and cover the slot. He dropped from 2 to 4 on the depth chart mostly because Drew Coleman had been a career nickel/dime player even in college where Wilson was exclusively an outside corner for most of his career. He almost had to learn to play another position when the sideline was taken away from him. Covering inside requires a whole new set of skills and instincts and Wilson had to deal with the speed of the game, the level of competition as well as the added strain of a whole new set of rules for covering slot WRs. The good thing is that both of those issues are typically remedied with experience. We saw it at the end of the season in the Buffalo game. Say what you want about the Bills but Steve Johnson is no slouch and Wilson stayed on him like a lid for most of the plays he was assigned to cover him. A lot of people were bitching and moaning at Wilson for not intercepting the Big Ben pass in the AFCC but I doubt most of them realized that if that game was a few months earlier, Wilson probably wouldn't have been in position to knock the ball down(with his face). He's made strides thanks to the playing time he got and working out with Revis is only going to help his anticipation develop. The speed of the game will get easier for him as he gets more time on the field in live situations. I'm not saying its a guarantee that he'll be All Pro by the start of next season but given the improvement he has made so far I am confident that we are going to like what we see from him.
Great post. Like I said as well, the more experience he gets on the outside, the better he'll learn to read his receivers. THAT'S how he learns to play the ball, by picking up on the nuances and visual cues of the man he's covering. That's what makes Revis the corner he is.
One other thing to add is that Revis wasn't a rookie in Rex's scheme. The pressure placed on corners makes the learning curve a hell of a lot steeper. I'd hate to see Wilson relegated to a wasted pick before he gets a chance to adjust to a difficult scheme. I just don't see him as a nickel corner for the next 3 or 4 years.
Agree completely. Even if he develops into a decent nickel he is still better suited to be a #2 CB. Even with the more and more teams running spread offenses I still think it would be a waste to spend a 1st rounder on a player who was going to spend most of his time at #3 on the depth chart. Wilson is one of the reasons I have no problem with watching Cromartie walk. Partly because I want to see Wilson take his place as a starter, partly because of my confidence that he has the ability to do just that.
I agree with the guys who rather keep Cromartie over Holmes. This is a passing league and the #3 corner is on the field most of the game for us. We are a defensive team. We do not use Holmes like P.Manning uses Wayne. We spread the ball around so Holmes does not have as big an impact on our offense as a Wayne does in Indy. How quickly we seem to forget that our #3 and #4 CB have been abused the last couple of years. It behooves us to keep as much CB talent as possible. This is even assuming Wilson develops. If he bombs and we don't have Cromartie... OMG. This does not even take into account how we're always injured at the DB positions. The lost of Holmes can more easily be covered than a lack of DB depth (and/or talent). Edwards and Cotch are a good 1-2 at WR. Kerley can play the slot. We can go with more two TE sets. Heck, we might even have Conner actually be on the field at the FB position. Most of these options with Holmes on the team, means Cotch is on the bench. Now, that's a waste. I'm pretty sure we play more nickel than we go three wide. Anybody got the stats on that?
You are right we play more nickel than we go three wide. I don't have the stats, but it feels like we are in nickel 75%+ of the time. However, Holmes is a game breaker at receiver. He is the better player than Cromartie, and consistency around Sanchez is the key to the kid's development. Keeping holmes and edwards on this team is paramount to helping Sanchez become the best player he can be. If we lose one can he still be great? Sure, but at best, it's going to take him longer to get there. Chances are good he won't reach his ceiling without elite weapons surrounding him early in his career. Since SB victories in the NFL are so closely tied to top notch QB play, its highly beneficial to have the best QB possible. keeping holmes and edwards will help us to make Mark the best he can be. Keeping Cromartie won't. If we let Cro walk, it's not like it's impossible for us to sign a cheaper vet at the position to help push Wilson to make him a better player as well...
