Simon Starting at RCB

[Cyrus12]

Lane's job to lose..imo Simon is fighting for a roster spot.

 

[RussB]

What ? Why? They paid Lane that money for him to be in the nickel? Makes no sense to put simon there when lane can clearly hold it down.

Simon should battle for the nickel spot with shead

 

[original poster]

What ? Why? They paid Lane that money for him to be in the nickel? Makes no sense to put simon there when lane can clearly hold it down.

Simon should battle for the nickel spot with shead

Simon isn't a slot corner.

 

[McGruff]

What ? Why? They paid Lane that money for him to be in the nickel? Makes no sense to put simon there when lane can clearly hold it down.

Simon should battle for the nickel spot with shead

Simon isn't a slot corner.

I think a lot of "starting" right know is Pete giving opportunities . . . Or what other coaches might call tests. But yeah, I think when the opening kickoff launches in September, Lane will start and shift inside to nickel when needed, and then the outside corner will be Shead, Simon or Smith.

 

[mikeak]

All I know is that Lane played really good last year so if Simon beats him out then awesome!

 

[LudwigsDrummer]

Pure conjecture.

 

[original poster]

I've made a bet with Jeremy Lane that Simon starts at RCB and Lane at nickel.

Signed jersey coming my way If I'm right!

 

[olyfan63]

I'm with the school of thought that Pete is giving Simon his make-or-break opportunity.
The team needs to see if he can play at the RCB starter level AND stay healthy.
By giving him #1 unit preseason snaps, they expect to find this out.

I'm also with those who believe Simon is on the bubble and fighting for a roster spot. Dude has to be able to stay on the field (injuries), and also to keep his composure better.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

I want Simon to do well but my memory of him so far is getting abused in the Super Bowl. Hopefully he steps up or Tye Smith takes his place.

 

[Sterling Archer]

You guys are all forgetting that Simon was injured in the SB. I'm not going to judge him by one game where he was dealing with a separated shoulder in his first year playing.

If you want to harp on him for being injury prone, that's one thing, but at this point we as fans don't know what his skill level is. I would honestly hope that he would get an opportunity IN CAMP to start at RCB to see if he can handle it. That's what training camp is for. If he wins the job then our team will be better for the depth that would provide.

 

[TheRealDTM]

About damn time #humblethug

 

[Seafan]

Fans forget that Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond also had injury problems and missed time. Simon's story seems similar to Maxwell's. I don't think the team needs Simon to be as good as Max but if he does it will be a plus.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Simon is going to be a monster for us this year. I feel it.

Our defense is going to be a lot of fun.

 

[Hasselbeck]

I want Simon to do well but my memory of him so far is getting abused in the Super Bowl. Hopefully he steps up or Tye Smith takes his place.

I don't blame Simon for that at all, if anything I blame Pete for having Burley as inactive against the Pats small route-savvy WR's. Simon did the best he could given the situation.

 

[Hasselbeck]

What ? Why? They paid Lane that money for him to be in the nickel? Makes no sense to put simon there when lane can clearly hold it down.

Simon should battle for the nickel spot with shead

Makes plenty of sense. Simon plays the Maxwell/Browner role for us oppo Sherman. It's what we wanted Cary Williams to do, he just wasn't skilled enough to play in this scheme. Simon's size and ability to play press corner would be huge on defense for us, as it lets Lane dominate the slot and I imagine Browner to come in against teams with athletic TE's or slow red zone possession types.

 

[TheRealDTM]

Simon is the best college CB we've drafted under PC/JS. He is the perfect size for the system, if he stays healthy he will be gone in 2 years when we can't afford him.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

I want Simon to do well but my memory of him so far is getting abused in the Super Bowl. Hopefully he steps up or Tye Smith takes his place.

Actually had an opportunity to rewatch 49, and Simon actually played pretty well when afforded matchups with non slot types.

Edelman just ate him alive in the slot. But he played very well against LaFell. Defensed a couple well thrown passes that would have been TDs.

On the outside -- I'm ok with Simon. Just don't put him against a quicker jitterbug on the inside.

Losing Lane hobbled us. Losing Avril (while conversely not losing Edelman) to concussion sealed the deal.

