Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post

shallyshal · 02-10-2005, 09:07 PM

both are imperfect players, but high effort guys. bowen is much more apt to make a spectacular play because of his raw speed, but is still a major liability in the defense because he takes such poor angles while closing. he tries to kill people and misses a lot of tackles for that reason. i do not know if that is something you can ever teach someone. it has to be an instinctive thing and once a defensive player starts thinking rather than reacting, he will always be a step or more slow. that is why bowen is an effective blitzer.. he just goes.

on the other hand, clark is a killer against the run. despite his small size, he plays the run like a linebacker and is able to shoot the gap and take down the back in the backfield before the play even starts. he is a total non factor against the pass. he is too small to match up against tight ends, and despite having played corner in college, he has very limited coverage skills. we are talking purely a zone player here, and one who has to be hidden from the offense. still, he seldom if ever was out of position, and is a sure tackler even in the secondary. both guys play fine special teams, but that is where bowen got hurt.

lott is the mystery one. he should have better coverage skills because he played a fair amount of corner in college. and he should be a tackler because he has the size to play safety effectively. but he seems to lack a basic feel for the game. always a step slow and he seldom makes plays either in pass coverage or against the run. my guess is that unless he progresses to a whole new level, he could be the odd player out.

when it comes down to it, what i would prefer the skins to do is to sign a veteran safety to complement taylor. just look at the value that harrison brought to the pats in solidifying the secondary. the chargers thought he was too slow and washed up. they essentially gave up on him. that is the type of guy the skins should keep an eye out for. then they could end up keeping the best out of clark, bowen and lott and dropping the other 2.

one final guy to keep an eye on is dennard wilson. he was having a terrific camp until he broke his ankle. it will be interesting to see if he can pick up where he left off.

02-10-2005, 09:07 PM	#15
shallyshal Special Teams Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 336	both are imperfect players, but high effort guys. bowen is much more apt to make a spectacular play because of his raw speed, but is still a major liability in the defense because he takes such poor angles while closing. he tries to kill people and misses a lot of tackles for that reason. i do not know if that is something you can ever teach someone. it has to be an instinctive thing and once a defensive player starts thinking rather than reacting, he will always be a step or more slow. that is why bowen is an effective blitzer.. he just goes. on the other hand, clark is a killer against the run. despite his small size, he plays the run like a linebacker and is able to shoot the gap and take down the back in the backfield before the play even starts. he is a total non factor against the pass. he is too small to match up against tight ends, and despite having played corner in college, he has very limited coverage skills. we are talking purely a zone player here, and one who has to be hidden from the offense. still, he seldom if ever was out of position, and is a sure tackler even in the secondary. both guys play fine special teams, but that is where bowen got hurt. lott is the mystery one. he should have better coverage skills because he played a fair amount of corner in college. and he should be a tackler because he has the size to play safety effectively. but he seems to lack a basic feel for the game. always a step slow and he seldom makes plays either in pass coverage or against the run. my guess is that unless he progresses to a whole new level, he could be the odd player out. when it comes down to it, what i would prefer the skins to do is to sign a veteran safety to complement taylor. just look at the value that harrison brought to the pats in solidifying the secondary. the chargers thought he was too slow and washed up. they essentially gave up on him. that is the type of guy the skins should keep an eye out for. then they could end up keeping the best out of clark, bowen and lott and dropping the other 2. one final guy to keep an eye on is dennard wilson. he was having a terrific camp until he broke his ankle. it will be interesting to see if he can pick up where he left off.