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Dwight lowery agrees to terms with us


12isthenew18

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I like the Gore, AJ, Cole, Irving, and Herremans signings. I think all those guys will contribute greatly (I think Irving can win a starting spot). Langford I'm 'meh' on. I think he's a lateral move from RJF and a downgrade from Redding. Don't like the Lowery signing at all, especially if he's starting.

I'm pretty much in the same position I just think we could have had some of the younger players if we really wanted but we went the more players for cheaper contracts route and I'm not over excited about the age of all our players we got either I understand AJ and Gore but Irving is literally our only young signing but I do agree with you that he will prolly win a starting job I hope it puts DQs * on the bench
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Brees threw for one TD and two INTs, obviously was not having a career day. This is the game you're basing your opinion that Lowery is a bad safety? Wow, talk about a discrepancy. Here's what the Falcons writer said:

"Game MVP: Give this one up to the defense, specifically Dwight Lowery, who had some key tackles, nice coverage, a sack and a forced fumble in a big game."

If that's what's considered a bad player, give me more of them. Dustin, I'll respect your opinion and thanks for the research and sharing, but I'm going to reserve mine until I see him play.

 

Awful tackle attempt that allows Thomas to pick up 16 more yards (he's the one who dives for his ankles and falls over): https://vine.co/v/Olw3IQFTwla/embed

 

Bodied by Nick Toon for 21 yards: https://vine.co/v/OlwLzP5BJup/embed

 

Bodied by Graham for another 10: https://vine.co/v/OlwLjW92Ybq/embed

 

Looked off by Brees for a 16 yard throw: https://vine.co/u/1013598530457214976

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That's the problems with the colts roster....it's full of solid capable players.....and a few older players you are hoping can play another yr or two.

see this is where I see the problem too BOTT. like you said besides Davis the whole damn D is solid capable players or old guys. I know everyone is gonna say build through the draft well when you draft from 29-30 every year you don't get that big a chance to get a great playmaker in the draft. like I've said before good D players cost money and Grigs IMO seems to be a little to cheap most of the time and when he does open the wallet it's for players like Gosder Cherilus who is old with a degenerative knee.
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Awful tackle attempt that allows Thomas to pick up 16 more yards (he's the one who dives for his ankles and falls over): https://vine.co/v/Olw3IQFTwla/embed

 

Bodied by Nick Toon for 21 yards: https://vine.co/v/OlwLzP5BJup/embed

 

Bodied by Graham for another 10: https://vine.co/v/OlwLjW92Ybq/embed

 

Looked off by Brees for a 16 yard throw: https://vine.co/u/1013598530457214976

 

lmao, welp, I'm convinced.

 

#1) He avoided a guard and tried to jump back inside for the tackle but couldn't get there. Not an awful tackle attempt at all, a good attempt but an unsuccessful one. That would have been a fantastic play if he made it.

 

#2) I can't see %. Looks like the LBs was out of position and didn't have proper depth. Is "Bodied" by Nick Toon a new men's cologne? Sounds nice.

 

#3) Perfect coverage. Perfect throw.

 

#4) Looks like his guy caught a ball. Terrible.

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I am far, far more confident than most on what can be expected from Dewey McDonald. If you look at film on him, he is a beast. I realize that he was up against FCS competition, but he certainly met the eye test, for me at least. Also, from what little I've seen of him as a Colt, he lays down the wood. He's very physical and instinctual. He really deserves a chance IMHO>

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Wasn't an awful game, but man, he left a lot of plays on the field.

Okay, that's your opinion. Your examples still showed a decent player who got bested on a couple plays.

The Falcons writer said he was MVP of that game. Yet, the Falcons chose not to re-sign him.

As I said, I don't think anyone thinks he'll be all pro (no one thought Adams would be a pro bowler either).

All in all, he looks like a decent pick up. Time will tell.

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Awful tackle attempt that allows Thomas to pick up 16 more yards (he's the one who dives for his ankles and falls over): https://vine.co/v/Olw3IQFTwla/embed

Bodied by Nick Toon for 21 yards: https://vine.co/v/OlwLzP5BJup/embed

Bodied by Graham for another 10: https://vine.co/v/OlwLjW92Ybq/embed

Looked off by Brees for a 16 yard throw: https://vine.co/u/1013598530457214976

I can't see vines on my phone, but 63 yards is awful for a safety...

