Art Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Other than one game against Toomer, Champ was incredible this year. Today he solidified one of the finest coverage years I've ever seen by just destroying Galloway and getting his hands on anything thrown his way. Smoot has to get his judgement down because when he's in coverage it's good enough if he would make a well timed play on the ball and he's not doing that. But, this year Champ really improved his play to a level few have been able to match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen-like Todd Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Champ rocks, no doubt. And in that 2nd Giants game, he was limping around, although he never ****ed about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Art, Smoot has made some stunning plays this year that I think get ignored a little too often. In the rams game he was nothing short of phenomenal. In the titans game he came up with a crucial one handed interception. He looks bad because champ is so good. The fact is that when you look at our DB's as a whole, we're stopping the opposing teams passing games at an amazing clip, and that's including our early season gaffes when ML was catering to opposing teams passing games on third and long. But yes, chamo has been phenomenal this year. Easily the best CB in the game this year. Galloway is a good reciever and he came away totally empty handed. We played some pretty tough passing teams this year and held our own for most part due to champ bailey. But smoot is a big part too and should not be overlooked. While champ is absolutely the best CB in football, I think smoot is arguably the best #2. -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefhogskin48 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 How can you not love Champ? The guy does his job game in and game out without any complaints. He is the heir apparent to Darrell Green as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 If we get 20 from champ, I'll be a happy happy man. -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 DB, I love Smoot and completely agree with you that he was very solid for us this year. He struggled early with blown assignments and he has had a string of very good games. Right now the biggest difference I see with he and Bailey is that he isn't as aware of the ball in the air and how to play the ball in the air as Bailey is. Smoot is great and was better than Bailey last year. Bailey was better than anyone this year. I think Smoot is on his way to being a Pro Bowl player. He just needs to refine his ball play when it's in the air and he'll be dominating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Champ is the best corner in the game today. Some cornerbacks may have a better game on certain weeks than champ, but week for week, over an ENTIRE season, Champ is #1. His lack of interceptions reflects how few number of passes are even thrown in his direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Champ has had a great year, and he owns Galloway. I think the Cowboys threw the ball his way once early, and then never even looked at him again. That's one of the big reasons Bryant had such a monster day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurent Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I find it a bit concerning that Smoot has gotten beat so often in recent weeks. WR get past him WAY too quickly, and I don't know if it's coaching but I don't EVER see Smoot even making an attempt at being physical with his opponents and jamming them at the line of scrimmage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 If Smoot is this good his 2nd year....imagine him in 3 or 4 years when he's really a Vet and the same with Champ. We'll be on lockdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golgo-13 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 We need to resign Champ ASAP. I don't even want him to taste the free agent market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I have a buddy who is a Dallas fan and I was talking $hit on Galloway - how Champ shut him out. He's like "I think Galloway is on the bench...I don't think he is in the lineup." I'm like "it only seems that way." 2#1's and a 12 mill SB for Joey??? Hmmmmm would be nice to have Shaun Alexander and Koren Robinson, wouldn't it?? :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince62 Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 fellas....while I admire your "I want to have Smoties' next child" infatuation........I do believe you are overstating matters. I don't know what games you are referring to. his play has been very spotty. and he has been beaten for TDs with amazing regularity. ART is spot on about playing the ball in the air. I would go a step further and state that if you compare smoot to champ you will see how much footwork and positioning play into this as well. Champ has been smothering...smoot has been practicing "good recovery"...there is a difference and it spells TDs and completions. there's a reason the Boys went after smoot yesterday...and it's not just Champ. they knew they could beat him and they did - two rookies (Bryant & Hutchinson) ate him up whenthere was minimal time to execute a play. no......smoot is going to have to improve a lot next year. he needs to hit the weight room also - he was clearly out-muscled on sveral receptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaganaut Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Smoot is great and was better than Bailey last year. Let's not get carried away here. Smoot had a phenomenal first year as a cornerback, but he's not at Bailey's level yet. I think he has the potential for unbelievably spectacular plays as demonstrated on the play where he hurt himself this year. Bailey is a man amongst boys though. It looks like he's warming up out there without even having to play hard. I think Bailey barring injury has the potential to go down as one of the top ten defensive backs in history. Smoot has the propensity to get turned the wrong way. In Kurt Schottenheimer's defense he looked better than Marvin Lewis' Bailey is in a class all his own. My bet is that Smoot won't make a pro bowl for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 with the anti-redskin hatred out there I wouldn't be suprised if it took a couple of years for any redskin to make the probowl.... But smoot this year is in a sophmore slump. We expected to see two corners swatting down everything that came thier way, and it hasn't