Malik hooker's first int

[aaron11]

27 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

No because the person in front of him wasn't significantly better. Soon as he was healthy, which was awhile ago, he should have been the starter.

butler was pretty good at safety last year, maybe he fell off since then

 

it can be hard to tell if they are not playing real games

 

hooker did play last week too, and he had 4 tackles 

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, krunk said:

I don't recall seeing him much.  Don't think he got as much opportunity in this one.

Saw him a time or two.  Think he's going to show more as we go along.   You can see

flashes but I think he's still getting some things figured out.   

That makes sense as he wasn't really on the stat sheet. At least John Simon is playing out of his mind right now. At this point, we just have to get some hits. As long as Basham shows some progress, then he's on track for a 3rd rounder. He's not going to get a ton of playing time right now, and I can understand that. Right now, it's about improving the defense, and the secondary is coming through in this draft.

[Yoshinator]

3 minutes ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

He played well in general.  I believe the long TD that the Cardinals got, Fairley got caught looking and Hooker was out that snap?  I could be wrong though.  I really hope Geathers is able to come back, can you imagine Geathers and Hooker out there together?  Both are big safeties too.  They'd be an awesome tandem. 

It would make sense that Hooker was out that snap, I was watching on gametracker, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt based on how he's played so far. Geathers and Hooker would crush souls at S. That'd be a lot of fun to watch!

[PeterBowman]

plus on that long td play...Wilson was in perfect position...it was just a perfectly placed ball and catch....not much you can do there sometimes.

[krunk]

1 minute ago, Jared Cisneros said:

That makes sense as he wasn't really on the stat sheet. At least John Simon is playing out of his mind right now. At this point, we just have to get some hits. As long as Basham shows some progress, then he's on track for a 3rd rounder. He's not going to get a ton of playing time right now, and I can understand that. Right now, it's about improving the defense, and the secondary is coming through in this draft.

I think the secondary will solidify as we play more games.  Guys need to get settled in to their roles, get the communication down and begin trusting one another.  Right now theres guys passing receivers off to help that they think is there only to find out it's not there.  Not knowing which receiver to take when rub routes are being ran.   Stuff like that is happening right now and I think you get less of that when people are used to playing together and seeing different situations.

[Yoshinator]

2 minutes ago, PeterBowman said:

plus on that long td play...Wilson was in perfect position...it was just a perfectly placed ball and catch....not much you can do there sometimes.

Wilson had a good game from what I heard and seen in the first game and preseason. I think he's going to be a star. He really hasn't made any bad mistakes yet from what I've seen.

[krunk]

5 minutes ago, PeterBowman said:

plus on that long td play...Wilson was in perfect position...it was just a perfectly placed ball and catch....not much you can do there sometimes.

I could be wrong but I sort of think Farley was a little too far underneath on that throw. I think if he stays deeper than the deepest on that one maybe we break that one up.

[Valpo2004]

Looking at the video it looks like Hooker was able to use his range and get to a ball that Carson Palmer obviously thought he wasn't going to be able to get to.  

 

Good to see him get that first INT.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

Hooker, Wilson and Hairston all played pretty well.  The only thing that scared me about Hooker was how he made a few tackles out-of-bounds.  Instead of using the sideline and just pushing the runner out, he went low and turned his head so that the back of his head/neck/shoulders made the tackle on the runners' legs.

 

That's dangerous.  If he keeps doing that, he's going to catch a knee in the wrong spot and get concussed.  If he can tackle with his face and arms, he's going to be a really good all-around safety.

 

The combo of Hooker/Geathers and Davis/Wilson with Butler/Hairston as nickel-backs is lookin like a pretty good secondary. 

[Scott Pennock]

The biggest issue I saw were the rub/pick routes....I saw the combo of Hairston and Wilson cover the same guy once and Kenny Walker got picked off of his man twice (once each with Wilson/Hairston). Those are rookie level mistakes and lack of communication that can be easily corrected! Additionally, kudos to J.J. Nelson on the one handed TD in between Wilson and Farley - sometimes you just have to tip your cap. 