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I can't see vines on my phone, but 63 yards is awful for a safety...

 

He gave up a total of 87 according to PFF (i had 86, but a few of those weren't his fault or were short gains like a rb swing pass for 4 yards) in that game. Brown gave up like 90 yards all season lol

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ill have to take your word for that and from that stand point it makes sence...even if he just comes in for TE coverage, we do face Thomas twice this year, most likely Gronk twice... still think we take a S early rounds to play as an every down[/quote

] Thomas sucks manning set him up to seem great his route running is trash and is Casper in big games

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He gave up over 600 yards in coverage last season.

 

For comparison

 

Adams gave up 298

Landry gave up 120

Brown gave up 90. 

 

For a total of 508!

 

The Falcons gave up the most passing yards in the NFL -- Lowery started 15 games allowed 600 yards out of 4,478 yards (~13.4%)  -- the Colts safeties you mentioned allowed 508 yards out of 3,669 total yards or 13.8% (Brown started 8 games, Landry started 6 games -- I forget who started the other 2 -- was it Colt Anderson??).  I don't pay for PFF so I can't see all the Yards Per Cover Snap stats -- but you mention Lowery was at 1.1 YPCS.  I can see for free the top 15 DBs and the number 15 was at 1.03 YPCS.  I really don't think 0.07 yards is a very significant difference.  To Lowery's credit, the Falcons had probably the worst pass rush in the league and unarguably the worst pass defense in the league -- he had very little help on that roster.  Landry was exposed in coverage quite regularly when he was forced to play in coverage, which is probably why the coaches didn't use him to be our cover safety.  I am not saying I'm a huge fan of this signing, but there are a lot of factors that can influence one particular statistic and Lowery should get some benefit due to the fact his supporting cast was so poor.  I also think it is unfair to compare him to Landry as Landry did not start 10 games and was used in a different role than Lowery.

 

Oh god he's expected to start. 

 

The offseason is not over.  The news articles say we found a 'potential starter', not we found a 'starter'.  Lowery has been a starter the majority of his career (when healthy), so it is pretty logical to think he can 'potentially' start for us.  However, I don't think there is any need to panic at this point -- we have a better supporting cast than ATL did on defense so if he does start, he should improve by default.  That said, the starter at that position will be the best player we have to start -- at this point, I think it is too early to assume we are not going to put someone else on the roster to challenge that spot.

 

A.) Sign one of the 5 or so better safties on the market

 

B.) Wait until the draft

 

c.) Just roll with Dewey. 

http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2015S.php https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/02/28/2015-top-free-agents-safeties/

 

On Walter Football, they ranked Lowery as the 9th best FA safety.  Mike Adams was 8th and every other safety from 1-7 has either signed with another team or has been offered a tender by their 2014 team.   On Pro Football Focus they rank Lowery as the 7th best FA safety and every other safety above him has signed with another team (or is Mike Adams) besides Dawan Landry.  This falsifies option A on your list  -- there simply are not 5 FA safeties available who are better than Lowery.

The draft has not come yet -- there is a chance we draft a safety.  However, as you should know, draft picks don't always work out and are definitely not a guaranteed thing so it is good to have a veteran present on our roster in case some other team drafts the safeties that Grigs has high on our board before they get to us or if we draft a safety and his college success doesn't transfer to the NFL  If nothing else, assuming we draft a safety, Lowery will provide veteran presence and be given a shot to compete in camp.

Dewey has not proven he can be a starting safety in the NFL.  He was good on STs last year, and I think he has potential to be a safety in the NFL, but he has yet to prove he is at that level.  Dewey should be given a fair shot to compete for a starting safety spot, but has done nothing to show he is proven and will be our best option.  Again, if nothing else, Lowery is going to help camp competition, but it isn't like he has already been handed a starting spot.

 

I am glad you are not our GM.

 

Here's what Grigson has done regarding the safety position since getting here:

 

1. Sign Zibikowski - bad signing

2. Sign Landry - bad signing

3. Let Bethea leave -  although he did not have great cover skills, was our best safety. (I'm okay with this knowing what SF gave for him).

4. Sign Adams- good signing

5. Through the draft he added Dewey McDonald. 

 

Then he signs Winston Guy and now Dwight Lowery. Both played for the God-awful Jaguars and were let go.....from the Jaguars!

