Lavarleap56 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Leading up to the NFL Draft if you would have asked me if the Redskins would select David Amerson with the 51st pick I would have laughed it off and listed a few other cornerbacks they should look at instead. Nothing personal against Amerson but I spent most of the pre-draft process looking for a player who could slip in the draft but had potential as a “shut down” cornerback or dynamic playmaker that could dominate as a nickel back. The first two tapes I watched on David Amerson were vs the Miami Hurricanes and the Tennessee Volunteers. What I saw was a talented player that gave up a lot of big plays and didn’t play in the slot, after two games I didn’t see the guy I was looking for. Shortly after the watching those games everyone from Mike Mayock to Bucky Brooks echoed what I thought I saw on film, that Amerson was a boom or bust player with some really bad tape from 2012.I believe Mike Mayock even said he had never seen so many vertical routes given up by a cornerback.Once the “experts” co-signed what I saw on tape that was enough for me to close the book on Amerson and I made up my mind that he wasn’t a good fit for the Redskins, Or so I thought. Read More Here:http://httr24-7.com/film-room/breaking-down-david-amerson-is-he-the-right-pick-for-the-redskins/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illone Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Boom or bust seems to be the lasting "tag" this guy received, but I agree with one talking head who said one of the reasons this guy had a terrible 2012 was because he was trying to get more picks than he got in 2011 rather than focus on fundamentals. Nice find that the Skins don't ask their guys to backpedal, did not know that. Sort of changed his value, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTTRDynasty Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Nice break-down. After watching some tape on Amerson, I can honestly say he might be one of the worst tacklers I've ever seen. I mean, it's embarrassingly awful. However, his ball skills are amazing. If he can stay disciplined with his eyes, and if the back-peddling is kept to a minimum, I agree that he will be a huge difference maker for this team for years to come. I'd also be ecstatic if someone could teach this kid the fundamentals of tackling before the season starts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martytheman Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Maybe that shanny guy knows a thing or two after all eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejay183 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Nice break-down. After watching some tape on Amerson, I can honestly say he might be one of the worst tacklers I've ever seen. I mean, it's embarrassingly awful. However, his ball skills are amazing. If he can stay disciplined with his eyes, and if the back-peddling is kept to a minimum, I agree that he will be a huge difference maker for this team for years to come. I'd also be ecstatic if someone could teach this kid the fundamentals of tackling before the season starts I hate corners who cant tackle. If you are going to play defense, you got to learn to tackle. D.Hall used to be a bad tackler and he has worked up to be a decent tackler, when he isnt trying to strip the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCClybun Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 If you go back to 2011, Amerson displayed a real physicality and was actually a really solid tackler. I don't know what happened between 2011 and 2012, but I think he was just pressing, a lot. And as has been said, D-Hall has improved his tackling a ton, so it can be done. I think the will is there, I just think the lightbulb needed to be replaced for Amerson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsGuy Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 If you go back to 2011, Amerson displayed a real physicality and was actually a really solid tackler. I don't know what happened between 2011 and 2012, but I think he was just pressing, a lot. And as has been said, D-Hall has improved his tackling a ton, so it can be done. I think the will is there, I just think the lightbulb needed to be replaced for Amerson. I think what happened to Amerson in 2012 was that he just pulled a "Lavar Arrington". After a great 2011, he go so enamored with making the big plays (mainly INTs), that he just started to freelance. He started playing poorly disciplined football, abandoning his assignments to chase the big play. That left an area of the field exposed and it was the opposing offense that got the big play. The good news is, it doesn't seem like Amerson was doing this for selfish, ego reasons like Arrington did. He thought he would be helping his team. He has acknowledged his mistake, and has vowed to re-focus on the basics of disciplined football that made him such a great player in 2011. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythesofine Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 This the corner I wanted since the season ended. His bad 2012 was a blessing b/c having half a decent season compared to his 2011, he wouldn't been any where near the 2nd round at least our selection. With all do respect to Philip Thomas, in two years people will be saying David Amerson was the steal of the this draft. The last I wanted the skins to select a player this bad was the late S.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPSean Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Thanks for the breakdown. It seems the FO selected the right guy for our coverage schemes. This guy appears to have all the tools to become a star, now let's see what the coaching staff can do with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Green Fan Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 I was really encouraged to hear him admit that he got greedy and lost his fundamentals. That tells me he is ready to correct his problem. Initially I wasn't high on this pick. I wanted a corner with the first pick, just not this corner. But you're right, had he played well last year he wouldn't have been available. We don't need another Josh Wilson, we need a really good corner with size. This guy may be the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da#1skinsfan Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Great read - thx for another gem. But curious, I don't really get the Kevin Hart correlation, can you elaborate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Great breakdown LL, I don't think it comes as any surprise that the coaching staff would need to play someone, especially a rook, to their strengths. Seems