Since we signed two time CFL DPOY Cameron (Derek) Wake I've found the acquistion intriquing, 6'3 260 4.55 40 (I've read 4.49 in the CFL though) who was a not even an aftertought in the NFL, washed out of Giants camp, rumor has it he washed out of Ravens camp as well before heading for the CFL. Heading into Draft 09 like most it seemed a sure bet we would have landed Sintim or Matthews or even a Sidbury, and they would be the heir apparent at either SOLB or WOLB. After the draft however, it was clear that Cameron Wake was to be the OLB/DE for this season, he was described as a "Day 1 pick" if he had been in the draft this season so I sort of look at him like he is a our #44 allowing us to take a chance on Pat "golf cart" White for 'free". Which bring up the signing of JT vis a vis Cam Wake's role, looking back at an old thread, IMO Tuna made that call directly: From 5/3: We signed JT within seven days of Tuna eyeballing Wake, to me Tuna decided that Wake was not far enough along to bet the season on Cam Wake making a seamless transition into the NFL at OLB, our defense is just to complex. That said, JP is 32 and JT is 35 (though healthy) it is a safe bet Wake will see playing time this season just spelling either guy or playing DE in passing downs. At the end of the day, signing Wake meant passing on those young OLB's that everyone, myself included, thought we were going to draft, Ireland and Sparano have placed a large bet on Cameron Wake panning out for us, "if" Wake does little, or White continues banging balls off of field goal posts and golf carts we are in trouble this season, if both players perform at a high level, Ireland will have earned a rep as one of the best GM's in the NFL and Sparano and Staff will have a ready made pass rusher and a offensive weapon we haven't had in Miami since Ricky W was running for 1,800 yards. High Risk, High Reward Cam Wake and Pat White are strategically attached at the hip, so I personally hope both do well for us.
NIce post, I think you will be proven right. It may have been the CFL, but DPOY 2 years in a row and 37 sacks in 2 years says to me: top 10 first round draft pick if he had been in this draft. And we spant ZILCH on him except money. Thus allowing us to take Pat White, who is going to revolutionize the way Offenses are prepared for in the NFL, at least OUR offense. WildCatPat, has a nice ring to it, going to give opposing DC's nightmares preparing for the wC, especially once they see what this kid brings to the formation. Rated this thread a solid 4. I'll homerize with ya Padre about Cam and Pat any day.
Sweet PR, I'm not sure how many baseball fans we have on the board, but it strikes me the Trifecta think like Baseball managers, they are always looking 3 innings ahead before they make a move. We signed Wake after scouting him for 2 years, but we also need more offensive weapons and drafting at the #25 slot meant we would not have the best athletes available...in theory...but we could take the perfect WC triggerman Qb, a player Tuna had been watching since last October. We had three major needs,cornerbacks, pass rushers and more offense, and 3 picks in the top 64 to get them, we shored up the secondary (in theory) with Wilson, Smith and Davis, added two pass rushers in Wake and JT, and added the ultimate boom or bust player in White operating the WildCat. If it works, we could have a very very good secondary, a exciting offense with the addition of a single player in White, and the best pass rush in the AFC East. Which is "why" I'm a Wake Homer, he has to pan out if we are to be any good this season, "unless" JT still has it, JP picks up were he left off and Roth has better success getting sacks and playing with more range. The Wildcard in that mix is Erik Walden, if one listens to what is being said about him and by whom, the "right" people are giving him some props. The downside is, thinking ahead, Wake may be only hype, JT could be a very limited player now, White may be hopelessly inaccurate (overthrows in the NFL are known as interceptions) and Smith and Davis could be abused by the Owen's Evan's and Moss's of the AFC East and could take 2 season to be any good.
What up Padre I agree that signing Wake was like picking one of those hybrid linebackers we all wanted in the draft {especially Larry english}. But i also think no matter who we drafted, english, scintim or whoever, that JT would of been signed regardless. I think the co- leader of this team {Joey Porter} made it abundantly clear that he needed help on his defense, even in the leadership dept. Which is a big Proclamation for a Joey Porter.. Jt protects the investment in wake, teaches the investment the right way, and with those measurables, maybe thats all that freak of nature needs. I also think that Parcells recognized how much closer they are then expected and that adding a JT gets them that much closer. This regime is committed to this particular team with Chad pennington at the helm, their givin him their shot. IMO, JT looks good, his body looks good {bigger, stronger}, and with his genetics i dont see drop off in his game, The football IQ of this guy makes us so much better when hes on the field. So i disagree with you that parcells signed Taylor because he thought wake was'nt ready enough. Jason Taylor coming home had destiny written all over it..I cant believe it happened that way but iam glad it did.
