Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/lee_jenkins/12/11/horton/index.html?eref=sircrc]Chris Horton has gone from 7th-round pick to Pro Bowl hopeful - Lee Jenkins - SI.com[/url]
I definitely think he deserves to be in the Pro Bowl. Hopefully he gets there.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

After the crushing loss of Sean Taylor, the future suddenly looks much brighter now in our defensive secondary with our young tandem of Horton and Landry. (chalk one up for the what's right about the Redskins column)

I forget which TV announcer referred to Horton as being a poor man's Polamalu, but I think that's a pretty good comparison.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=Mattyk72;510607]I forget which TV announcer referred to Horton as being a poor man's Polamalu, but I think that's a pretty good comparison.[/quote]

That was Madden

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

Cool article. I like the nickname too. Gonna start using that.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=Mattyk72;510607]After the crushing loss of Sean Taylor, the future suddenly looks much brighter now in our defensive secondary with our young tandem of Horton and Landry. (chalk one up for the what's right about the Redskins column)

I forget which TV announcer referred to Horton as being a poor man's Polamalu, but I think that's a pretty good comparison.[/quote]

I think if we had any semblance of a decent 4 man push up front you'd see even more plays out of our secondary and Horton and Landry in particular. I think he slgihtly better than a poor man's Polamalu.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=Mattyk72;510607]After the crushing loss of Sean Taylor, the future suddenly looks much brighter now in our defensive secondary with our young tandem of Horton and Landry. (chalk one up for the what's right about the Redskins column)

I forget which TV announcer referred to Horton as being a poor man's Polamalu, but I think that's a pretty good comparison.[/quote]
I agree. I think if you had to compare Horton to another safety it would be Polamalu. Horton's bigger, has the physicality, and plays the run extremely well, but Polamalu definitely has Horton in the coverage department. If Horton can continue to improve his coverage skills and steadily progress in the next couple seasons I think it would be fair to mention him in the same breath as Polamalu.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=FRPLG;510615]I think if we had any semblance of a decent 4 man push up front you'd see even more plays out of our secondary and Horton and Landry in particular. I think he slgihtly better than a poor man's Polamalu.[/quote]
Agreed, I was disgusted with the lack of pass rush in the ravens game. it was virtually nonexistant...

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

If we had an average pass rush we would have the best defense in the league period.

Can't even imagine how many picks our secondary would have.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

not to be a debbie doubter but imo horton's success has alot more to do with the way we use our SS in our D scheme. we could plug anyone where he is and they would put up similar numbers in my mind. that guy green, who was out of football, started one game after being here for less than a week and put up decent numbers. im not taking away anything from horton and some plays he has shown above average ability, but i havent seen enough of him to feel hes a probowler or even will really lock down the ss spot for years to come. hes been great given he was 7th round consolation pick but probowl? really?

that int against dallas was all him, no doubt about it, he showed great closing speed and understanding of what was going on and his assignment. i need to see more plays like this where i say to myself "not many on the skins roster could do that" before id vote him for the probowl. hes good, i just know if hes as good as some think so early in his career. time will tell . .

go skins!!

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

Let's not jinx the poor kid!

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

He is better than Doughty.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

One thing I love about Horton is the way he absolutely BLOWS UP oncoming blockers. I've seen linemen and giant fullbacks go down from his hits.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=over the mountain;510623]not to be a debbie doubter but imo horton's success has alot more to do with the way we use our SS in our D scheme. we could plug anyone where he is and they would put up similar numbers in my mind. that guy green, who was out of football, started one game after being here for less than a week and put up decent numbers. im not taking away anything from horton and some plays he has shown above average ability, but i havent seen enough of him to feel hes a probowler or even will really lock down the ss spot for years to come. hes been great given he was 7th round consolation pick but probowl? really?

that int against dallas was all him, no doubt about it, he showed great closing speed and understanding of what was going on and his assignment. i need to see more plays like this where i say to myself "not many on the skins roster could do that" before id vote him for the probowl. hes good, i just know if hes as good as some think so early in his career. time will tell . .

go skins!![/quote]

I don't think he is a PB player at this point either and the only reason he is leading the voting at this point is because of that rally to get skins fans to pick their ticket. I will say he does seem to find ways of getting past blockers when tracking down the runner. It seem when they do a sweep or something to his side he just dodges all of the blockers to make the tackle.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=Mattyk72;510607]After the crushing loss of Sean Taylor, the future suddenly looks much brighter now in our defensive secondary with our young tandem of Horton and Landry. (chalk one up for the what's right about the Redskins column)

I forget which TV announcer referred to Horton as being a poor man's Polamalu, but I think that's a pretty good comparison.[/quote]

Kereem Moore has also looked great lately, he has made several great plays on kick off coverage. In a year or two he might be pushing for a starters job. He is a big guy and very athletic.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

I was skeptical of Horton's early success but I have to admit he seems to be the real deal now. Hell of a steal in the 7th round.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=Defensewins;510631]Kereem Moore has also looked great lately, he has made several great plays on kick off coverage. In a year or two he might be pushing for a starters job. He is a big guy and very athletic.[/quote]

True, but I still don't know what the logic was behind drafting two safeties.

But I have been quite happy with Horton

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

Best draft pick we have made since Sean Taylor.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

He's sure impressed me. I heard his stock fell after a bad 40 time but on the field he looks fast. Hell of a run support safety, and can cover a bit. I know he's better than adam archuletta and doughty in coverage, but haven't seen him cover enough to know what he's made of there.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=SmootSmack;510636]True, but I still don't know what the logic was behind drafting two safeties.