like Amerson's success might depend a lot on how one or both of the young safeties pan out, reliable coverage deep ought to allow him to make the most of his skills, or at least give opposing QB pause about trying to thread it in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahons21 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Glad to see you've come around on him since draft night. I still think he's probably boom or bust, but I'm more excited for the boom. And almost expecting the boom at this point because this FO has made this a glass half full organization in the past few seasons, which is a nice change up. I've also heard MS has said he likes to grade people based on their highlight tape, and in this specific case that is quite evident. Hopefully you're boy Rah can coach him up. Few points re: discussion in the thread: -Hall was once one of the worst tackling CBs in the league, and is now one of the best, tackling can be taught, so long as the boy likes to hit and isn't shying from contact. -Like other have said, I believe Amerson's down season can be attributed to pressing too much and believe that if he gets back to fundamentals we'll see a return to form. Furthermore, in my opinion, this dude will fit the Redskins scheme perfectly. For a variety of reasons I could list, but since you're on ES reading this, you already know them. Lastly, great breakdown LL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Maybe that shanny guy knows a thing or two after all eh? Funny when you pick players for your system (Amerson) or adjust the system for the player (like RGIII) you can truly be successful this way. Great job on the article, I thoroughly enjoyed that. ---------- Post added May-4th-2013 at 08:32 AM ---------- I was really encouraged to hear him admit that he got greedy and lost his fundamentals. That tells me he is ready to correct his problem. Initially I wasn't high on this pick. I wanted a corner with the first pick, just not this corner. But you're right, had he played well last year he wouldn't have been available. We don't need another Josh Wilson, we need a really good corner with size. This guy may be the guy. Absolutely right, he said that right off the bat, most surprising. Also when is the last time we had a corner with this size and wingspan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Funny when you pick players for your system (Amerson) or adjust the system for the player (like RGIII) you can truly be successful this way. Amazing, ain't it? The current regime has fundamentally changed the way we (any everyone else) sees this team, far beyond just dealing up for Robert. Pros that see the big picture instead of you-know-who looking at a little picture- trying to find Waldo, arguably the single biggest change to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoPro Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Really appreciate the great breakdown of Amerson! I really did not know enough about him to understand how he would be utilized in our defense and that really was informative. I learned about our defense as well. I had noticed a lot of off man stuff and less press but really didn't put 2 and 2 together. Thanks a lot! Way to excited for it to be this early...HTTR!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo'sRangers Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 This the corner I wanted since the season ended. His bad 2012 was a blessing b/c having half a decent season compared to his 2011, he wouldn't been any where near the 2nd round at least our selection. With all do respect to Philip Thomas, in two years people will be saying David Amerson was the steal of the this draft. The last I wanted the skins to select a player this bad was the late S.T. Agree totally. If he would have been near the 2011 stats he would have been a top 10 pick. He won the Jack Tatum award, as a true sophomore, that has had past winners such as Charles Woodson, Sean Taylor, and Patrick Peterson just to name a few. Frankly, we were lucky as hell to get this kid, and I couldn't be happier! HTTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaRonDontLikeUgly Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 LL's article caused me to go back and watch some of his 2011 footage, and everything about the dude's game completely changed in 2012. It makes me wonder if he may have suffered some unreported concussions which may be affecting his tackling. I started playing football in the 6th grade, and I was taught to hit with my helmet (eyes up of course). I played this way all throughout high school and suffered (to my estimation) over a dozen concussions. Probably more. Towards the end of my playing days, I noticed myself doing exactly what Amerson is doing now. I started dipping my head right before the moment of impact and making a lot of contact with the top of my helmet. Obviously, it was not a safe way to play the game-- but it was almost as if it became involuntary. It got to the point where right before a huge impact, my brain was like, "OK, we have to destroy this guy, but it's going to hurt." And it did. Lots of ringing, momentary vision loss, headaches... All things that had never bothered me in the past. My teammates and coaches never knew anything was bothering me, but it definitely affected my game. Specifically, how I approached contact. Hopefully this isn't the case with Amerson- but you rarely (if ever) see a guy completely abandon his techniques after having one of the most successful college seasons in history. There is more to this story than just, "Oh, I just got ****y and had a rough year." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavy Jumbo Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 It looks like the whole NC State football team may have had a dip in production from 2011 to 2012 because they brought in a new regime this year. Some of Amerson's problem's in 2012 may have been due to bad coaching. It looks like he has great potential in our scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavarleap56 Posted May 4, 2013 Author Share Posted May 4, 2013 Glad to see you've come around on him since draft night.I still think he's probably boom or bust, but I'm more excited for the boom. And almost expecting the boom at this point because this FO has made this a glass half full organization in the past few seasons, which is a nice change up. I've also heard MS has said he likes to grade people based on their highlight tape, and in this specific case that is quite evident. Hopefully you're boy Rah can coach him up. Few points re: discussion in the thread: -Hall was once one of the worst tackling CBs in the league, and is now one of the best, tackling can be taught, so long