Official Colin Branch Sucks Thread

If you want to call facts, quotes, and the obvious = shit

then by all means

 

The heart quote talks about him having heart.

All sound arguments come with a dash of propaganda at the end. Are you shitting me? Did you really say "Branch picks it off again!" as a closing?




Meanwhile, I'm waiting for those phantom statistics.

 

i actually feel bad for saying he sucks because i'm sure he tried as hard as he could. i don't get it. i was one of the ones who thought he would be fine replacing grant, and its pretty easy for me to see that i was wrong. deon had some lapses, and i don't think took it as seriously as he should have until his contract year, but his last year here he was the real deal. we suffered a significant drop in skill level at that position. anyone who can't see that, no matter which side of the argument they were on, needs to be less invested in their opinion being correct and more invested in just watching football. even talent evaluators make mistakes - a lot.

 

I sometimes pick my nose til it bleeds.

 

colin branch indeed sucks.

 

disagree on Grant being the "real deal." he was still making lots of misakes and was still missing tackles. certainly was not a player other teams feared from any standpoint. still, Branch was in fact much worse. but the hope is that it was due to over caution from inexperience and watching Grant get shitcanned. he did improve some in the second-half of the season but then ended it with a glaring missed tackle that doomed our playoff hopes. he never imho got to any level to feel good about other than perhaps wishful thinking that he might someday get there. will he continue to improve and become a decent/average FS is the question (and i will never concede that Grant was "above-average"). i think i lean on the side that he won't and that he's more suited for SS. but i'm not so certain as to argue one way or the other. my strong preference would be certainty of being very good at FS. i really don't want to be dreading CB not taking a giant and at the moment a seemingly impossible, for him, leap forward. doesn't sound like the draft holds a lot of promise and i'm doubtful of FA based on Hurney's track record. due to those seemingly facts, FS is the biggest concern on my mind. the OL and WR positions have more than enough opportunity to get fixed. not seeing how FS gets fixed.

 

>>he was still making lots of misakes and was still missing tackles.

Now, I don't think Grant was, or is, a top 10 Safety. But cmon, this just isn't the case in his last (though a contract) year. His tackling was very good by his third year, and I hope Branch can make similar improvement. The only real "mistakes" I remember were a few picks he dropped, but his coverage and range are better than Branch. And we would let him cover the slot receiver, even Coles, where he made the play at the end of the game.

He wasn't a Pro Bowler, but wasn't the weak link, either.

And just to remind, we offered him 1.5 million a year, which would be a raise over what he had, and is about what most starting safeties make. He took 2.1 million a year. So we didn't fire him, he took a better offer.

But this isn't about Grant. He's gone. So take him out of the equation on Branch.

>>i think i lean on the side that he won't and that he's more suited for SS.

No, he's a Free. Strictly. Doesn't have the size you'd want (though neither does Minter), isn't nearly a good enough tackler, no man coverage skills at all. He's got some speed and can break on a ball, and does a decent enough job of being the deepest and not getting sucked in too much. He did in fact give up a few plays early in the season where he was late getting over, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be. In our scheme we seem to want our FS to be a centerfielder 90% time anyway.

You want that type player playing free, and that's what this scheme calls for. If he improves tackling he can stop being a liability.

 

Agree for the most part.

 

"sucks" is a little harsh

The guy was not horrible and to say he "sucks" is not really accurate but compared to the rest of our starters he IS the weak link. Safety is to our defense what the right side of our O-line is on offense. Both Branch and Minter should probably be replaced but our staff might be in cap-enforced denial. Does Minter have enough left at his age and with his mileage to reinvest in? Will Branch improve enough to be enough of an upgrade in and of himself. I can easily believe that Fox & Co are hoping for and probably counting on Branch improving and staying . . . and wringing a couple of more seasons out of Minter. I guess that would translate to less work for opposing punters unfortunately.(

Better tackling would help but he is still pretty weak in coverage. Minter is only going to get less effective in coverage and I agree with those who say we need much better coverage at the saftey position to get out of the celler on 3rd downs. Branch might improve a little as Minter fades? Sounds like a wash to me. Colin Branch is probably the saftey version of Dante Wesley . . . he's only going to attain a certain level of mediocracy, then what?

 

>> [Grant's] tackling was very good by his third year

his tackling had improved a lot but i still remember him missing some tackles and ducking outa some in 2003. he was never ever someone who was feared as a hard hitter or as a ball hawk. he was still making plenty of mistakes in coverage ... which is why he was allowed to "get away."

>> No, he's a Free ... In our scheme we seem to want our FS to be a centerfielder 90% time anyway.

Well, imma just gonna continue to disagree primarily because of your point above. My primary issue with him playing FS is I don't think he has the range or the instincts to make up for his lack of range. I also disagree on the size issue as i think it more than adequate and think he will improve his tackling to be adequate and it possible that he will develop better coverage skills than Minter. Not saying he's the answer at SS if we lose Minter. Saying that if he has a chance to play anywhere well it's SS. don't think he will ever be a good FS.