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Chiefs just released CB KeiVarae Russell

lollygagger8

By lollygagger8,
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krunk

krunk 4,028

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Especially since Russell, a third-round pick and three-year starter out of Notre Dame, has not had the easiest transition to the NFL thus far.

 

Since training camp started, the 5-foot-11, 192-pounder has watched a player at the same position taken three rounds later than he was — Georgia Tech rookie D.J. White — actually start the second preseason game, while Russell himself has been relegated solely to second- and third-team duty.

He also watched the Chiefs deal for another young corner, San Francisco’s Kenneth Acker, who immediately earned reps ahead of him. Acker started the final preseason game while Russell came off the bench.

So what gives? Russell says he’s simply struggled with the Chiefs’ defensive terminology, most of which he heard and used at Notre Dame but directly conflicts with what it meant in college.

“I’m getting better, but I definitely struggled at first,” Russell said. “I still had a lot of what I learned in college in my mind ... when I’d go out to practice, the terminology I was supposed to say, I wouldn’t say it the right way or I’d put it into a different defense. It’s been tough, mentally.”

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article100292512.html

 

 

 

I'm going to take this as they have a lot of capable corners and he just couldn't get himself up to speed mentally.  Doesn't appear to be a character red flag.

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krunk

krunk 4,028

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1 minute ago, HeSoColt said:

Definitely need to kick the tires on this!!! I'd think he could stick on the active roster immediately.

Not too sure about that.  He's having trouble picking up the defensive terminology so it's a comprehension issue.  Probably would take a while to see the field other than special teams.

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BCoop

BCoop 23

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If nothing else, he adds depth to a secondary group where there is none. Throw him out on 3rd down, tell him his coverage, and let him play. I'm not too concerned with him picking up terminology. Our defense is about as vanilla as it gets right now anyway.

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krunk

krunk 4,028

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5 minutes ago, VaAllDay757 said:

Could've sworn the chiefs play more zone than man coverage

Bob Sutton is their DC.  He comes off the Rex Ryan coaching tree. He was with the Jets 2000-2012.   I'm assuming Andy Reid picked him up because that style of play is most similar to the old DC he had years ago before he died. Jim Johnson, who was known for heavy blitzing and getting after the quarterback.

Man to Man coverage.

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krunk

krunk 4,028

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7 minutes ago, VaAllDay757 said:

Could've sworn the chiefs play more zone than man coverage

Antonio Cromartie said the defense we are playing now is almost word for word the same thing he had when he was with the Jets and Rex Ryan.  Bob Sutton was on that staff.  Wasn't the DC, but Sutton has been the DC for the Jets before.

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krunk

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23 minutes ago, Tyler Geissman said:

They said it was because they wanted to keep more special team guys 

That can't be a reason to dump your 3rd round pick after the first game.  I think it has more to do with him being a bit behind in his grasp of the defense. .  Along with heavy competition from guys who did get it.  Just my take.

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COLTS449

COLTS449 117

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This is crazy. No way under no circumstances would I have released my 3rd round pick from this year. I mean. Not unless he killed somebody or something crazy. We need to jump all over this IMO. Couldn't hurt anything. Its not like he's going to cost much.

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krunk

krunk 4,028

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I think it's worth a shot IF he clears waivers.  Could turn out to be a better player than what we had with Djoun Smith.  Chiefs defense is similar to the Colts.  I still am not ruling out us picking Djoun Smith up again if we still have all these injury issues a month from now and he's still available after the 3 week waiting period.   If we could get Russell and Djoun Smith at the same time that would be pretty cool.

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chad72

chad72 6,576

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If it is man assignment, you can make it work on short notice, IMO. If there are more zone assignments, the mental aspect comes into picture more. The safeties will be the center fielders directing the new CBs, and I'd see if we can get a veteran safety that can help down the stretch more than anything else. Plus, you play more 3 safety looks to protect your woeful tackling LBs :(

 

What veteran safeties are available?

 

Is Sean Richardson (former GB safety) any good? Is Louis Delmas still available?

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GoColts8818

GoColts8818 4,348

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1 hour ago, BCoop said:

If nothing else, he adds depth to a secondary group where there is none. Throw him out on 3rd down, tell him his coverage, and let him play. I'm not too concerned with him picking up terminology. Our defense is about as vanilla as it gets right now anyway.

That's the thing due to all the injuries in the secondary there is no room for depth at the moment. If your healthy your playing.

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SDakColts

SDakColts 1

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Don't read too much into the draft position he was taken at. Many analysts had him ranked much lower with grades in the 5th-6th round. He tends to struggle with press coverage which is a red flag for us, and has sloppy technique at the LOS. Although when playing the ball he is one of the best to come out of the draft last year. He sometimes struggles to locate the ball in the air, but when he does he has great ball skills.

 

His ball skills and speed (4.43) makes him a candidate to possibly switch to safety, but his tackling would be below average for a safety. I am not completely opposed to the idea of bringing him in. Just IMO I think he needs a lot of work to get him to be productive rotational member of our secondary.