as the boy likes to hit and isn't shying from contact. -Like other have said, I believe Amerson's down season can be attributed to pressing too much and believe that if he gets back to fundamentals we'll see a return to form. Furthermore, in my opinion, this dude will fit the Redskins scheme perfectly. For a variety of reasons I could list, but since you're on ES reading this, you already know them. Lastly, great breakdown LL. Thanks bro.. Think that's the first nice thing you have said to me on here in years haha. Had to pinch myself. ---------- Post added May-4th-2013 at 03:52 PM ---------- It looks like the whole NC State football team may have had a dip in production from 2011 to 2012 because they brought in a new regime this year. Some of Amerson's problem's in 2012 may have been due to bad coaching.It looks like he has great potential in our scheme. Their DC was Mike Archer... He was the Steelers LB coach from 1996-2002 and coached under Haslett from 1997-2000. ---------- Post added May-4th-2013 at 03:53 PM ---------- It looks like the whole NC State football team may have had a dip in production from 2011 to 2012 because they brought in a new regime this year. Some of Amerson's problem's in 2012 may have been due to bad coaching.It looks like he has great potential in our scheme. Their DC was Mike Archer... He was the Steelers LB coach from 1996-2002 and coached under Haslett from 1997-2000. ---------- Post added May-4th-2013 at 04:05 PM ---------- It looks like the whole NC State football team may have had a dip in production from 2011 to 2012 because they brought in a new regime this year. Some of Amerson's problem's in 2012 may have been due to bad coaching.It looks like he has great potential in our scheme. Their DC was Mike Archer... He was the Steelers LB coach from 1996-2002 and coached under Haslett from 1997-2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSO Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 My two favorite things about picking Amerson is that, first, it's a clear indication that our coaches are extremely confident in their abilities. They didn't want to take a guy they know they can get to be a solid starter right away with little teaching involved... they went after a guy who has the potential to be one of the best CBs in the league after being coached up. So the risk is not that he's a headcase or a trouble maker in the locker room, the risk is all in their coaching. And they probably believe there's no risk at all, that they WILL fix the issues he showed last year. Second, it's that they targeted a guy who excels at what we do within our defensive scheme. In my opinion, this is what we've lacked so much before Shanahan arrived when drafting players. Heck, we lacked that when signing Free Agents. I actually think Vinny is not that awful at identifying talent (I know I'm going to get killed for that), I think he just absolutely terrible at understanding the depths of schematic analysis. That's what lead to signings like Jason Taylor who's an awesome talent but simply didn't fit our 4-3 that well and didn't even play the side we really needed within it. Or a guy like Devin Thomas who was a great talent but clearly was NOT the type of West Coast disciplined route runner for the Zorn offense we were running at the time (though he ended up not being good at anything other than Special Teams anyway). I'm really, really excited about Amerson. I think he's the type of guy who understands football and will take to what the coaches teach real quickly, and already excels at the things they'd like him to do, which means we may have an elite CB sooner rather than later starting on our team. ---------- Post added May-4th-2013 at 10:31 AM ---------- It's a telltale sign that an organization is run properly when guys who get drafted or signed as Free Agents play specific roles or excel at specific aspects that fit directly into what you're trying to do schematically. One of the ways to know an organization is doing that is how players end up playing when going to other teams after playing well for that organization. For instance, how many Patriot draft picks that play well for them go elsewhere and excel? Very few. That shows that they were getting something from those players that other team's schemes are missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbo Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 There's nothing original or insightful about my Amerson opinion (I echo most of the standard thinking already stated). But I wanted to say that I found this an outstanding and informative OP and an excellent job by LL56 in every way, shape, and form. Truly excellent level of effort and final product. I also really liked the theme of a very knowledgeable and informed fan, tracking how his own reasonably developed views are still open to change with new information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johns Bass Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 I liked the pick - good against the run and not afraid to jam receivers (although this might cost a couple of penalties early on). However, his pic on nfl.coms rookie cards...maybe not the most flattering... Link: http://www.nfl.com/photos/0ap1000000163677/0ap2000000164546 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogofWar1 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Excellent article, superb job LL56. The Amerson of 2011 was certainly a different player from the 2012 one, and that's why I liked the pick, in that I though we could get him back to his 2011 self, but your analysis went beyond that. Our defense being designed to hide his weaknesses and possibly play up his strengths is great, and he might be a competent starter on the outside sooner rather than later, with a high ceiling. Our CB corp has the potential to be quite good this year, I think. Hall can be a very good corner when he's on his game, Wilson was quietly good, though he needed safety help, and Biggers seemed to finally grow into a competent outside corner last year in Tampa. Crawford will have another year under his belt too. If Meriweather is healthy, and one of Thomas and Rambo can do ok at FS, our secondary could go from being a very weak spot to hopefully at least middle of the pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RG3Hunna Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Someone touched on players excelling when they are in the right scheme and I have to agree 100%. Though a small sample size, I really think Brandon Meriweather excelled in our scheme in that eagles game, he looked like a game changer in that one half of football. Hopefully it wasn't just a lucky half however. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.