Free Safety
 

I just went over to the Skins Official site and they're talking about Reed and Kareem being the FS? In my opinion Horton and Kareem would be better at FS. Laron and Reed would be best at SS. Making Reed a FS would be a huge mistake and a waste of my ability.

What Sayeth the Mob?

Re: Free Safety
 

Reed, Horton & Laron IMO are all SS the only FS is Kareem. Horton & Reed don't have the speed to play FS IMO they would really need to know their assignments & trust their teammates in order for them to play FS.

Re: Free Safety
 

I don't see how it would waste your ability, nor his. We'll have to see all what they're doing with the safeties. It seems like we won't have a lone guy back all of the time, so if Reed only has to cover half of the field a good amount of the time no big deal hopefully.

Re: Free Safety
 

In the article Moore spoke of Reed having some abilities he wished he had and mentioned how intelligent Reed is. They're trying different things right now. Moore seems to be picking things up from Reed and that is a good thing. There's still a ways to go before the season starts.

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FS will probably be a revolving door depending on the situation

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I, too, am nervous about Reed and FS. I wish we would pick up another FS for better depth.

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[quote=Lotus;700003]I, too, am nervous about Reed and FS. I wish we would pick up another FS for better depth.[/quote]

Uh, have you forgot about Lendy Holmes?

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[quote=WaldSkins;700004]Uh, have you forgot about Lendy Holmes?[/quote]

Yes, I did forget about him. But if Moore gets hurt, do you really want Holmes starting at FS? We need a second starting quality FS and all of our other safeties (besides Holmes) seem best at SS.

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Ummm, LaRon is still our free safety. Better coaches get better result from better players and suck as he may at times no one is a better FS on our roster than LaRon.

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Laron didn't bulk up like that to play FS.

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[quote=Lotus;700006]Yes, I did forget about him. But if Moore gets hurt, do you really want Holmes starting at FS? We need a second starting quality FS and all of our other safeties (besides Holmes) seem best at SS.[/quote]

Is Fred Smoot still on the team?

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=WaldSkins;700013]Is Fred Smoot still on the team?[/quote]

Smoot will be a Falcon soon. He lives in the ATL.

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[quote=saden1;700010]Ummm, LaRon is still our free safety. Better coaches get better result from better players and suck as he may at times no one is a better FS on our roster than LaRon.[/quote]
This, but I do think we are going to see some switched up looks from all the safeties multiple times a game. (LaRon blitz from a SS look, then drop back to FS the the next play, etc..)

Re: Free Safety
 

LaRon has been saying himself that he'll be playing SS not free safety. At least that's what the plan is. Of course I dont doubt that pretty much everyone will be moved around but that's what he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nah, man, I'm playing strong safety," Landry said in a phone interview Sunday."

"What I'm saying is, what I was trying to say, is that strong safety, in my role this season as far as being a leader, I want to know what everybody does on the field. Even the d-linemen and the linebackers," he said. "With me playing strong safety, I'm at linebacker depth, so I need to know my [run] gaps, my coverages and everything."


[url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/3-4-defense/landry-clarifies-his-comments.html]Redskins Insider - Landry clarifies his comments about playing linebacker[/url]

Re: Free Safety
 

Wasn't O.J. the FS from the Rams under Haslett?

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NFL Network's Steve Wyche reports that restricted free agent FS O.J. Atogwe will not sign his tender with the Rams, meaning he'll become an unrestricted free agent on June 1.

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Listening to Hasslett in a Comcast Interview, the safeties are going to learn to play both positions since he does not designate free and/or strong.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=Longtimefan;700027]Listening to Hasslett in a Comcast Interview, the safeties are going to learn to play both positions since he does not designate free and/or strong.[/quote]

This concerns me a bit...does anyone know how this has worked out for other teams before? Just curious.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=Lotus;700003]I, too, am nervous about Reed and FS. I wish we would pick up another FS for better depth.[/quote]

That's what I was hoping for after OT in the draft. Can't always get what you want.

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[quote=Ruhskins;700029]This concerns me a bit...does anyone know how this has worked out for other teams before? Just curious.[/quote]

I don't think what he intends to deploy is going to be that much different from what we've grown accustomed to seeing. When Kelly Johnson (of Comcast) asked him about Laron Landry and the free safety position, he stated that in his defense the safeties are not characterized as being either strong or free. So for him it could just be a language thing as opposed to position being a way to distinguish it.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=Longtimefan;700027]Listening to Hasslett in a Comcast Interview, the safeties are going to learn to play both positions since he does not designate free and/or strong.[/quote]

this comment also interests me. i have little knowledge of X's and O's, so can someone expand on this for me?

Re: Free Safety
 

I've been thinking lately that FS and SS isn't all that different from LT and RT with FS being more like LT and SS being more like RT. I mean if you think about it the requirements of LT are to be athletic and more geared towards pass protection then run blocking while RT's are typically less athletic maulers that are usually better at run blocking then pass blocking.