 

Colts fans seam obsessed with being like the Patriots (the Pagano thread) while Grigson is trying to make us more like the Jaguars. (sarcasm)

 

Do you remember how bad our defense was when Grigs inherited it?  It wasn't that long ago.  Do you remember we played in a totally different scheme before Grigs and Pagano took over?

  The players we had in that scheme (for the most part) did not fit our plan/scheme moving forward.  It is impossible to have a star at every position in the salary cap era.  Our starting 2014 lineup on defense did not have a single player from the team that Grigs inherited -- he is still in the process of completely rebuilding this team.  Zbikowski was not a bad signing -- he was not great for us, but he was cheap and we simply needed to have a body there as we had other areas on our team (offense and defense) which were higher priority to address.  Landry did not pan out, but he was an all-star prior to us signing him -- I'm not so sure I'd go as far as to say he was a 'bad signing' as much as a signing that just simply didn't pan out -- we had a hole at safety that offseason and based on his performance prior to coming to Indy, he was the best available FA at the spot.  Bethea did not seem to be a good fit in our system, so we got something in return for him -- again, not a bad move.  Adams so far has been a good signing.  Dewey is still an uncertainty, but we had more glaring needs than safety in that draft and if he pans out as an undrafted FA that is great -- if he doesn't, he was undrafted, not a big loss.  Lowery was actually quite good for the Jaguars prior to getting injured.  I don't think that Grigs is looking for Lowery (or Guy) to be our long term solution, but we need depth and improvement at the position.  If Lowery wins the starting job, he will have earned it and if we choose not to draft someone and we struggle at safety, then that becomes a need for next offseason... Guy, IMO, is a camp body that has a shot to make the team as a backup and STer, he was cheap and we need bodies there so I wouldn't say that was a bad signing either.  As far as being cut from Jacksonville goes, let's not forget we cut Marcus Burley and he went on to be signed and contribute for Seattle who had a better defensive backfield than us last year.  We still have glaring issues on OL and we could use improvement at ILB and DL.  I hope we are not done address the safety position in the draft, but we have needs in other areas so I won't be too disappointed if we go a different route and fix other problems on our team. 

 

To be fair to Grigson -- we had major holes everywhere on our team (except punter, kicker, left tackle, Reggie Wayne and Mathis) when Grigson took over.  We were so terrible.  Safety was an area where we weren't strong but we had more holes elsewhere, like quarterback, corner back, OL, DL, WR depth, TE, linebacker.  In that sense, let's not forget Grigs has gotten us Andrew Luck, Vontae Davis, TY Hilton, Coby Fleener, Dwayne Allen, and many others who have helped this team go from 2-14 to 3 straight playoff appearances.

 

No....Bethea won a Super Bowl while he was here.

 

Zibikowski and Landry sucked.

 

Bethea was not a fit for our new system and he looked like he lost a step the year he was here in Pagano's system.  We were the worst team in the league when Grigson took over, Zbikowski was better than what we had.  Landry was a pro-bowler before we signed him, he didn't pan out but he was the best available FA safety when Grigson signed him and I don't think it is Grigson's fault that Landry regressed pretty significantly when he joined our team, all signs pointed to him being a young pro-bowl player.

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The Falcons gave up the most passing yards in the NFL -- Lowery started 15 games allowed 600 yards out of 4,478 yards (~13.4%)  -- the Colts safeties you mentioned allowed 508 yards out of 3,669 total yards or 13.8% (Brown started 8 games, Landry started 6 games -- I forget who started the other 2 -- was it Colt Anderson??).  I don't pay for PFF so I can't see all the Yards Per Cover Snap stats -- but you mention Lowery was at 1.1 YPCS.  I can see for free the top 15 DBs and the number 15 was at 1.03 YPCS.  I really don't think 0.07 yards is a very significant difference.  To Lowery's credit, the Falcons had probably the worst pass rush in the league and unarguably the worst pass defense in the league -- he had very little help on that roster.  Landry was exposed in coverage quite regularly when he was forced to play in coverage, which is probably why the coaches didn't use him to be our cover safety.  I am not saying I'm a huge fan of this signing, but there are a lot of factors that can influence one particular statistic and Lowery should get some benefit due to the fact his supporting cast was so poor.  I also think it is unfair to compare him to Landry as Landry did not start 10 games and was used in a different role than Lowery.

 

I'm not sure what you're looking at. The 15th best safety allowed .33 yards per coverage snap. 

