Kevin Barnes sounds ready to step up

Talk is cheap...not looking to seeing him get toasted next season. They better provide him with some safety cover.

Agreed. I've heard similar things out of multiple guys that went on to either blow up or be nothing more then average. JP Losman is one that comes to mind right away for me. I also think we heard similar things out of Malcolm Kelly last offseason. Either way I'll wait until I see it on the field, hopefully he's right though.

I never really liked anything about Kevin Barnes before he got drafted, but this is nice to see. I would love to see any of our guys step up and form a nice corner duo with d hall.

If Carlos could catch an INT and not blow assignments, he would be considered a lot less of a dick. If there's true competition at CB this year, unless we bring in a proven FA, Barnes will be a starter before the halfway point of this season.

Carlos is far and away our best CB. Hall gets INTs, but also gets worked far more than Carlos. Do I wish he caught those balls? Sure. Is he Asoumough (sp?) or Revis? No, he's not. But he's a top 20 corner in the league, in my opinion. His job is to not let the receiver catch the ball, he does that more than not. Blache and Williams are also known for leaving these guys on islands, most DCs help out their corners with safeties, that wasn't our plan most of the time.

I'll call it right now, Carlos doesn't quite get a pro bowl nod, but he's our starting #1 corner all year and has a productive year, including 3INTs.

Good to hear. We NEED another CB to step up and push or replace Carlos. Barnes is capable.

Lets just hope we don't draft Jahvid Best...he'll be afraid to practice and we'll have another Portis on our hands. :D

Or maybe another Chris Johnson :)

I'm rooting for KB now that Smoot won't be stealing his minutes. Remember Blache didn't like rookies, so with them both gone the young players will have an opportunity. Vinny is not here to tell Zorn who to play now.

Carlos is far and away our best CB. Hall gets INTs, but also gets worked far more than Carlos. Do I wish he caught those balls? Sure. Is he Asoumough (sp?) or Revis? No, he's not. But he's a top 20 corner in the league, in my opinion. His job is to not let the receiver catch the ball, he does that more than not. Blache and Williams are also known for leaving these guys on islands, most DCs help out their corners with safeties, that wasn't our plan most of the time.

I'll call it right now, Carlos doesn't quite get a pro bowl nod, but he's our starting #1 corner all year and has a productive year, including 3INTs.I didn't say who Barnes would beat out ;)

I think Rogers, when focused and motivated, is our best corner. I also believe we will be playing more man and the D will be more "here's your assignment, execute" vs. Blache's "if the O is doing this, here's how you react". I also believe Barnes has a great deal of talent and is motivated to break into the line-up. Between Rogers/Hall, one of them will screw up enough to give Barnes his shot. Once he gets it, I think he'll make the most of it.

Also, a lot of things can happen between now and the beginning of the season, Rogers or Hall might not even be here in Sept.

i would love nothing more than to see him succeed, we dropped a third rounder on him last year so it would be pretty nice to see some productivity out of him this year

The interesting thing is, because of the structure of guaranteed money in Hall's deal, any sort of transaction in the next two years would be a baseball-style salary dump. Which, in layman's terms, means we're on the hook to pay him the money unless we can find another team who will pay him the same money to take him from us.

Even considering Hall's weaknesses I can't see the FO dumping him even if it was a no-cost transaction. He's the only "playmaker" CB on the roster at this point. Los' inability to make plays combined w/ the inevitable reality he is now on the downside of doing what he's done best (blanket cover) means he's quickly the odd man out if Barnes steps up. You have to safely assume Barnes will instantly be a better playmaker than Los, because honestly how many CBs out there wear hooves for hands, so as soon as he gets to average coverage ability he's the better starter.

i'm rooting for him...but he's just another BUST of the zorn era that didn't pan out until he proves me otherwise on the field.