On the other hand FS's are usually more athletic and geared towards pass defense then run support while SS's are usually more geared towards hard hitting types that are much better at run support then their FS counterparts. On top of that FS is more difficult to play hence the parallel to LT.

[quote=Redskin Warrior;700023]Wasn't O.J. the FS from the Rams under Haslett?[/quote]

I want him for our defense, personally I think he'd fit like a glove.
[IMG]http://www.gamepolitics.com/images/oj-glove.jpg[/IMG]

[quote=Ruhskins;700029]This concerns me a bit...does anyone know how this has worked out for other teams before? Just curious.[/quote]

Look no further then the Redskins under Gregg Williams. It wasn't until Landry came in that GG decided to designate safeties as Free and Strong.

From the Washington Examiner:
[quote]He needs to learn both free and strong safety in Jim Haslett's scheme, which does not differentiate between the two positions [B](Gregg Williams' defenses did not make a distinction either, until they drafted Landry and put him at strong safety and Sean Taylor at free)[/B]. Landry, drafted as a strong safety, has played free safety since Taylor's death in 2007.[/quote]

Washington Post after Landry was Drafted:
[quote]The Redskins do not emphasize the distinction between strong safety and weak safety. More often, Gregg Williams's defenses emphasize one safety who is "in the box" while another is playing "center field." Last year, Taylor fared better at the former than the latter, where he frequently was a step late on deep passes or took overly aggressive angles and whiffed on big hits. Now that Archuleta is gone, Landry may move fairly quickly into a role where opponents don't know, until the last second, which high-impact Redskins safety is threatening to blitz and which has deep responsibility.[/quote]
[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042901692.html]Thomas Boswell - This Guy Could Be Faster Than a Speeding Bullet - washingtonpost.com[/url]

Re: Free Safety
 

I believe Haslett have packages that will require some specific players to play all positions, depending on their skills.. For example, Laron - he can set up at LB area as LB but then plays as SS during the play.. It's just matter of different strategies, not a big deal.. Unless those strategies sucks..

Edit: DirtBag pretty much got it, I was SS in HS and college (nothing big) but some plays I played FS.. It all depends on players' skills and how coaches utilize them..

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[quote=Dirtbag359;700043]On the other hand FS's are usually more athletic and geared towards pass defense then run support while SS's are usually more geared towards hard hitting types that are much better at run support then their FS counterparts. On top of that FS is more difficult to play hence the parallel to LT.[/quote]

I think that's a fairly accurate comparison. I also think that people keep forgetting that Landry is definitely the most athletic safety on our roster. He's got all the physical tools he needs to be a good FS, he just hasn't played very well. I think a lot of our secondary's problems last year were coaching related, and I want to see what Haslett does before dismissing Landry as "just a strong safety." I think we already have two very capable, if not flashy, SS's on the roster in Horton and Doughty, and while I also like Moore as a FS, I think Landry will be better this year.

For the record, I also like the idea of not having permanent center field/run support roles (although Landry's got such good speed for CF duty), as it reflects what I think Haslett's going to focus on this year in keeping opposing offenses guessing.

Also for the record, I think Doughty is the best tackler on our team after London Fletcher.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=Trample the Elderly;700038]That's what I was hoping for after OT in the draft. Can't always get what you want.[/quote]

If we sign Atogwe after June 1, we could have our best safety tandem since #21 was on the gridiron.

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[quote=Redskin Warrior;700023]Wasn't O.J. the FS from the Rams under Haslett?[/quote]

lol i was reading this thread the whole time waiting for someone to say this. Haslett said there is no FS/SS in his new defense. He just says there is an open and close. But Laron bulked up and both him and haslett said he will be in the box much more often. I think we may have a lead in the race for Otagwe. #1 hes a true FS and we need one. #2 We have the money to do it and he's a young guy worth using it on.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=PHazard;700056]lol i was reading this thread the whole time waiting for someone to say this. Haslett said there is no FS/SS in his new defense. He just says there is an open and close. But Laron bulked up and both him and haslett said he will be in the box much more often. I think we may have a lead in the race for Otagwe. #1 hes a true FS and we need one. #2 We have the money to do it and he's a young guy worth using it on.[/quote]
I don't know that I'd call him young but yeah

Re: Free Safety
 

A primer for upcoming game reviews: need to get used to the descriptive term of "safety". Free and Strong are rarely used in NFL defenses anymore, although for the last three years, the Redskins did their best to keep it alive. Now, it's just the Bengals, Saints, and Broncos, I think, that use free safeties and strong safeties.

Re: Free Safety
 

I was gonna say that in general, in recent years haven't most safeties been expected to be able to cover no matter where they are playing?

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The cover 2 is essentially 2 free safeties. Under GW & GB from 07 to 09 we dropped both back 20 yards often.