[throwing BBZ]

14 hours ago, twfish said:

Wilson also surprised the back out of me from what I saw. Even the TD he had scored on him He was draped all over the WR and was in a perfect spot to break up just a bigger kudos the the WR

 

   Heck yes. Wilson got beat on that break and closed back up. Great to see that speed. That pass fell into a 1' hole.
    Brilliant pass. Pray for good health cause we got something in those two. And maybe Hairston! 
    Got my hopes up for #59 Jerimiah George. Supposed to be slow, but looked quick around the line of scrimmage.
   Other than Bostic we had a pretty scrappy front 7. 

[SaturdayAllDay]

9 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

 

On first watch, I actually thought Melvin played well yesterday, he seemed to be on top of a few breakups and did well with Fitz on the fade corner where they missed their chance to get a TD.

 

Agree the secondary looks like it has a lot of upside, but still a few plays with poor coverage, specifically in the middle of the field.  Taking those lessons and learning from them in the right way could make this a very good unit in the years to come.

 

8 hours ago, VaAllDay757 said:

Melvin actually played well yesterday he just needs to be consistent more

I agree that Melvin played better than usual yesterday. But im not convinced that one good game means he will have continued success. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I think he is a fine 4th cb, but id like to think our young guys have the potential to be more. Might as well find out while we are going through a rough patch anyway. 

[Coffeedrinker]

7 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Yep, people tell me I'm crazy when i said  that Pagano should of thrown Hooker into a trial by fire, he does week 2, and in his first game he does well and has an INT. Just typical bad coaching that needs to get replaced yesterday. It also shows that Pagano doesn't trust Ballard's picks by sitting them for Veterans.

That's not really what you said.  You said he should be starting because he was the 1st round pick.  And the biggest thing most people said is that he missed just about all of training camp, so throwing him out there with barely a week of practice didn't make much sense.  And I think most people thought he would probably be the starter in week 2.

 

But, I guess if it makes you feel better to claim you called it, then by all means carry on.

 

He did play ok, he made some real mistakes that had they been playing a Carson Palmer from two years ago, probably would have lead to some big plays.

[Coffeedrinker]

15 hours ago, YourManBlu said:

I thought he played great.  He made that great interception and seemed to be all over the place.  A lot of people questioned his tackling and I thought he tackled very well and when he was the last guy left to make a tackle a few times during a big play he ended it (which isn't a good thing if your safety keeps doing that).  Him and Wilson were fun to watch

I don't think it was so much his tackling that was a weakness it's his pursuit angles.  Fortunately he was not needed a lot in run support yesterday but there were a few glimpses yesterday and last week that his angle to ball carrier is still not a strength.

 

That being said, he looks like a rookie 1st round pick out there.  Some times he looks really good and other times he makes a mistake.

[JRnINDY]

15 hours ago, twfish said:

Wilson also surprised the back out of me from what I saw. Even the TD he had scored on him He was draped all over the WR and was in a perfect spot to break up just a bigger kudos the the WR

Wilson was in great position, Farley was out of position. He should have been behind receiver and jarred him.

[VaAllDay757]

1 hour ago, SaturdayAllDay said:

 

I agree that Melvin played better than usual yesterday. But im not convinced that one good game means he will have continued success. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I think he is a fine 4th cb, but id like to think our young guys have the potential to be more. Might as well find out while we are going through a rough patch anyway. 

I'm not saying that he's that good either he just need to be more consistent and have patience maybe he can prove his critics wrong

[SaturdayAllDay]

1 minute ago, VaAllDay757 said:

I'm not saying that he's that good either he just need to be more consistent and have patience maybe he can prove his critics wrong

Thats fair. Id personally rather give Green the chance to prove his critics wrong. This is Melvins 5th yr in the league, hes had quite a few chances already, and if Green/Wilson falter, he will be waiting in the wings for his next chance. 

