Biggest Niner Story for Me -- Where Did the Secondary Come From?

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Nnamdi got regularly beat, with Rodgers, Wilson and Luck picking him apart.

do people even watch the games? Nnamdi has been thrown at 11 times for six completions. four of those happened in the Green Bay game. so yeah, Wilson and Luck didn't pick him apart.

having a vet like Nnamdi is great for our depth.

Originally posted by boast:
do people even watch the games? Nnamdi has been thrown at 11 times for six completions. four of those happened in the Green Bay game. so yeah, Wilson and Luck didn't pick him apart.

having a vet like Nnamdi is great for our depth.

I agree I dont think he has played as bad as many have said. Problem is though they seem to like Wright who I'm not sure is better than Nnamdi and also do you risk cutting Morris who has played well on ST? Doubt we keep 7 CB's... seems like he is the odd man out even if he doesn't deserve it. We are just really deep at the position. And that's with cutting Cooper and Culliver being out. That being said with Brown, Brock, Cox, Wright, Nnamdi all being free agents after this year and Rogers possibly being cut if he doesn't restructure it might not last long.

Originally posted by Gore_21:

Originally posted by boast:

do people even watch the games? Nnamdi has been thrown at 11 times for six completions. four of those happened in the Green Bay game. so yeah, Wilson and Luck didn't pick him apart.

having a vet like Nnamdi is great for our depth.

I agree I dont think he has played as bad as many have said. Problem is though they seem to like Wright who I'm not sure is better than Nnamdi and also do you risk cutting Morris who has played well on ST? Doubt we keep 7 CB's... seems like he is the odd man out even if he doesn't deserve it. We are just really deep at the position. And that's with cutting Cooper and Culliver being out. That being said with Brown, Brock, Cox, Wright, Nnamdi all being free agents after this year and Rogers possibly being cut if he doesn't restructure it might not last long.

i think Brock and Cully will be the starting CBs next year. with Morris, Rogers( as 3rd and mentor), Cox and a draft pick as depth. Wright is an unknown at this point so it all could change.

Originally posted by NJNiner:
Still pisses me off that we lost Marcus Cooper to the chiefs! He has a bright future in the NFL

That is a hingsight is 20/20 sort of thing though. I mean he looked decent in preseason but he didnt exactly take the job from anybody. Would I rather have him than Aso sure...but it wasnt like the choice was that obvious when it was made. They played about the same and we chose experience over athleticism.

Nnamdi didn't get regularly beat. Jordy Nelson made an in-defense-able play on him. Only 1 time he played extremely soft within the 10 yard line and got score on

Great post! Love the kudos...

I look at the entire secondary as a "unit." And I factor in the "cringe-factor." You know, when the ball is in the air, what player do you cringe at. For me, if it's a deep ball to Brown's side, I still cringe. If it's a RZ middle-of-the-field pass anywhere near Whitner, I cringe. I only slightly cringe at Brock on deep sideline routes b/c he can get P.I. and can blow a coverage from time-to-time. I cringe when I see Rogers in the slot on anyone (fair or not). Reid, I don't cringe at all. As a unit, they are playing pretty well and appear to be getting better which is encouraging. When you factor in the development of Cooper (gone - outstanding starter in the NFL), Morris (great upside, ideal for the slot, ST gunner) and the veterans in Nnamdi and Wright, this could become a special unit with plenty of depth. Here is hoping that Culliver comes back strong with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove and that we add another FS similar to Reid this year.

Good post!

First, our secondary problems got exposed in the playoffs and SBowl because Justin went down, Aldon hurt and the pass rush wasn't nearly as good as it had been.

The whole secondary is playing better. Whitner is having a very good season so far.

I recall during draft time on NFL network. There's black guy Charles - forget his last name but VERY well informed and spoken. He was being teased by the other pundits because he kept saying Eric Reid was the top Safety in the draft and any team that picked him would benefit hugely.

They disagreed pointing out his weak last year and Charles said, It depends on who they pick, the Reid of the season before or the Reid of last season. He stood his ground and was proven right.

IMO, we got the best Safety in the draft - so far.

Currently allowing a 55.9% completion percentage - fourth in the league. Nothing to complain about.

Nmandi Asomugha got hurt. Addition through subtraction.

Good analysis by the way.

Originally posted by Imfasterthanur:
Nmandi Asomugha got hurt. Addition through subtraction.

nope, you keep him for depth. you can never have enough corners and you know we may get a injury or two . no if you want to make a deep playoff run, as long as he is not a problem child in the locker room,,,, you keep him. people are funny as they want to cut someone right now because they "think" wright will be great for us. people who also make knee jerk reactions during the games and want to trade for all these players by halftime are funny to. back to original post, it is amazing they have done so well as we have not had a great pass rush. Remember in the off season many of us figured we would do better back there due to a better pass rush? well that has not taken place but that has had little bearing on the good play back there. can not believe the kid has made all the difference in the world but maybe so.

