ROUND 1 PICK 21 (f/SEA) - S DARNELL SAVAGE (MARYLAND)

I don't think there is any defensive scheme that can overcome a player who does not like to hit or get hit.

It is almost impossible to reverse the process once a player decides, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid playing physical football.

For whatever reason, Savage has gone down the HaHa Clinton-Dix path and HaHa was never able to regain the promise he showed early in his career after he started making business decisions to avoid contact, even after he left the Packers.

Waiver wire pickup Rudy Ford has made more plays over the last 3 weeks than 1st round pick Savage has over the past two seasons. What a shame.

Ford may not be in the perfect position or have great speed, but he arrives ready to hit and seems to always be around the ball. Who pulled out the ball that Walker returned? Ford. He's the type of guy you want to play because he helps energize and pull everyone with him. He just makes some plays.

@Fandame posted:

Ford may not be in the perfect position or have great speed, but he arrives ready to hit and seems to always be around the ball. Who pulled out the ball that Walker returned? Ford. He's the type of guy you want to play because he helps energize and pull everyone with him. He just makes some plays.

I agree with you except for one thing. Ford may not have great speed? I think ,personally, he could give Watson a run for the money in the speed department. He is just not quick, he is fast. IMHO

@SteveLuke posted:

I don't think there is any defensive scheme that can overcome a player who does not like to hit or get hit.

It is almost impossible to reverse the process once a player decides, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid playing physical football.

For whatever reason, Savage has gone down the HaHa Clinton-Dix path and HaHa was never able to regain the promise he showed early in his career after he started making business decisions to avoid contact, even after he left the Packers.

Waiver wire pickup Rudy Ford has made more plays over the last 3 weeks than 1st round pick Savage has over the past two seasons. What a shame.

It seemed to come after the hit in the kickoff during the Rams game last year. Could be my imagination...

Savage played 1 snap on defense last night.

In addition to his stellar Special Teams play, Nixon played all 45 defensive snaps.

So did Rudy Ford.

Now, could be that Savage did not see the field due to his recent injury. Then again, he played 9 Special Teams snaps.

Wonder if Gutey wishes he could take back that 5th year guarantee on Savage?

@SteveLuke posted:

Wonder if Gutey wishes he could take back that 5th year guarantee on Savage?

In a long laundry list of reasons why Barry sucks, Savage has been miscast since being drafted. He had a very narrow role in the NFL coming into the league, namely, he was supposed to play the "robber" position under Mike Pettine.

Play him more towards the LOS and use his speed to bring down RB's and even rush the passer here and there.

That's not at all what he's being asked under Barry. And at this point, his confidence is also in the shitter and he's now afraid of tackling.

Yes, Gute no doubt regrets the 5th year option but Barry also had no idea how to maximize Savage's limited skill set.         

Missing on a first-rounder is unfortunate but the nature of the draft. What's really inexplicable is Gutey compounding his mistake with a fifth-year option.

@michiganjoe posted:

Missing on a first-rounder is unfortunate but the nature of the draft. What's really inexplicable is Gutey compounding his mistake with a fifth-year option.

Inexplicable is right.

Bad move picking up the option. At least better then being stuck on a 10 year guaranteed contract like baseball.

Maybe the new DC will use him more effectively.

Savage was brutal in 2022 and I was certainly one of those who took notice of it.

He was often lost in coverage and worst of all, to me, he seemed to outright avoid tackling at times.

Rarely do defensive football players come back from making "business decisions" that are noticeable to their teammates. HaHa Clinton-Dix comes to mind.

However, yesterday, Savage looked like a different player entirely. There were a couple of times I was sure it was Nixon (#25) who came up and made the physical tackle, but nah it was Savage (#26).

Savage earned his (very low) 2022 PFF score of 47.5.

Yesterday, he led the team in tackles and had a PFF score of 72.3.

So kudos to Darnell Savage on a very good opening game and here's hoping the rest of his 2023 season goes like it did in Chicago -- for him and the Packers.

@SteveLuke posted:

So kudos to Darnell Savage on a very good opening game and here's hoping the rest of his 2023 season goes like it did in Chicago -- for him and the Packers.

An Interception by Savage in Atlanta would go a long way to making everyone forget 2022 and look forward to more in 2023 😉

Relevant

@SteveLuke posted:

Savage was brutal in 2022 and I was certainly one of those who took notice of it.

He was often lost in coverage and worst of all, to me, he seemed to outright avoid tackling at times.

Rarely do defensive football players come back from making "business decisions" that are noticeable to their teammates. HaHa Clinton-Dix comes to mind.

However, yesterday, Savage looked like a different player entirely. There were a couple of times I was sure it was Nixon (#25) who came up and made the physical tackle, but nah it was Savage (#26).

Savage earned his (very low) 2022 PFF score of 47.5.

Yesterday, he led the team in tackles and had a PFF score of 72.3.

So kudos to Darnell Savage on a very good opening game and here's hoping the rest of his 2023 season goes like it did in Chicago -- for him and the Packers.

Well, since the optimism of the opening game against the Bears, Savage has once again been one of the Pack's lowest-rated defenders by PFF in 2 of the last 3 games.

And Andy Herman absolutely savages ("no instincts") Savage for his play against the Lions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgwqRfRMlLM, at 29:45).

In year 5 of Savage with the Pack, it might be time to concede that he is just never going to be a + player ... at least not in Green Bay. (Ben Fennell did the same on X).

PS Herman concurs with PFF that Newman was an unmitigated disaster Thursday night (at 22:00).

Worth a mention that Savage has really bounced back and played well of late. Pff has him ranked 15th out of 96 safeties for the season.

