Moving Sherman Around

[RiverDog]

Byron Maxwell is probably not coming back and Jeremy Lane will be coming off a major surgery to repair a broken wrist. Tharold Simon ain't ready for Prime Time. Cornerback is being mentioned as a position of need for us heading into the offseason.

Given those facts, I have a question: Do we continue to use Richard Sherman on the offensive right side of the field and allow favorable matchups to occur on the left side or do we change our philosophy and do like most other defenses do and assign our best cornerback to our opponents #1 receiver where ever he lines up? You can't argue with the success of fixing our corners on one side of the field in most situations. After all, we had the best pass defense in the league, a fact made even more impressive when you consider that for much of the season, we were not getting a whole lot of pressure on the quarterback. But does the possibility that there will be a greater disparity between the talent level that existed between Sherman and Maxwell change things? Are we going to see Sherman used in various spots next season vs the past several seasons?

[NorthHawk]

It might even be worse at the beginning of the year if Kam or ET (or both) aren't ready to go for a few games.
That would leave only Sherman (provided he has sufficiently healed and doesn't have to have surgery) left from the LOB.

It might be a necessity to put him on the other team's #1 receiver. It also puts more of an emphasis on the pass rush if we are depleted in the defensive backfield.
Maybe this years experience will give Simon a foothold to take the next step. We can only hope so.

[SalmonBB]

Interesting thought. With that said, I'm holding out hope that we'll find a way to keep Maxwell around. Not sure if franchise tag might make sense here.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

[HumanCockroach]

Sherman moved around quite a bit this past season ( more than Revis and Peterson) but I trust that the DB's will be another solid group, as always, and don't see a necessity to start the season having him trail guys around. Simon, no matter what people think after the SB is damn talented, and will be better prepared to deal with starting week to week, Lane, Burley will fight for the nickel spot, and I wouldn't be surprised if they draft a corner or two in this upcoming draft. It is what they do. Find corners, develop them, play them, lose them, rinse and repeat.

I worry about their evaluations when it comes to receivers and o-line, on the defensive side I don't, and that goes double for DB's.

[HumanCockroach]

Interesting thought. With that said, I'm holding out hope that we'll find a way to keep Maxwell around. Not sure if franchise tag might make sense here.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Kind of doubt the franchise tag is a realistic thought, but a transition tag could be a good idea, allowing Seattle to "match" any offer ( who knows maybe he will not be as hot of a commodity, as everyone thinks he will be, allowing Seattle to retain him, below the 12 million for next year it would cost to franchise him) and should it be too high, at least they get a pick out of his loss...


Edit:

Huh, my mistake, I guess they have changed how that tag works ( no compensation for the loss of the player, used to be a pick above the round they were originally selected ie a 4th for Maxwell) now there is the "exclusive" and "non exclusive" tags which has the draft pick compensation ( two firsts, which I don't see any team willing to part with to sign Maxwell)...

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/19 ... cess-works

[Zorn76]

It might even be worse at the beginning of the year if Kam or ET (or both) aren't ready to go for a few games.
That would leave only Sherman (provided he has sufficiently healed and doesn't have to have surgery) left from the LOB.

It might be a necessity to put him on the other team's #1 receiver. It also puts more of an emphasis on the pass rush if we are depleted in the defensive backfield.
Maybe this years experience will give Simon a foothold to take the next step. We can only hope so.

Are both players looking at missing time at the beginning of next season? Haven't heard anything like this.

Regardless, I'd be in favor of Sherman moving around more, rather than sticking mostly to one side.

IMO, too, Simon is not the answer should we lose Maxwell. Don't waste time on him. Keep him for depth, but we definitely need to find a legit replacement for Byron.

[NorthHawk]

Both Kam and Earl need surgery and I heard one guy (maybe Levine?) make a comment that it might mean one or both might not be ready for the beginning of the year.
I guess it depends on the damage and how much repair is required.

[HumanCockroach]

Both Kam and Earl need surgery and I heard one guy (maybe Levine?) make a comment that it might mean one or both might not be ready for the beginning of the year.
I guess it depends on the damage and how much repair is required.

Pretty sure both have already had the surgery ( Kam did it the week after the SB) everything I have read says both should be ready for the season ( Kam should be ready for camp) there was the possibility that Earl would miss the pre season ( though that was dependant on how quickly he healed according to what I read).

