spitfire418

Yeah some people need to have patience with him and understand that his issues aren't all his fault. I wish he could've came in as a rookie and started right away, but he had to adjust to the NFL and learn a tough defensive scheme as a rookie safety which isn't easy. Plus we had that rotation thing going on during his rookie year which made it hard for him to actually start, but it did give him some opportunities to get on the field.

Exactly. I'm pretty sure he was actually voted as the fans favorite rookie draft pick that year. He is a special athlete and was a big piece of the defense that won a national championship. People seem to have given up on him to early because of injuries and a couple of learning mistakes. First things first, he needs to stay healthy and then maybe we'll get to see him show his true potential and show why we took him in the 3rd round where he was actually a steal. Also, we have a lot of safety depth on our team. He has some of the highest potential out of the backup safeties in the league and probably would've already got his chance to start on another team.

We haven't even seen enough of him to say he's inconsistent. If you read my post above, he really only played safety during his rookie year and only made a couple of mistakes (which are fixable). He's going into his third year now so things may have changed. Hopefully we'll see a new and improved Brooks when he gets on the field.

I agree with everything you said in the paragraph I bolded. I think Brooks was given a solid opportunity in his rookie year to show what he had at that point in his career and he had his ups and downs. In his decent amount of playing time that year, I believe he made around 20 tackles, a couple pass deflections, a fumble recovery, and obviously that big hit on Delanie Walker. He also made around 2 or 3 "bad" plays that year. The two I can remember were similar and were the plays against the Bengals and the Saints. He was in position on both of them, but once the ball got in the air he didn't make the right decision on the ball. This is why I'm calling them "bad" because he didn't completely blow those plays, but he just couldn't finish them. I think those mistakes he made are very fixable and are part of the mental aspect that you mentioned. Plus I don't see how only making 2 or 3 mistakes as a rookie safety is a that bad of a thing, they are more like learning opportunities. I'm sure he learned from those mistakes he made and hopefully he'll make the play next time in those situations when he gets the chance. Injuries have probably been the biggest factor of his issues. The injury that happened during his rookie year was a very serious injury. It happened near the end of the season which is good and bad, but he only missed a couple of games because of it that season. I honestly think that injury had more of a negative impact on his second season than his first. He came back remarkably quick from this injury which was awesome, but I don't think he was always 100%. I also think that the injury affected his chances to start last season because he wasn't able to participate in the off-season program and I believe his uncertainty was part of the reason we went out and signed Kendrick Lewis. His thumb injury last season wasn't as bad as the other one, but it also came at the wrong time. Before the injury he was starting to play well and get more playing time game by game. Then what's really unfortunate is that he missed the opportunity to take over the starting role for at least a game and a half where Kendrick Lewis had his minor injury. Brooks has definitely had some bad luck in the injury department. Lets hope that doesn't continue. Also, I think Eric Weddle could be a great help to Brooks. He's a proven safety in the league and has a similar skill set to Brooks.

I understand why first round picks usually start. The teams do invest the most in those guys, but I just hate how hard it is on guys who are drafted later and have veterans over them which sort of blocks their chance to start. I know they are young and inexperienced, but a later round draft pick could be just as good as or better than the first round pick. Not saying Brooks is better than Mosley, but I think he's better or can at least do more on the field than Kendrick Lewis.

Yeah he finally is having an off-season where he is healthy. I think it will help his case a lot.

I agree that Pees is affecting part of Brooks' coverage mistakes as well as the other guys in the secondary. Brooks is still learning the position and how to improve his coverage and decision making, but I feel if we had someone better than Pees that he and everyone would improve. I would love to see Brooks at SS where he has less coverage liabilities though.

Hopefully he gets a shot to do that this year. He does have another year on his contract though after next season, but he needs to get the starting role ASAP if he's ever going to. He's already 25 going into his 3rd season.

RIP Tray Walker...

Colby Guarino ‏@ColbyGuarino 2m2 minutes agoLadera Ranch, CA It was #Patriots WR Aaron Dobson who was at the Tray Walker crash.

Same here. This is getting worse.

Just saw this. What the heck??

Yeah I know. I wasn't trying to say you're doing something bad. We all just need to pray for Tray and his family. This isn't about football right now.

Who cares about OTAs right now. I just hope he makes it through this.

Wow... this sucks. Prayers.

Yeah first and foremost that is what I want for him. To stay healthy.

I think Weddle will help too. I would like to see a duo of Weddle and Brooks as the FS and SS. They are similar players and both bring hard hits, good tackling, and athleticism. Plus we all know Weddle is a proven cover guy, so it would help Brooks out and hopefully he can become a proven cover guy as well.

It's been a long wait to see Brooks get a fair chance to start for us. He's dealt with injuries, lack of experience, and fixable mistakes, but now in his third year I think he could finally get his chance. Also, Weddle is a similar player to Brooks in my opinion so maybe Weddle could be helpful to the further development of Brooks.

That should hopefully leave Kendrick Lewis sitting on his couch watching the NFL next season. No I'm just kidding, but he needs to be cut without a doubt.

Yeah lol. Our biggest safety is what 5'11 200 pounds (not counting Kendrick Lewbust)? I think we should draft a guy like Tyvis Powell from Ohio State who is 6'3 210 and atheltic. We could also draft Sean Davis from Maryland who is a little bit smaller, but I think he could play like a Will Hill in regards to the TE coverage.

I know most of you guys don't like my idea of starting Brooks, but he's healthy going into the off-season and I think the coaches could finally give him a fair shot at the job. I still think they'll go with Weddle and Webb just because they talk so highly about them, but I just want to see Brooks get a fair chance.

Webb at nickel with Weddle at FS and Brooks/Elam at SS. Obviously I would say Brooks at SS over Elam because he's bigger and fits the role very well.

It was so hard to watch him start last year. I dreaded watching games and having to see him back there. I don't even want him as a backup honestly. I would MUCH rather have another young rookie take his spot along with Elam, Brooks, Levine as backups for now. Good mix of experience and talent.

You finally have hope for Brooks I hope he becomes our SS too. First off though, Lewis needs to goooo.

Now that we know the reason for the release of Will Hill, can we now release Kendrick Lewis for the reason that he's terrible and isn't going to start for us. This would sort of complete the process of clearing up the logjam we had at safety, and would also let us possibly draft one too. Also, 1M in cap space won't hurt either.