Skins Sign Safety Stuart Schweigert, Cut Ryan Wallace

[Thoth]

Okay, I hate to beat the dead horse here, but I am REALLY starting to like this new approach of our FO. Optimistic scenario next year, just for fun:

We bring Erasmus along slowly, let him take his sweet time, start him by mid-season. LL moves to SS, SS to FS, and SS becomes starter. This also gives you a SS that can really cover--a significant bonus. That would be two quality starters acquired for a 7th round pick. Doubt it will pan out that way, but I LOVE the fact that we are finally being smart about the way we acquire personnel -- mine for them rather than bet the farm on overpaid big name players.

[darrelgreenie]

I've been saying that all along. Reed is not the answer. The coaches know this. Im hoping Schweigert can make the transition over to SS. He had two productive years in Oakland.

Schweigert, a free safety, is here for veteran depth. He'll likely back up Landry since our other FS are rookies. He's not here to replace Doughty at strong safety.

[DieselPwr44]

I wish we went after OL and DL with the same fervor that we do in acquiring safties.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Hmm, how many games did they win in 06, 07? How many of those games did they get blown out?

You can have a low ranked pass defense due to teams running the ball to control the clock after they have already hung 14 points on someone. Rankings are not everything...

You let me know..

um, and how was their offense ranked? oh thats right, dead last in giveaways (43 friggin turnovers, thats almost 3 a game) in 06, and 30th in giveaways in 07 (37 turnovers, a little over 2 a game). you wonder why teams scored so much on them, its kinda hard not to when you get 3 free extra possessions a game.

their D was very solid, they had play makers everywhere and lots of guys worth building a team around. their offense was just a complete joke, and still is as of now. maybe mcfadden and russell change that, but to blame their defense for their losses is ridiculous.

[pjfootballer]

We get a former 1st rounder for a 7th and a former 3rd rounder for nothing. I like the way the FO is building the depth. They may actually be on to something this year.

[Morneblade]

I wish we went after OL and DL with the same fervor that we do in acquiring safties.

No ****ing kidding!!!!!!!!! :applause:

Schweigert, a free safety, is here for veteran depth. He'll likely back up Landry since our other FS are rookies. He's not here to replace Doughty at strong safety.

Fox is a FS and last time I checked, we had no depth behind Doughty. Unless you include the guy that was out of football all last year. So, they might try him at both spots, but we need some depth at SS.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Schweigert, a free safety, is here for veteran depth. He'll likely back up Landry since our other FS are rookies. He's not here to replace Doughty at strong safety.

hes an in the box guy, not a centerfield guy. he'll compete with doughty for the starting spot. vernon fox is landrys backup.

[tml6157]

anyone know what # he was wearing today, or what he will be wearing?

[FUBAR]

I see this idea that Schweigert is a SS and not a FS got started by someone in this thread... This isnt accurate.

He was actually dropped from Oakland because he wasn't a good enough RUN defender.

This guy is an adequate starting free safety. I think Laron probably is more of a SS himself, given his size. But lets be honest, there isnt a huge difference between SS and FS.

So you think he can take Reed's job????

[Morneblade]

hes an in the box guy, not a centerfield guy. he'll compete with doughty for the starting spot. vernon fox is landrys backup.

Not so sure about that. He was more of a ball-hawk coming out of college with very good speed. However while he might not be a big hitter, if he makes a tackle and takes good angles that's all I care about. I dont know if I see him taking Reed's job but he is a upgrade at our depth, which was very thin at SS. Still Im not really sure how this will play out, and where they will have him playing.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Not so sure about that. He was more of a ball-hawk coming out of college with very good speed. However while he might not be a big hitter, if he makes a tackle and takes good angles that's all I care about. I dont know if I see him taking Reed's job but he is a upgrade at our depth, which was very thin at SS. Still Im not really sure how this will play out, and where they will have him playing.

hes been one of the league leaders in tackles for safties. most guys that lead safties in tackles arent playing centerfield, theyre in the box for run support. he doesnt intercept a lot balls so if he is supposed to be a centerfield guy, he doesnt look like hes good one.

i hope either doughty steps up and wins the job, or schweigert outdoes doughty for the starting spot. itd be nice to see our own guy get the job, but schweigert is a proven guy.

[Morneblade]

hes been one of the league leaders in tackles for safties. most guys that lead safties in tackles arent playing centerfield, theyre in the box for run support. he doesnt intercept a lot balls so if he is supposed to be a centerfield guy, he doesnt look like hes good one.

i hope either doughty steps up and wins the job, or schweigert outdoes doughty for the starting spot. itd be nice to see our own guy get the job, but schweigert is a proven guy.

True, but he's been playing FS his career at Oakland, not SS. The knock on him is that he isnt real physical and gets overpowered against rb's at times. I like the add though, he gives us some NFL exp back there, wherever he lines up.