But I have been quite happy with Horton[/quote]

Safeties are very important. Look at how much our defense improved when we got Sean Taylor. But more importantly it is a very physical and violent position. We have been lucky, probably because our safeties are young, but Safeties like LB's get hurt pretty regularly. It is important to have competent back ups.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

I can now say I was right about this kid. I took some crap from Doughty fans on this blog saying this kid had some talent (but thats cool). The most imporotant thing is Horton made one of our weaknesses coming into the season, a strength. He will [B]never[/B] be a Sean Taylor but with improved coverage skills he'll be a damn good player in the future.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=Mattyk72;510634]I was skeptical of Horton's early success but I have to admit he seems to be the real deal now. Hell of a steal in the 7th round.[/quote]

Which is why I'm annoyed we gave a 7th rounder to Minny for E.James.

Horton has been huge pickup. Huge.

If Reinhart plays well over the next few weeks and the rookie WRs start to become more integrated, our draft grade for '08 will keep rising.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

Like I said months ago, Sean sent him to us and he won't disappoint. I believe that this is only the beginning to a very promising career in the NFL.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

horton looks very good....but i have been really impressed with LaRon he is taking that next step to an elite safety.. he is no seanT but should be one of the best i actually think he is right now

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=SmootSmack;510636]True, but I still don't know what the logic was behind drafting two safeties.

But I have been quite happy with Horton[/quote]

I think they were just hedging their bets.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

I had expected Landry to have a few more picks this year. What does he have now, 3? He's played well all year, but the last 2 weeks he's made a couple of big plays. I hope to see more of that.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

you will my friend.....you will

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

I am VERY happy with our safety tandem. I expect Batman and Robin to be wreaking havoc for many years to come! And let's not forget Kareem Moore. We have great young talent at the safety position.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

Maybe Kareem Moore progresses enough that you can move Horton to any of the 3 LB positions when Marcus exits the premises or Fletch calls it a day? Just a thought.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

He is special.
Vinnie did a good job on that one. If we can shore up the corner siutation a bit, we will have the best secondary around
HTTR

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=jbcjr14;510750]Maybe Kareem Moore progresses enough that you can move Horton to any of the 3 LB positions when Marcus exits the premises or Fletch calls it a day? Just a thought.[/quote]

Horton would be pretty small at LB at 212 lbs. Not sure that move would make much sense.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=TheSmurfs22;510637]Best draft pick we have made since Sean Taylor.[/quote]

With our drafts, not sure this really says much. :)

I think Horton is a good player that has been in the right spot at the right time with some of his interceptions. He is an awesome pick for where we got him, but not in the PB category yet.

I do agree our linebackers and secondary have done an awesome job considering most QBs have time for a picnic before they have to throw the ball most of the time. That makes the job almost impossible since eventually receivers will get open, you can't cover them forever. If we could just improve our pass rush this defense would be a beast.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=53Fan;510747]I am VERY happy with our safety tandem. I expect Batman and Robin to be wreaking havoc for many years to come! And let's not forget Kareem Moore. We have great young talent at the safety position.[/quote]
I actually liked Kareem Moore better than Chris Horton when we first made our picks. I think Kareem really showed some potential to be a really solid safety in preseason and it's a shame that he's stuck behind a Pro Bowl-caliber safety in LaRon Landry because I think he could be a pretty good safety in this league.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

I think evenually Moore will play FS in some of our Cobra packages with Landry and Horton playing up. Right now Springs takes that spot but who knows how long he'll be here? I think Moore can be a good safety in this league also. I'd like to see more of him.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

So...do we hold on to Mike Green (who is likely starting this weekend) once this season is done?

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

No. Mike Green is our worst coverage safety, and though he's a sure tackler, he doesn't play the run well enough to justify a roster spot unless he was a special teams standout, which he is not.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=GTripp0012;510885]No. Mike Green is our worst coverage safety, and though he's a sure tackler, he doesn't play the run well enough to justify a roster spot unless he was a special teams standout, which he is not.[/quote]

So Reed gets that spot back then?

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=SmootSmack;510887]So Reed gets that spot back then?[/quote]Yes, I think he deserves it, regardless of being a mess in deep coverage.

He's a really good blitzer, which is why our blitz schemes worked in the first 5 games. Horton is much better, obviously, but ever since Reed went on IR, we haven't been able to get any pressure via the blitz unless Landry was involved.

And if Landry is blitzing, we probably don't have the TE seam routes covered.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

I still can't help but to think how much better our defense would be with Sean Taylor. But Horton is really doing a nice job. This was a great find by the FO.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

If horton works a bit on coverage, then he would be beyond amazing. Otherwise he is great at stuffing the run and tackling. Pretty good speed for a "slow" prospect.

Re: Great SI Article on Chris Horton
 

[quote=skinsfan69;510904]I still can't help but to think how much better our defense would be with Sean Taylor. But Horton is really doing a nice job. This was a great find by the FO.[/quote]A lot better. This is a top five unit with him. We're somewhere in the 10-16 range without him. (Football Outsiders says 9 fwiw, but I feel like we're coming off a great performance against an above average offense, so we'll likely fall a bit in the final three games).

I really didn't think we had a lot of use for Landry, because I always thought a late round guy like Horton would come around eventually. But with Sean's career ending in the manner it did, I'm really happy we didn't have a gaping hole at the position. It really helped ease a lot of the pain.

Landry is just a little bit out of position in Sean's spot though. Now that Blache is starting to mix his coverages, Landry will be more effective. Before, we could have Taylor as the high safety, and you absolutely could not throw it into his zone. With Landry, there still has to be a certain level of deception.