How Good can Jairus Byrd Be

[Mr. ChumChums]

So NFC South beat writer Pat Yasinskas, at the bottom of this article, basically said that the Cover 2 makes it harder for safety's to make big plays, as they're restricted from freely roaming. He references Darren Sharper here.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id...er-of-year-vote

 

The injuries at cornerback forced the Saints to use Sharper more in a Cover 2 scheme and he wasn’t as free to roam and come up with interceptions as he was early in the year.

 

 

So with that said...how good can Byrd be with a REAL defense???

[dgrid]

kinda takes the "free" outta free safety

[Max997]

I dont agree with that....the Cover 2 allows the Safety's to back up and keep their eyes on the QB at all times instead of having to turn and Cover...with their eyes on the QB it enables them to react faster to where the ball is being thrown

 

some guys just have a feel for the ball and getting interceptions and some guys dont...remember when Henry Jones first got into the lineup for the Bills in the early 90's...he always seemed to be in the right spot for those tipped passes

[DUTE]

if we bring in a REAL defense then i wouldnt care how many picks jairus gets. As long as we aren't allowing 1000000 rushing yards a game byrd can go every year without a pick for the rest of his career as long as da bills can win. i have strong belief in our secondary as a whole to be stout anyways (George Wilson is the most underrated player on the team now that freddy FINALLY got some recognition)

[dgrid]

(George Wilson is the most underrated player on the team now that freddy FINALLY got some recognition)

and they gotta resign him. He's a restrict FA, assuming no agreemnt. if there's an agreemnt, think he's unrestricted.

I say trade Whitner for McNabb and start Wilson.

[Haven Moses]

We didn't play that much cover 2 this season. Byrd was most successfull when he was the single deep or three deep safety.

[K Gun Special]

We didn't play that much cover 2 this season. Byrd was most successfull when he was the single deep or three deep safety.

 

thank you im glad someone said it. It looked like a lot of times his pick were coming from the man free or cover 3 coverage. Having a cover 2 defense as a base defense doesnt mean you always play cover 2. jeez.

[vincec]

So the defense limited him to being tied for the league lead in interceptions on the second best pass defense in the NFL?

 

Pass defense is not a weakness of the Cover 2. He needs to deflate the ego a little.

[gobillsinytown]

We didn't play that much cover 2 this season. Byrd was most successfull when he was the single deep or three deep safety.

 

Exactly. Byrd's strength is ballhawking, and most of his picks came in the deep middle.

[Mr. ChumChums]

thank you im glad someone said it. It looked like a lot of times his pick were coming from the man free or cover 3 coverage. Having a cover 2 defense as a base defense doesnt mean you always play cover 2. jeez.

 

Ahh ok. I was just assuming that since our base defense IS cover 2, that we DO play more cover 2 than a team that doesn't use it as the base scheme. If you're saying that most of his picks came from alternate formations and coverages, then wouldn't it be logical that playing less cover 2 leads to more picks?

[WVUFootball29]

and they gotta resign him. He's a restrict FA, assuming no agreemnt. if there's an agreemnt, think he's unrestricted.

I say trade Whitner for McNabb and start Wilson.

 

Um I highly doubt that Whitner and McNabb are of the same value on the market

[sharper802]

Exactly. Byrd's strength is ballhawking, and most of his picks came in the deep middle.

What's the difference between ball hawking and catching a terribly overthrown or tipped pass???

Look, Byrd was a bright spot on another bad year but at least half or a bit more of his INT's were on terribly thrown passes. He was beaten in coverage his fair share as well. Maybe his instincts put him a 1/2 step closer to making the play. In the NFL 1/2 step is probably the difference between competent player and ProBowl player.

Would Whitner have made those same plays at FS? Judging from the past probably not.

[Numark]

Yea, I love Byrd and I think he will be a great safety and I think he had an incredible year. And inf act, I bet he has many better years. But not in terms of intercepted passes. There is a good chance he never gets that many picks again in a year.

[Thoner7]

So NFC South beat writer Pat Yasinskas, at the bottom of this article, basically said that the Cover 2 makes it harder for safety's to make big plays, as they're restricted from freely roaming. He references Darren Sharper here.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id...er-of-year-vote

 

 

 

So with that said...how good can Byrd be with a REAL defense???

 

 

So how mnay more tipped passes do you want to be gift wrapped and handed to the guy?

[zazie]

Um I highly doubt that Whitner and McNabb are of the same value on the market

Yes, McNabb has some positive value, and Whitner has a bloated contract

[Thurman#1]

So NFC South beat writer Pat Yasinskas, at the bottom of this article, basically said that the Cover 2 makes it harder for safety's to make big plays, as they're restricted from freely roaming. He references Darren Sharper here.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id...er-of-year-vote

 

 

So with that said...how good can Byrd be with a REAL defense???

 

 

 

Here is the exact quote from your article: "The injuries at cornerback forced the Saints to use Sharper more in a Cover 2 scheme and he wasn’t as free to roam and come up with interceptions as he was early in the year." He said two things happened. He didn't say that one of those things was a result of the other.

 

 

 

 

As for how safeties do in the Cover 2, John Lynch was never a big ballhawk, but he consistently did better at Tampa in a Cover 2 than he did later on in Denver.

 

Dwight Smith got just as many with Tampa, maybe a few more, than he did with Minnesota and Detroit.

 

Chris Harris got a few more with the Bears (5 in two years) than he did with Carolina (5 in three years).

 

Mike Doss got more in Indy than he did in Minny and Cincinnati, but that may come down to a lack of playing time at those other clubs. Was he injured? Or did he just not start a lot?

 

No real INT monsters at safety on any of those three Super Bowl Cover 2 teams, but I checked for guys who went to non-Cover Two teams and if anything there were fewer INTs in different systems.