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southwest1

southwest1 2,092

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7 hours ago, COLTS449 said:

This is crazy. No way under no circumstances would I have released my 3rd round pick from this year. I mean. Not unless he killed somebody or something crazy. We need to jump all over this IMO. Couldn't hurt anything. Its not like he's going to cost much.

Why don't you tell me what you really think C449? Just joking man. I like fans that blunt. No nuance whatsoever. Just go & get Russell like right darn now. 

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lollygagger8

lollygagger8 3,301

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17 hours ago, SDakColts said:

Don't read too much into the draft position he was taken at. Many analysts had him ranked much lower with grades in the 5th-6th round. He tends to struggle with press coverage which is a red flag for us, and has sloppy technique at the LOS. Although when playing the ball he is one of the best to come out of the draft last year. He sometimes struggles to locate the ball in the air, but when he does he has great ball skills.

 

His ball skills and speed (4.43) makes him a candidate to possibly switch to safety, but his tackling would be below average for a safety. I am not completely opposed to the idea of bringing him in. Just IMO I think he needs a lot of work to get him to be productive rotational member of our secondary.

 

Where did you see him play? In college? 

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akcolt

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20 hours ago, krunk said:

That can't be a reason to dump your 3rd round pick after the first game.  I think it has more to do with him being a bit behind in his grasp of the defense. .  Along with heavy competition from guys who did get it.  Just my take.

Big Irish fan so I've seen a lot of Russell. He can stick in man coverage. The Irish played almost exclusively press man so he saw some of the best WR's in college ball. He would play the man more than the ball at times.  When he gets caught peeking great recovery speed.

 

He regularly ran in 4.3's in the fall before the injury He couldn't go at the combine and was less than 100%.when  he ran the 4.4 at pro day. He has a willingness to stick his nose in against the run and more importantly his solid tackling. The kid doesn't mind contact. He played the ball better when it was in front of him. All these factors had a lot of those in the know projecting him as a S on Sunday's. Check Mayock he had him ranked 5th as a S pre draft. P

 

I think KC over drafted him at a position they are stacked at. He had day 2 talent but coming off the suspension costing him all of 2014 then only playing 11 games in 2015 because of a broken tiba prior to the Stanford game. I thought  he'd be a steal day 3.

 

He came to South Bend as a 4 star recruit at RB averaging 7 ypc as a Sr. in high school. He moved to CB due to injuries and the usual log jam at RB started all 13 games including the BCS Championship in 2012 then all 13 in 2013. He was suspended all 2014 for academic dishonesty then played in just 11 games before the injury last year. 

 

I hope we sign the kid there is no doubt in my mind he's an eventual starter on the outside and/or in the slot at CB and he could be very good at S. 

 

I would be concerned he's not totally healthy.  A fractured tibiae, the shin bone, is not a rush back injury. I read when the injury first  happened  there was concern he may not be ready for his pro day maybe beyond. 

 

I agree Smith and Russell added to the back end could work out well not much to lose. . I'd be surprised if someone doesn't add Russell to the 53 man not sure we can stash him there. I went back and looked everyone I look to for draft info still had him day 2 after the pro day.  The consensus was which I agree with: 

In short, Russell has a fair number of solid traits that lead me to believe he can contribute as a corner for the Chiefs. He presses well, can turn and run, shows good mirroring in most situations, has decent hips / quickness, and is a capable tackler. There's a lot to like about him as a player.

 

I did like the work out of Brandon Wegher he had a great freshman showing in Iowa then disappeared. The Sokoliv kid his numbers were off the chart freak athlete Seattle tried making him a G/C. Hawks drafted 4 OL in 6 rounds this year. He seems like a Grig's project 300lbs 4.8 40'. Then Luke Rhodes small school ILB that can cover. I liked him predraft. 

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krunk

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28 minutes ago, akcolt said:

Big Irish fan so I've seen a lot of Russell. He can stick in man coverage. The Irish played almost exclusively press man so he saw some of the best WR's in college ball. He would play the man more than the ball at times.  When he gets caught peeking great recovery speed.

 

He regularly ran in 4.3's in the fall before the injury He couldn't go at the combine and was less than 100%.when  he ran the 4.4 at pro day. He has a willingness to stick his nose in against the run and more importantly his solid tackling. The kid doesn't mind contact. He played the ball better when it was in front of him. All these factors had a lot of those in the know projecting him as a S on Sunday's. Check Mayock he had him ranked 5th as a S pre draft. P

 

I think KC over drafted him at a position they are stacked at. He had day 2 talent but coming off the suspension costing him all of 2014 then only playing 11 games in 2015 because of a broken tiba prior to the Stanford game. I thought  he'd be a steal day 3.

 

He came to South Bend as a 4 star recruit at RB averaging 7 ypc as a Sr. in high school. He moved to CB due to injuries and the usual log jam at RB started all 13 games including the BCS Championship in 2012 then all 13 in 2013. He was suspended all 2014 for academic dishonesty then played in just 11 games before the injury last year. 

