Just how good is kerry Rhodes ?

I don't think he'll ever eclipse Vilma as our best defensive player. Both are extremely talented, but Vilma has backed it up with a Pro-Bowl season after his excellent rookie season.

Rhodes is on the rise after each passing week, but he is not a Top 10 safety, yet.

Reed-Polamalu-Dawkins-Taylor-Wilson-Sanders-Darius-Lewis-Boulware-Roy Williams.

Now, I consider those 10 ahead of Rhodes, and you can easily make a case saying John Lynch, Rodney Harrison, Darren Sharper and Mike Brown should be in the Top 10...

Rhodes had a very good rookie season, and thus far in the opening weeks he is around the ball, love his size and speed.

 

Michael boulware a top flight safety? He's a good player but i didn't think he was that great.

 

Make no mistake about it, Boulware has grown to the elite. More so then Kerry Rhodes, anyway.

To answer this question, it's too early to put Rhodes up with the best of them but he certainly has the skill set, size, talent and is ultimately set up to make a run for at such high acclaims, but later on.

For now, I'm glad to see him progressing from his rookie season and taking on more of a leadership role. Rhodes is one of the few constant bright spots on our team, I think.

 

He still needs to learn to lay some wood - Dillon demolished him. But I'll say top 16 definitely. I'd quibble with some of Ecko's picks, but whatever, it's personal preference.

 

I think in 5 years, we may have the new Ray Lewis/Ed Reed combo in green and white

 

You could just have easily named the thread just how bad is Eric "I have not made a good play in a year" Coleman.

 

Why do people make a big deal of Corey Dillion running over Rhodes like Dillion is a nobody, Dillion is a big back and a good one at that, every defenseive players gets trampled on once in a while, It will happen, just like some Running back will stone a blitzing end or Linebacker once in a while.think about it a Big Dillion comiong at you full speed ahead. Rhodes should not be mentioned as a top safety, he is promising but he is nowehere near the top, the top players do it year in year out.Yes Rhodes could be very good.

 

Yeah i can see it. If we can get a Big DT to anchor this defense they will be able to do much better and get pressure. Vilma i believe can be just as good as ray lewis, but there is no way rhodes will ever be like Ed Reed. But Rhodes has a big body with great athleticism. On another note all of you saying this defense needs work, just relize how young it is. 3rd and 2nd year safeties. 3rd year MLB, and ILB/DE. 4th year DT, 2nd year 2 DB..im sure theres players i missed but this defense playing the way they are without experience is amazing.

 

No, Boulware is a Top 10 safety IMO, not Top Flight...

Top flight is Reed,Polamalu and Sean Taylor...That's it. Those are the elite.

 

no roy williams?

 

I think that Brian Dawkins has to be named among the "top flight" safties in the NFL. He's certainly as good as Sean Taylor.

Rhodes IMO was very overrated by Jets fans in his rookie season, but he's having a great start to this campaign and I believe is rapidly eliminating the coverage/play reading problems that he had last season. He's good for more than one big play a game now.

 

Anyone who hits as hard as Roy Williams and puts the fear into the opponent like he does must be considered top 10.

Roy Williams is an absolute machine. I still think Roy is the bigger hitter than Sean Taylor btw.

 

That would be effin' sweet.

 

Darius is just as good as sean taylor. If not better. MOnday night will tell you that much.

 

B-Dawk is very good no doubt, a Top 5 safety.

But I say Reed, Polamalu and Taylor are the elite because those 3 can single-handedly dominate a game, not just make a game-changing play, but be around the ball all the time, whether it's covering a receiver, playing at the line of scrimmage and blowing up a play, whatever it is...No disrespect to Joey Porter, Ray Lewis or Marcus Washington...But offensive coordinators I think gameplan to try and slow down those 3 in some capacity, which is why I think they're the best of the best.

Darius is good, but teams don't focus to exploit his weakness or try to find something on him. It's all about John Henderson and Marcus Stroud that give offensive coordinators headaches.

 

rhodes is still overrated by jet fans.

he's an above average player, that's it at this point.

in fact he's a liability in coverage.

ever notice how many blown coverages there have been?

it's both of the safeties that are stinking it up in coverage.

if Brady put a little mustard on that ball to Graham -- that Rhodes got toatsed on -- we'd be digging his grave.

but since Brady whiffed, and Kerry just got a hand up on a vastly underthrown ball -- all of a sudden he's a great player.

Not yet. Sure, the sack of Brady was special. Let's see him do more of something first...

 

Come on, they were both mid round picks that started their first year...sure we look at them based on potential as being great now, but the truth is give them another year of experience and I bet both are considered top 20, and that's all I'd ask. Look at the elite guys, who's the other safety beside them besides Dawkins with Michael Lewis? Roy Williams has, uh...Polamalu has, Logan? I don't even know...Sean Taylor has, well he has Archuleta now but that's a guy who's slowly degrading...and Ed Reed has a LB sometimes playing safety next to him.

 

Roy Williams seems to blow his fair share of coverage though.