[will426]

If We stop playing off coverage so much we'd look a lot better  that third & 20 they converted literally no1 was on the slot Wr  outside corners were in press safeties were 20 yards at the first down marker..other times they have the safeties way too deep and they're standing there flat footed 

[VaAllDay757]

52 minutes ago, SaturdayAllDay said:

Thats fair. Id personally rather give Green the chance to prove his critics wrong. This is Melvins 5th yr in the league, hes had quite a few chances already, and if Green/Wilson falter, he will be waiting in the wings for his next chance. 

Yeah but maybe melvin wasn't in the right system before well atleast his tackling has improved alot as for green he's too raw to play corner keep him at safety and use him on safety blitzes he has the speed he just can't cover 

[SaturdayAllDay]

Just now, VaAllDay757 said:

Yeah but maybe melvin wasn't in the right system before well atleast his tackling has improved alot as for green he's too raw to play corner keep him at safety and use him on safety blitzes he has the speed he just can't cover 

I think Green is very raw, but asking him to play CB is smarter than asking him to play safety. Playing man up on one guy is much easier than asking him to cover the whole backside as a deep safety, reading the entire play and making decisions on where to put himself to make the best plays. His worst traits are play recognition and ball tracking, two key skills for a deep safety. The way our defense is run, we use SS/FS positions interchangeably, so its not like we can just use him in the box. If he cant do the deep coverage stuff, then he cant be a proper safety on our roster. He might learn these skills down the road, but for now I think hes a safer bet to just use his speed and stay on WRs like white on rice. He actually hasnt looked bad at CB so far, and if you consider he is learning and has a ton of room to grow, he might just be able to make it as a CB. I think he has a better chance sticking on our roster as a CB than a safety. 

[Superman]

8 hours ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

He played well in general.  I believe the long TD that the Cardinals got, Fairley got caught looking and Hooker was out that snap?  I could be wrong though.  I really hope Geathers is able to come back, can you imagine Geathers and Hooker out there together?  Both are big safeties too.  They'd be an awesome tandem. 

 

According to Colts.com, Hooker and Farley played all 66 defensive snaps.

 

http://www.colts.com/news/article-1/Snap-Counts-Colts-Cardinals-Week-2/2f44f2e2-60e8-404f-8f63-e26e8ee32df9

[OLD FAN MAN]

1 hour ago, will426 said:

If We stop playing off coverage so much we'd look a lot better  that third & 20 they converted literally no1 was on the slot Wr  outside corners were in press safeties were 20 yards at the first down marker..other times they have the safeties way too deep and they're standing there flat footed 

then you think it is coaching, ?   could be

[will426]

12 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

then you think it is coaching, ?   could be

Yeah I do honestly lol. Look at first game I understand we're playing non starters but don't shy away from how we're supposed tinge utilized which is press man coverage ..he puts our corners 10 yards deep sometime and the safeties are even further look at the play last week where green got beat by Kupp he has him like 10 yards off kupp had a free release and had time to build up that speed one cut and he was obviously gonna blow by green..I'd rather watch us get beat on defense while being physical with corners not letting run off the line with such ease..he needs to look at manusky era he played tight man (exception of toler or an injury to Davis) and we were shutting people down with no pass rush outside of Mathis 

[Superman]

58 minutes ago, will426 said:

Yeah I do honestly lol. Look at first game I understand we're playing non starters but don't shy away from how we're supposed tinge utilized which is press man coverage ..he puts our corners 10 yards deep sometime and the safeties are even further look at the play last week where green got beat by Kupp he has him like 10 yards off kupp had a free release and had time to build up that speed one cut and he was obviously gonna blow by green..I'd rather watch us get beat on defense while being physical with corners not letting run off the line with such ease..he needs to look at manusky era he played tight man (exception of toler or an injury to Davis) and we were shutting people down with no pass rush outside of Mathis 

 

When we play single high, we're going to have a corner off the line, maybe both. Otherwise, you have no depth to your defense, and one missed tackle results in a long TD.

