Always boils down to potential and what the coaches can do with it. After the last couple regimes we've been "coach starved." I swear to all the Karma in the world that I hope the finally have the right combination of coaching.
This is reminiscent of Kinlaw signing by the Skins. A defensive coach takes a guy with physical tools, who didn't play well, thinking he can be the one to get the best out of him. I suppose the difference is that Stephens did have one good season in 2023, unlike Kinlaw, who never had one. Plus Stephens is less expensive and could move to safety. So it's a bit better, but still hard to talk myself into thinking this is a great move.
You can never have enough corners this kid is tough if he played opposite Marlon Humphrey, that CB 2 spot is not for the weak he struggles with the “professional” parts of the position, getting his head around and finding the football. That’s to be expected as he was late to the position (originally a running back). They probably think they can coach him up and maybe they can
3 separate Ravens-fan friends of mine told me he’s terrible and were happy he’s not in Baltimore anymore. So that’s encouraging!
I remember one play where the receiver had him beat by 4 steps and the QB overthrew the guy and Wilson started doing the finger wag like he hadn’t been burned all game and had nothing to do with the incompletion.
The majority of the Ravens fans are overjoyed by him being gone, he was burnt constantly last season, typical Jets signing.
Seems to be the consensus unfortunately in Baltimore. Again, has Kinlaw vibes. Maybe if he switches to safety he will be better? But hard to compute this one among other good moves made.
Maybe Glenn wanted someone in the backfield that would "tackle" a running back but unfortunately a downgrade from Reed
No way to justify this one. This is our Javon Kinlaw signing. Which we unfortunately also made last year with actual Javon Kinlaw.
That's a fine concept when you give a guy a cheap, 1-year deal. You dont give terrible performers 3 year contracts for $36 million on the whim that you can coach him up.
Only time will tell. First reaction is I would though Cisco's contract would be more apt for Stephens and vice a versa. Let's see how Glenn, Wilks and co. can coach. There's clearly some ability and some past success with Stephens, but needs some development. Curious who pushed hard for him within the Jets FO/CS
Based on what I’ve read, he sounds like a player just a few technical tweaks away from being really good. The kind of guy that a confident DB coach who is good teacher would love to get their hands. He apparently gave up a bunch of yards in 2024 despite predominantly tight coverage. Conversely, he had a great analytics year in 2023 probably doing same things in did in 2024. But most fans focus on results and not process. From what I can tell, this is not a Kyle Wilson situation, who just just sucked at football. If worse comes to worst, he can play safety as he is a physical tackler.
interesting thanks for sharing. I’ll tell you he looks like Marcus Coleman. that CB2 position is always a whipping boy for non-educated fans. You can’t have all pros at every spot.