 

[Willyeye]

There appears to be some confusion as to the story on Tharold Simon. First, there is the fact that Tharold had a relatively common birth defect in which people have an irregular 2nd toe joint on both feet which is easily dislocated. Tharold was drafted in 2013 in the 5th round. He was put on the practice squad after the preseason, and shortly thereafter, he was put on the IR because of a dislocated toe.

In 2014, the starting CB's were Sherman at LCB, Maxwell at RCB, and Lane at NCB. Simon played in 10 games, 5 of which he was the starter...he missed 4 games in the middle of the season due to some damaged ligaments in his knee that required surgery. In 2014, Maxwell missed 4 starts (calf; missed 4 games in the middle of the season) and Lane missed 9 starts (groin; on IR until Week 10). Lane also missed games due to a strained glute muscle later in the season. So it wasn't only Simon...Lane and Maxwell had injuries of their own to deal with. Burley was used quite a bit at NCB and filled in nicely.

Then of course, Thomas (dislocated shoulder/fully torn labrum), Sherman (torn ligaments in elbow) and Chancellor (torn MCL in knee) all had injuries to deal with late in the season. Then in Week 16 against the Cards, Simon went out with a dislocated shoulder/fully torn labrum. I remember watching the game on TV and Simon writhing on the ground...then the team doc came out and tried to push his arm back into socket on Live TV, but after trying for about 5 minutes, he was unsuccessful. So at the end of the regular season, the Hawks had 5 members of the secondary with relatively serious injuries. The only healthy guys left were Burley and Shead, both of whom started 1 game in 2014.

During the regular season, Simon actually did really well when healthy. In Week 17 against the Rams, the Hawks used Sherman at RCB, Maxwell at LCB, and Lane at NCB. 2 weeks later in the Divisional Round is when things really started going wrong. Maxwell had some sort of illness and couldn't practice or play that week. The Hawks used an injured Simon to replace Maxwell. Lane was at NCB, but for whatever reason, they decided to not activate Burley and use him at NCB while using Lane at RCB. It's one thing to expect a player of Earl's caliber to play through a dislocated shoulder, but it appears it was too much to expect Simon to do the same. HUGE mistake. Simon could barely run, much less tackle. He looked pretty bad against the Panthers.

Then in that crazy NFCCG against the Packers, they used Sherman, Maxwell and Lane. Simon was used sparingly on ST. Shead was used at FS and also appeared on ST. At the time, I remember thinking they were crazy not to have activated Burley in those last few games. Then on SB49 week, they again failed to activate Burley. I remember thinking they were nuts. Sure enough, Lane goes out in the 1st quarter. So then they need someone at NCB. Only Maxwell and an injured Simon were available, so they moved Maxwell mostly to NCB, and let Simon play RCB. That's when Brady picked Simon apart in the 4th quarter, thus essentially winning the game because of an injured Simon. But I stll think that had the Hawks activated Burley, they would have won SB49.

Then in the 2015, in addition to healing from surgery in mid-February, 2015, Simon dislocated the toe on the other foot. He was placed on the IR in Week 3. He has had corrective surgery on both of his 2nd toes, so that should no longer be an issue. It appears that Simon is finally healthy, and if he can manage to stay that way, there is every reason to believe that, if he can regain his 2014 form, he can have a great season at RCB in 2016.

 

[original poster]

Nice write up, thanks.

Who do you think will win the RCB job this season in week 1?

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

I want Simon to do well but my memory of him so far is getting abused in the Super Bowl. Hopefully he steps up or Tye Smith takes his place.

Actually had an opportunity to rewatch 49, and Simon actually played pretty well when afforded matchups with non slot types.

Edelman just ate him alive in the slot. But he played very well against LaFell. Defensed a couple well thrown passes that would have been TDs.

On the outside -- I'm ok with Simon. Just don't put him against a quicker jitterbug on the inside.

Losing Lane hobbled us. Losing Avril (while conversely not losing Edelman) to concussion sealed the deal.

It probably stuck out more because it was in the super bowl and every touchdown conceded had bigger focus. If he had made mistakes in the regular season, it's one of those things you get mad at initially and move on from and don't remember as much unless the player is getting burned constantly in multiple games. On top of that I can't re-watch the Superbowl as it brings back bad memories of the final play, so don't remember the good things he did that game just the bad.