Thomas Davis at SS

which is one reason i mite agree somewhat that Gamble was "nearly awful" at least the first half of last year, when he was worse than nearly awful in run support. his pass defense was pretty soft but i attributed that to him being coached to be cautious until he gained experience and they loosened the reins a bit. i'm pretty convinced this coaching staff would rather conceed a few yards being careful than give up the big play and thus coached both Gamble and Branch to play soft until they gained experience ... and the reason they let Grant get away. seeing how they cut loose a talented player like Grant for busting coverage too often, i'm sure it put the fear into both Gamble and Branch to play as instructed despite the pounding they were getting from the fans and the media and the stats.

Gamble certainly looked to have the tools and did make a few really great coverage plays and improved enough in run support to think he will be an awfully good one. 2nd half of the year i thought he was much better than "nearly awful."

 

Well I understand a little better. Fox was certainly definite, by that comment, that he intends to use Davis at some kinda LB position. Would this comment, about numbers, also apply to the joker position? I'm trying to pin down just what Fox is planning.

If my questions are getting a little tiring, just ignore please.

 

It'd pertain to being in the box. Whether at LB, SS close to the line, or the Joker hybrid, it's all pertaining to finding a way to get Davis free to the ball.

 

If Gamble did in fact suck last season, I don't think that means he will this year. He came out early, little experience at his position... but is an excellent athelete with a lot of natural ability. I think last year had to teach him a ton more than an extra year of college.

I'm not a particularly positive person, but I feel positive about him being a lot tougher/smarter/better this year.

We'll see I guess. Fox felt Gamble would be good enough to warrant trading up to take him and Fox do know his db's.

 

You want to know what happens when you give a natural athelete great coaching?http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:gFrL4wjIaPIJ:cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/AP_Photo/2004/08/29/1093793773_8364.jpg