More About Right Cornerback
Posted: June 23rd, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 22 Comments »I didn’t get a chance to watch any Jonathan Joseph tape last night. I will watch a couple of Bengals games and report back when I am done. He is a definite possibility.
I got questioned about a few other RCB targets – Eric Wright, Chris Carr, and Richard Marshall. I haven’t watched Wright recently. I don’t think he’s the level of player we are looking for. Carr is ideally meant to be a slot CB. He isn’t someone I want as a starter.
Marshall is interesting. I don’t know that he’s the kind of man coverage guy we’re looking for, but he is fairly productive and a very active tackler. Marshall has 365 tackles in 80 career games. Asante Samuel has 333 tackles in 117 games. I would not have Marshall targeted all that high, but he would be an interesting fit across from Asante.
I think we’re looking for a RCB that has good man cover skills, has some size, can press, and is younger rather than older. DRC fits the description. So does Jonathan Joseph. Nnamdi does, minus the bit about age.
Don’t look for the Eagles to make a change for the sake of making a change at RCB. The point is to upgrade. Guys like Wright and Marshall aren’t really what we need. Heck, you’d do better to take a short term flyer on Ike Taylor. He isn’t ideal, but is used to being part of a stifling defense and playing in big time games.
The goal should be to find someone who can help you win the Super Bowl in 2011 or can be a long term answer at RCB. And a long term answer isn’t someone who’s “good enough”. You’re talking about a player the team really wants and has serious interest in.
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We all know that Nnamdia Asomugha is a slightly better than average player. Some might even call him…”good”. I joke, of course. Nnamdi is a terrific CB. Darrelle Revis is the top dog, but Nnamdi is just a notch below.
There is one concern that I have. He’s been stuck on mediocre to bad teams out in Oakland. That isn’t meant as a criticism of him. However, it has affected him. Most teams have the lead against Oakland, often a sizable lead. Look at the last 5 years:
2010 – 3 losses by 15 or more points
2009 – 6 losses by 15 or more points
2008 – 6 losses by 15 or more points
2007 – 3 losses by 15 or more points
2006 – 6 losses by 15 or more points
Teams weren’t throwing much in the 4th quarter. Heck, they might not have been throwing much in the 3rd quarter. Oakland faces an unusually small amount of passes.
2010 – 470 attempts
2009 – 438 attempts
2008 – 471 attempts
2007 – 439 attempts
2006 – 410 attempts
Compare that to passing attempts against our heroic and beloved Eagles.
2010 – 536 attempts
2009 – 580 attempts
2008 – 525 attempts
2007 – 539 attempts
2006 – 525 attempts
Nnamdi is a darn good CB. He is helped by the fact that teams can be picky when they play him. Offenses can focus on the LCB or throwing over the middle or just running the ball. Teams can avoid him because of his talent, but also due to circumstance. The Raiders finished dead last in rushing attempts against them in 3 of the 5 years. The other two seasons they came in 26th and 28th. Clearly this was a defense that teams were running on.
Let’s look at opponents QB rating over the last 5 years for the Raiders and Eagles.
Opp QB Rating – OAK / PHI
2010 – 85.6 / 80.8
2009 – 89.5 / 77.6
2008 – 79.3 / 72.9
2007 – 78.9 / 80.3
2006 – 74.1 / 73.6
You would think that knowing you’re going to take away half the field would be a major help to your pass defense. That hasn’t necessarily been the case. To be fair, the Raiders defense hasn’t been loaded with elite players in that span, but they still should have played better than that.
It would be interesting to see how Nnamdi would be affected by playing for us. He’d face more throws than ever. Teams couldn’t always avoid him with Asante on the other side. Plus, when teams are behind they have to throw and take chances. Would this mean Nnamdi started making more plays (only 3 INTs in last 4 years)? Or would it show him to be more human, since you know some of the additional throws would turn into catches and possibly big plays?
I still don’t see the Eagles going after him, knowing what his price tag is likely to be. That would be the most expensive set of CBs in NFL history. I would love to see how good a pairing of he and Asante could be. That’d be pretty fun to watch on Sundays.
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Donovan was in Philly yesterday working out with some former teammates. That was cool to see. I hope he is able to stay connected to the organization once he retires. He was a great Eagle, even if things didn’t work out perfectly in the end.
