This is going to be a chance for a lot of players to prove themselves or show they still got it. Check it out: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...mi-dolphins-such-as-jared-odrick-1831512.html
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If we go 1-3 or 1-4, Please...please...football gods, let our one win be over the Patriots. I haven't been this nervous over a game in awhile.
Larry Little and Kanye West like this. -
Man, I hope Odrick and Smith can back up their words. Smith can, no question be a stud CB. His height and athleticism is a serious advantage he has vs other CB's. WIth WR's now coming at you with 6'5/220lb frames having that height is an equalizer that few teams have the luxury of. And Odrick can settle for being just another cog in what should be an elite D-Line rotation or he can separate himself and make himself standout. He can be the pass-rusher, the Richard Seymour or Aaron Smith...the key cog that lead Super Bowl winning defenses as an elite pass rushing 3-4 end.
Now the right side of the OL...they have a different something to prove. They have to prove they arent washed up!smahtaz likes this. -
I just want to beat the damn Pats. I hate everything about them
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I can't wait for the game so we can stop hearing them talk, and see them play.
I don't mind so much Odrick talking, he has a lot to say, and I'm pulling hard for him.
Smith...ugh. I wish both of our Corners would just SHUT UP and do it on the field. Particularly, make some interceptions when the ball hits them in their damn hands.
Smith's physical tools are obvious, but it's also obvious that he plays soft, and in preseason he didn't flash any indication that his coverage skills nor his tackling have improved. -
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Wow, Smith continues to get dogged like he's Reggie f*cking Howard.
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I agree Smith can use tackling work but he is not as poor as some here make him out to be. -
Thats the thing about the two corners, and Why I have Vontae as being superior, right now have no worries about any part of Vontae's game that would cause me concern, I can't say the same about Smith. -
His length makes up for it though I think. -
NaboCane likes this.
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I hope he "gets it" and turns his game around. But he's been playing Corner now for 3 offseasons and 2 full seasons as a pro; and he was drafted as a Corner, not a position-change and a project. And, come this preseason, there he was again—making bonehead mistakes like going for the ball instead of making the tackle on LeGarrette Blount.
I'll tell you what I don't like: I see a guy with a very blasé attitude on the field in terms of how he carries himself. And if he was like that and nevertheless got results, then more power to him—but that's clearly not the case.
Steve mentioned Deion, and that was funny. But it brings into the discussion that good-to-great Corners weren't always necessarily great tacklers, but they always did something else well to mitigate that; Deion and Sam Madison were two guys who never met a tackle they didn't avoid, but they were awesome talents in coverage. So you forgave them their failings.
The fact is, Smith doesn't do anything particularly well; he has mental lapses, bites hard on fakes, is late in coverage a lot more than you'd like. But he's also a mediocre tackler, and that's the one thing you'd like him to at least be decent at, given his size.
In fact, he's a guy without a fallback position: if he fails at Corner, given his size you'd think he would make a decent Safety—but he doesn't tackle anywhere near well enough to make that work.
And I'm sorry, Matt, but stats on negatives are always highly subjective and unreliable. That he shows to have only 4 missed tackles last season is a very suspect stat when you actually observe him, and note all the things I've mentioned.
All that combined is why it galls me that he doesn't have the good sense to shut the **** up until he actually does something besides draft behind Davis...who, 3 inches shorter and smaller than Smith, is a far surer tackler and lots better in coverage. And that right there is what worries me the most about the kid: I don't think he's very bright, and—like I said before—I don't think he's fully devoted to his craft.
We saw the cautionary tale of Kory Sheets unfold over the preseason, and the ugly ending it had because Sheets, with all the physical tools you could want for what they wanted him to do, was not dedicated to his craft, and had such poor common sense that he actually made moronic tweets which showed how stupid and unmotivated he really was. I don't see Smith as being too far off that model.steveincolorado likes this. -
I find much of the criticism of Smith here to be baseless. He was our best CB last year, better than Davis. He got beat less often and he missed fewer tackles. In a league where receiving TEs are increasing in importance, he's by far our best weapon against that. I think the criticism is largely based on the dropped INTs (although those are still passes defensed) and the perception of his personality not being fiery enough.
Anonymous and GridIronKing34 like this. -
Sometimes I wonder what exactly some people are watching out there -
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Well, we do know that SS24 is going to start, so whether he has improved or not, he will be out on the field.
I personally like players saying things simply because there is no real downside to it, for Example Revis said he would lock down Moss, when he did not, there were no repercussion for saying he would then failing to do so. -
If you were to cut off both of his arms, he would still be the same player. At this time, he cant catch Int's or make a wrap up tackle. It just seems that all his hits are with him diving at the legs of a ball carrier with his shoulders and yes, his teammates , have had to finish the job, even in this preseason.
I think Smith is a below average CB at this stage of his career. Don't care what the stats say.NaboCane likes this. -
steveincolorado likes this.
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If he is going for the ankle trip up then he needs to hit on it 99% of the time. -
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Willing to give SS the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise, honestly the biggest improvement on this D in stopping big plays IMHO will not necessarily be SS or VD, but rather Dansby and Burnett, a tandem that truly excites me. Hopefully Davis, Bell Dansby and Burnett have influenced Sean Smith enough to up his game and along with Odrick & JT plus Misi being in his 2nd year and improving due to mentoring from JT, I truly think the D could have a lockdown capability to keep the Pats and others from killing us with the big plays.
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The pinnacle of hubris-based arrogance.steveincolorado likes this. -
And to be honest... I liked what I saw in regards to that. B/c IMO... you can teach tackling technique. You cant teach physicality...Oghma likes this. -
I use stats to confirm what I think I see. When they are diametrically opposed to my perception then odds are that I'm not being objective or that there is a flaw in my analysis. Sometimes stats can deceive (correlation vs. causation). Here we have you saying he can't tackle and the stats showing he missed fewer tackles than the guy you think can tackle. You say he's not good in coverage and the stats show that he was better than the guy you think is good. In this case the stats say that your perception does not match reality. While I may often be guilty of arrogance in this case it's not hubris on my part.BlameItOnTheHenne likes this. -
God forbid Sean Smith has trouble tackling a 250 pound running back who stands 6'0" in LaGarrette Blount... He's not a linebacker for crying out loud.
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That's a mistake you make as a rookie; this is Smith's third preseason. Why can't we expect him to get better without MB-coddling him?finyank13 likes this. -
steveincolorado likes this.
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My point is that Smith played the position in college and now has had three offseasons to learn his position in the pros, and he still makes mental errors which cost his team big. And you can't even say that this play was an anomaly; how many times did you see Smith look bad on a play just this preseason, his third? And I don't mean simply not making the play...I mean look bad; lost, clueless.
Like a guy who isn't paying attention.
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