They also took Paul Soliai who is just dominating right now, he ate All Pro Center Nick Mangold's lunch twice this season.
I gotta say, that was just plain fun to watch. Who would have thought the NT situation would be solved by a little patience? What a difference a year makes.
His athleticism is amazing for a man his size. A nose tackle shouldn't be able to chase down a quarterback or stop a screen.
God, that's right. How could I forget!! Exactly, how does Soliai go from being a borderline bust to dominating the best center in the NFL??? I'll say this, whoever is coaching our D-Line is doing a GREAT job. It's like the exact opposite of our previous special teams coach!! Seriously, everone on our line is contributing at a high level. Every last one of them. And Soliai is borderline pro-bowl right now. It's like our NT position problem solved itself this year!!
Sorry, can't agree with this thread too much. Although Fields has been terrific and Soliai had the "light turn on" this year, I will never say that Cameron or Mueller knew how to draft.
Maybe we can exercise some of this "patience" with Henne, too And back to the OP...Fields was pretty amazing yesterday, and for the most part so was the coverage.
I've said this before, but it really takes a little longer for that dominating NT to develop. Look back to the the Sam Adams and Teddy Washington, even our own Jason Ferguson...not guys that were dominating from their rookie years. It took them all 6 yrs to get to that status of 'dominating'. Now there are some exceptions, like maybe Ngata and Wilfork, but even Wilfork took 3-4 years to develop into that classic 3/4 NT... We've all been waiting for this guy to finally 'get' it. I think he's well on his way and it really took injuries for this staff to finally say, "Ok, Paul...show us what you can do !" But he's starting to do it consistently now....It has really lessened the impact of injuries to Odrick, Merling and Fergy's retirement, etc...
One of the biggest factors in a players success is being in a system that fits their talents. At this level, almost all have enough talent to excel in the right situation. The other huge factor is the player's own drive. So if you have driven players, its mostly on the coaches to put them in a situation where they can succeed. With Soliai, he had some motivation issues early on. IMO the coaches have done a nice job developing him and showed enough patience while he grew up. Certain positions just take time to develop, like NT and QB.
The irony is with Soliai developing into a very fine NT and Starks back to DT it looks like we didn't need to draft Jared Odrick. It is looking more and more like a wasted 1st round pick.
No way Bro, when a team offers McDaniel 20 million for 4 yrs you will see the value in Odie, you can never have to many good Dlinemen or Linebackers in the 3-4, or any defense for that matter.
Sure for depth but a first round pick. He is an inside guy who uses his arms well and that is about it. I didn't like the pick before and I'm even less fond of it having now seen this defense without him.
Kinda agree...I think Odrick will be a nice player..but I agree you don't draft for depth in the first round...see: Jamar Fletcher Meanwhile all sorts of other talent was there...
Put it this way, drafting Odie is a move the Ravens or Steelers would have made, drafting a small college G and expecting him to start so you cut your all pro G is a move the jets will make. Steelers draft guys before they are absolutely needed, that is one of the keys to their success even though they pick in the late 20's most seasons guys like Ziggy Hood and Timmons, they took Woodley when they had guys playing at a high level at OLB. As for Odie the player, to me he will match up really well with Wake on the other side of the defense in nickel situations to start. And if McD walks, we have Merling or Odie to plug into the mix to replace him two #1 picks..THAT is depth and it allows concentration of resources on fixing this woeful offense.
All very good points, too. It's not like our d-line was old or anything though. I guess if you rewind the tape back to April there were some serious questions though. We didn't really know how effective Starks/Solai would be at NT...was McDaniel a keeper, what's up with Merling, etc...so I can see why they made the pick... I'm just a sucker for big-name offense I guess
I like Odrick. I think he'll develop into a good to very good player. I also like what Misi is doing. But I do think we would have been better off adding Earl Thomas, who I believe will become an Ed Reed level player. This defense is a few INTs away from becoming an elite unit.
In all fairness, though, nobody thought Soliai was going to do what he's done this year back in April. Not sure even Soliai thought he would do this! And - at least - unlike Fletcher, it would seem (in limited action) that Odrick can play. Sure, hindsight being 20-20, we wouldn't have taken Odrick, but in April, it seemed logical.
Do you mean the INTs dropped? Because I agree with you. Although if those same INTs are caught, we're not even talking about Earl Thomas at this point.
Needed that #2 pick back from the Marshall trade so Thomas was never really on the menu. Interesting to note, Ryan Matthews is not producing in SD either, of the three the only draft pick that is performing at all is Koa Misi.
IMO that was a mistake. When you have the opportunity to take a great player, it usually just makes sense to do take him.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't have minded staying at 16 (or wherever it was we were) and taking Dez Bryant!! Just my humble opinion!! But that's hindsight talking.
Yep, at the time I said he was a once every ten yrs type of player because his on field speed was amazing and he could play S or Cb with aplomb, overall I am happy with Odie, but still, suspect Thomas will be an all pro for a long time.
Especially hanging around with Cam Wake and his dedication to getting better, when a young guy sees a vet working THAT hard all of the time, it should inspire them to improve themselves as well. Why Koa has not developed a spin move is beyond me.
Clemons has dropped INTs in many of the games. I believe that if Thomas had been manning that spot, several of those and possibly others would have ben caught. Maybe he would have even made a few plays in yesterday's game. IMO our record would be better right now if we had had a few more INTs caught this year and our playoff prospects would be a bit brighter.
After starting off with a bang Earl Thomas hasn't been all that special. He has been one of the reasons the Seahawks have been getting killed lately.
Did you see that play where the ball was on the far hash mark and Sancy scrambled and tried to get around the wide edge of the play , Soliai stayed with him and forced him out of bounds for no gain ... 2nd and 10 ...wow ... that is an athletic move for a large LARGE man ...
Strict bull rusher at this point...every time...he played a very nice game though, does a lot of different things, and does them solidly for a rookie..bigger stronger must be his mantra..hopefully he trains with Wake this offseason..
Come on Deej, a spin move is dirt simple to learn, even current jello body Merling has an effective spin move..
IMO they have defensive system issues in Seattle. Nolan has been nothing short of incredible in his play calls here. He has done a magical job of putting his secondary in position to make plays. I think that Earl Thomas in Nolan's system would put him in position to catch a ton of INTs.