 

 

http://walterfootbal...gents2015S.php https://www.profootb...gents-safeties/

 

On Walter Football, they ranked Lowery as the 9th best FA safety.  Mike Adams was 8th and every other safety from 1-7 has either signed with another team or has been offered a tender by their 2014 team.   On Pro Football Focus they rank Lowery as the 7th best FA safety and every other safety above him has signed with another team (or is Mike Adams) besides Dawan Landry.  This falsifies option A on your list  -- there simply are not 5 FA safeties available who are better than Lowery.

The draft has not come yet -- there is a chance we draft a safety.  However, as you should know, draft picks don't always work out and are definitely not a guaranteed thing so it is good to have a veteran present on our roster in case some other team drafts the safeties that Grigs has high on our board before they get to us or if we draft a safety and his college success doesn't transfer to the NFL  If nothing else, assuming we draft a safety, Lowery will provide veteran presence and be given a shot to compete in camp.

Dewey has not proven he can be a starting safety in the NFL.  He was good on STs last year, and I think he has potential to be a safety in the NFL, but he has yet to prove he is at that level.  Dewey should be given a fair shot to compete for a starting safety spot, but has done nothing to show he is proven and will be our best option.  Again, if nothing else, Lowery is going to help camp competition, but it isn't like he has already been handed a starting spot.

 

 

 

a. walterfootball is terrible 

 

b. PFF had Lowery as the 20th best safety in free agency : https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/12/25/2015-free-agents-safeties

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I'm not sure what you're looking at. The 15th best safety allowed .33 yards per coverage snap. 

 

 

 

a. walterfootball is terrible 

 

b. PFF had Lowery as the 20th best safety in free agency : https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/12/25/2015-free-agents-safeties

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/02/28/2015-top-free-agents-safeties/  -- PFF is smart enough to know their stats are not the best and their own analysts rank him as 7th best FA safety.

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/02/13/sig-stats-ypcs-cornerbacks/--  my apologies, I was looking at cornerbacks and don't have access to look at safeties.  I am not really sure how they figure out that stat, but it seems odd to me that 15 safeties have 0.33 ypcs when the best CB is at 0.57 ypcs. 

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Bethea was not a fit for our new system and he looked like he lost a step the year he was here in Pagano's system.  We were the worst team in the league when Grigson took over, Zbikowski was better than what we had.  Landry was a pro-bowler before we signed him, he didn't pan out but he was the best available FA safety when Grigson signed him and I don't think it is Grigson's fault that Landry regressed pretty significantly when he joined our team, all signs pointed to him being a young pro-bowl player.

 

 

Thanks for your post. I appreciate the discussion. Respectfully, I would like to address some of the points that you have raised.

 

Yes, I am aware of the situation that Grigson walked into, and I am a Grigson supporter. With that said, I feel it's completely alright to provide criticism for some of the moves that he's made. I will be the first to say that he's had more hits than misses. I have simply stated my opinion on his misses -- Zibikowski and Landry. Zibikowski was brought in because of his ties to Pagano while with Baltimore and was not a good signing. Landry was known as a hitter rather than a good cover safety. He did neither while with the Colts and again was not a good signing, IMO.

 

As for Bethea, I respectfully disagree that he was not a fit, evidenced by the Colts offering him a contract to stay. The Forty-Niners offered a larger contract based on his playing ability. He went on to have a great year for them. He had plenty left to contribute for the Colts. I'm fine with him leaving, I just took exception to a poster saying that he sucked.

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Bethea was not a fit for our new system and he looked like he lost a step the year he was here in Pagano's system.  We were the worst team in the league when Grigson took over, Zbikowski was better than what we had.  Landry was a pro-bowler before we signed him, he didn't pan out but he was the best available FA safety when Grigson signed him and I don't think it is Grigson's fault that Landry regressed pretty significantly when he joined our team, all signs pointed to him being a young pro-bowl player.

 

 

Thanks for your post. I appreciate the discussion. Respectfully, I would like to address some of the points that you have raised.

 

Yes, I am aware of the situation that Grigson walked into, and I am a Grigson supporter. With that said, I feel it's completely alright to provide criticism for some of the moves that he's made. I will be the first to say that he's had more hits than misses. I have simply stated my opinion on his misses -- Zibikowski and Landry. Zibikowski was brought in because of his ties to Pagano while with Baltimore and was not a good signing. Landry was known as a hitter rather than a good cover safety. He did neither while with the Colts and again was not a good signing, IMO.