[RiverDog]

It's still pretty early to tell if our wounded warriors will be ready for the season opener, but there's no reason to believe they wouldn't be. I'm more worried about Kam than any of the others.

Sherman did move around the field some this past season, but unless we find a cornerback that comes close to replacing what Maxwell gave us, I suspect that we'll see Sherman lining up in various spots more than we have in the past. Heck, they picked on Maxwell all the time last season, I would hate to think what they'd do if we were ever in the position of starting Simon.

[monkey]

Sigh*
Look at the actual numbers and you will discover that, 1. that Sherman DOES move around, and 2. it's a myth that other corners move around a lot more than Sherman. A FEW move around a LITTLE more, but NOT ONE CORNERBACK IN THE NFL always covers the opposing #1 receiver! NOT ONE! That is a BS myth made up to put down Sherman in favor of Peterson or Revis.

Point is, we don't need to change what we're doing...it works.

[HumanCockroach]

It's still pretty early to tell if our wounded warriors will be ready for the season opener, but there's no reason to believe they wouldn't be. I'm more worried about Kam than any of the others.

Sherman did move around the field some this past season, but unless we find a cornerback that comes close to replacing what Maxwell gave us, I suspect that we'll see Sherman lining up in various spots more than we have in the past. Heck, they picked on Maxwell all the time last season, I would hate to think what they'd do if we were ever in the position of starting Simon.

Kam will be ready. MCL tears don't take the time to recover that ACL's do ( minor procedure comparatively) ET rotator cuf has a longer recovery time, which is why it is possible he misses all of Pre Season.

[RiverDog]

Sigh*
Look at the actual numbers and you will discover that, 1. that Sherman DOES move around, and 2. it's a myth that other corners move around a lot more than Sherman. A FEW move around a LITTLE more, but NOT ONE CORNERBACK IN THE NFL always covers the opposing #1 receiver! NOT ONE! That is a BS myth made up to put down Sherman in favor of Peterson or Revis.

Point is, we don't need to change what we're doing...it works.

The "actual numbers" are that Sherman lined up at the left cornerback position over 90% of the time. I don't know how much other CB's around the league are utilized on one side of the field vs. the other, but it would be pretty difficult to beat the amount of time Sherman spends at left CB.

If all things remain as they have been the past couple of years with solid play out of our right cornerback position, then I would agree that we don't need to change what we have been doing. But it's almost a foregone conclusion that we are going to lose Maxwell via free agency, so what worked well for us in the past may not work as well for us in the future. Moving Sherman around more than we have been in the past might be one way to compensate for a possible weakness if someone doesn't step up and fill the void left by Maxwell's assumed departure.

[RiverDog]

Kam will be ready. MCL tears don't take the time to recover that ACL's do ( minor procedure comparatively) ET rotator cuf has a longer recovery time, which is why it is possible he misses all of Pre Season.

Understood. Nevertheless, I always worry more about knee injuries than I do shoulder or arm injuries. Besides, you have to consider the differences in their styles of play. IIMO Earl can compensate better for a wounded shoulder than Kam can from a wounded knee.

[HumanCockroach]

The "actual numbers" are that Sherman lined up at the left cornerback position over 90% of the time. I don't know how much other CB's around the league are utilized on one side of the field vs. the other, but it would be pretty difficult to beat the amount of time Sherman spends at left CB.

If all things remain as they have been the past couple of years with solid play out of our right cornerback position, then I would agree that we don't need to change what we have been doing. But it's almost a foregone conclusion that we are going to lose Maxwell via free agency, so what worked well for us in the past may not work as well for us in the future. Moving Sherman around more than we have been in the past might be one way to compensate for a possible weakness if someone doesn't step up and fill the void left by Maxwell's assumed departure

The myth isn't that Sherman travells a lot, the myth is that Revis or Peterson do while Sherman doesn't. Revis last year played almost exclusively at LCB while Peterson played almost exclusively RCB. BOTH "followed" LESS than Sherman last season ( as did Haden). The myth isn't what others are doing.
.

[kalibane]

Did they actually "follow" less this year? I know Revis was stationary (contrary to popular belief) so that doesn't really surprise me. I thought Peterson was still doing a lot of moving around though. Not as much as people think he does but considerably more than Sherman... granted I wasn't paying attention to him as much as I did last year because Peterson's performance was so far below Sherman and Revis this year, where he lined up isn't even worth the straw man debate it was before.

