Good points. It would be very interesting to see. I think if the Jets wanted to, Cro and Wilson could hold their own on the #1 and #2 wide receivers.
I'm just saying it's completely different game playing with front towards the QB at the safety spot . But I do think you have some logic here. Against teams without star receivers move Revis to FS and let Cro and KWils handle the receivers. But if a team has receivers that are so bad that you don't want to put Revis on them, wouldn't you want a run stuffer in the game, not a 200 pound CB ?
I think it's moot because Rex is in a love affair with the cornerback position and wants to build a defense from the back forward and the wings in. So I doubt if we'll ever see Revis play at FS or any S, but I think a traditional defense would double in effectiveness with him back there at FS. Rex just doesn't do traditional, which may be a blessing and a curse combined.
Revis as a FS is an interesting concept. He's got everything down pat, the technique, the knowledge and the work effort. What a free safety position, calling signals would provide him with is a better resume after he retires. I think he would make an outstanding coach in the future. The Safety position does allow players to get up to maximum speed and lay out some serious hits. It is yet to be seen how the Saints bounty scandal will affect play this season if every time someone lays a player out the league then starts questioning motive. If that happens then football will be seriously damaged. Gronk could either return to form or this could be the beginning of a repetitive and cumulative type injury that effectually limits the things that has made him a difficult player to control. Disrupting him at key times and where he isn't expecting it may help. Dedicating a player to cover him runs the risk of both targeting a player's weaknesses and is easier to deal with. Mixing coverage up keeps the offense guessing.
Bart Scott would earn his $4.2M if the first time Gronk caught a pass Bart went for his ankles. Fuck...I'd buy him a beer.
The bounty thing bothers me for the same reasons, they're going to turn football into a quasi-violent football ballet like the beginning of Starship Troopers. You know that simply by the aggressive and swift punishment that they are going to go heavy on the rule changes over the next year or two. As for the first part, I agree with every word.
I really don't know why not. I've seen a ton of his interviews and he is not only intelligent but also engaging and intense. He does joke around in some of them, and maybe that's why you take him as such. Look throughout the history of elite defensive players, and you will probably find few Rhodes scholars. Most of those guys are boisterous, uncouth, engaging, to-the-point types of personalities that turn on a switch in their brain on the football field and become men among boys. Revis knows the routes his receivers are running because he knows the quarterbacks' tells. He's that good. He is also relentless. He may not be able to make major contact with a receiver past 5 yards, but within those 5 yards he wins so well that everything past 5 yards is jacked out of rhythm because of it. He closes on the ball in mid-air like a machine built for it. Those PD stats he has don't lie, the guy just embarrasses receivers by knocking the ball clear when it's a millimeter from their fingertips. Him doing that at a consistent clip is far more demoralizing to a receiver than the corner taking a chance outside his route at a badly thrown ball. This guy is elite, and has the football smarts necessary to direct the defense, and simultaneously cover some of the best tight ends in the league. Don't tell me he's too small, 2 postseasons ago I watched him twice jam Antonio Gates through the 5 Yards Of Revis and Rivers didn't even look that way because of the tight coverage. He has the strength of a guy like Jonathan Vilma, a speed linebacker. And he has perfect form when tackling. He doesn't tackle like a dipshit safety that leads with his head, he wraps up the ball carrier with the precision of a surgeon and avoid injuring himself. It's not a coincidence that he has remained healthy aside from the inevitable Holdout Hamstring. He has near-perfect technique. This guy would kill souls at free safety.
You have me pumped for football. I want to see Revis in action again. Call Rex and let him know about this idea! Somebody put Revis at FS in Madden and see how it works :grin:
Concerning the interview, I was actually surprised that Gronk could form full words into sentences, and the way it started out he didn't seem like he could. But he turned out to have a bit of wit going for him and didn't try to punk Revis out like I thought he would at the end.
Most awkward interview of all time from all parties involved. Gronkowski is dumber than a bag of rocks, what a beast though.