Drayton Florence is NOT the answer (1 Viewer)

[donato]

Samuel is better, but probably not available, but Florence would improve the bunch, get a Haynesworth and/or DT in the draft and they will have so much pressure I could play corner

Dude- Haynesworth WILL NOT be available. He will either resign or be franchised.

 

[canuckredux]

Dude- Haynesworth WILL NOT be available. He will either resign or be franchised.

No matter how many times it gets said, someone will always bring it up. Ditto Asomugha or any other player their current team would be insane to let go.

 

[DoubleSaint]

According to the stats, oxygen is an upgrade over Jason David, so I'll take anyone.

As it stands, we need 2 starting corners, he'd be a good #2 IMO. We need to go after someone like Asamougha or Trufant to start opposite him.

Even that may be setting our sights too high. We're not going to go out and land 2 pro-bowl corners, it's not realistic. So maybe this is the best we can hope for.

 

[brianw37]

Then what are we supposed to be looking for? Minor upgrades aren't going to propell this team to the next level. Honestly, I don't see much difference between Drayton Florence and Usama Young besides the experiance.

and this is the reason why i want us to draft our own guy. sure its a gamble on a rookie corner but y keep signning 2nd tier guys to START on our team when they got beat out by ROOKIES AND second year guy on their own teams. ie jason david, drayton florence? and come to think of it most teams with good corners have drafted them in the first round, i guess someone isnt getting the memo:dunno:

 

[brianw37]

According to the stats, oxygen is an upgrade over Jason David, so I'll take anyone.

As it stands, we need 2 starting corners, he'd be a good #2 IMO. We need to go after someone like Asamougha or Trufant to start opposite him.

Even that may be setting our sights too high. We're not going to go out and land 2 pro-bowl corners, it's not realistic. So maybe this is the best we can hope for.

or we can draft our own guy and let him play.

 

[nolaDante]

I think of Florence as this year's Rod Hood. He's behind two very good cornerbacks and has played well at times, so people just kind of figure that he'll be good given a starting job (again). I haven't been impressed with him at all though. In every Chargers game I've seen this year (I've probably seen at least six of them), he's been very unimpressive.

 

[St. Widge]

Then what are we supposed to be looking for? Minor upgrades aren't going to propell this team to the next level. Honestly, I don't see much difference between Drayton Florence and Usama Young besides the experiance.

We are looking for the best upgrades we can get. It's likely that Asamougha and Trufant will be re-signed by Oakland and Seattle respectively. And their will be a bidding war for Samuels and I'm not sure he is really made to play the type of man to man coverage heavy defense that we play. (He'd be good at it, but probably not the great player he is when he gets to play more zone). We would probably lose that bidding war even if we throw the most money at him. What great, in high demand corner wants to play behind a front 7 that gets no pressure on the QB?

At that point, is there a better option than Florence? I'm not sure that there is. As Spam pointed out, he had a good year last year and bad year this year. So which player is he? I'm not really sure, but if we are going to stick with man coverge, he would be playing a style that he is better at and he is an upgrade over David who has not showed the ability to play in man coverage.

He will not solve the CB problem. But, if McKenzie comes back okay, Young develops and we can a decent CB in the draft, we would be much better at CB. Then you can try to get the huge upgrade in pass defense by improving your pass rush with a guy like Ellis, some LB's that can blitz and a play making FS or SS. Honestly, the pass defense is bad, but a lot of that has to do with the lack of any pass rush. A pass rush would make the guys we have look better and the lack of pass rush has made them look worse. If we can just bring our defense into the range of 10 to 15 in the leauge, our offense is strong enough to get us to the SB.

By the way, if Trufant or Asamougha do not get re-signed, I'd be all for going after them with big money.

 

[St. Widge]

or we can draft our own guy and let him play.

That would be great if there is a CB out there that we can draft for porper value that can start. Do you have anyone in mind? I don't think there is anyone worth the #10 pick that plays CB and you never know who will be around in the 2nd round. So, why not sign a guy like Florence so that if you don't get the CB you want in the draft, you are not left with a huge hole in you line up.

I'd like to go after Antoine Cason in the 2nd, but I don't know if he will still be there, and I'd like to have some options at CB if he isn't. Nothing says we can't sign Florence and draft a CB.

 

[SuJaguar00]

The age old argument of pass rush vs. cover corners. While I will agree that a better pass rush will improve the play of the secondary (the shorter time they have to cover the better they look), better corner backs help your pass rush as well. What I think needs to be done is improve on of the areas in F.A. (say sign M. Trufant) and then draft Sed Ellis to collapse the pocket. Covering receivers and a consistent pass rush go hand in hand.

