I think James Bradberry has become somewhat of a polarizing player. Obviously, the team is weaker at CB after his release, and it certainly stings that he signed with a division rival, but is this a case of releasing a player a year too early as opposed to a year too late?
In his first year in 2020, he was playing at an all-pro level. He was among the best in the league. Last year, in 2021, he was much more up and down. He had good games followed by bad games, and even good series/reps followed by bad series/reps.
What does Bradberry have left? As previously mentioned, the CB situation is certainly worse after his departure, but is he strictly a zone coverage player? Martindale wants to use a heavy press man-coverage schemes and Bradberry is not a great fit for that.
He will be 29 before the season starts. Was last season a warning sign of his eventual decline?
Maybe some decline as well due to age, but imagine he bounces back some in 2022 closer to his norm...
I felt we had perfect press man, match corners.....Jackson taking the jitterbug type wr and Bradberry taking the big alfa type wrs.
But that was never even attempted.
They were not placed in a successful position.
I felt we had perfect press man, match corners.....Jackson taking the jitterbug type wr and Bradberry taking the big alfa type wrs.
But that was never even attempted.
They were not placed in a successful position.
Patrick Graham's playcalling, 2020 vs 2021, is one of the more bizarre aspects of this past season.
When I went to the Chicago game I said right behind the Giants bench and it was obvious this was his last year here, judging by his mannerisms. Nothing too serious but he kept waving at the offense to stay on the field for 4th down as if they were a joke lol
In Martindale’s defense, he won’t be missed but that doesn’t mean he isn’t good. I think you will be hard pressed to find 2 better CBs playing a similar role.
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But last year, I felt the coaches had a horrible strategy.
I felt we had perfect press man, match corners.....Jackson taking the jitterbug type wr and Bradberry taking the big alfa type wrs.
But that was never even attempted.
They were not placed in a successful position.
Patrick Graham's playcalling, 2020 vs 2021, is one of the more bizarre aspects of this past season.
You didn’t care for our corners playing a country mile off the line?
The Giants had a much less effective pass rush in 2021. The Giants had far fewer blitzes and pressures from their middle line backer and safeties in 2021.
There's also the notion Bradberry has had career success in a primarily man coverage defense -- but in the pros that's not true. In Carolina Rivera played a mix of man and zone schemes, and in New York Graham played almost exclusively zone.
Bradberry has always struggled with recovery speed -- when he was at Arkansas St. he was about to be switched to safety. He transfered to Samford to stay a corner, and his recovery speed and struggles one-on-one in man coverage were negatives in his draft profile.
I think a combination of age, injury, and bad pass rush was more a factor than coverage scheme.
Blake and his 150+ tackles was never replaced.
Danny Shelton was shot.
Yiadom stunk and Adoree was great last year.
Graham and his scheme felt worse and the DL was weaker especially when you let guys like BJ Hill go and Danny Shelton is shot. But then Martinez was out, which was vital.
oh, wait... the wrong guy...
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really good in 2020 because the opposite corner was so bad.
Yiadom stunk and Adoree was great last year.
Graham and his scheme felt worse and the DL was weaker especially when you let guys like BJ Hill go and Danny Shelton is shot. But then Martinez was out, which was vital.
Adoree was far from great last year. Most of the Defensive starters, at all three levels, had sub-par years which probably drove Graham crazy as to who he could really rely upon. They were not ready to play when the season started either and that is on the coaches.
oh, wait... the wrong guy...
Most excellently played.
Bradberry is in the same spot Logan Ryan was in when he came to the Giants.
I won't be surprised if he has a solid year in a hybrid corner/safety role.
The rub is you add guys like that on top of a winner, you don't build a winner on top of guys like that.