Thanks, I wish more people would realize this. If we're putting Dion on Graham, we might see a record night for Jimmy. Dion is a little overrated here on his coverage skills.
I don't think anyone was talking about putting DJ on JG all night long. I'm confused how some people can say his coverage skills are "overrated" when he hasn't been given the chance to do it yet. I'd agree with "unproven". Covering receivers isn't new to him. Obviously we'd like him to rush the passer more than anything, but I hope we install a gameplan that uses him on a few plays in coverage against dominant TE's. What is it about him that makes one think he can't cover a TE?? All I've seen is a freakish athlete who has tremendous size, speed, agility and quickness who was used in many ways in college and knows how to use his talents. While he runs a 4.56 40, he was the fastest player from 0 to 10yds in the entire draft......WR's included. His versatility was practically unmatched across the nation. That has to count for something. While I'd admit that one's college resume does not always translate into guaranteed immediate success in the NFL, it's hard to understand how anyone can dismiss it. It's not like the coaching staff would be asking him to go from DE to MLB and immediately start calling plays and barking assignments. That move requires experience. However, giving him the assignment of staying on Jimmy Graham is NOT asking him to do something trivial. It's not like JG has the moves of a Deshaun Jackson or AJ Green. His job would be to stay with JG all over the field on a given play using his speed and size. I think DJ is talented enough to stay with Graham, deal with double moves and make him a much more difficult target for Brees. I don't see JG separating much on him either. The only reason why we've never seen someone do this is because there is almost always a physical mismatch between the TE and opposing defenders. Usually its height or length. DJ can match JG in every physical aspect, except hands.
Well....it couldn't have been any worse than it was if we had just tried this. If you look at the two TDs he scored, it was his size that made all of the difference. We have guys with speed. We have guys with quickness. A few even have decent instincts. BUT....none of that matters when the guy is 6 inches taller than every defender in the secondary and his QB can drop it anywhere he wants. AS much as I dismiss everything that comes out of Gruden's mouth, listening to him praise the dominance of Graham is proof that he is rarely defended adequately and that's why his numbers keep getting better. They can go to him on every play if they wanted to and catch 75% of everything thrown his way as long as 6'1 - 6'2 DB's and Safeties are covering him all day. Oh well....I'll probably never get my way on this. It's frustrating since I think we have an ace in the hole that could be a game changer. If you take the Graham's and the Gronkowskis away on critical passing downs you are having a HUGE impact. And with Wake coming back and the pressure still getting there w/o Dion, we can afford to put Dion in coverage.
Dion Jordan wouldn't have fared any better. Yes, he's tall. But in man-coverage, Jimmy Graham would be just catching balls wide open against Jordan, as opposed to catching jump-balls against DBs. There is a lot of technical skill required to keep up with someone like Jimmy Graham, and Dion Jordan sure as hell doesn't have it. Jordan doesn't spend his time in practice working on route-recognition, back-pedaling, coming out of breaks, etc.
Those two garbage time passes to Graham killed me. Why was he still on the field that late! I wish they put DJ on him. I thought Grimes could have blown him up on that first TD. Grimes completely mistimed and misdirected his jump.