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Imfasterthanur:

Nmandi Asomugha got hurt. Addition through subtraction.

nope, you keep him for depth. you can never have enough corners and you know we may get a injury or two . no if you want to make a deep playoff run, as long as he is not a problem child in the locker room,,,, you keep him. people are funny as they want to cut someone right now because they "think" wright will be great for us. people who also make knee jerk reactions during the games and want to trade for all these players by halftime are funny to. back to original post, it is amazing they have done so well as we have not had a great pass rush. Remember in the off season many of us figured we would do better back there due to a better pass rush? well that has not taken place but that has had little bearing on the good play back there. can not believe the kid has made all the difference in the world but maybe so.

lol slow down, buddy. I never said we should release him lol. The "subtraction" I was referring to was playing time, not a release. Brock's emergence has increased the level of play in our secondary.

Originally posted by Imfasterthanur:

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Imfasterthanur:
Nmandi Asomugha got hurt. Addition through subtraction.

nope, you keep him for depth. you can never have enough corners and you know we may get a injury or two . no if you want to make a deep playoff run, as long as he is not a problem child in the locker room,,,, you keep him. people are funny as they want to cut someone right now because they "think" wright will be great for us. people who also make knee jerk reactions during the games and want to trade for all these players by halftime are funny to. back to original post, it is amazing they have done so well as we have not had a great pass rush. Remember in the off season many of us figured we would do better back there due to a better pass rush? well that has not taken place but that has had little bearing on the good play back there. can not believe the kid has made all the difference in the world but maybe so.

lol slow down, buddy. I never said we should release him lol. The "subtraction" I was referring to was playing time, not a release. Brock's emergence has increased the level of play in our secondary.

i never meant that as a personal thing against you, sorry it came out that way . i just disagreed with you in a good way that we need to keep him, and i did not get what you were actually trying to say, my other blather was just blather directed at the masses who go crazy in the game forum on game day when things are not going well for us but not you,,, again sorry if it came out wrong.

As a few posters have mentioned, Rogers is actually doing quite well this year (at least in my opinion). He is covering well enough that his man is simply rarely targeted, and so you hear his name mentioned less than the other guys.

The player I'm most concerned about is Brown. For a while it felt like opposing quarterbacks who needed to make a play consistently targeted the matchup against him, often with results. However I do think he has noticeably improved over the last two weeks.

Anyone know where I might find stats on how often a CB is targeted? I'd love to know if my impressions are true or imagined.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
I think the defense is playing really well this year, and I suppose that's not a surprising statement - or wouldn't be at the beginning of the year. What is surprising is that this isn't due to the front 7, but rather the secondary.

In 2011 -- our defense was at it's peak, with the front 7 dominating (1 or 2 rushing TDs all year, no 100 yd rushers for many many games in a row, etc.). The Smith brothers terrorized the passers, and the twins in the middle of the field dominated the run. Justin Smith was the best player in the NFL, Aldon was the most exciting defender, and McDonald and Brooks were more than holding their own--they were dominating quite often as well. The secondary benefited greatly and resulted in career seasons for Goldson, Whitner and Rogers. Brown continued his solid play and rookie Chris Culliver flashed (huge game against CJ).

In 2012 -- the defense was still just as fierce, but as the season wore on, obvious holes were noticed in the secondary. Whitner's play dropped of, Rogers regressed back to solid but not great, and Culliver didn't develop quite to the level that we hoped. Goldson made splash plays but got exposed far too many times. Brown continued his solid play.

By the time the 2013 Playoffs rolled around, our secondary was getting torched regularly, and the weakness was discovered in our defense. It was already the weakest link.

In the 2013 Offseason we lost Goldson to FA, Culliver to season ending injury. We failed to use any early picks on a CB, and traded up for a FS who very few were excited about, and no one had pegged as a anything but a downgrade from Goldson.

The outlook for the 2013 secondary was weak. The start of the season didn't disappoint. Nnamdi got regularly beat, with Rodgers, Wilson and Luck picking him apart. The rest of the group did not hold up much better. Well, Brown continued his solid play. Perish Cox was looking to be a liability for the second year in a row. But then the secondary started to Gel. Knocking down passes, picking the ball off, returning turnovers deep (or all the way into) the opponents territory. Brock is the obvious surprise, along with Reid who is playing at an unbelievable level and is a major upgrade so far. Whitner got hit with a few bad calls early, but ever since he's continued to have the best season of his career. Brown is continuing his solid play, while Cox has been mostly quite. Currently Rogers is the weakest link. This secondary is covering, creating turnovers, stripping the ball, hitting hard and picking up the slack while the DL deals with injuries, the LB group waits for Aldon to return and Willis to heal, and offense is trying to find it's stride.

With all the things working against this secondary, for this to be the group helping us win right now, is the biggest story from the first 7 games for me.

Totally agree. I have been very pleasantly surprised with our secondary play. They've been our best unit this year. Like your analysis of our defense since 2011 as well. Imagine now if we regain form in our front 7, how good our D could be? Our run defense has kinda sucked this year by our standards, which has been disappointing.