Chiefs, Eagles and Cardinals' Drafts: Secondary Super Schools
By Walter Mitchell
Many NFL GMs around the league likely took keen notice of how the Chiefs' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl LVI 38-35 over the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona while playing a host of rookie draft picks in the secondary.
No doubt the Eagles' GM Howie Roseman was taking notice of the Chiefs' rookie studded secondary during Super Bowl LVI, because this past February the Eagles returned the favor in Super Bowl LIX at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, beating the Chiefs 40-22 with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio playing a host of recently drafted players in the Eagles' retooled secondary.
When one takes a look at the Chiefs', Eagles' and Cardinals' secondaries today on Ourlads.com, look at these youthful, home-grown units:
Chiefs:
* LCB --- Jaylen Watson --- R7, 2022
* SS --- Jaden Hicks --- R4, 2024
* FS --- Bryan Clark ---R2, 2022
* RCB --- Joshua Williams --- R4, 2022
* NB --- Trent McDuffie --- R1, 2022
Eagles:
* LCB --- Kelee Ringo --- R4, 2023
* SS --- Sydney Brown --- R3, 2023
* FS --- Reed Blankenship ---CFA, 2022
* RCB --- Quinyon Mitchell --- R1, 2024
* NB --- Cooper DeJean --- R2, 2024
Cardinals:
* LCB --- Will Johnson --- R2, 2025, Elijah Jones --- R3, 2024
* SS --- Jalen Thompson --- R5 (supp), 2019, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson --- R4, 2024
* FS --- Budda Baker --- R2, 2017, Kitan Crawford --- R7, 2025
* RCB --- Max Melton --- R2, 2024, Denzel Burke --- R5, 2025
* NB --- Garrett Williams --- R3, 2023, Kei'Trel Clark --- R6
With regard to building a bright, talented secondary, do you believe that the Cardinals are trending in the right direction?
How well do you think the Cardinals' young secondary will match up against the Chiefs' this evening at State Farm Stadium?
Cards have certainly thrown a lot of draft capital on the secondary. Our HC is supposed to be a CB developer guru. Tonight our young secondary will show moments of talent and improvement and moments of oops. Regardless, I want to see this defense tackle, tackle, tackle. A significant pass rush would be nice too
ReplyDeleteI think 61, JG/NR's zones will be tested right away by AR/PMahomes. The Cardinals' zone personnel is improved thanks to MODS, but will the teaching of their zones be improved?
DeleteAs you and 61 already alluded to, it’s all up to our inexperienced coaching staff to develop then coach a winning game plan week to week. Elite coaching and game planning is the most overlooked and underrated part of winning organizations. Players like JG because he puts them on a pedestal and doesn’t coach them all that hard (makes life easier and less demanding), but there’s more to the formula and I’m not sure JG and his staff have the right mix of acumen/ability/aptitude/experience etc to coax the optimal outcome (WINS, lots of them) out of the roster. Monti is the GM equivalent of JG. Really they’re all perfect for AZ, building a solid culture, cheap enough and yes men to the degree Mikey B likes and not good enough to bolt for greener pastures. Back to the secondary though—cb is definitely the position where the most athletic players on the roster need to reside. It’s no surprise that you’ll see nearly every season young guys drafted late or not drafted at all who’ll pop up as top performing, elite cb. That occurs for two main reasons—-(1) elite coaching coupled with a solid football iq from said player who comes ojr of nowhere and (2) you can find elite athletes at cb even amongst the udfa ranks. A great staff coupled with a hungry young guy can forge quick and impactful development. Historically you’re not seeing those types of resultd in AZ. Somewhat related, go check out the Ravens 2017 draft class—there is TEN legit nfl players from that class still in the league, making an absurd amount of total annual salary amongst the group. The Ravens picked #31 that year.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment. Walt needs to get a rec button so I can continue to give you well deserved props
Delete"Like" for this comment --- grade A all the way!
DeleteAnother question is whether the JG/Rallis scheme is going to make our safety coverage more effective. Too many times over the years these crossing routes and TE routes over the middle of the field go un-defended, even Budda gets mixed up and you see WR's running with 10 yards of separation. It will be interesting to see whether or not Rallis will adjust the scheme this year to be less blitz heavy now that we have depth on the D-line. We would blitz alot last year and no one would get home.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great and under looked point, Jobu. Neither Budda nor JT excels at the third level in pass coverage. But our "Red Rabbit" does. Red Rabbit, imo, should never come off the field. He's too valuable, especially if you are giving Will Johnson, Garrett Williams and Max Melton the green light to jump routes.
DeleteI like the talent we ha e assembled but its time to see return on investment. Yes these guys are young but we need coaches to start showing through on game day. Like the terrible tackling our DBs sometimes seem to be way out of position. Looking forward to see if this improves this year. 1 hour to kickoff, my hair or what's left is sticking up with excitement.
ReplyDeleteThe script has been flipped, its no longer lack of talent on the squad but maybe lack of coaching talent.
Delete