Springs or smoot?
 

Who will cover the number one reciever and who will have more interceptions?

Smoot will have the most picks, but Springs will be covering the top reciever most of the time. Bauman will win the nickle spot.

if healthy, springs could easily have a pro-bowl calibur year this year covering the #1 guys but I don't think Williams system classifies which cb is #1 or 2 and they switch their assignments during the game. If springs plays up to his abilities, then teams might look more at whomever smoot is covering and smoot might have a chance for a 5-6 int season.

[QUOTE=Big C]Smoot will have the most picks, but Springs will be covering the top reciever most of the time. Bauman will win the nickle spot.[/QUOTE]


Hopefully Harris is back in time for the season to take Bauman's place.

From what Gregg Williams has been saying throughout the offseason, he doesn't really envision using a #1 and #2 corner, but will use Smoot and Springs interchangeably, depending on the personnel matchups. He also said he plans to use them more as "left" and "right" CBs, rather than assigning one of them to always cover the opponents' top wideouts, for whatever that's worth.

Between the two of them, Springs has a reputation as a more physical cornerback who supposedly would matchup better with the bigger receivers in this division, like TO and Keyshawn. When you look at the Redskins' schedule this year, it's chock full of teams whose top receivers are big, physical guys. Based on those personnel matchups, it would lead one to believe that Springs will more often be matched up against the #1 wideouts.

It does sound like Smoot intends to play more physically this season than he has in the past. He's been hitting the weights, trying to add some muscle to his frame (though I don't know if it's helped a whole lot in terms of his weight, he's probably a stronger player, at least), knowing that it will not only help him matchup better against the league's bigger wideouts, but also help him stay healthier. I think Smoot's going to have a great year, and he's certainly going to benefit from the more physical presence of his new backfield mates in Springs and Sean Taylor. I can see Smoot having a lot of picks this season.

Wow. I don't know why you guys see Springs as the #1. Let alone the defensive scheme; Smoot is the man. I saw Smoot make some plays that shows me he is a gamer. Guess I don't know much about Springs, but I like Smoot. Want him in a Redskins Jersey for a long time.

I see them as even, saves the adjustment mix ups and makes the D retain its shape better.

Springs has always been a number one corner, except for maybe last year. The injury stuff, i dont really see a big worry there, he has never missed a whole yaer, the most hes missed is 8 games, and he played most of the games last season. he was the #3 overall pick, and has been a pro bowler in the past. He is very fast, and experienced. Thats how i see him at #1. Smoot gave huge cushions at times last year, but he should be better, and will eventually be #1, but not this year.

[QUOTE=Big C]Springs has always been a number one corner, except for maybe last year. The injury stuff, i dont really see a big worry there, he has never missed a whole yaer, the most hes missed is 8 games, and he played most of the games last season. he was the #3 overall pick, and has been a pro bowler in the past. He is very fast, and experienced. Thats how i see him at #1. Smoot gave huge cushions at times last year, but he should be better, and will eventually be #1, but not this year.[/QUOTE]

good point. I think that might be smoot's main weakness in that he seems to like to bait qbs into throwing to the guy he's covering a bit too often. but I gotta admit he makes good, if not great plays on the ball sometimes and his baiting technique works sometimes cuz of his incredible recovery speed.
Joe makes a good point about how springs is gonna match up better with the bigger #1 wrs that litter our schedule and thus might get more oppurtunities to get an int. I hope the best for both and more awesome sound bytes outta smoot,lol.

And it will help them both to have Taylor back there, once he gets the feel of the pro game.

Even, but Smoot is a team leader and fan favorite.

SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

If we don't get a pass rush from the Dline and LB's blitzing, this question becomes irrelevant and they both get trashed often.

God, please send us a pass rush!

[QUOTE=Darock]Hopefully Harris is back in time for the season to take Bauman's place.[/QUOTE]

Yes i think we need Harris but do you think he will be back in time.Do you know how he is doing.

