On the heels of our discussion this morning about Kerry Rhodes and Osi Umenyiora, I reached out to John Butchko of Gang Green Nation for some thoughts on Rhodes.
Here is what he had to say about the five-year veteran safety.
He hasn't been the same player since he got his pay day. In 2006 and 2007 he was playing at a Pro Bowl level and making impact plays all over the field. He was effective as a blitzer and forced turnovers. The past two years have brought very few impact plays. Jim Leonhard, the other safety, had a nose for the ball and always seemed to be in the middle of big plays.
I love PFF as much as anybody, but they really missed the mark on this one. If Rhodes was the 11th best safety in the league against the run this year, I've got some Everglades swampland to sell them. He shies away from contact. You have to remember the evaluations they make are subjective. His coaches watched the same film midseason and decided to bench him. Also PFF gave him a negative rating for the San Diego Playoff game when he played great. Again, I love the site and use it a lot, but they're not infallible.
He was pretty good in coverage, though. I'm not sure whether Fewell's going to install a Cover 2 scheme with the Giants, but Kerry would probably be a good fit there.
One last thing. Rhodes had problems with Rex Ryan, who is the ultimate players' coach. I'm not sure how he'd work with Tom Coughlin.
Thanks, John. Umm ... anybody else feel like changing their vote on this one?