Rookie Davis to get 1st shot at slot cornerback job

[stillers4me]

Smart and athletic is what the Steelers look for out of their slot nickel cornerback. And quick.


Think Deshea Townsend. Think Senquez Golson. Think William Gay.


You definitely don't think of a 6-foot-1, 202-pound rookie safety like Sean Davis.


The Steelers do.


With Golson sidelined for an extended period after suffering a Lisfranc mid-foot injury Monday, the Steelers are intrigued enough with Davis, a second-round pick, to give him first crack at the slot cornerback position.


“We are going to throw him into the water without a life vest and see if he can swim,” defensive backs coach Carnell Lake said.........

Read more @ http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/10825232-74/davis-slot-steelers

[ALLD]

I am thinking waiver wire or pilfering somebody's PS.

[Steeldude]

Oh geez, the guy is a safety. Let him be a safety.

[steelreserve]

Burns and Cockrell on the outside, Gay in the slot? I figured that was going to be the plan.

[Mojouw]

not surprising this is the same role that Cortez Allen and Shamarko Thomas were tried out for early in their careers.

It make sense. Allows team to play that 4-2-5 nickel look without being totally vulnerable to the run. Also puts another big body out there to match on TE's.

[Rotorhead]

I like it also, we have 2 starting safety's so if Sean Davis can fill in the slot and cover some of these athletic TE's it is just better for us. Kind of like Troy P with better coverage skills (not the instincts though, I doubt we will ever see that again in the game).

[Steeldude]

I like it also, we have 2 starting safety's so if Sean Davis can fill in the slot and cover some of these athletic TE's it is just better for us. Kind of like Troy P with better coverage skills (not the instincts though, I doubt we will ever see that again in the game).

Davis' problem in college was coverage. The reason he is/was slated for safety is because he was so bad in coverage.

[steelreserve]

Davis' problem in college was coverage. The reason he is/was slated for safety is because he was so bad in coverage.

Exactly, it did not sound like he was CB material in the NFL. But if he is primarily on the field to deal with TEs, and someone else comes in to deal with 4-receiver sets, that could work. Maybe Golden covers the slot receiver in those cases?

On the other hand, maybe in college they were using him stupidly or the system worked to his disadvantage, or there was one thing he needed to change in order to be effective, and a new set of coaches saw it and went "Aha!" If that's the case and he's really that great of an athlete, maybe they have something.

Or maybe it's naive optimism and using that way will just be a rerun of Lee Flowers. And man, I'd hate to see that.

[Mojouw]

He started at CB at least one season and was playing primarily on the outside. He was exposed as not really that great.

But as the 5th DB in a nickel package, I think he might be OK. He might also be BURNT Alexander 2.0.

Steelers have almost no other options. Burns is a boundary/press corner. He isn't really suited to the slot. Cockerell is better outside as well. Gay has to play outside because he is the only CB that the coaching staff can trust to cover legit NFL WR's.

Grant? He seems to stink.
Thomas? He has the athletic ability just too dumb.
Golden? Maybe but he is already supposed to start.
Ventrone? Please no.
Other dirtball corners on the roster? Maybe? Who are these guys?

Bottom line, the depth in the secondary is a horror show. Any DB injuries moving forward and I shudder to think who will be starting back there!

[GBMelBlount]

He started at CB at least one season and was playing primarily on the outside. He was exposed as not really that great.

But as the 5th DB in a nickel package, I think he might be OK. He might also be BURNT Alexander 2.0.

Steelers have almost no other options. Burns is a boundary/press corner. He isn't really suited to the slot. Cockerell is better outside as well. Gay has to play outside because he is the only CB that the coaching staff can trust to cover legit NFL WR's.

Grant? He seems to stink.
Thomas? He has the athletic ability just too dumb.
Golden? Maybe but he is already supposed to start.
Ventrone? Please no.
Other dirtball corners on the roster? Maybe? Who are these guys?

Bottom line, the depth in the secondary is a horror show. Any DB injuries moving forward and I shudder to think who will be starting back there!

Praying the front 7 brings more pressure this year.

That may be our best chance of improving the secondary, especially short term.

[86WARD]

Exactly, it did not sound like he was CB material in the NFL. But if he is primarily on the field to deal with TEs, and someone else comes in to deal with 4-receiver sets, that could work. Maybe Golden covers the slot receiver in those cases?

On the other hand, maybe in college they were using him stupidly or the system worked to his disadvantage, or there was one thing he needed to change in order to be effective, and a new set of coaches saw it and went "Aha!" If that's the case and he's really that great of an athlete, maybe they have something.

Or maybe it's naive optimism and using that way will just be a rerun of Lee Flowers. And man, I'd hate to see that.

He's not going to be able to cover Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett.

[Mojouw]

He's not going to be able to cover Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett.

Who Can? Maybe not so much Bennettt, but Gronk, Eifert (when healthy), and that kid in KC are all basically uncoverable one on one.

[GBMelBlount]

Imagine if we had picked Eifert. He was there when we picked Jones and I would have been ecstatic with the pick even then.

Fortunately, according to Porter Jones will have 10 sacks this year so all is good. :wink02:

[SteelerFanInStl]

Who Can? Maybe not so much Bennettt, but Gronk, Eifert (when healthy), and that kid in KC are all basically uncoverable one on one.

I agree. No one covers those guys one on one. Besides, I thought that Shazier was the one who was supposed to be covering these TEs?

[steelreserve]

I agree. No one covers those guys one on one. Besides, I thought that Shazier was the one who was supposed to be covering these TEs?

Well he's not, so I guess we have to try something else.

