Secondary Idea

[varaven45]

Watching rooke Andy Dalton carve up our secondary made me wonder whether our pass D, in certain situations, might benefit from having Lardarius Webb playing safety ? I have heard rumors that Webb is heir apparent to Reed. So, if Jimmy Smith and Cary Williams are our long term CBs, perhaps its time to try Webb, in certain scenarios, in the back and learn from Reed.

 

As we prepare for the December/January run and more prolific pass offenses in the post season, I am curious if Pagano is looking at this adjustment. It certainly couldnt hurt after last Sunday's woeful pass defense performance, esp if Smith gets more comfortable at CB in the remaining regular season games.

 

At the very least, Pagano could substitute Webb for Pollard in obvious passing downs, which would combine Webb's and Reed's skill sets - Webb's speed and quickness and Reeds instincts and experience - on the deep ball. I say this because I have observed Reed getting beat on deep balls the last few weeks.

 

Maybe we are already considering/doing. Any thoughts ?

[ForceEight]

Webb might still be our best CB, so it's way too soon for that. Maybe going into next season they consider it; I know I've heard a lot of talk about it lately.

[varaven45]

Agreed Force. I am just wondering situationally for this season.

[oldno82]

I like the idea. It would make our defense stronger. The only thing is, I don't think it should be done in the middle of the season as a full time thing but situationally I think it is worth a try.

[papasmurfbell]

I think Webb will be FS when Ed leaves. I think he would be more of a natural at it but he had been solid at CB. It is going to make him some real money.

[vmax]

They .better not try it this week.

They need Pollard to help stop Gore and I'd put Smith on their TE...let Webb and Williams play corner.

 

For this season Webb is our best CB. I've heard experts rank him as high as a top 5 CB in the NFL this year. Keep him where he can do the most good this year.

Switching even for a few plays could F his head up. The man is intense and fundamentally very sound all around. His sure tackling skills help seal the edge against the run.

[papasmurfbell]

I am talking in time. I wouldn't change a thing this season.

[OutsideRzAcE]

Besides Smith getting toasted by Caldwell, which I am assuming wouldn't have happened with Webb or Williams, the secondary actually had tight coverage on the deep completions. Dalton was just throwing it up there and letting his guys make plays. Cary Williams gave up about 90 yards on two plays where he had great coverage. On the early play he was inches from deflecting and Simpson just made a great catch (the one where he bobbled the ball). The 2nd play was the deep bomb on the final drive..it looked like Cary just fell. I'm not sure what else you can do there except hope Cary can make a play on the ball next time.

 

For anyone that was at the game, how often did we leave our corners in single coverage? Again, aside from Caldwell burning Smith, Daulton's receivers did not appear to be open when he threw his deep passes...I'm wondering if he just chucked it up whenever he saw single coverage or if we were playing single coverage for most of the game?

[colincac]

First of all, I would like to ask if anyone knows whats up with Zibby? He's been active right? He was great last year filling in for Reed and was supposed to start at SS but Pollard replaced him. Now we have Nakamura in often on Dime packages but I really haven't seen Zibby at all? I'm asking because I think having him out there would solve this problem without having to shift Webb.

 

Other then that, I'm not worried about making a big transition. Last week Dalton was just on fire with some of the throws he made. Also, our pass rush was non-existant sans the last drive, and it really made our pass defense look bad.