Is Malcom Jenkins overrated as a starting Free Safety?
 

He has been school'ed by one of the best F/S to play the game in Darren Sharper and has had ample time to become the player that he was suppose to come. Please post your thoughts!!

Why not post this on the Saints board?

Well, he was only schooled at FS by Sharper during the 2010 season. He really needs a chance to show what he can do under Spags and the new defensive scheme.

I'm new at this. Thanks for the info.

Malcolm has shown great potential. With Flajole and Spagnoulo coaching him he is surely going to improve.

Harper may even surprise us in coverage with some proper coaching...

Personally, I think the move to nickle would suit him best.

I do to. Does not play FS well, maybe to much responsibility. I had high hopes for him to be the FS for the next 10 years but he has not lived up to that from what I have seen.

I think he will have an all or nothing year this year under spags D, I think it's kind of unfair to judge him on GW's garbage D.

He got left out to dry being the only safety back there and GW wouldnt change the scheme

Imagine - teams come out in 4 wides, Jenkins in GW's D was responsible from sideline to sideline about 20 yards deep and he basically had to cover 4 WR's at once whilst watching the deep ball, GW hurt Jenkins play more than Jenkins did, GW's stubbornness to change after it was evident offenses knew what we were doing is what hurt our team

Spags will get him to produce

He looked a lot better when Dennis Allen was here, that's for sure. I think he has potential for greatness at either position, with the right coach and the right surrounding cast. The strip on Roy Williams on Thanksgiving Day was one for the ages. Really, all of these guys in the Saints secondary have basic talent, it's up to the coaches to get the most out of them.

I'm curious to see how he plays with a hint of a pass rush, which we didn't have last year.

Ed Reed would have struggled with our lack of a pass rush last season.

'10 - Very good FS.
'11 - Good SS, bad FS
'12 - Hopefully he reverts back to '10 form where she showed us All Pro potential at FS.

If I'm basing my answer on last year's performance, yes... he's overrated as a free safety.

I agree with the sentiment that he has good potential, but that he hasn't really developed as quickly as was hoped, and last season was actually a step back in terms of progression.

But Spags, Flajole, and Curtis present Jenkins with an opportunity to hit the reset button and start all over, and we have to remember that he is a natural corner who was converted into a FS, so he has had to learn a lot.

I still like him very much, and I hold a very positive prediction of where he'll be as a player in a season or two, and so I do think that he is the present and the future of the FS position with the Saints.


...overrated or not. ;-)

I thought Jenkins played solid in 2010 and took a step back in 2011. I think he has a chance and maybe Spagnuolo's scheme will help milk some consistency out of him.

If all else fails, Nickelback would likely work. I don't think his lack of speed will hurt too much there.

He has shown promise, hope Spags develops a great one.

He doesn't run in the 4.3s or low 4.4s, but he has plenty of enough speed to play corner.

He definitely under-performed his reputation last year, I think he has the ability to be great, but as dizzle said earlier, it will be all or nothing this year under Spags. He's either good, or he isn't, and the 3-4 will put a lot of pressure on him to perform.

Why 3-4?

My understanding was that the Saints will remain a predominantly 4-3 base defense under Spags, which was in a way corroborated by the fact that when T-P interviewed Loomis last, he had the roster depth on defense in a 4-3 format on the wall of his office.

I mean sure they'll undoubtedly have some 3-4 sets in there, but majority of the snaps will still be taken from a 4-3 base - that is if I haven't missed an official announcement about the Saints adopting the 3-4?!

Haha, typo Fin, 4-3 is what I meant. And the FS is responsible for quarterbacking the defense in that scheme unless I am mistaken.

In the 4-3; it's the MLB who is the QB of the defense...

Yeah, that is the impression that I'm under as well.

MLB is always the leader, but the FS is who has to analyze the offense and communicate the package and assignments right?

No the MLB handles all the assignments and packages; he is the only one on the defense who can listen to the coordinator from the field with the ear piece in the helmet

I guess it could vary from one team to another, but you regularly see the MLB in a 4-3 being the defensive player with the mic calling out the defensive play in a given situation, and he also is the one in charge of calling audibles and line shifts, so I would have to put him as the defensive "QB" before any other defensive player - in this given situation at least.

Hmmm, I guess the FS only has to tell the MLB what the offensive package is then, but I know they have him 15+ yards back for that reason.

hes a darn good football player, hes been put in spots where he did'nt handle things to well but it can be corrected, way to many times he has taken the wrong angles on playing the ball, missing a great breakup or even a pick or 2. its all coachable and can be corrected. maybe there was to much on his plate in his 2nd year?

One of the reasons they wanted to move him to safety was the lack of speed. They were afraid he'd get beat by the quicker wide-outs. In the nickel, it wouldn't be an issue though.