[QUOTE=jbcjr14]If we don't get a pass rush from the Dline and LB's blitzing, this question becomes irrelevant and they both get trashed often.

God, please send us a pass rush![/QUOTE]
Very true. There's going to be tremendous pressure on both Springs and Smoot to blanket their assignments, as the inevitable use of heavy blitzing will frequently leave them on an island. In addition to the LBs being very involved in the blitzing, both Taylor and Bowen will be thrown in the mix pretty regularly as well.

But I expect Gregg Williams to be very creative in his use of the safeties, and when the matchups dictate it, Taylor could be used one-on-one against some of the bigger wideouts and tight ends. This would free-up Bowen to blitz or assist Smoot/Springs with their assignments.

One thing that should help is the depth the team has acquired for nickel/dime packages with Walt Harris and Ralph Brown. Combined with Bauman, these guys should be able to keep opponents' 3rd and 4th receivers pretty quiet, which is always a concern when the safeties are frequently blitzing.

[QUOTE=jasonskin]Yes i think we need Harris but do you think he will be back in time.Do you know how he is doing.[/QUOTE]
Harris should be ready for the start of training camp. He may start off camp on light duty, but that would just be a precaution to ensure that he is available for the season opener.

it said in this weeks sporting news that Harris probably wont be fully recovered for training camp, so bauman will take his reps or something like that. They say Bauman is "speedy and confident". Ive always liked Rashad

I like Bauman also, but he's pretty small. Tough guy though. I saw make a couple of good tackles last year.

Dont expect to see Shockey free lancing in the middle of the field like he usually does. Taylor will be eyeing him, and with a rookie Qb hes going to take advantage of his mistakes.

Joe made a comment about putting Taylor on the bigger receivers. That could end up being a smart move, since Taylor is pretty big for his position,and is very fast. But I think that would not be a wise move this year. He might physcially match up better, against say TO, but I think TO is good enough that he would take advantage of any rookie, even Taylor. Where Taylor will shine is being a ball hawk and reading the QB, then making adjustments. I see him being like Rod Woodson has been sincehe moved to safety, where he just always seems to know where the QB is passing, and gets a lot of picks that way.

When Harris comes back, we should have no problem shutting down multiple receiver sets. we couldnt do that last year, but Harris was a starter last year and shoudl dominate as a third corner. At times he wasnt good enough to cover the number one guy, but he wotn have the burden next year anyways.

harris has been a starter his entire career, i think he actually may have started every game hes played in his entire career, maybe not one or 2

I like the idea of our corners being interchangeable. The only knock on Smoot is our he is undersized. I would worry if Smoot had to cover a number one reciever like Terrell Owens or Plaxico Burress as supposed to a Marvin Harrison or Peerless Price. I think we may be a little 'unbalanced' as far as athleticism if we move Arrington to weakside. As things are now, on the left side of the field we'll have Smoot, Arrington. and Taylor. On the right, Springs, Washington , and Bowen. Opposing teams may not want to run to either side, especially if they can run up the middle, but if they were going to pass, they may opt to take more chances against the right side. Which puts added pressure on Springs staying healty. Good thing we have solid depth at corner. I don't think Harris been ready before season starts is going to make or break us.

i agree, Harris is certainly the most experienced, but i do not know if he is the most talented. I saw that he started 15 games or something, but had no INTs, thats a little disturbing.

Someone mentioned our lack of d-line support in the past. Considering this I think it is all the more incredible that Bailey and Smoot did such a good job blanketing receivers.
I think that this year we will have nearly as much ability at corner, but overall more ability in the secondary considering the major upgrade at FS and the addition of a more solid nickelback. Springs may not have shown himself to be a dominant corner in the past couple years, but now that he is back home and working with an excellent training staff I think that he will stay healthy and show us some of the playmaking ability that made him a former 3rd overall pick.

Springs is the bigger CB so I would invison him covering the big strong WR's like T.O and Moss. But Smoot has better speed so he might match up better against the smaller faster WR's. I think it will change from week to week.