Is Paul Oliver going to be our new safety next year?

Originally Posted by EDUBfan

Weddle saved our ass all year long by leading the team in tackles by a very wide margin...3rd in the entire NFL in solo tackles with 105. That's impressive to me when all I ever hear is how small and slow the kid is. He gets it done. Our defensive MVP.

You must not know football. It is not a good thing when an offense targets your zone every single game, completes every pass thrown to that zone, and you barely make a shoestring tackle to avoid giving up a touchdown. He has been taking bad angles and getting burnt crisp all year long. Weddle is a nickelback. I think he could be solid in that role, but no way as a free safety. He simply lacks the tools. He did a good job last game covering the slot receiver, but is always out of position when he has deep half. I think Rivera saw this and that is why he put Oliver in as the other deep half in cover 2. Learn football people. Understand it. I know none of you played it so atleast read up on it.

[31cromartie31]

That one play alone should get him in over hart lol!

[HeadTrip]

Originally Posted by TheBoyBolt

Just like how after the Indy playoff game when Weddle had the pick, everyone was ecstatic to have him starting this year.

Sometimes fans don't think too much...

Why shouldn't we be happy to have Weddle starting? No matter how you look at it he's a big step up from McCree.

Originally Posted by HeadTrip

Why shouldn't we be happy to have Weddle starting? No matter how you look at it he's a big step up from McCree.

Atleast McCree could lay a hit.

[AngusMcfisticuf]

Originally Posted by JDog3

You must not know football. It is not a good thing when an offense targets your zone every single game, completes every pass thrown to that zone, and you barely make a shoestring tackle to avoid giving up a touchdown. He has been taking bad angles and getting burnt crisp all year long. Weddle is a nickelback. I think he could be solid in that role, but no way as a free safety. He simply lacks the tools. He did a good job last game covering the slot receiver, but is always out of position when he has deep half. I think Rivera saw this and that is why he put Oliver in as the other deep half in cover 2. Learn football people. Understand it. I know none of you played it so atleast read up on it.

Ahhhh such sweet sweet arrogance. Nothing proves your point better than condescension.
Well done.

Your are right about the overrated stat of tackles though. A linebacker or Dlineman with a lot of tackles is one thing. But a safety with a lot of tackles means he's getting picked on a lot by opposing QBs.

[FCBolt]

Originally Posted by AngusMcfisticuf

Ahhhh such sweet sweet arrogance. Nothing proves your point better than condescension.
Well done.

Your are right about the overrated stat of tackles though. A linebacker or Dlineman with a lot of tackles is one thing. But a safety with a lot of tackles means he's getting picked on a lot by opposing QBs.

And/or that the DL and LBs are missing them....

[AngusMcfisticuf]

Originally Posted by FCBolt

And/or that the DL and LBs are missing them....

very good point.
Either way, a safety with that many tackles is rarely good for the team.

Originally Posted by AngusMcfisticuf

Ahhhh such sweet sweet arrogance. Nothing proves your point better than condescension.
Well done.

Your are right about the overrated stat of tackles though. A linebacker or Dlineman with a lot of tackles is one thing. But a safety with a lot of tackles means he's getting picked on a lot by opposing QBs.

Ya I know, but you have to talk to people on the boards that way since it is all that they do. Atleast I have an opinion unlike the majority of people who blindly follow the "In AJ we Trust" slogan. I disagree with a lot of management decisions that this team makes. I watch the games in person and away games on TV. I played football for 15 years and know that having a free safety who lays a hit affects the mindset of an offense. I think Weddle is not an NFL level free safety. He didn't play the position in college. I was excited to see Oliver in there and it is an indication that Rivera agrees to a certain extent with me about Weddle. The guy is not getting the job done playing deep half of the field. I think he can get the job done at nickelback, but it was good to finally see a safety in position to make a play on the ball for once. Oliver gave me hope.

[FCBolt]

Originally Posted by JDog3

Ya I know, but you have to talk to people on the boards that way since it is all that they do. Atleast I have an opinion unlike the majority of people who blindly follow the "In AJ we Trust" slogan.

I don't know, man.
I think you'll find that stuff like this

Originally Posted by JDog3

I disagree with a lot of management decisions that this team makes. I watch the games in person and away games on TV. I played football for 15 years and know that having a free safety who lays a hit affects the mindset of an offense. I think Weddle is not an NFL level free safety. He didn't play the position in college. I was excited to see Oliver in there and it is an indication that Rivera agrees to a certain extent with me about Weddle. The guy is not getting the job done playing deep half of the field. I think he can get the job done at nickelback, but it was good to finally see a safety in position to make a play on the ball for once. Oliver gave me hope.

will convince a lot more folks of your point than stuff like this

Originally Posted by JDog3

You must not know football. It is not a good thing when an offense targets your zone every single game, completes every pass thrown to that zone, and you barely make a shoestring tackle to avoid giving up a touchdown. He has been taking bad angles and getting burnt crisp all year long. Weddle is a nickelback. I think he could be solid in that role, but no way as a free safety. He simply lacks the tools. He did a good job last game covering the slot receiver, but is always out of position when he has deep half. I think Rivera saw this and that is why he put Oliver in as the other deep half in cover 2. Learn football people. Understand it. I know none of you played it so atleast read up on it.

[TJ-Charger-Fan]

Originally Posted by AngusMcfisticuf

very good point.
Either way, a safety with that many tackles is rarely good for the team.

Why? is it some kind of rule?
The guy makes tackles, tackles = stops.
Is there a stat that shows how many of those tackles were on runs and passes? How many of those tackles prevented 1st downs or how many of those were 10+ yards beyond the 1st down marker?

Another way of looking at it is that he is around the play a lot. We all know we had a weak rush D in the beginning so probably half his tackles were in run support and the other half are because QB were throwing in the middle of the zone between the LBs and S's. when we started to play the rush D better teams almost gave up on the run completely and threw exclusively.

So again, why is having your Safety making over 100 tackles "rarely good" it should be encouraging to know your Safety, your last line of defense, can do his job.