Another Pick 6 on Saturday and he might gain auto entry into the Packers Hall of Fame!

Seems doable.

Is he a Brown County resident? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Does Savage's highest coverage grade equate to best tackling grade? I'll say no. So does Christian McCaffrey.

i am quite sure there is a stat that any keyboard commando can warp to look good...his agent probably fostered that stat...

That's a coverage grade for playoffs. So 2 games including 1 where he dropped what should have been a pick 6.

I am guessing his regular season grade is nowhere close to that.

Still, with a new DC who specializes in DB's, I would be curious to see what Hafley would do with Darnell including putting him closer to the LOS.

But I would also not be surprised if the Packers have 2 completely different starting safeties in '24 including a FA veteran.

@mrtundra posted:

Does Savage's highest coverage grade equate to best tackling grade? I'll say no. So does Christian McCaffrey.

Imagine what his grade would have been if he hadn't let Kittle run right past him for a wide open TD.

I guess I read somewhere that he was supposed to have zone help behind him, but it sure looked bad on replay. A guy that runs a 4.36 letting a guy that runs a 4.6 run by you like your feet were in cement.

He’s hard to judge.  He has the talent to fly around and be in position to make an impact.  But once here’s there he can’t tackle and can’t catch.

Maybe with a new coach and scheme it’s different.   Worth at least giving him a chance.

I’m done with him. Time to

move on.

Hopefully some other general manager looks at that coverage grade and decides to up the bid for Savage in free agency. It will result in a better comp pick in 2025.

I'd like to see what Savage can do in a new scheme that looks to be a bit more aggressive.  The talent is there and he's still only 26.  Savage lining up next to Baker or Winfield with a high-drafted rookie waiting in the wings would he a huge upgrade.  

@Pakrz posted:

I'd like to see what Savage can do in a new scheme that looks to be a bit more aggressive.  The talent is there and he's still only 26.  Savage lining up next to Baker or Winfield with a high-drafted rookie waiting in the wings would he a huge upgrade.  

His biggest issue is that he's among the worst DBs I've ever seen in terms of his ability to play the ball in the air. His career is filled with mistimed jumps and dropped interceptions. Many times he was in the right place but failed to make a play. The pick 6 against Dallas in the playoffs is the type of splash play that should have happened more regularly. He has all the physical skills to be the next Nick Collins, but outside of one play against Dallas it's never happened. I'm not sure scheme is going to improve that.

Good thing he's not a WR with those hands of stone.  I think being in the right place is 90% of the battle.  I believe he's young enough and coachable enough to improve his game.  I'd rather that be in GB than somewhere else.

I think PFF had him as the 14th rated safety during the regular season.

At 14th, he's about where I'd rank him. He's had games where we were wondering who took over his body because he was actually flying to the ball and ballcarrier and hitting hard. He's had other games where he looks like a deer in headlights. With that in mind, Gute's and Hafley's thinking: a mediocre safety and we'll find better or I (Hafley) can put him in a better position to succeed? Maybe Savage is better at reacting than reading and putting him in the old Butler role would be better or being in Barry's passive scheme makes him too cautious or he's just a dipstick. Gutey and Hafley I'm sure are going over the entire defense with a fine-tooth comb to see who stays and who goes and who goes where in the new scheme.

@MichiganPacker posted:

His biggest issue is that he's among the worst DBs I've ever seen in terms of his ability to play the ball in the air. His career is filled with mistimed jumps and dropped interceptions. Many times he was in the right place but failed to make a play. The pick 6 against Dallas in the playoffs is the type of splash play that should have happened more regularly. He has all the physical skills to be the next Nick Collins, but outside of one play against Dallas it's never happened. I'm not sure scheme is going to improve that.

Luckily that pick-6 in DAL hit him square in the numbers.

Savage's 40 time suggests he has elite speed but I don't recall ever seeing it on the field.  Collins' speed was very evident.  There is a highlight out there vs. NO? where a throw was made deep down the left slideline.  The WR had the DB beat and the QB thought there was no way Collins would get over there from the opposite sideline.  But he ended up picking it off.  Even the WR got up after the play and immediately looked straight up at the replay board as if he'd just seen a ghost.

He’s a tease.

@Fandame posted:

At 14th, he's about where I'd rank him. He's had games where we were wondering who took over his body because he was actually flying to the ball and ballcarrier and hitting hard. He's had other games where he looks like a deer in headlights. With that in mind, Gute's and Hafley's thinking: a mediocre safety and we'll find better or I (Hafley) can put him in a better position to succeed? Maybe Savage is better at reacting than reading and putting him in the old Butler role would be better or being in Barry's passive scheme makes him too cautious or he's just a dipstick. Gutey and Hafley I'm sure are going over the entire defense with a fine-tooth comb to see who stays and who goes and who goes where in the new scheme.

You do realize that rank is out of 95 safeties in the league, which would be well above "mediocre"? The coaches talking about "improved communication" when he returned to the lineup led me to believe he was pretty bright. I'd like to see what he can do under the new DC and by playing with an upgrade to the other safety position.

14th ranked safety (If accurate) out of 64 starting safeties league wide.  Hmmm... yea he sucks.  Dump him.  

Someone explain to YaYa how I came up with 64.  He's probably toiling right now after running out of fingers.  

@packerboi posted:

But I would also not be surprised if the Packers have 2 completely different starting safeties in '24 including a FA veteran.

Say it with me .....Xavier....Aaahhhhhooooooommmmm

Hollander???? 

Hafley has plenty of time to watch film to evaluate these things until he's sick of doing it.
And he has a LOT to evaluate. Not only Savage, but other players, of course.

@ammo posted:

Hollander????

Audrey