P.S. Be careful with the sign Asante Samuel posts. New England is more of a zone first defense and Samuel's man to man skills are not his strength. Just a thought

 

[brianw37]

That would be great if there is a CB out there that we can draft for porper value that can start. Do you have anyone in mind? I don't think there is anyone worth the #10 pick that plays CB and you never know who will be around in the 2nd round. So, why not sign a guy like Florence so that if you don't get the CB you want in the draft, you are not left with a huge hole in you line up.

I'd like to go after Antoine Cason in the 2nd, but I don't know if he will still be there, and I'd like to have some options at CB if he isn't. Nothing says we can't sign Florence and draft a CB.

we have been doing that for years now sinning players like jason craft, jd, and ashley ambrose. cason wont be there in the second round unless he has a horrible combine/indv workout.

i think there will be at least to guys worth our top pick and at least one worth at top 15. mike jenkins is gonna be at top ten guy, if cason runs well hell be a top ten guy and so would talib. the projections for these guy might not be that high right now because the combine workouts DO effect their ability to preform on the nfl level. im not a big fan of the combine for most positions but its does expose the strenghts/weakness of a cornerback.

remember last year around this time daymeion hughes was consider the top cornerback but most experts, after the combine and other workouts he ended up dropping to the 5th or 6th guy. other guys like revis, ross, and houston jumped up form the workouts. chris houston started last year for atl, and their pass d wasnt that bad. chris got picked on all year but he didnt give up nearly as many plays as jason david.

the closer we get to draft day, more we'll know who's worhty of our pick.

 

[St. Widge]

the closer we get to draft day, more we'll know who's worhty of our pick.

True, and that's why I want to sign some CB help in free agency so we aren't forced to reach for a CB with our first or second round pick.

The problem is that of the three really good CB's available, Samuel is more of a zone coverage CB and not the type of CB we need and Asamougha and Trufant will likely be signed by their current teams. We might be able to throw outrageous money at Samuel, but it might not be a good idea unless we plan on changing our defensive scheme to play more zone coverage. Which is why I don't think Florence would be a bad signing. He would give us a decent to good option at CB, a guy who is good in man coverage, and allow us to either take a CB in the draft when it is a good value. If we wait until the draft to see if there is a player worth our first round or second round pick, we could be left we not option other than to reach for a player that is not worth the pick and won't be ready to start.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

The injury to MM really screwed the Saints up going into the offseason. They went from needing one starting cornerback to two in one fell swoop. That said, I think bringing in Drayton Florence AND another guy is the way to go. Say...Jacque Reeves of the Cowboys and Florence. That we need two now is going to dictate how much we can afford to spend on each.

 

[rlemieux]

You go into the offseason to address needs. Right now our starting CB's are Jason David and Usama Young. David got burnt all year and Young is just that young. We head into the offseason needed major upgrades, most likely free agency doesn't bring every major upgrade we need. However, you still address weakness so you don't head into the draft with the same weakness.

Fact of the matter is that Drayton Florence might possibly be the best CB available to us. Is he Trufant, no but he sure looks better playing man coverage over Jason David. Florence has legit sub 4.4 speed, has great size 6' 200lbs, is young (27) and at worst comes in and gives us excellent depth and a legit #2 CB to play along side McKenzie (when he is healthy). He also give you the fexability to not reach for a CB. I would love Trufant, but who knows what Seattle does with him.

I am much more at ease with Florence in the lineup. If Young can prove something it may be Florence and Young starting, all the better. The fact of the matter is that Florence is a good veteran player, with ablity to start and be productive. If McKenzie comes back then all the better.

 

[Danchrism]

Jacque Reeves

Just ask any Cowtoys fan about him

 

[dome patrol]

At that point, is there a better option than Florence?
.

Here in lies my point- if there's no one better out there, why throw a lot of money at him? Just to say you signed someone? I'm sure there will be atleast a half dozen teams out there interested in him, so it's not like we're going to get him cheap. I can assure you he'll cost more than Jason David did last season. Like I said before, I'd much rather Usama Young at 500k/year than Drayton Florence at 4.5-5.5 million/year. I wouln't be opposed to swapping 1st Round picks with Seattle in exchange for a Franchised Trufant. That or a second rounder straight up. We do have some Seattle ties so it wouldn't be totally out of the realm of possibilities.

I do agree that getting a guy like Sedrick Ellis would be huge for our pass rush. That's been part of the reason Grant and Smith have been so seemingly ineffective. With no one to collapse the pocket the QB can sit back or step up at will instead of being flushed outside where he's be more prone to getting chased down by Grant/Smith. I just don't see Ellis being there, especially after Malcom Jenkins and Little Animal returning to school.