 

As for Bethea, I respectfully disagree that he was not a fit, evidenced by the Colts offering him a contract to stay. The Forty-Niners offered a larger contract based on his playing ability. He went on to have a great year for them. He had plenty left to contribute for the Colts. I'm fine with him leaving, I just took exception to a poster saying that he sucked.

 

Zbikowski was not good.  I don't think he was brought in to be our long term solution.  He was familiar with our system and he was better than what we had at the time (which is not saying much).  There was simply no way to put a star in every spot on our team which was lacking all over the board.  We needed to address the QB position and did so with Luck.  Knowing we were going to be starting a rookie QB, I think Grigson wanted to give him weapons, which he addressed with Fleener, Allen and TY.  I am not saying Zbikowski was a good signing, all I am saying is our team was so bad and it is not possible with a salary cap to have stars at every position and the way Grigs structured our rebuild was to start with the QB and build around him.  Since Zbikowski was not good for us, we had to address the safety spot again and did so with Landry.  Landry did not pan out, as we all know, but prior to being signed by us he was playing at a high level (he was a probowler in 2012).  Again, I am not saying Landry was good for us, because he was not.  However, I am hesitant to say it was a 'bad signing' because it was an area we needed to address and Landry was a very high-rated safety (as evidenced by his probowl appearance the year before).  Landry battled through injuries in year 1 (he looked good prior to his injury) and with a plethora of issues in year 2.  Unfortunately he did not work out for us, but I don't think there was any way of knowing that Landry was going to go from a young probowler to what he became for us, so I don't think it is fair to call it a 'bad signing' -- it was a signing that didn't work out, but I think everyone was pretty darn happy with Grigson when he signed that deal.

 

As for Bethea, I don't think he sucked, he just looked to be a step slower and not doing as well in the new system as he had done in the old system.  Part of this may have been due to the fact that he was playing with a pretty poor supporting cast (which may be why he looked better with the 9ers).  That said, Grigs was trying to build a younger team and he obviously didn't feel like Bethea was worth what he was asking for to be a part of our future. 

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hmmm we shall see. I hope he doesn't end up starting. That's all I can say. 

I hope we at least address the position in the draft and let the best man win depending how training camp goes.  Playing alongside Mike Adams and Vontae and with a better pass rush should automatically make Lowery better than he was in ATL, but I am unconvinced he is our long term answer at this position.

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This could be for depth and there could be 1) a safety in the draft 2) a camp battle between Dewey and Lowery 3) both 1 and 2

 

Also, players sometimes have different chemistry with other teams.  For example, Tim Jennings did nothing for us in Indy but has done well in Chicago.  Maybe the same type of scenario can be true with Lowery in Indy.

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Depth signing at S going into the draft...

I don't buy the report that he is expected to start. If Dewey or a rookie beat him out in TC, they will start over him.

He is decent against the run. I kind of agree with Dustin about his coverage, but with the caveat that he actually looks decent at short range against TEs (to me) and and slot guys. His major issue is getting burnt deep by anybody with speed. JMO, though, I'm not anyone's idea of a talent evaluator.

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Whoopty doo, a SB he had nothing to do with

Sanders outshines him

 

:scratch::thmdown:

 

06  Antoine Bethea   played in 14 games was  our third best defender  only Cato June & Gary Brackett had more tackles in & he was a 07 Probowler for the Colts .

 

He was a part of the worst defense to ever win a Superbowl we had Sanders in 4 games that season . In a foot note where are they now .

 

Antoine Bethea was a 2014 Probowler in San Fran  was he not ?  I'd say Bethea 's shine is still shining .

 

I understand your opinion has no basis in fact as I'm sure you do there is nothing wrong in being wrong . :thmup:  Unless you chose to repeat it .

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I hope we at least address the position in the draft and let the best man win depending how training camp goes.  Playing alongside Mike Adams and Vontae and with a better pass rush should automatically make Lowery better than he was in ATL, but I am unconvinced he is our long term answer at this position.

Excellent posts from both you and Dustin. We won't know anything until we see him in our system, but I've learned a lot about him thanks to this thread.

Did I miss it or did they give out his contract details?

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BETHEA SUCKED HERE! LET IT GO

 

You're certainly not afraid to be badly wrong here over and over and over again...   not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

 

The truth is the Colts planned to re-sign Bethea but were surprised that SF bid so much higher....   they wanted Bethea back but not at any price......

