Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Meck
what do you mean? He can play several roles.
I think people get way to hung up on 'position' versus 'role'. This isn't the NFL we grew up on. Things have changed. You can't just line up and play bump'n'run man coverage every play and our guys beat your guys. Modern defenses have to mix and match and disguise coverages to have any success. The more guys you have with multiple skill sets the better.
Mathieu is a good example; his value is in his versatility. Are there better deep safeties? yeah. But he's good there. Are there better box safeties? Yeah, but he's good there too. Are there better coverage guys for the slot? Yeah, but he's good there. He can even give you some outside coverage and do that pretty well too. Not Patrick Peterson good, but a few snaps here and there and he can make it work.
Same with Thornhill. Same with Fitzpatrick.
The era of the "shutdown corner" is over. It doesn't really exist within the current rule structure.
He can do several things at a high level. He can cover man, he can cover zone, he can play deep, he can play shallow. He can give you some outside responsibility, he can give you some slot capability.
As far as cap-wise in coming years, you can let Fuller walk when his deal is up and he can take that spot. Conceivably, when Honey Badger's deal is up, he can man that spot, depending on how you draft and develop over the next couple of seasons.
He's plus defensive talent, and stockpiling that while on rookie deals is always a good bet.
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You just get into the "jack of all trades, master of none" kinda thing. Yes, he can do a lot, is he really good at it all though? I don't know.
I won't really be that upset, a lot of draft guys said he is a really high level player, so if they make the move, fine.
But they need a CB that can really play outside and I dunno that he can.