Asante Samuel

Bingo. I don't think anybody blows the "run-stopping corners" out of proportion more than we do here at The Warpath.

Sure it's nice to say that your corners can do that. If you are football player, one of the most basic things they teach you all the way back to pee-wee football is how to tackle. If you are that concerned about your cornerbacks being able to stop the run, then you have problems anyway.

I'm not saying one way or the other about whether we should go after Asante Samuel. Maybe he is too expensive. Maybe it would be nice to have a guy in the secondary who has demonstrated an ability to catch the football better than anyone we have now.

But can we please stop with the bullsh*t about not going after ball-hawking corners who can shut down a receiver because he supposedly can't "stop the run" ?

How is it blowing it out of proportion? It is widely reported and hell we have all seen it with our own eyes. Our defense requires that corners actually be able to make a tackle in open field. It is a 100% pertinent point. Does anyone here actually think that the only reason we didn't go after Samuel was because he offers no help in run support? Had we been blowing it out of proportion something tells me the Skins would have been salivating to get him here yet we never heard word one about that.

Well part of it is actual effort and Smoot showed a lot of that when he was here.

Definitely. Smoot showed a lot of toughness the first time around. He was pretty small coming out of college but I remember him playing hard and injured (bruised sternum?). I have confidence in him being a very solid contributor, especially due to the fact that he wanted to come back here after we refused to resign him at his asking price. Asante can go sulk with the Patriots, we don't need him.

another piece of eye candy that the redskins do'nt need!

I don't think Samuel is as good at his position as Briggs is at his. Briggs could seriously help shore up one side of the field (not advocating the trade btw), whereas Samuel is good enough to shut down a lot of #1 wr's, but he's not worth the $ he's looking for. If we could get him for under 15mil bonus I'd say it'd be a good deal, but based on what Clements & Bly got, I think Samuel will want something in between, say 18-19 mil. I don't think we need to put that kind of bonus toward anybody right now. IF we have to pay the #6 pick that kind of money, at least we have the draft & salary structure to blame for it since picks 1-5 will dictate salary terms. Another reason it would be good to move down & acquire more, cheaper talent.

I think Asante Samuel is a good corner. And judging last year's performance, he is head and shoulders above Carlos Rogers.

Is he worth trading down for ? Considering what the redskins want at #6 (and I know that this has been discussed to death with a number of opinions), I think yes - he is worth trading down for.

Is he worth paying for at his probable asking price? I think no, because the redskins seem strapped against the cap, as it is, in future years. And I wouldn't want to unneccessarily sacrifice and cut a good player in the future or limit the options with cap space.

... so I would not consider trading for him because of cap/salary issues.

I am all for upgrading our team with any position. but I would have to vote no against this. Samuel is a good corner, but with our addition of smoot, that leaves 3 starting corners and dont think we need 4 starting caliber corners. i dont think that is much an area of concern as other portions of our team. Coverage is as good as the pressure up front. and we all know we had absolutely no pressure. I dont care who you are, champ, Dieon if you have to cover a WR in the NFL for 5 seconds or more, he will get open. If your corners know they only have 2 to 3 seconds before the ball is coming out, then they are much better, or appear to be much better than they are. With no pressure our secondary looked like swiss cheese, and pretty much any NFL team that generates no pressure will too. I think we are fine where we are right now. Hey, here is a crazy thought, if we had some picks we could probably pick up a decent corner in the 2nd or 3rd round! OOPS, i guess that wont happen.

How is it blowing it out of proportion? It is widely reported and hell we have all seen it with our own eyes. Our defense requires that corners actually be able to make a tackle in open field. It is a 100% pertinent point. Does anyone here actually think that the only reason we didn't go after Samuel was because he offers no help in run support? Had we been blowing it out of proportion something tells me the Skins would have been salivating to get him here yet we never heard word one about that.


I'm saying that I just don't think there's much to this notion that there are corners who are so lacking in run support abilities that they can't make it in this defense. They won't make it in ANY defense!!! Everybody has to know how to tackle. People who can't won't make it in football. It's my belief that when we all say, "oh, we don't need this cornerback, he can't tackle" -- that's fan-speak. If Gregg Williams' defense is so nuanced to the point that it can't work with prototypical corners, then there would be no cornerbacks on his roster -- there'd be nothing but strong safeties.

And just where is it written that Asante Samuel "can't make a tackle in the open field"? Do we have actual proof of this claim? Would Bill Belichick keep someone on his roster than can't make an open field tackle? Of course not.

That's why all this talk of cornerbacks like Asante Samuel not being suitable for this particular defense in the judgement of Warpathers is absolute nonsense.

I'm saying that I just don't think there's much to this notion that we cannot bring corners in who can't provide run support. Everybody has to know how to tackle. People who can't won't make it in football. It's my belief that when we all say, "oh, we don't need this cornerback, he can't tackle" -- that's fan-speak. If Gregg Williams' defense is so nuanced to the point that it can't work with prototypical corners, then there would be no cornerbacks on his roster -- there'd be nothing but strong safeties.

And just where is it written that Asante Samuel "can't make a tackle in the open field"? Do we have actual proof of this claim? Would Bill Belichick keep someone on his roster than can't make an open field tackle? Of course not.

That's why all this talk of cornerbacks like Asante Samuel not being suitable for this particular defense in the judgement of Warpathers is absolute nonsense.

I think I tend to agree with you here. We talk up how specialized Gregg Williams defense is, but my God, we just need football players.

Sorry, but there are guys that are cut out for playing in certain systems and I don't think that's fan speak at all.

Cover 2 corners are going to be your bigger corners, guys that can play the run but they don't have to be great in coverage because of the scheme and the help they get from the safeties.

Cover guys are more likely to be the smaller, quicker guys that can survive playing on an island with no help.

And guys like Champ or Clements can do it all.