I don't think the issue is that Gronkowski and Eifert are "uncoverable" at all. It's that they're uncoverable by slot corners and slow linebackers, and experts at taking advantage when it's not clear who the hell is supposed to cover them. And their offenses are designed to create those kinds of mismatches and exploit them. But as far as having some supernatural receiving talent, no, they're pretty middle-of-the road as receivers and route runners, they just do it from an unusual position.

[Mojouw]

Well he's not, so I guess we have to try something else.

I don't think the issue is that Gronkowski and Eifert are "uncoverable" at all. It's that they're uncoverable by slot corners and slow linebackers, and experts at taking advantage when it's not clear who the hell is supposed to cover them. And their offenses are designed to create those kinds of mismatches and exploit them. But as far as having some supernatural receiving talent, no, they're pretty middle-of-the road as receivers and route runners, they just do it from an unusual position.

Well. No one is covering Gronk consistently - http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GronRo00/gamelog/

Slot corners are out - I agree. Good enough route runner that MOST safeties are out. Slow LB'ers are out. That leaves fast LB'ers.

Name a LB faster than Shazier? Can he do it? Remains to be seen.

Speaking for the Steelers the only time I saw them "shut down" Gronk was when they put Cortez Allen on him in single coverage. Size and speed to run and bang with the big fella. Now who on the current roster does that remind me of? Oh yeah...Sean Davis or Shamarko Thomas.

I'm not a huge Gronk, Eifert, Graham, KC guy fan. They all play for teams I do not like to see be successful. But to argue that they are "average" route runners and receivers is a pretty serious undersell. All of those players catch anything within a half mile of them. Can they move like AB or other precision route runners? Of course not, but you don't have to when you are that big.

Now we are back to the begining.

[86WARD]

Who Can? Maybe not so much Bennettt, but Gronk, Eifert (when healthy), and that kid in KC are all basically uncoverable one on one.

That's the point...if he can't cover college WRs, he's not covering NFL TEs

[Mojouw]

That's the point...if he can't cover college WRs, he's not covering NFL TEs

Well, that may be. I was merely pointing out that an inability to cover Gronk, Eifert, Kelce one on one does not place Davis in exclusive territory. Almost no one has yet.

Now can he cover the other starting TE's in the league? I hope so. It would be nice if the Clay Harbors of the world stopped gouging this team.

Don't forget that Davis played one season as a man coverage corner and it was ugly, but the rest of his college career was as a safety where multiple reports noted that he matched up favorably with move TE's. He also played in the Big10 - so who knows.

[steelreserve]

Well. No one is covering Gronk consistently - http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GronRo00/gamelog/

Slot corners are out - I agree. Good enough route runner that MOST safeties are out. Slow LB'ers are out. That leaves fast LB'ers.

Name a LB faster than Shazier? Can he do it? Remains to be seen.

Speaking for the Steelers the only time I saw them "shut down" Gronk was when they put Cortez Allen on him in single coverage. Size and speed to run and bang with the big fella. Now who on the current roster does that remind me of? Oh yeah...Sean Davis or Shamarko Thomas.

I'm not a huge Gronk, Eifert, Graham, KC guy fan. They all play for teams I do not like to see be successful. But to argue that they are "average" route runners and receivers is a pretty serious undersell. All of those players catch anything within a half mile of them. Can they move like AB or other precision route runners? Of course not, but you don't have to when you are that big.

Now we are back to the begining.


Well yeah, it's a matchup problem for just about any defender who would be trying to cover them. That's where those kinds of TEs make their living.

I still don't see them as great receivers in a traditional sense, more like defenses either don't know how to deal with it or aren't willing to spend a lot of resources covering the tight end, so they are in this tweener environment where they can make a killing. Remember when Jimmy Graham was arguing that he should get the franchise tag price for a receiver? No, you put him as a regular receiver and he's nowhere near being a top-5 guy in the league, just another big target with above-average hands.

All that said, it's still a problem to deal with because not many defenses have a physical 6'3" defender with great speed. I expect eventually teams are going to start seeking that out as a specialty type of player just to deal with those kinds of guys.

Shazier and Davis are probably the two guys on our roster that fit the profile best of someone who could cover a big receiving TE. But they've made it clear as day that even though it might be right up Shazier's alley, they're never going to use him that way. Why, I don't know, but they're just not. So that leaves Davis as an intriguing possibility. Maybe he can't deal with elite NFL receivers, but asking him to deal with someone who is essentially a pretty-good receiver who happens to be big and play TE just might work.

[Mojouw]

Well yeah, it's a matchup problem for just about any defender who would be trying to cover them. That's where those kinds of TEs make their living.

I still don't see them as great receivers in a traditional sense, more like defenses either don't know how to deal with it or aren't willing to spend a lot of resources covering the tight end, so they are in this tweener environment where they can make a killing. Remember when Jimmy Graham was arguing that he should get the franchise tag price for a receiver? No, you put him as a regular receiver and he's nowhere near being a top-5 guy in the league, just another big target with above-average hands.

All that said, it's still a problem to deal with because not many defenses have a physical 6'3" defender with great speed. I expect eventually teams are going to start seeking that out as a specialty type of player just to deal with those kinds of guys.

Shazier and Davis are probably the two guys on our roster that fit the profile best of someone who could cover a big receiving TE. But they've made it clear as day that even though it might be right up Shazier's alley, they're never going to use him that way. Why, I don't know, but they're just not. So that leaves Davis as an intriguing possibility. Maybe he can't deal with elite NFL receivers, but asking him to deal with someone who is essentially a pretty-good receiver who happens to be big and play TE just might work.

I'm on board with all that. I think they want Shazier in the Polamalu role. Less defined responsibility and more go make stuff happen. I've thought that since they drafted him.

If he can stay healthy and Davis can grow into some coverage roles and the front 3 can keep blockers off Shazier - LOOK OUT!

I know that is a to of "ifs" but it is that time of year.


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