Bud Adams told me the franchise he admired the most was the Kansas City Chiefs. Then he asked for more hookers and blow.
Shields has been a blessing this year and is playing beyond anyones expectations. Hopefully he will continute to get better...
I wonder how Underwood or Lee would have played if thrown in there this year? Underwood is still an unknown, Lee has started to show flashes of his athleticism in special teams play. I feel good about both and think they both would have held their own this year if given the opportunity. Maybe not as well as Sheilds, but just another example of the depth this team still has after all the injuries.
I am on the wait and see bench with Shields. I've seen a lot of guys run through this town as a flash in the pan.
There's no denying that the talent is there and his potential is pretty scary. The guy's closing speed is off the charts, which makes him perfect for zone coverage. What really surprises me is that when he's in man to man coverage, and teams have thrown his way, he more often than not finds a way to get a hand on the ball and blow up the pass. I didn't see him as a man guy in the beginning of the season but he's slowly proving me wrong.
If he can continue to improve over the course of the next few years, when he gets his chance to start, he'll take the league by storm. If he rests on his laurels or starts making some poor personal decisions, that's the end of him. I think he has a good chance of becoming great though, because of the all star cast around him. When you've got talent, it's hard not to succeed in those circumstances.
Sam Shields is absolutely the real deal. After the season he has had he would start for the majority of teams in the NFL. If you're not sold yet you will be soon enough, doubt not.
I'm not at all convinced that Underwood or Lee could have held their own. Playing cornerback in the NFL is a hard job where weakness will be exposed (see the Vikings secondary). The fact that he never had a brutal game, and in fact was rarely beaten over an entire season is proof that he is a good cornerback. Furthermore, Joe Whitt has always spoken reasonably highly of him and Whitt is not a bullshitter.
He is always open is his assessment of his players to the media. From the start he has said the Shields was the most talented cornerback in the draft, he just had no idea what he was doing. Add on a marijuana arrest and he goes undrafted.
Whitt has also said that this year Shields can be a good corner, but he has a chance to be a great corner. I'm not sure what his ceiling is, but I think he can be a Pro Bowl corner.
He has speed, fluidity, and is assignment sure. I would rate him above Tyronne Williams, who I think also wore 37, because he has superior ball skills. You're not just going to jump up over him and take the ball without a fight as Maclin found out last Sunday. His study habits seem strong and he is steady.
Just to take my Sam Shields love letter totally over the top I want to point out one other thing. Our defense changed dramatically after Al Harris went down last year. If we have two solid DBs on the outside then Woodson can be a jack of all trades destroyer of offensive gameplans. I still believe that the biggest problem with Harris getting injured was not getting more Jarret Bush on the field it was having to turn Woodson into a more typical cover corner.
With Shields playing at a high level we've been able to get back to operation wreak havoc. Because of this I would say that the play of Sam Shields makes it possible for us to make a Super Bowl run.
Shields worst play of the season could have been when he turned his back and guess on the Maclin TD in game 1. I don't think I saw him do that ever again...
SS eventually starts. Woodson is getting to the stage of becoming a safety.
I would say I am president of the wait and see club in general, but one thing that makes me get excited about SS is that he has been tested. A guy can get sacks when a team isn't ready for him, or a defense is designed to give him a free run (Bishop first play). An LB can make tackles for a stretch by guessing well. A RB can get yards with superior blocking for half a season, but a DB in isolation gets tested over and over again. A rookie undrafted FA gets picked on. SS put a stop to that early, and every time a team tested him he passed it. You can't luck into that, you can't fake it. He is the real deal.
I don't hold Grudges. It's counterproductive.
he and williams have pretty much been "shutdown." we're set for a loooong time. (knocking on wood)
Tramon is definitely a blueprint.
Snake has ALWAYS been a Tramon fan and wanted him locked up to a 4 year 8 million dollar deal a year and half ago, when several said, no way....that's too much money for an unproven player. LOL. He got his money and is pretty damn good.
Shields has 3 more years of getting paid crap to prove himself, but I said it here and don't know (no one said it isn't true) if ANY GB rookie DB has EVER had as much impact in their rookie year as Shields.
I was a kid loving FL STATE with Terrell Buckley and it was the first draft I cared about in 1992, and he had an OK career overall with the Dolphins, but NO ROOKIE at CB EVER DOMINATES.....but Shields has played as well as ANY CB ROOKIE this side of Cromartie did a few years ago. He's not been picked on and takes on the TOP speed guys on the OTHER team weekly. He hasn't been beaten yet, and plays well....AKA..tackles, makes INTS, etc. He's amazing as a rookie and hope he keeps doing better and really he's only a young 21 with a rookie contract at the min. God TT just fleeces the league with these min. wage undrafted rooks. Unbelievable, but really, Shields has all the talent (speed, athleticism) but after seeing him shutdown dudes with Caper's D....It's only a matter of time till he takes over Wood's CB spot (Wood will move to safety) and keep on this awesome D.
Snake's Twitter comments would be LEGENDARY.........if I was ugly or gave a shit about Twitter.
Snake;
You have made this statement several times. I didn't comment about it before because it seemed like a trivial matter. But since you mention it repeatedly, are you trying to make a point about Shields being 21? The reason I ask is because he is not 21, he has already turned 23. Personally, I don't think it matters, but I'm not sure what significance you are attaching to it, if any. The important thing is that he is a rookie, and a more inexperienced one at his position than many are. But he is not "young" relative to other rookies, if that is what you were implying. Not like Jermichael Finley was, who is only 8+ months older than Shields.