What Exactly Happened to Nnamdi?

[Eazy Picks]

IMO, a combination of things...

There is obviously the fact that in Oakland he played mostly press man coverage, which he was great at. In Philly, he played a lot of zone and seemed to be out of position a lot. In press coverage Namdi was great at reading a players movement and putting himself in position to take the route away. In zone, it is a little different. One thing about Nnamdi is that he is not really a big time ball-hawk. He had one year where he get a lot of picks, but for the most part, going for picks is not really his game. There is an art in baiting quartertbacks into making throws and then making them pay, and Nnamdi isnt great at it, he just takes the route away and makes it very obvious that his man isnt open. Then theres also just the fact that the Eagles were a mess. He was probably frustrated and was not playing very inspired. Of course he played for years in oakland and never let the losing affect his play, but its different when you sign a big contract to go to a contender (he probaly coulda gotten more money elsewhere but wanted to go play for the "dream team") and the whole team is playing horrible.

I dont know if he will ever be his old self, but I dont really see why not. His game was never about speed, it was about using his length, strength, smarts and technical skills to shut down receivers. Hes in his early 30s, and isnt too slow to hold up in man coverage. All signs say he signs w the Niners, and if they can get anything close to what he was in Oakland, it could be scary. The 49ers have the pieces in place to build one of the best defenses in NFL history, and to me they are a shutdown corner and a playmaking safety away from being flat out ridiculous on defense. The loss of Goldson hurts, but they have plenty of guys who can run and hit on the defense, what they need is to improve their coverage. Goldson was good in coverage, but it was his forte.

[nobodyinparticular]

A lot of what happened to Nnamdi was the scheme he was in. He was great at shadowing receivers but I saw him having to drop back in a deep zone playing 15-20 yards off the receivers. That's just nonsense.

I tried to tell everyone on the board years ago that he wasn't as great in zone as he was in man. I still believe Nnamdi will be a top 5 or 10 CB if you put him in a scheme that fits his strengths. His abilities are still top notch.

[brat316]

man I guess Nnamdi won't be a good safety.

[nobodyinparticular]

Originally Posted by bhaarat316

man I guess Nnamdi won't be a good safety.

I know I sound like I'm backtracking, but I think if you put him at free safety he does fine. He actually did well in that role at Cal. It's very different playing centerfield than it is playing outside deep 3rd. At least for some players.

[Eazy Picks]

Originally Posted by nobodyinparticular

I know I sound like I'm backtracking, but I think if you put him at free safety he does fine. He actually did well in that role at Cal. It's very different playing centerfield than it is playing outside deep 3rd. At least for some players.

yea i was thinkin bout that. The Raiders drafted him at CB and then quickly switched him to FS. However, he didnt flourish until they moved him back to CB. Hes generally a good tackler and has good size so in that sense I could see him at safety. But to me no doubt he is at his best if hes put in a scheme where he gets to play a lot of press man. And I dont see why the 49ers wouldnt have him do that. Their whole scheme doesnt have to be m2m, but they should use him to shadow opposing teams best receivers, which gives great flexibility as far as what the rest of the guys on the D do. And with their pass-rush, press coverage is the way to go.

[bigbluedefense]

Nmandi played tons of man coverage in Philly. He got beat plenty of times in man coverage. The scheme is just an excuse. They traded Asante who is a far superior CB so they can play more man coverage and Nmandi still sucked.

He's just not a good CB anymore.

[Saints-Tigers]

This is like when Moss left Oakland, and everyone was laughing at how done he was, and how slow he got. Oops.

[Xonraider]

I love how now everyone says that he was not really good in Oakland.