Interesting to find out he didn’t throw yesterday. Was that his choice or did the Philly area worms get a court order preventing him from throwing? Those poor guys suffered enough when Donovan was here. No reason to make them re-live the horror.
getting him will also greatly affect samuels. he will have more passes thrown his way and he will have to attempt to tackle more, which usually leads to him coming off the field for a few snaps. he gets dinged after an attemted tackle more than any player i have ever seen, probably because he never does it properly
jonathan joseph, does he always have injury issues?
it worries me to pay someone alot of $$ that is injury prone. especially with someone like samuels on the other side. even though samuels doesnt always miss games, he seems extra fragile and age will not help.
i could be wrong about joseph though, i know he was hurt last year and in 08. but they could have been freak injuries
@CVD
I think Jevon Kearse could give Samuel a run for his money in the “injured” attempted tackle category…
haha, ur right about that chris.
Tommy what about Josh Wilson? dont know much about him but i remmeber reading something about him a few months back on pff, they seemed to like him alot
The worms!! I read half the comments before that clicked. Good one Tommy!
I’ll never forget someone on the EMB saying “Why does he hate those poor worms so much?” as a joke. That cracked me up.
I love Donovan, but he was the king of the worm-burners.
Tommy if you have time when watching Carr check out his teammate Josh Wilson. I believe he may be an RFA but he’s a very good, underrated player.
I don’t buy your point about “helping to win a SB” though. Surely ANY player whose an improvement on Trevard Lindley is a help to win the SB. Guys like Carr who can start for a year (he played well on the outside in Baltimore not just in the slot) clearly help you win SBs in the sense that they have NFL talent. Nobody’s sure Lindley has that. Why would you take a guy like Ike Taylor, whose an inferior player, because he’s played in big games?
As for Wright and Marshall, neither played well on bad defenses but I doubt that would change. Good players play well on bad teams.
That’s the problem with Joseph. Your going to pay top 5 money for an injury prone player. That’s hurt the Eagles in the past many, many times.
It’s what makes Q so valuable and why its so ridiculous in an apparent “closing window” they’ve decided to go with a rookie. He may or may not be better in the long run but his chances of being better next year are slim to none.
JVB
wilson is unrestircted. but baltimore just gave up a mid round pick last year for him, plus they have other free agnet corners, so i think they will really push to resign him. pff really liked him in this article i read a few months back, i will look for the article and post it if i find it. but i dont know much about him.
i agree on Q, never hurt and pff says he is the best saftey in the league, not sure if that is true but even if he is top 10 i would like to keep him. but at this point i like the 3 young safteys we have and i dont see room to pay Q and a corner
JVB
Josh Wilson (he can also return kicks)
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/04/15/secret-superstar-josh-wilson-baltimore-ravens/
I think Richard Marshall would be the best fit. He’s durable only missed like 1 game in his career, he’d cost less, we need at least 1 CB who can tackle, bllitz and have an all around game. He’d be better than Sheldon Brown in his prime. If we got him we could add lots of important pieces with the extra money. The only 5 star LB, according to scout.com, not franchised is the Titans MLB. Adding him along with Babbin(who shouldn’t cost much due to his age and the GM’s knowing his success last yr was purely from being in Washburns system) would help the front seven adjust to Washburn’s DLine dramatically. Then we don’t have to waste money on Bradly an injury prone MLB who doesn’t know the importance of the LB and the first thing about how the LB’s operate behind Washburns D-Line. We’d have enough cash for smaller contracts like Dawkins who can help make the young S’s into pro-bowlers by helping develop them physically and mentally as pros along with having top leadership qualities. Then Plax shouldn’t cost much ither not having played for a couple yrs. and be a major Red Zone threat. Having those 5 players instead of an expensive CB & one other expensive player that may or may not work out, or get injured would help a lot more. Then whatever type of RB
they want. Hopefully get a 1st rd pick in 2012 and 2nd and 4th in 2013 for Kolb. P.S. Sorry for writing so much.
Closing window???
Plax would also be the only big WR on the team for Cooper to learn from. Can keep some of these older players for just 2 yrs or something.
babin had a nice year but i think he will go to whoever offers the most $$. he never had a big payday and he is not young. so he will find someone to over pay.
just my take on babin. i like the dude from carolina charles johnson and i really like haynesworth
whats sad is i was looking at a list of top edge pass rushing productivity last year, ranked 6, 11, 12 and 13 in the entire league?
antwan barnes, babin, cole and chris clemons.
Just thought you should know— it’s spelled “JoHnathan Joseph”…. not Jonathan. I know, it’s easy to miss.
Good blurb.
Does all this Flyers news mean Lurie forces a quick end to the lockout to sign Nnamdi?
Isn’t there going to be outrage that the Flyers are trying to upstage the Sixers?
“Isn’t there going to be outrage that the Flyers are trying to upstage the Sixers?”
-Hee Hee. I love it!
Philly has a basketball team?
Umm, Sixers? Aren’t they a WNBA team? /s
@eagleizeit: “(Richard Marshall) would … be better than Sheldon Brown in his prime. ”
You lost me there. Gotta disagree. No way.
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