 

On the Kupp TD, Green was flat footed, that's why he got beat, and the safety came down at the snap, leaving no coverage. With a cushion, you shouldn't get beat over the top, if anything you're susceptible to a backside route. Green and the safety didn't handle the coverage properly, IMO.

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

2 hours ago, Superman said:

 

According to Colts.com, Hooker and Farley played all 66 defensive snaps.

 

http://www.colts.com/news/article-1/Snap-Counts-Colts-Cardinals-Week-2/2f44f2e2-60e8-404f-8f63-e26e8ee32df9

Yes Hooker was on the field during that for what ever reason though farley was the deep help and not hooker on the play. It's one that was very similar to wilson/hooker where wilson knocked the ball out and hooker might of got a hand on it too. I think if it was wilson/hooker again and not farley/wilson the touchdown wouldn't of happened. Farley is playing good but he is lacking in coverage...Personally when butler comes back he should be starting at SS and Hooker at FS have green back up hooker and CB's. Have Farley back up Butler. Wilson should also be starting opposite of vontae davis when he comes up. I am still completely clueless as to why Wilson and Hooker didn't start week 1. Look what they did week 2 with starting. I'm starting to lose faith in Pagano's coaching with these terrible decisions being made recently. He seems like type of coach where he will have a gem and not start him due to another player have more experience and work done in practice. If he was NBA coach Allen Iverson would of been the biggest bust of 1996 draft.

[Superman]

1 minute ago, Jesse Lafantaisie said:

Yes Hooker was on the field during that for what ever reason though farley was the deep help and not hooker on the play. It's one that was very similar to wilson/hooker where wilson knocked the ball out and hooker might of got a hand on it too. I think if it was wilson/hooker again and not farley/wilson the touchdown wouldn't of happened. Farley is playing good but he is lacking in coverage...Personally when butler comes back he should be starting at SS and Hooker at FS have green back up hooker and CB's. Have Farley back up Butler. Wilson should also be starting opposite of vontae davis when he comes up. I am still completely clueless as to why Wilson and Hooker didn't start week 1. Look what they did week 2 with starting. I'm starting to lose faith in Pagano's coaching.

 

The safeties don't stay high or low all game long, they switch back and forth. On that play, Farley was the deep man. He probably should have been deeper, but as it is, he got beat by a foot. Hard to nitpick the alignment or the coverage, just a good offensive play. It happens. I think the DBs challenged receivers well all game long, when they were in the frame.

 

As for Hooker and Wilson in Week 1, Hooker played almost half the game. He has been limited in practice all offseason. It's not surprising that they didn't just throw him out there all game with no limitations. I think they'll continue to rotate him throughout the season, whether he starts or not, he probably won't play 100% of the snaps, but he should get a good 75% at the very least every week.

 

Wilson, there's been something going on with him. The coaches wanted to see something from him in practice, meetings, something. They've continued to make veiled comments about him, Pagano and Monachino, indicating as much. He played all but 2 snaps yesterday, so hopefully that's over with. 

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

Farley got beat by a foot right... but somehow Wilson is ahead of him and directly behind one of the fastest WR's in the NFL. Farley is a liability in coverage and should not be starting when Butler comes back from Injury. As for hooker I don't remember him playing at all in the 1st half of week 1. He probably only got so much action in 2nd half of week 1 due to butler injury. If that injury doesn't happen Hooker plays less he also doesn't start week 2 and its also very likely the play Hooker got the interception on would of been a touchdown if hooker wasn't on the field. Hooker is the only player on the Colts Roster capable of making that interception the way he did anyone else its a touchdown for Cardinals. This is why Hooker needs to start or play the majority of snaps at Safety.