I'm not sure that the JT signing had much to do with Wake. The fact is that most rookie pass rushers don't get that many sacks, even guys who become great. There have been a few but most don't get double digit sacks. I look at a guy like Demarcus Ware whom Parcells would like to replicate. He was arguably the best player in the draft that year and he got 7 sacks. That was a great rookie season. If Wake gets 4 - 5 sacks this year we should all be thrilled. IMO the JT signing was simply part of the double-up strategy this regime has used when attacking every need. Also JT was a no brainer. He came cheap and has been ultra-productive almost every year. Even last year he had 3.5 sacks in the 8 games he started. That's almost a sack every other game and he played most of those games injured. (coincidentally, JT had 5 sacks his rookie year while starting 11 games). This is a bit off-topic but Wake's story reminds of DPOY James Harrison's. Harrison was an UDFA who had great physical talent but didn't really listen to the coaches enough and often times didn't try hard enough. But after getting cut from a couple of teams and playing a stint in NFL Europe he changed his attitude. It took him a bit to get going though. He played STs mostly with occasional LB reps and then only became a fill-in starter due to injury. I see Wake as playing STs a great deal this season and getting LB reps in obvious passing situations. I do hope Wake blossoms next year as the dominant force I think he can be.
The timing is the reason why IMO we signed JT, Tuna spent that hour watching Wake, and the Trifecta looks for very specific things in players at the position they are being tried in, whatever Tuna saw, it meant we signed JT. Tuna watched Wake on the the 3rd, by the 7th we had signed JT, to me that isn't coincidence. And I also think JT was surprised at how hard they work in the OTA's, which is also a good thing as now JT "knows" what he is going to have to do to be able to take his shot at earning playing time. I posted that picture up in Club, JT isn't in top shape yet...but he will be by August 1, I guarantee...
Perhaps, but keep in mind Wake played more football at a higher level then Ware did when he arrived with the Cowboys, Ware was a rook, Wake had played in back to back CFL West Championship games. So to me, Wake is more experienced then Ware, but saw the field more then Wake might this season. What made JT well..JT wasn't just the sacks, it was the forced fumbles, he is as good as LT was in his prime at stripping the ball out, he had two FF with the Redskins, and even then, his calf was not 100%. We are getting JT at 100%, like Penny last season, a healthy Vet who was productive in the past normally produces albeit not as highly as they once did, IMO that is one of the keys to the Pats success with older Lb's, they know they can still play, don't ask them to make plays like they are still 26.. Perhaps, but DPOY Harrison did begin his stint with a much better team around him then Wake might be, and he had the most important thing...the opportunity to play, Sporano nurses access like a kid with an allowance, for example they kept track of the number of repetitions that Vontae Davis has had..235 reps so far in OTA's and mincamps. I suspect they are doing the same with Wake, to me they have some internal "effort=reward" curve for players, and based on how they advance they then decide who sees the field and who doesn't, that saves time trying to develop a player who is not going to develop that much ala Jason Allen. The downside to that is, once they make a decision on a player, that is it, unless the players "jumps" as Sporano calls it, they are pigeon holed in the role they have been given. Agree, more or less, Wake will probably also play DE not OLB, and then only if he shows if nothing else he can rush the passer. If Wake is raw on the OLB stuff aside from pass rushing, then he will be a nickel rusher...period...once a decision is made, unless a position coach speaks up for a player, that is what they will be doing. For example, when HC Sporano said "we need J Allen to run around and play like a fast big guy" they weren't speaking of Cb, he was speaking of JA on Special Teams. That is how Sporano sort of tips his hand, when asked about Wake he mentioned " he is here to rush the passer and we've seen a jump in his speed and technique" meaning: Wake is a better pass rusher then a linebacker at this point in time..
But my understanding is that they had been in contact for a few weeks before the signing actually happened. I guess it could be that BP saw Wake and said we need somebody for this year but it could just as easily be that BP wanted to make sure that JT was serious about coming on board under BP's rules. Or it could have been a host of other reasons as simple as the agent's and Ireland's schedules didn't align. It just seems like jumping to a conclusion to decide what the reason for the signing was.
Certainly, they had been in contact for quite sometime, they also nurse play counts and reps at a position, bringing JT in meant Wake would lose Reps. As for the Agents schedule, it would not have mattered, they had been in contact for weeks before hand, it took Tuna watchin Wake trying to do what they asked of him at the rookie mini camp for the decision to be made IMO.
Parcells invested big in Wake & competed for his services w/ several NFL teams Wake is the quincentennial ParcelsGuy. No one knows LB's like Bill Parcells. Wake will not disappoint. they will arrange the system to be able to play the Triad of Terror together. Wake is a starter.
I have little doubt Wake will contribute and his upside is much much higher then his downside, the difference is, I sort of view Wake as that #44 pick in a strategic sense. Looking at that way, Wake is no different from Sintim or Matthews or whomever, only IMO Wake will play more then those guys will at first.
Respectfully disagree about Wake got to let it play out. the most animate post won't make one sack in the 2009 season I think Wake is the RealDeal, a ProvenBull & will be a SackMaster in the NFL but I could be wrong, however, the playing field never deceives or makes a bad call. it is reality. we'll have to wait & see, not only about Wake but about all of them
Just finished watching the first Jets v Dolphins game and if we had a Wake or JT, things could have been vert different, Favre had his back to the goaline and we just could not get to him. As for Wake, we'll see.