happened. Bailey is an amazing corner. Bailey got turned completely around on dallas thanksgiving TD. Remember the one where he was looking back for the ball as somebody was scoring on him? I forget who it was offhand but bailey was like 3 feet away with a confused look on his face. And let's not forget Amani Toomer systematic destruction of bailey this year. He made bailey look real bad. But you know what that's okay, because the fact is that corners get beat by well thrown balls. Almost every time. The cornerbacks job isn't to break up the perfect ball. He's there to stop a mediocre ball from getting to the reciever and intercept the terrible ball %50 of the time. That's good corner play. Great corner play results in interceptions of mediocre balls and batting away perfect balls. Champ has more of the latter this year while smoot has more of the former. -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 Regan, I think this thread was about just how good Bailey is and was this year. That doesn't change the fact that a year ago Smoot was a better player, or if not a better player, a better performer. That's not getting carried away. That's just what happened. Champ certainly turned it around this year. Al, I don't know what you're referring to on Smoot getting beaten with amazing regularity. Even the Bryant touchdown there is some question as to whether that was on Smoot or on Terrell as it certainly appeared to me we were in a cover three and the safeties were supposed to keep anyone from getting behind them. It didn't look like straight man to me. It looked like the defensive backs were in a trail position to play the underthrow and the safeties were in the over position to handle the end zone throw and Terrell somehow was late. Perhaps that was simply a burn on Smoot though. But, other than the opener where Boston beat Smooty, he's not had a bad game until this one, and even in this one, his coverage was there and he simply didn't make a good enough play on the ball on a couple of big pass plays. That's an area he has to improve upon. But, Smoot is the best second-year corner in the NFL and though he wasn't as good as Champ was as a second-year player, he was able to come through his second season and prove the first wasn't a fluke, where he was the best rookie corner we've ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Art, while I agree that Smoot had a great rookie year, I don't think it's necessarily true that he was the better corner than Bailey. Remember Bailey was going against the #1 WRs all year, while Smoot always got the #2 guy. That Smoot consistantly shut his man down is great, but that doesn't mean Champ would not have had just as good a year covering #2s. This year, when the assignments were more even, Bailey was the obviously better player. In my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 I understand Henry. That's one reason I changed from saying a better player to at least a better performer. Champ is a better player now and probably was last year. Smoot says so himself. Last year though Smoot was so good teams actually went after Bailey. Actually, even this year teams go after Bailey more than they should. Bailey has to hurt people with interceptions and touchdowns to limit the balls heading his way. He's a guy that must have gotten his hands on 30 balls this year. That's remarkable. He just needs to punish the opposition more. Teams didn't go after Deion not because they feared the incompletion or knocked down pass but because they feared the big negative. Champ hasn't done as much of that yet and to get to the next level of player he has to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcop Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 He gets better and better each year.:notworthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Champ may take it to a level beyond in 2k3 and force Smoot to refine his game thus forcing teams to attack Bauman and use TE/Running backs more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebreaker Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Originally posted by DrunkenBoxer While champ is absolutely the best CB in football, I think smoot is arguably the best #2. -DB I think Patrick Surtain and Bobby Taylor have something to say about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebreaker Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Originally posted by DrunkenBoxer Bailey is an amazing corner. Bailey got turned completely around on dallas thanksgiving TD. Remember the one where he was looking back for the ball as somebody was scoring on him? I forget who it was offhand but bailey was like 3 feet away with a confused look on his face. And let's not forget Amani Toomer systematic destruction of bailey this year. He made bailey look real bad. But you know what that's okay, because the fact is that corners get beat by well thrown balls. Almost every time. -DB Don't know which games you were watching, but Champ didn't get turned around aganist Dallas on T-Day, that was Smoot. Champ was shadowing Galloway the whole game and was shutting him down, the same way he was yesterday. But then he got hurt, and Lewis switched to zone because he could no longer run full speed for the rest of the game...that is when Galloway scored....on Terrell and Smoot. Toomer didn't "systematically destruct" anybody? Champ had perfect coverage on that TD, but Collins underthrew the ball and Toomer made a good play on adjusting for it. Toomer made a few more catches on him in that game, and got shut down by Champ once again in the other game. Considering how much Champ gets the better of him, it was about time he scored on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatGuy Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I think Patrick Surtain and Bobby Taylor have something to say about that. Surtain sure, but Bobby Taylor? Maybe 5 years ago. And he did say arguably. I'd take Surtain, but then again who knows with Miami. They choke away every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Smoot is good (and hopefully improving), but Bailey is great. Unfortunately for Fred, any and all of his faults are exposed more than the average CB of his caliber because people throw away from Bailey. Deion experienced much the same thing two years ago. If we get a safety who can actually play a decent "center field" position in the Cover 2, we might have a truly fearsome pass defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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