[VaAllDay757]

1 hour ago, SaturdayAllDay said:

I think Green is very raw, but asking him to play CB is smarter than asking him to play safety. Playing man up on one guy is much easier than asking him to cover the whole backside as a deep safety, reading the entire play and making decisions on where to put himself to make the best plays. His worst traits are play recognition and ball tracking, two key skills for a deep safety. The way our defense is run, we use SS/FS positions interchangeably, so its not like we can just use him in the box. If he cant do the deep coverage stuff, then he cant be a proper safety on our roster. He might learn these skills down the road, but for now I think hes a safer bet to just use his speed and stay on WRs like white on rice. He actually hasnt looked bad at CB so far, and if you consider he is learning and has a ton of room to grow, he might just be able to make it as a CB. I think he has a better chance sticking on our roster as a CB than a safety. 

I don't know him playing man coverage one on one or even a zone coverage will be really hard for him all he would do in the safety position is not get beat deep which to me isn't as hard as trying to cover #2 or #3 wr all game long where he really has 0 experience at but we will see

[Jesse Lafantaisie]

3 minutes ago, VaAllDay757 said:

I don't know him playing man coverage one on one or even a zone coverage will be really hard for him all he would do in the safety position is not get beat deep which to me isn't as hard as trying to cover #2 or #3 wr all game long where he really has 0 experience at but we will see

The hope with Green playing CB is he will develop the coverage skills he is missing. Hes very young and has the potential to do so. So its better to try and have him learn and get the experience then just have him play to his strengths at this point.

[RockThatBlue]

11 hours ago, krunk said:

 

I like Nate Hairston as well.   I think he could play on the outside too.

 

Hairston might be the best tackler on the team. Very impressive in that regard for a CB.

[hambone35]

22 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

The secondary is just inconsistent as the announcers pointed out today.  One series they look like a very good unit and the next like they have no business being in the NFL.  However, that's to be expected when they are pretty much only playing rookies and second year players back there right now.  Still it was good to see Hooker get that pick and I saw enough from Wilson today to know I'd rather see him play and take some lumps at corner than Green out there.

Wilson is a beast, in my opinion he's a rookie and most of all the time he is draped on the receiver and nothing has come easy for the receivers he has covered. Really like this guy and Hairston

[fire cartier]

he did good for his first int.  hope he get alot more .

[Jason_]

14 hours ago, Defjamz26 said:

No because the person in front of him wasn't significantly better. Soon as he was healthy, which was awhile ago, he should have been the starter.

 

Just because hooker was healthy doesn't mean he was back in game shape. There are a lot of things to criticize pagano for, but being mad at him for not starting hooker week 1 is just being petty.

[NewEra]

23 hours ago, krunk said:

In the secondary I think the communication needs to be cleaned up out there. Too many problems on rub routes and pass offs. Expected with young players. Will improve hopefully. We would have played an even tougher game on defense without those issues.

That's what I saw. They didn't communicate or know there assignments on a lot of the linesups 

[krunk]

Malik showed a lot of range on the play

[lollygagger8]

Hooker sure looks the part of the ball hawk we all hoped he'd be. 

[Defjamz26]

2 minutes ago, krunk said:

Malik showed a lot of range on the play

The INT was cool. I thought the deflection was as impressive if not more. He looks like everything he was projected to be.

[krunk]

What was so cool about it is he was playing single high safety in a 3 deep zone.  So he wasn't even shaded over to that side to start with like he would be if it was 2 deep coverage.    He had to come all the way from the middle of the field.   He ran over there like it was nothing.  It looked like he just went over there casually and picked the ball off.

[krunk]

Butler doesn't need to be playing any of those safety roles over Hooker and Farley.  Send the guy back to nickel/dime and some situational stuff.  Actually doesn't need to play nickel over Hairston either.   I think that's definitely where he'll be especially when and if Geathers comes back. 

[Defjamz26]

2 minutes ago, krunk said:

What was so cool about it is he was playing single high safety in a 3 deep zone.  So he wasn't even shaded over to that side to start with like he would be if it was 2 deep coverage.    He had to come all the way from the middle of the field.   He ran over there like it was nothing.  It looked like he just went over there casually and picked the ball off.

Yeah it almost seemed inhuman. It doesn't even look like he's hitting top speed to get there. How he slipped so far is beyond me