[TheLongshot]

hes an in the box guy, not a centerfield guy. he'll compete with doughty for the starting spot. vernon fox is landrys backup.

Looking at his college film, he was a centerfield guy. It is possible that he was misused with the Raiders.

Jason

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Looking at his college film, he was a centerfield guy. It is possible that he was misused with the Raiders.

Jason

True, but he's been playing FS his career at Oakland, not SS. The knock on him is that he isnt real physical and gets overpowered against rb's at times. I like the add though, he gives us some NFL exp back there, wherever he lines up.

i guess we'll see how hes used. remember, were a little spoiled when it comes to run stopping safties, and the only knock ive heard is him against LT, and lets get real, you take LT over anyone everytime. but either way, im glad we got him, regardless of what S spot he plays.

[KCJDLJ]

Random observation, Snyder/Ceratto LOVE white safeties.

Bowen

Archuletta

Doughty

now Schweigert

What about Taylor,Landry,PP and Fox?

[pjfootballer]

i guess we'll see how hes used. remember, were a little spoiled when it comes to run stopping safties, and the only knock ive heard is him against LT, and lets get real, you take LT over anyone everytime. but either way, im glad we got him, regardless of what S spot he plays.

Remember BLC, we all hated that Taylor led the defense in tackles. It meant the runners were getting into the secondary. I'd rather he be a ball hawk like ST was becoming than a run stopper and leading tackler. In an ideal world, the MLB or someone on the D-line leads the team in tackles. Not your Strong Safety.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

So you think he can take Reed's job????

I think he CAN start at FS and push Landry back to SS, which I think is more natural for Laron. But, I don't think anything is a given. I think Laron is versatile enough, and its entirely possible they put him at FS and keep Doughty at SS.

hes an in the box guy, not a centerfield guy. he'll compete with doughty for the starting spot. vernon fox is landrys backup.

hes been one of the league leaders in tackles for safties. most guys that lead safties in tackles arent playing centerfield, theyre in the box for run support. he doesnt intercept a lot balls so if he is supposed to be a centerfield guy, he doesnt look like hes good one.

i hope either doughty steps up and wins the job, or schweigert outdoes doughty for the starting spot. itd be nice to see our own guy get the job, but schweigert is a proven guy.

I don't know really what your basing this on. If its the tackle stats, I would just point out that tackles are a mostly useless stat.

Schweigert is a coverage first safety, who doesn't hit hard, or do well in the box. He does not have elite speed, but he has good speed and plays the ball well in the deep middle. He was released from the Raiders BECAUSE he did not play the run well. He came out of Purdue as their all time leading interceptor, surpassing Rod Woodson.

If people are expecting him to be a bone-crunching run stopping safety, they will be sorely disappointed. He's a deep free safety who will stay strong in coverage and be able to make a couple int's a year.

[RammsteinSkins]

Love the move,Vernon Fox and LL at FS with Doughty and Schweigert,sounds great to me.

[J-bomb]

Wow well regardless of the fact that this may be Schweigert's own speculation/hope, I do wonder if a strong preseason from this guy could win him the starting job. It's not like Reed is an entrenched starter or anything. The guy couldn't even find the field until tradgedy struck.

Edit: Well, it says he's expecting FS...soooo maybe he'll be LaRon's backup? unless LaRon is back to SS? And I thought this dude was SS at Oakland? Im confused ....

Seems like they want Landry in the box at SS and move Reed or Schweigert to FS, I highly doubt Landry's position which ever one they want him to play is open for competition!:2cents:

[DemSkinz]

Laron was better at Free Safety than Strong Safety, I mean just look at the Seattle game were he had 2 picks. He never got any picks at SS.

[J-bomb]

Laron was better at Free Safety than Strong Safety, I mean just look at the Seattle game were he had 2 picks. He never got any picks at SS.

True, but the only reason he played FS was because of ST's untimely death. Once ST passed we needed the best player at FS so we moved him back there and Reed to SS. When he was SS Taylor was making all the plays at FS! No Taylor means we find the best possible FS/SS and pair them with Laron.

[chow184]

hes an in the box guy, not a centerfield guy. he'll compete with doughty for the starting spot. vernon fox is landrys backup.

if you think Stuart Schweigert is an in the box S your kidding yourself

his main weakness coming out of college was being a consistent tackler,and he was an inconsistent tackler as a FS for the raiders.

I could see us putting Schwigert on the field for passing downs specifically right now instead of doughty,but whoever plays the best will get the most playing time,and doughty was a solid tackler last season

here's some stuff to back up what I'm saying.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/raiders/

The Raiders have wanted to move Michael Huff to free safety for a while, but didn't think Schweigert would be able to play around the line of scrimmage as effectively.

and here's a good article about schweigert after he left the raiders

May 21, 2008

The blame game

There's a play that sticks out from Stuart Schweigert's last season in Oakland.

