Just random pennies from me that may or may not add up to 2 cents.
It seems to me that some of the discussion I see about the FS spot is still caught in the gray area thing surrounding how the GW defense uses the FS. I don’t have hours of study poured into this, but it seems to me some people assume that FS means a center fielder type…when with GW the FS is more of a deep hitter and last line of defense. It’s probably better called a deep safety though even that;s not exlcusive.
I am not sure I see the secondary as a source of concern. They added 6 DBs this year, one in the form of a free agent (Sensabaugh) and then 5 UDFAs: Rohan Gaines, Michael Jordan, Jordan Lomax, Brian Randolph, and Jabriel Washington. (Another, Winston Rose, has already been cut). At least 3 of the UDFAs are every bit as intriguing in their own way as the 4 UDFA WRs (Randolph, Washington, Jordan). Prior to this year, from 2013-15 they added 7, including Davis, McDonald, Joyner, Alexander, Gaines, Bryant, and Troy Hill (Another, McGee, was cut.)
The thing about McL is, he actually had trouble adjusting to the GW defense in 2014. He was much better in 2015. Now the guys they’re talking about, primarily Bryant and Alexander, have been in that defense for 2 years already.
I also think that many fans discussing this are trying to make a lot of guesses based on just body type. I am not sure that really applies in this case. For example Bryanr and Alexander LOOK very different physically, though they may actually have the same qualifications for play as a GW FS—that is, recognition, communication, and response (including angles, hitting force, effective tackling, and so on). The guy who will get the advantage will be the one who gets the mental part down most effectively and I doubt we could figure out who that is without being in the meeting rooms as GW breaks down their play. So the fact that they look different doesn’t necessarily tell us anything about the role either one will end up with.
It could also be that whoever plays the most at FS this year is just a placeholder for Randolph, who I single out because from what little I have seen, he LOOKS like he plays a lot like McL. Same strengths as a player.
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Agamemnon
