Thread: Safety.

Well, I've finally grown weary of cursing Favre (for now). Time to move on to a subject that may end up mattering as much or more than who is the Vikings' starting quarterback: Safety Depth.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's how it stands at the moment:

SS Tyrell Johnson Husain Abdullah Jamarca Sanford
FS Madieu Williams Eric Frampton Roderick Rogers



Surely I'm not the only one concerned about this. We've only seen some good play from Tyrell Johnson. But he was also inconsistent last year. This was probably just due to him being a rookie, and I am very optimistic that he can excel in the NFL. But at the same time, it has yet to be seen. Madieu Williams is also solid, but he's not about to set the world on fire either.

But behind that? We have two guys from Wazzou (which is weird. Wazzou is not exactly a football powerhouse) with a combined four years of NFL experience. Neither has shown much of anything in that time that I'm aware of, save a few flashes in preseason here and there, or some good special teams tackling. And behind them we have practice squad fodder (if that).

My point is, if either Williams or Johnson goes down, we could be in a serious pile of shit. Let's not forget that Ced Griffin is still pretty young, and definitely prone to bad reads/decision-making every once in a while. And Antoine is great, but he doesn't have the most speed. If either of the starting safeties struggles or is injured, who is there to stop the big play behind the corners?

I know there's a lot of if's here, which I admit is weak. But then, this is the NFL, and injuries happen all of the time. You have to plan for them. I'm a bit nervous that not enough planning went into this position, and it could be our Achilles heel. A great pass rush will help immensely, but you can't expect a sack or a hurried throw on every down. I look forward to hearing your thoughts (and to discussing anything that isn't Brett Favre or Ron Mexico related).

"The" wrote:

Well, I've finally grown weary of cursing Favre (for now). Time to move on to a subject that may end up mattering as much or more than who is the Vikings' starting quarterback: Safety Depth.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's how it stands at the moment:

SS Tyrell Johnson Husain Abdullah Jamarca Sanford
FS Madieu Williams Eric Frampton Roderick Rogers



Surely I'm not the only one concerned about this. We've only seen some good play from Tyrell Johnson. But he was also inconsistent last year. This was probably just due to him being a rookie, and I am very optimistic that he can excel in the NFL. But at the same time, it has yet to be seen. Madieu Williams is also solid, but he's not about to set the world on fire either.

But behind that? We have two guys from Wazzou (which is weird. Wazzou is not exactly a football powerhouse) with a combined four years of NFL experience. Neither has shown much of anything in that time that I'm aware of, save a few flashes in preseason here and there, or some good special teams tackling. And behind them we have practice squad fodder (if that).

My point is, if either Williams or Johnson goes down, we could be in a serious pile of pooh. Let's not forget that Ced Griffin is still pretty young, and definitely prone to bad reads/decision-making every once in a while. And Antoine is great, but he doesn't have the most speed. If either of the starting safeties struggles or is injured, who is there to stop the big play behind the corners?

I know there's a lot of if's here, which I admit is weak. But then, this is the NFL, and injuries happen all of the time. You have to plan for them. I'm a bit nervous that not enough planning went into this position, and it could be our Achilles heel. A great pass rush will help immensely, but you can't expect a sack or a hurried throw on every down. I look forward to hearing your thoughts (and to discussing anything that isn't Brett Favre or Ron Mexico related).

Roderick Rogers is actually gone now...
Signed with the Patriots.

http://min.scout.com/a.z?s=63&p=9&c=2&cid=889702&nid=4131794&fhn=1

"gamecocksbaseball31" wrote:

Roderick Rogers is actually gone now...
Signed with the Patriots.

http://min.scout.com/a.z?s=63&p=9&c=2&cid=889702&nid=4131794&fhn=1

Huh. Didn't see that.

Well, this certainly doesn't do anything to assuage my concerns about the position.

I must have missed it, but has Colt Anderson gotten the boot?

It is a VERY valid concern.
I'm thinking out depth at CB may play in to the lack of concern about this.

For better or worse, Winfield surely could play S and let some of the younger CBs slide in for him.
Certainly this is going to hurt our coverage but I think it has some potential.
The idea of him finishing his career as a safety has been brought up multiple times...

I'm NOT cool with any of the backup safeties playing for any length of time, I know that.

"�nowbowler" wrote:

I must have missed it, but has my man Colt Anderson gotten the boot?

No, upon further research, these safeties are also available (for now):

Colt Anderson
Devon Hall

Not that it makes me feel any better about our depth, but I guess they should be acknowledged.

"�nowbowler" wrote:

I must have missed it, but has my man Colt Anderson gotten the boot?

Nope, Colt is still here, although its not looking good. He's a fourth string FS on the August 17th depth chart so he'll have to make some big plays and hope some guys in front of him screw up royally if he has any shot at making the 53.

"The" wrote:

"�nowbowler" wrote:

I must have missed it, but has my man Colt Anderson gotten the boot?

No, upon further research, these safeties are also available (for now):

Colt Anderson
Devon Hall

Not that it makes me feel any better about our depth, but I guess they should be acknowledged.

Nah, i wouldn't feel any better about our depth, I'm just hoping Colt turns out to be pretty good, but it will probably take a few years, if at all.
He was an exciting player to watch in college.

"�nowbowler" wrote:

"The" wrote:

"�nowbowler" wrote:

I must have missed it, but has my man Colt Anderson gotten the boot?

No, upon further research, these safeties are also available (for now):

Colt Anderson
Devon Hall

Not that it makes me feel any better about our depth, but I guess they should be acknowledged.

Nah, i wouldn't feel any better about our depth, I'm just hoping Colt turns out to be pretty good, but it will probably take a few years, if at all.
He was an exciting player to watch in college.

Well, being a Portland State VIKINGS alum, it will always be a little difficult for me to cheer for a Grizzly. Still, I also hope he pans out, if just to give us some depth at safety.

"ThorSPL" wrote:

It is a VERY valid concern.
I'm thinking out depth at CB may play in to the lack of concern about this.

For better or worse, Winfield surely could play S and let some of the younger CBs slide in for him.
Certainly this is going to hurt our coverage but I think it has some potential.
The idea of him finishing his career as a safety has been brought up multiple times...

I'm NOT cool with any of the backup safeties playing for any length of time, I know that.

Can Antoine play safety? I mean, I know that he could, I just don't know that he should. How well would he know his responsibilities as a safety? And would he really be that much better than one of the backups who has been practicing at the safety position all this offseason and last year? I'm not so sure.

I think a better choice would have been to switch someone like Allen, Paymah, Sapp, or McCauley to safety. McCauley especially really could use a new position right about now.

But, of course, it's a bit late to be trying such experiments at this point. So what you're left with, if Antoine were to play safety, is Allen (probably) at CB, and Sapp or McCauley at nickel. That's not much more of a pleasant thought to me than having Abdullah or Frampton starting at safety, with the corners staying as they were.