It was the game against Houston in which the run defense was again making Ron Dayne look like he was back at Wisconsin on is way to the Heisman Trophy.

At one point Schweigert was being blocked by the Texans' center on a running play.

Not a receiver. The center.

Of course the run netted big yards. Those things happen when a 300-pound man is able make it 15 yards down field to make a block.

So you know who gets the blame, right?

Schweigert.

I was able to catch up with Schweigert late last night to chat about his time in Oakland that ended with him on the bench without much of an explanation.

Schweigert, once billed as a leader for the top-rated pass defense in 2006 morphed into the offensive version of Robert Gallery by the end of the 2007 season.

Every mistake was magnified and everything from the run defense to the lack of fans on Mount Davis was his entire fault.

Schweigert's tackling was the reason he was benched. But he stayed on the bench even though his replacement, Hiram Eugene, faired no better.

"I know I sound like a broken record with this," Schweigert said. "The problem is the one (tackle) that I miss is the one that scores, the one everyone sees."

Missing tackles on the Raider defense last year was akin to being an opposing running back with 100 rushing yards (didn't everyone do it at least once) and Schweigert felt the heat when he missed.

"I missed a couple of those tackles and they came down on me really hard," he said. "...It's the nature of the business. It's really week to week. One week Lane Kiffin is saying how well I played, the next week I'm done. You feel like trash."

Schweigert's release wasn't unexpected. His 2008 base salary (about $2.6 million) is starter money and the Raiders have already made Gibril Wilson one of the highest paid safeties in football to go along with Michael Huff.

Now he has a chance to see what other teams might be interested in him. The Raiders might have liked to trade him and receive compensation, but no team is going to trade for a player it knows has to be released.

"It's been about a two-month process which was draining physically and mentally," Schweigert said. "It was one of those deals I was waiting for it to happen."

His waiting is over. And it ended without him having to get cut at the end of training camp and limiting his chance of making a team.

Now can the Raiders do something with LaMont Jordan?

--Jason Jones

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Remember BLC, we all hated that Taylor led the defense in tackles. It meant the runners were getting into the secondary. I'd rather he be a ball hawk like ST was becoming than a run stopper and leading tackler. In an ideal world, the MLB or someone on the D-line leads the team in tackles. Not your Strong Safety.

agreed, but i hated that taylor was having to lead the team in tackles, not that he tackled guys a lot.

again, if he plays well i dont care what he does. as long as he contributes ill be glad we got him.

[Antwaan Randle El Nino]

hes been one of the league leaders in tackles for safties. most guys that lead safties in tackles arent playing centerfield, theyre in the box for run support. he doesnt intercept a lot balls so if he is supposed to be a centerfield guy, he doesnt look like hes good one.

I don't know really what your basing this on. If its the tackle stats, I would just point out that tackles are a mostly useless stat.

While he made a lot of tackles, tackles for a DB are a misleading stat. For instance check out the top 5 DBs in tackles over the last 3 years and their teams respective rank in RUN defense:

2007:

1. Michael Lewis- SF 104tkls 22nd rank run defense

2. Chris Harris- CAR 96tkls, 18th ranked run defense

3. Sean Jones-Cle 96 tkls, 27th ranked run defense

4. Bob Sanders-Ind 96 tkls, 15th ranked run defnese

5t. Cortland Finnegan- Ten 95tkls, 5th ranked

5t. Laron Landry 95 tkles, 5th ranked

2006:

1. Chris Hope TEN 121- 30th

2. Sean Jones CLE 111- 29th

3. Sean Taylor 111- 27th

4. Stu Schweigert- OAK 107- 25th

5t. Jermain Philips- TB- 17th

5th. Donte Whitner- BUF 104- 28th

2005:

1. Erik Coleman NYJ 121- 29TH

2. Gibril Wilson NYG 112- 12TH

3. Adrian Wilson- ARZ 109- 10th

4. Michael Lewis- Phi 107- 21st

5. Lawyer Milloy, Buf- 106- 31st

So, usually the league leaders for DB's in tackles are on bad run defense teams with the exception of a few like landry, finnegan, and adrian wilson. Schweigert has been on a bad run team (31st, 25th, 25th)... so its not a "he's a CF type safety" or "he's a in-the-box safety" but he had to be an in-the-box type guy out of necessity, not because it best suits his talents. i would look at his 17 interceptions in college and the fact that it was necessary for him to make all those tackles since the guys up front couldn't do it against the run in oakland to say that he's probably more of a CF type... but hopefully his time in oakland taught him to do a little of both (which makes you wonder why he was released)...

[terpfan]

At the very least this gives us something to talk about in the offseason, which I appreciate.

The question is, after all this effort to bolster safety depth (understandable), why dont we seem interested in picking up linebackers? Do we like the guys we have that much?