Atogwa needs to be resigned, heres why!!!

[Will51]

O.J atogwa's stats: 75 tackles,6 ff,5 ints
Troy polomalu's stats:73 tackles, 0 ff, 7 ints
Ed reed's stats:41 tackles, 1 ff, 9 ints
Brian dawkin's stats:75 tackles, 6 ff, 1 int

now by no means am i sayin o.j is better than any of the players listed but stats dont lie, he has more tackles than all of those safeties and he has more combined turnovers than them also.ontop of this he is younger in age also. yes he still has to learn to be better in coverage and he does lack at run support but he cleary makes up for it in other categories. i know everyone on this board agrees with me that he needs to be resigned, i just wanted to point out some facts. i hear talk about how ed and troy single handidly take over a game well so does o.j, just look back at the washington game.now if he was this good under linehan just think of how good he will be with spagnuolo coaching him

[general counsel]

He needs to be resigned if spags and devaney think he needs to be signed. Stats are misleading. He makes a lot of tackles because our guys upfront have been outright lousy to say nothing for our linebackers. He also misses plenty of tackles. I would like to have him back, but i dont want to break the bank for a free safety. There are too many areas where we need help. Frankly, i think that bartell is going to be more valuable in the long run.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[HornIt]

Polamalu doesn't really belong in there because he's a SS.

Atogwe misses a lot of tackles too. Takes bad angles too often. He does have a knack for the turnover though. I wouldn't overpay for him but I would like to keep him.

Bartell should be the first priority IMO. Atogwe second.

[Bar-bq]

I sincerely hope this coaching staff doesn't pull a Ryan Pickett like the last regime did to (curiously enough) Ryan Pickett.

[general counsel]

Barb-qb, the situation with Pickett was such a debacle because he didnt get top dollar on the free agent market. We let him go on the cheap. I dont think we will do that with OJ.

The question with OJ is whether you are prepared to pay him as a top 5 free safety and whether you think spending that kind of money on any free safety makes sense at this point given how many needs we have to fill and how critical that position is (or isnt) in the overall evaluation of success of the team.

I for one would like to sign OJ long term, but i am not prepared to break the bank for him.


Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[RamsInfiniti]

One thing you have to remember about O.J. is that he does what he does with little or no help in front of him ...

Imagine if we have a legitimite pass rush, and we have linebackers that can really tackle? O.J. can run free in space and play the role of playmaker instead of having to consistently be a play stopper because somebody is running free ...

Sure he misses tackles (even though I question if its really any more than any other free safety in the league), but I watched Brian Dawkins look like a fool against the Cards just a week ago because he was always having to make one on one plays. You put an offensive player one on one in the open field against a free player, and more often than not, the offensive player wins, simply because he is in control of the situation ...

Imagine how O.J. performs playing for the Ravens or Steelers ...

If anything, O.J. is a one of a kind turnover machine. Should we break the bank? Probably not. But I am afraid if he gets away, he's going to go to a defense where he can be maximized, and we'll look back on this one and regret it ...

[39thebeast]

OJ also misses alot more tackles, but I still think he should be resigned

[Will51]

yes o.j misses tackles but we are rams fans and we just notice it alot, im sure fans of other team will tell you some bad things about their playmakers to, o.j is a beast and he will show it this year whoever he signs with, hopefully us

[cfh128]

I know we are not trying to be the grammar police around here but this guys name gets butchered like nobody else. Say it with me people. A-T-O-G-W-E. Its not that hard!

[RamsInfiniti]

OJ also misses alot more tackles, but I still think he should be resigned

I hear this alot, but where is the evidence. Can you show me some data that shows Atogwe missing a significantly higher amount of tackles than those guys?

Other than Reed, the other three have a similar tackle total. So how many more tackles a season do you figure Atogwe misses than Dawkins and Polamalu? Is he getting that many more opportunities?

Do you watch Dawkins, Polamalu and Reed 16 games a year? Because there are games where Atogwe makes just about every tackle he is supposed to. There are games he does not, but I am sure this is the case for all of these guys ...

So maybe we have the notion that Atogwe misses more tackles than the rest of the guys is in our heads because we watch him each week!

A DEFENDER HAS A DISADVANTAGE WHEN PLAYING THE OFFENSIVE PLAYER IN OPEN SPACE ONE-ON-ONE ... ALMOST ALWAYS ...

[Will51]

I hear this alot, but where is the evidence. Can you show me some data that shows Atogwe missing a significantly higher amount of tackles than those guys?

Other than Reed, the other three have a similar tackle total. So how many more tackles a season do you figure Atogwe misses than Dawkins and Polamalu? Is he getting that many more opportunities?

Do you watch Dawkins, Polamalu and Reed 16 games a year? Because there are games where Atogwe makes just about every tackle he is supposed to. There are games he does not, but I am sure this is the case for all of these guys ...

So maybe we have the notion that Atogwe misses more tackles than the rest of the guys is in our heads because we watch him each week!

A DEFENDER HAS A DISADVANTAGE WHEN PLAYING THE OFFENSIVE PLAYER IN OPEN SPACE ONE-ON-ONE ... ALMOST ALWAYS ...

i agree 100%, i bet u can ask any steelers fan or any eagles fan and they will tell you some flaws about their all-world safety, but one thing they cant tell you is that their safety forces more turnovers than atogwa, let o.j run free this year with a decent front seven infront of him and i guarantee people will consider him one of the best

[Will51]

and to those who dont think atogwa shouldnt be resigned does any one notice a coincidence in the final four teams in the playoffs????

eagles
ravens
steelers
cardinals
??? well let me fill you in, adrian wilson,ed reed,brian dawkins,troy polomalu.

they all have all-world, all pro safeties that to some extent anchor the defense, and all these safeties have a decent, if not great front seven infront of them, o.j doesnt and he still puts up better numbers than all of them

[general counsel]

Comparing strong safties to free safties is apples to oranges.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[RamsInfiniti]

Comparing strong safties to free safties is apples to oranges.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

Absolutely, and let me make an important point here ...

The strong safety plays a role similar to the linebacker. Let's even call the SS the linebackerbacker. The role is mostly in run support, and in some cases, front line organization of the secondary ...

Here is the way I see it. You have a MAJOR problem with your D if any of the following apply:

1. Your free safety is being ask to provide alot of run support
2. Your strong safety is being ask to play man-to-man coverage or alot of primary coverage in the secondary

The safeties are SUPPORT functions. To me, the free safety primarily supports the cornerbacks, while the strong safety supports the linebackers ...

The strong safety should be the one coming up and making plays in the run game. If your free safety is having to do this, you always have two problems:

1. Your linebackers are likely poor
2. You are going to get KILLED on play action when your free safety is playing up in run support

And as you saw, we often got battered when teams used play action this year. There was no confidence in the middle of the field, nor the players that were there, that would allow our free safety to play how he should have ...

If we get a solid strong safety in the lineup, you can expect Atogwe's tackle total to drop, because he won't have to continually be the final line safety net that he has been asked to be the past few years. I don't care what anybody says, if you are constatnly asked to do what he has been asked to do, you are going to whiff on a tackle or two ...

Every elite defense in this league has one thing in common: superior linebackers. They are the heart and soul of the defense ...

[Will51]

i agree about the strong/free safety comparison, but the point im trying to get across is that out of the final 4 playoff teams each of those team have an all-word strong/free safety in their secondary and that safety is usually the anchor of their team. atogwa is the next best thing besides those four safeties and if he is not resigned we will be mourning for years to come