 

I hope we sign the kid there is no doubt in my mind he's an eventual starter on the outside and/or in the slot at CB and he could be very good at S. 

 

I would be concerned he's not totally healthy.  A fractured tibiae, the shin bone, is not a rush back injury. I read when the injury first  happened  there was concern he may not be ready for his pro day maybe beyond. 

 

I agree Smith and Russell added to the back end could work out well not much to lose. . I'd be surprised if someone doesn't add Russell to the 53 man not sure we can stash him there. I went back and looked everyone I look to for draft info still had him day 2 after the pro day.  The consensus was which I agree with: 

In short, Russell has a fair number of solid traits that lead me to believe he can contribute as a corner for the Chiefs. He presses well, can turn and run, shows good mirroring in most situations, has decent hips / quickness, and is a capable tackler. There's a lot to like about him as a player.

 

I did like the work out of Brandon Wegher he had a great freshman showing in Iowa then disappeared. The Sokoliv kid his numbers were off the chart freak athlete Seattle tried making him a G/C. Hawks drafted 4 OL in 6 rounds this year. He seems like a Grig's project 300lbs 4.8 40'. Then Luke Rhodes small school ILB that can cover. I liked him predraft. 

When will we know if he clears waivers or if there was a waiver claim?  Shouldn't that be today?

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SDakColts

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6 hours ago, lollygagger8 said:

 

Where did you see him play? In college? 

Yep several times in college, and two preseason games with KC. From his good games vs. USC and Texas to his poor games. What I referred to in my previous post is I believe he was overdrafted along with several other analysts. IMO I seen him as a late 4th to early 5th round prospect. While watching him in KC he struggled with a lot of the same stuff that he did in college. Plus at times he looked lost out on the field. To be honest KCs other rookie corner D.J. White looked much better. In the end KC had an influx of talented corners and one had to go. Russell was the least developed at the moment, so he was the guy to go. That is not to say that Russell doesn't have a higher ceiling I was just saying don't expect consistent solid starting snaps from Russell till he has a chance to develop in the league.

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akcolt

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5 hours ago, SDakColts said:

That means we weren't interested, and it also means that 23 other teams also passed on him before falling to the Bengals waiver claim position.

He did not clear Cinny put him on their 53.man roster I knew we could not do that. We have too many injuries to try to stash a guy on the 53 man. I think if he cleared waivers we would have most definitely put him on the PS if we had a chance. The only way that was going to happen was if he was still dealing with the injury even then I think someone would have grabbed him. We should look at the OL Cinny dropped from their 53 man. 

 

When healthy there was no doubt KeiVarae had what you look for in a CB. I don't remtember him having as many lapse as you do at ND. He did not fare as well in zone and at times looked lost but when we went press he was solid. The only knock is he would play the man instead of the ball at times. That cost him some picks.  

 

He always showed up for big games. It was games vs Pitt and the likes that would infuriate me but that was the team not just Russell He had an up and down year but was up when the lights were bright. I thought he should have come back but how do you do that if they are projecting you as a day 2 pick after watching Jaylon's knee explode? 

 

That D should have beat Clemson in Happy Valley. We held them to what 90 passing yards? Kizer put up 315 on their hyped secondary They had one scoring drive over 40 yards. The Prosise fumble was huge but even with all that if we had not gone for 2 early just took the PAT's we go to OT.

 

The  D was tough when Cole Luke was on the other side and we got up into the WR's. The injuries finally did us in then Jaylon in the bowl game just makes you sick. That was the best Irish team in years before the injury bug bit better than the 2012 team that played for the title. 

 

We went into the game vs Stanford with 12 players on D alone that were supposed to start or make major contributions miss all or significant parts of the season add that to the starting QB and RB the first 2 weeks. That's a lot of injuries. Sorry Irish rant over. 

 

 

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SDakColts

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25 minutes ago, akcolt said:

He did not clear Cinny put him on their 53.man roster I knew we could not do that. We have too many injuries to try to stash a guy on the 53 man. I think if he cleared waivers we would have most definitely put him on the PS if we had a chance. The only way that was going to happen was if he was still dealing with the injury even then I think someone would have grabbed him. We should look at the OL Cinny dropped from their 53 man.

 

That is what most of my posts earlier on was mostly based on. Like you said we have too many injuries to pick up a project DB to groom him into an eventual starter/rotational player. I have no doubts on why you believe that Russell could have turned into a great press corner as that is what he excelled in at ND.

 

I just believe that after watching him both at ND, and with the Chiefs that he would need some development in key areas in order to produce consistent quality snaps. Plus with all of our injuries I see that the staff plays a lot of zone defense to try to cover up our injuries in the secondary. I don't think putting Russell out in zone coverages would be a good idea until he is coached up more in that aspect.

 

Overall if we were healthier I believe Grigs would be more interested in all of these talented players that are being cut early on in the season. If we were healthy and could stash Russell for development I would have been all for it, but to throw him out in the fire over a more experienced proven NFL player I don't think would have been a good idea.

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