He's done a fantastic job with a lot of young LBs and a lot of average DBs. He is an absolutely perfect fit here. There was a period in the season where the horrendous offense was putting a whole lot of pressure on him, too, and that's critical when looking at defenses. I hope he continues to grow, improve his sense of timing, and figures out how to make first halves as successful as the halftime adjustments. His DB coaches need to land some big time players at CB/S so we can take the next step.
Hope he keeps adjusting to mixing in the blitz. We're heavily reliant on it this year for a number of reasons, but it's also his bread and butter. Again, I prefer it to the other extreme; just now looking to see how we take the next step on defense.
Like you said, that doesn't happen without better Safeties - especially in Diaz's system. I don't see the rangy Safety next year. Some say Redwine could move there, but I've never seen him play that position and then it's a calculation of what's better:
CB Young
S Johnson
S Finley
CB Redwine
CB Young
S Johnson
S Redwine
CB Jackson/Mayes/Frosh
Should be interesting.
