2026 Training Camp Thread...

Simpleton said:
I saw him hold up well enough in the slot vs. Lamb in a few clips too, which is very impressive for a rookie safety.

Basically nothing is going to show up as an obvious big play from a safety at this point in TC except for an INT, and being a ballhawk isn't at the top of his list of strengths to begin with.
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Coverage was one area I had a concern with when they started talking about moving inside.
 
Simpleton said:
He wasn't the best defender in the draft, although I can guarantee you that the types of splash plays he does make aren't going to be readily noticeable in a training camp setting, particularly when all we're seeing are a bunch of 10 second social media clips from media types who only half know what they're looking at.
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He wasn't? I mean, there were people calling him the best player in the draft and that the only reason he fell was because he was a safety not a prime position.
 
NoDak said:
So we can excuse that, but be critical of a rookie in his third NFL practice ever, and not even in pads yet, for not making enough splash plays?

Makes sense.
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I wouldn't say I'm being critical as much as I'm nervous he's not showing out more.

But you can put an asterisk on that too if you want.
 
Smitty said:
He wasn't? I mean, there were people calling him the best player in the draft and that the only reason he fell was because he was a safety not a prime position.
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Maybe you could argue he was the best depending on how you define it, but if we were picking 2nd I wouldn't have taken him. I had Bailey ahead of him at the very least, probably Reese as well, and Styles was a toss up.
 
Smitty said:
I will also say, uh, I don't want him to be just a nickel corner.

He needs to play safety.
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I'm not going to get into all the details but in general the position they have him playing is a "big nickel" LB/slot CB/safety hybrid that Emmanwori, Kyle Hamilton and DeJean all play.

He'll be a traditional safety in some alignments, but that slot CB/LB hybrid position is arguably the most important "back 7" position in this style of defense.
 
Simpleton said:
I saw him hold up well enough in the slot vs. Lamb in a few clips too, which is very impressive for a rookie safety.

Basically nothing is going to show up as an obvious big play from a safety at this point in TC except for an INT, and being a ballhawk isn't at the top of his list of strengths to begin with.
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Yeah, I wasn’t pointing out any lack of splash, just the only reservations I had about the player and I’ve had them since well before the draft

He lacks NFL measurables but plays with his head in a way that (hopefully) reminds me of Bob Sanders.

We spent the 13th overall pick and two 5th round picks to get him.

He is going to take time to adjust, especially since they are playing him all over the field, and each new position adds to the learning curve.

So I don’t expect splash plays right away, and I worry that we might not get the impact we were hoping for from such draft capital in his rookie season at all.

This is an investment in leadership and culture as it is trying to make an impact. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
 
ravidubey said:
Yeah, I wasn’t pointing out any lack of splash, just the only reservations I had about the player and I’ve had them since well before the draft

He lacks NFL measurables but plays with his head in a way that (hopefully) reminds me of Bob Sanders.

We spent the 13th overall pick and two 5th round picks to get him.

He is going to take time to adjust, especially since they are playing him all over the field, and each new position adds to the learning curve.

So I don’t expect splash plays right away, and I worry that we might not get the impact we were hoping for from such draft capital in his rookie season at all.

This is an investment in leadership and culture as it is trying to make an impact. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
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The whole conversation is pointless right now, we're 3 practices into TC and it's nothing close to real football. For all we know Downs has amazing coverage 95% of the time but we'd never know it because we don't have access to a full view of what's happening, and of course there's no truly real run game action, which is where a lot of his value will come from.

And Sanders was barely 5-8, Downs is just a shade under 6-0 and is much more similar in size to someone like Branch or Pitre, so maybe stop fretting so much about that.
 
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