Still, it sounds like Laron will be in the box more, so they've got to have confidence in someone to be deep, i.e. free safety. I like Kareem Moore & believe he'll win that job. Remember that Doughty started as a free safety. In fact, he played in ST's spot when he was hurt in 07, then after ST's death they moved Landry back & Reed in the box. Doughty played much better in the box v. the run & in underneath coverage.

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does anyone know how much cover 2 Haslett runs, if any?

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[quote=GridIron26;700044]I believe Haslett have packages that will require some specific players to play all positions, depending on their skills.. For example, Laron - he can set up at LB area as LB but then plays as SS during the play.. It's just matter of different strategies, not a big deal.. Unless those strategies sucks..

Edit: DirtBag pretty much got it, I was SS in HS and college (nothing big) but some plays I played FS.. It all depends on players' skills and how coaches utilize them..[/quote]

That's pretty much the way Hasslett described his use of the safety positions.

The game has changed so much from it's early concepts regarding strong & free safety, a time before the two positions had a class distinction. DC's now deploy the psitions in a variety of ways. Strong origionally got it's name by a safety almost always lining up on the strong side of the formation covering the T/E exclusively....where the FS was freed-up to help double with the corner when necessary. Now, with so much pre-snap motion, audibles and three/four W/R sets, DC's are finding more creative ways to utilize the two positions.

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I wouldn't judge our free safety positon by what was done in the past. They left free safeties on islands like they were corners under Blache. I think Reed can help double, but I wouldn't want him one on one with a wide out or an elite TE.

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well you all probably think i'm crazy, but my gut still tells me that we trade haynesworth before the season. maybe we pick up a FS in the deal. or maybe there's a surprise cut in June and we pick up a FS that way. i just dont feel like we'll go into the season with what we have. i also think doughty or horton gets cut.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=joethiesmanfan;700099]I wouldn't judge our free safety positon by what was done in the past. They left [B]free safeties on islands like they were corners under Blache[/B]. I think Reed can help double, but I wouldn't want him one on one with a wide out or an elite TE.[/quote]

They dropped deep, but I wouldn't call that on an island, they were only one on one if the CB let the wr go, but that was not the case most of the time. If the route went that deep usually the CB went w/the wr & the safety was his help.

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[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;700104]well you all probably think i'm crazy, but my gut still tells me that we trade haynesworth before the season. maybe we pick up a FS in the deal. or maybe there's a surprise cut in June and we pick up a FS that way. i just dont feel like we'll go into the season with what we have. i also think doughty or horton gets cut.[/quote]

I don't think it's crazy at all to think AH gets traded. I don't know about getting a safety. I would hate to see Doughty or Horton cut, but they both bring similar abilities & limitations, might be a luxury we can't keep.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;700104]well you all probably think i'm crazy, but my gut still tells me that we trade haynesworth before the season. maybe we pick up a FS in the deal. or maybe there's a surprise cut in June and we pick up a FS that way. i just dont feel like we'll go into the season with what we have. i also think doughty or horton gets cut.[/quote]

It'd be easier to pick up Otogwe. Honestly, a Haynesworth trade is wishful thinking and it'd be really stupid for the team to do this at this point. Given this stupid perception that there's a horrible rift and that he's a problem and everything Jason LaCanfora and Mike Florio are reporting, teams are probably willing to sit and low ball the Redskins in any trade offers.

Re: Free Safety
 

[quote=BigHairedAristocrat;700104]well you all probably think i'm crazy, but my gut still tells me that we trade haynesworth before the season. maybe we pick up a FS in the deal. or maybe there's a surprise cut in June and we pick up a FS that way. i just dont feel like we'll go into the season with what we have. i also think doughty or horton gets cut.[/quote]

I'd cut Landry before I'd cut either one of them. They're cheaper and just as good, maybe better.

Re: Free Safety
 

Anything could happen with a new staff I guess, but Doughty has really turned into a solid player, I don't see him getting cut. He's the kind of hard working overachiever coaches love.

I'm hoping for big things from Moore. It's time for him to step up and contribute.

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[quote=Ruhskins;700113]It'd be easier to pick up Otogwe. Honestly, a Haynesworth trade is wishful thinking and [B]it'd be really stupid for the team to do this at this point.[/B] Given this stupid perception that there's a horrible rift and that he's a problem and everything Jason LaCanfora and Mike Florio are reporting, teams are probably willing to sit and low ball the Redskins in any trade offers.[/quote]

I don't agree w/that. Apparently he wasn't traded because teams wouldn't meet the skins demands. If there is still the desire to trade him & someone meets demands, it will get done & it could be good for us. A training camp injury could spur some offers a la the J. Taylor trade in 08, only we would hopefully be on the better end this time.

given Allen's fiscal discipline to this point, I think he's set the trade bar for AH fairly high realizing that the danny has already spent a lot of $ on him. If we can't get value for him then they'll just try & get their money's worth on the field.

This is the ideal trade: AH for J. Brown & NO pays us a portion of Brown's signing bonus in a new deal w/the skins.