 

I'm not telling some state secret here....   it was all pretty public....   and Bethea went on to have a good first year with SF.  

 

But keep banging that BETHEA SUCKED drum....    no one is listening to you,  but keep banging it....

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:scratch::thmdown:

06 Antoine Bethea played in 14 games was our third best defender only Cato June & Gary Brackett had more tackles in & he was a 07 Probowler for the Colts .

He was a part of the worst defense to ever win a Superbowl we had Sanders in 4 games that season . In a foot note where are they now .

Antoine Bethea was a 2014 Probowler in San Fran was he not ? I'd say Bethea 's shine is still shining .

I understand your opinion has no basis in fact as I'm sure you do there is nothing wrong in being wrong . :thmup: Unless you chose to repeat it .

And again you're following suit bringing up his SF time. He was BOO BOO in his last year here getting burnt and all. He stunk

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You're certainly not afraid to be badly wrong here over and over and over again... not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

The truth is the Colts planned to re-sign Bethea but were surprised that SF bid so much higher.... they wanted Bethea back but not at any price......

I'm telling some state secret here.... it was all pretty public.... and Bethea went on to have a good first year with SF.

But keep banging that BETHEA SUCKED drum.... no one is listening to you, but keep banging it....

No one is listening yet there were numerous threads and posters saying Bethea needs to go and was getting burnt. But okay, moving on. I'll beat the drum elsewhere

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Depth signing at S going into the draft...

I don't buy the report that he is expected to start. If Dewey or a rookie beat him out in TC, they will start over him.

He is decent against the run. I kind of agree with Dustin about his coverage, but with the caveat that he actually looks decent at short range against TEs (to me) and and slot guys. His major issue is getting burnt deep by anybody with speed. JMO, though, I'm not anyone's idea of a talent evaluator.

Agreed and We will not need to reach for a safety in the draft
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No one is listening yet there were numerous threads and posters saying Bethea needs to go and was getting burnt. But okay, moving on. I'll beat the drum elsewhere

 

Hey, if you want to be the leader of the uninformed crowd,  be my guest!    There's no shortage of those folks here....

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,  that doesn't make every opinion a good one.

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And again you're following suit bringing up his SF time. He was BOO BOO in his last year here getting burnt and all. He stunk

I think your not fully understanding the entirety of Betheas situation before we even drafted him.....He was a 6th round pick...How many 6th round picks make a team let alone start from day 1 and only miss 5 games in his career while also putting up 18 picks? I also don't think you understand that Bethea came from a Cover 2 scheme at Howard and played in it his whole career up til 2012...So he was learning a new defense.

Was he Ed Reed? Not even close, Was he very good? Meh he had couple really good years for us...He was not special or great...But he was a 6th round pick...He had to fight just to stay on the roster and truth be told probably could have been replaced at some point over the years a time or two...How many 6th round picks get a chance at ANY position can you name that have gone on to be great players in the NFL though...Tom Brady......Who else?

I wished like hell we got more out of Bethea but he did alright

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As long as we draft a safety in the first 3 rounds, and nobody gets hurt, Lowery's going to end being a backup. All of the following 2nd/3rd round type guys would be better options than him. Tartt, Rowe, Jones, Smith, Harris, Prewitt, Amos, Randle, and even Holliman. And maybe even Drummond, Celiscar, Geathers, or Sample. We can get one of those guys no doubt. I'm hoping for one of Tartt or Jones. Lowery just straight up sucks.