That's one thing that I'm happy about. People are slowly starting to catch on that Peterson doesn't really belong in the debate as the best corner. His reputation is built on potential and his freakish athleticism not his actual production on the field. He has at least two games a year that are far worse than Sherman's worst game of his career.

[HumanCockroach]

Did they actually "follow" less this year? I know Revis was stationary (contrary to popular belief) so that doesn't really surprise me. I thought Peterson was still doing a lot of moving around though. Not as much as people think he does but considerably more than Sherman... granted I wasn't paying attention to him as much as I did last year because Peterson's performance was so far below Sherman and Revis this year, where he lined up isn't even worth the straw man debate it was before.

That's one thing that I'm happy about. People are slowly starting to catch on that Peterson doesn't really belong in the debate as the best corner. His reputation is built on potential and his freakish athleticism not his actual production on the field. He has at least two games a year that are far worse than Sherman's worst game of his career.

Nope Peterson followed less this season than both Sherman and Haden, slightly more than Revis. Not sure why teams did it that way, my guess would be the quality of the corner opposite, and maybe the defensive scheme. Peterson also relinquished his PR duties.... The NFL is a copycat league, and teams are figuring out that having your corner "travel" isn't as successful as having two good corners lineup in the same place ( as Seattle has done for some time now)...

Peterson not only did not travel this year, he got toasted often on top of it. Dude is a name at this point with lots of talent.

[kalibane]

That actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it given the emergence of Mathieu in the slot and them picking up Cromartie as a free agent. Where did you pick up this info? Last couple of years presnap reads did exhaustive breakdowns of individual corners and it's right around the time of year they had been doing it but they haven't posted anything yet and doesn't look like they've really done much of anything for a long time.

This certainly makes the best CB "debate" a lot more amusing. We'll see which excuse they manufacture this year.

[RiverDog]

The myth isn't that Sherman travells a lot, the myth is that Revis or Peterson do while Sherman doesn't. Revis last year played almost exclusively at LCB while Peterson played almost exclusively RCB. BOTH "followed" LESS than Sherman last season ( as did Haden). The myth isn't what others are doing.
.

I could care less how other teams utilize Revis and/or Peterson. The reason I started the thread was to discuss if we might, or should, because of Maxwell's impending departure and the uncertainty of his replacement, move Sherman around more than we have in the past.

[HumanCockroach]

All I did was respond to your assessment that Sherman didn't do something as much as others. Not sure why that is an issue, but regardless, Sherman shouldn't have to travel any more so than he already does, as there is depth, as well as a quite possible return of WTIII or the aquisition of more corners via the draft ( Peters anyone?)

As well as numerous solid, Corners on the market, Seattle should be able to replace Maxwell and maintain success. Thomas, Chancellor and Sherman will all be healthy by game one next season, and this thread changes nothing about how or why, Carroll would change his philosophy of how to run that defense. The perceived weakness of the defensive backfield isn't something I worry overly much about, as Seattle finds, selects, signs or coaches that area better than any staff I have ever seen.

Simon will improve with time, Maxwell took 3 years to reach the level he was at, as did Lane, and as such I'm not one to dump or dismiss a player because he performed poorly, against perhaps the best QB to ever play the game, in what amounts to his rookie season.... Seattle obviously sees something in Simon, or Thurmond, Browner, and now Maxwell would never have been allowed to leave.

[NorthHawk]

Losing Maxwell probably means there will be a dropoff in production, but we don't know how much and as usual they will draft a CB or 2 to develop.
Maybe they will draft another gem and he starts the season.

[HumanCockroach]

Wow, that surprises me. Last I heard he was slated for surgery last week some time. Torn Labrums take forever to heal naturally ( low blood flow to the area, causes a slow healing process). I tore mine 5 years ago, and my shoulder still isn't right. Maybe it was a minor tear??

Surprises me that isn't something he would get repaired as soon as possible, certainly don't want him to wait until week 4 next season and then decide it's the only way to get it fixed ( as that would end his entire season).

[NorthHawk]

The other report I read is they think Kam's injury will heal without surgery, but it's still an option.
I hope he doesn't need it and is 100% by the start of the season, but if it isn't healing, he may have to have surgery at a later date.

[NorthHawk]

Good news from Pete today when he said Kam won't be having surgery and should be ready for TC.
Neither is Sherm.

Another report says Lane is getting ACL surgery and Earl still has to have shoulder surgery.