Free Agent DB's

Well I hope this turns out to be somewhat of a good thread (unlike my last one). Free agency starts Friday, and ESPN recently had reviews of free agents at different positions. While feel free to discuss any DB positions, I wanted to start this thread with a nod to former Terp Madieu Williams who will become an UFA. He's testing the free agency market and I wanted to get people's opinion on whether the Skins should look in his direction. Here are his stats for anyone interested...personally I think the Skins should look his way. We would have a nice young Safety tandem with Williams and Landry.

ESPN - Madieu Williams Stats, News, Photos - Cincinnati Bengals - NFL Football (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=6815)

Oh and this was their take on Florence:
"Florence has a very impressive combination of size and athletic ability. He has good straight-line speed, with decent quickness and the ability to plant and drive on the ball with some explosiveness. Quicker NFL receivers give him a hard time and his lateral agility is questionable. However, he still flashes potential to be a solid starting corner in the NFL."

Oh and props to DirtBag 359, I took his suggestion and made this type of thread.

2007 Scouting Report - Scouts Inc.
Grade: 65 | Key
Alert: None

Comment: Williams is coming off his third year in the league and he returned to his rookie season form having a very productive season. He has good size, athleticism, instincts and toughness for the safety position. He is best attacking the line of scrimmage in run support. He aligns as both a free and strong safety along with dropping down in the box in the Bengals? eight man fronts. Williams reads well and has a nose for the ball and gets to the pile often. He is a solid wrap tackler that will insert often into the action. He has solid foot quickness and agility, but is best as a half field coverage defender. He doesn?t have great burst to play tight man coverage but can play intermediate and deep zone schemes well. He leverages the ball well as an alley player and keeps his depth effectively off the hash. His injury in 2005 hindered his development some but he should continue to be a very effective NFL safety in the coming years.
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Seems more like a FS, which is fine. After reading this I like the guy. If he's good enough to let Landry play SS then I'm all for it.

I would like to see the Redskins take in more Maryland and Virginia guys. I think that if the local kids saw the Redskins are willing to accomadate the local guys then maybe the best recruits will feel more inclined to stay in-state and its not like the area is devoid of talent in the first place.

Also remember that the scout ratings aren't like Madden Ratings. It's very difficult to get in the 90's and even 80's in a lot of cases.

Scouts Inc. grading scale

Scouts Inc
Scouts Inc. has developed its own grading scale to better distinguish players of similar abilities in the NFL. Below is a breakdown of that scale and a glossary of the alerts Scouts uses to flag players with specific concerns.

100-90: Elite Player
Player demonstrates rare abilities and can create mismatches that have an obvious impact on the game ... Premier NFL player who has all the skills to consistently play at a championship level ... Rates as one of the top players in the league at his position.

89-80: Outstanding Player
Player has abilities to create mismatches versus most opponents in the NFL ... A feature player who has an impact on the outcome of the game ... Cannot be shut down by a single player and plays on a consistent level week-in and week-out.

79-70: Good Starter
Solid starter who is close to being an outstanding player ... Has few weaknesses and will usually win his individual matchup but does not dominate in every game, especially when matched up against the top players in the league.

69-60: Average Starter
A valuable roster player but is not dominant against the better players he faces on a week-to-week basis... Gives great effort and you are glad that he is on your team, but he may or may not go to the next level.

59- 50: Good Backup
A player who is on the bubble and starts only because of a deficiency at the position ... He lacks complete overall skills, and although he will battle he will hinder his team's ability to play at a championship level if he is forced to be in the starting lineup consistently over a 16-game season ... A player you don't mind having on your team but someone you are always looking to upgrade.

49-40: Below Average Backup/Core Special Teamers
Strictly a backup player who is not capable of starting ... If he is forced to start he is no more than a short-term fix ... He may make the team because of special teams contributions or experience ... A player you are always looking to upgrade as he will always be a borderline roster guy.

30: Rookie -- Post-draft
No professional tape to evaluate ... Will have a college report but will not get an NFL grade until the spring after his rookie season ... Will carry the 30 grade throughout his first NFL season. 20: Developmental Player
A player with very little film to evaluate ... A guy who might show "flashes" in the preseason but does not have any regular-season views ... He has very little experience but he has to be tracked due to his developmental potential.

i think other teams (vikes maybe?) are interested... i haven't heard the skins mentioned.

honestly he's just another average safety and wouldn't be worth signing to anything more than 1mill/per, but even that might be too much.

I heard DeAngelo Hall wants out of ATL...we should trade for him.

I heard DeAngelo Hall wants out of ATL...we should trade for him.

u just heard that

Madieu is a very cerebral player and was very mature at MD. There was a big article in the Post when he played here in college about how dedicated he was to academics and knowledge outside of football. This may not matter to many of you, but he used to intern at an area hospital when he went to school at Maryland (WHILE PLAYING D1 FOOTBALL). That is just a huge chunk out of your time to dedicate to a non-football activity but he did it b/c he wanted to one day be in the medical profession and give back to the community. Again this has nothing to do with football but I have alway been of the opinion that I will take a smart player with less talent than a talented player with less smarts. Plus those guys tend to come cheaper (london fletcher, ryan clark-had we kept him, etc).

I obviously have a MD bias but the guy has proven himself in the NFL. He would be a good, relatively cheap addition to our squad and would probably start.

I heard DeAngelo Hall wants out of ATL...we should trade for him.

I heard there's a Redskins web site for the "knowledgeable fan" and they've generated a lot of discussion on this matter over the past few weeks.

Why were we not in the Market for this guy??

Think he would have fit nicely.

ESPN - Veteran safety Smith joins Lions' secondary on 2-year deal - NFL (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3267800)

There's just no pleasing some people is there? We're upset when we go after players...we're upset when we don't go after players