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    • Bout to be known the bottom line on NFL Network feed (3) times.     CB: Hart Draine Brownlee    RB: Estime Davis Tracy   LB: Trotter Ulofoshio Jacobs    WR: Rice Washington    DL: Wingo
    • Dane Brugler's scouting report on Tanor Bortolini from his draft guide:   4. TANOR BORTOLINI | Wisconsin 6042 | 303 lbs. | 4JR Kewaunee, Wis. (Kewaunee) 6/18/2002 (age 21.85) #63   BACKGROUND: Tanor “Bort” Bortolini, the oldest of three children (two boys, one girl), grew up in the small town of Kewaunee (30 miles east of Green Bay on the shores of Lake Michigan). He grew up hunting, fishing and camping and was introduced to multiple sports throughout childhood, starting football at the pee-wee level (grew up a Green Bay Packers fan). Bortolini attended Kewaunee High School and started at left tackle on varsity as a freshman. He added defensive tackle responsibilities as a sophomore and played both ways his final three seasons. As a junior, Bortolini posted 69 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks and two forced fumbles, including a fumble return for a 20-yard touchdown. He was named the conference’s Player of the Year on both the offensive and defensive lines and helped Kewaunee to an 11-1 record and conference title (only loss came in the playoff quarterfinals).   As a senior, Bortolini earned first team All-State honors at left tackle (also played three games at center) and conference Defensive Player of the Year with 76 tackles and 16.0 tackles for loss. He also started on the basketball team and averaged 13.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game as a se nior. Bortolini joined the track team as a sophomore (ran the 100 meters his first year) and took fourth in the shot put (46 feet, 3 inches) at the Division II state track meet as a junior.   A three-star recruit, Bortolini was the No. 64 offensive guard in the 2020 class and the No. 8 recruit in Wisconsin. Prior to his junior year of high school, he attended a recruiting camp at Wisconsin in June 2018, but at just 240 pounds was told by the coaches that he needed to add at least 20 pounds to be taken seriously as a Division I recruit. With a new diet and workout regiment, Bortolini reworked his body and received his first FCS offer (North Dakota) in January 2019. His first FBS offer arrived a month after that, from Syracuse, followed by several other FCS offers, like North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Illinois State. Bartolini grew up dreaming of playing for his home-state Badgers, but he was looking elsewhere because Wisconsin already had four offensive line commits in the 2020 class. However, the Wisconsin coaches were pleasantly surprised when Bortolini had bulked up to 275 pounds when they visited him in May 2019 and extended him an offer. Bortolini added offers from Iowa and Miami, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to stay home and play in Madison. He was the No. 11 recruit in former head coach Paul Chryst’s 2020 class. Bortolini elected to skip his final season of eligibility and enter the 2024 NFL Draft. He opted out of the 2023 bowl game and accepted his invitation to the 2024 Senior Bowl.   STRENGTHS: Above-average burst and lateral quickness to rapidly reach his landmarks and position himself … fluid athlete in space with smooth redirect skills to access various outside zone blocks, pulls and screens … throws his large hands tight into the chest of gap rushers to clamp and drive them wide … able to refit and battle, keeping defenders from gaining the upper hand … competitive finisher who doesn’t take his foot off the pedal … smoothly picks up stunting games and A-gap blitzes … highly intelligent, on and off the field (graduated from high school with a 3.98 GPA and 30 ACT; recruited by Harvard and Yale) … comfortable communicating calls at the line (Bortolini: “I like being in charge and making the final call.”) … offers outstanding position flexibility — practiced at all five offensive line spots and logged starts at five different positions; his knowledge of every position’s assignment on each play makes him a better center … career snaps broken up by position: center (53.6 percent), left guard (23.8 percent), right tackle (11.6 percent), right guard (9.1 percent).   WEAKNESSES: Short-armed blocker and often caught with his upper half overextended … mediocre square power and body mass and can be late establishing his anchor vs. bull rushers … guilty of hurrying his process and allowing his pads to rise, which forces himself to rec over from awkward angles … oversetting leaves him susceptible to counters … long-armed defenders are able to stack and punch off his frame, especially at the second level … suffered a partially torn meniscu s and damaged cartilage behind his right knee (Aug. 2022), requiring a minor procedure and sidelining him for the first two games of the 2022 season; missed three games in 2021 with a right knee sprain.   SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Wisconsin, Bortolini (and his Joe Tippman-inspired mullet) played center this past season in offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s multiple run scheme. After filling in at tackle, guard and center his first few seasons in Madison, he expected a return to guard in 2023, but an injury pushed him inside to center,where he anchored a Badgers’ offensive line that had the same starting five for all 12 regular-season games. Bortolini, who broke Jason Kelce’s combine record with the best three-cone (7.16 seconds) among interior linemen, might have the best combination of athleticism and smarts in this draft class. He lacks ideal length to create separation and is guilty of excessive forward lean into contact, but he will strain to finish cutoffs and eventually settle versus power rushers. Overall, Bortolini had persistent hiccups on his 2023 tape, but the guard-to-center transition is rarely immediate, and he offers encouraging upside, thanks to his fluidity, intelligence and technical skill. He projects as an eventual NFL starter with position flexibility across the interior.   GRADE: 3rd-4th Round  
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