We — along with pretty much everyone else — have been hammering Green Bay Packers cornerback Damarious Randall for his terrible 2016 season.
Sure, Randall was injured. He had groin surgery during the season and missed six games. And that’s always a fine excuse for guys who have poor seasons.
However, when Randall returned to the field, he wasn’t any better than before he had surgery. In fact, he was less willing to stick his nose into any contact situations.
That’s one thing we know.
The other thing we know is, despite that, Randall is going to get a shot to reestablish himself this season. The Packers spent a first-round draft pick on Randall in 2015 and they’re not going to give up on him yet.
He will get a chance to compete.
Randall, of course, knows. He knows what people are saying about him. He knows he needs to play better than he did in 2016.
And this year, he’s gonna show you, man!
“I was hurt. But last year is last year,” Randall said. “Obviously moving forward, I am healthy and hopefully I’m going to stay healthy. And people are going to see why I was drafted in the first round.
“People are going to see why the Packers believe in me and why they kept putting me out there. People will see. My game is going to speak for itself. If I come back and be an All-Pro guy, a Pro Bowler, then people are going to say, ‘Ohhhhh, it was the injuries’ and this and that. But I’m just going to let them talk.”
Look, this is what you want to hear from a guy coming off a disappointing season. But what else is he going to say?
However, we hate the injury excuse — if you’re hurt, don’t play. Get right and then get back out there.
That said, Randall needs to rebound and the bottom line is it will be great for the Packers if he does.
There will be plenty of competition for playing time in the cornerback group. The cream will rise to the top.
We wouldn’t bet against Randall being in the top three when the season starts, but he needs to show it. Not only for the team’s confidence and the fans’ confidence, but likely for his own confidence.
Reminds me of Datone Jones. He was always claiming he was going to be awesome as well.
In Randall’s rookie season, he had a decent year. In 2016 he had a sophomore slump (like Adams in 2015).
I know Randall did. But every time I hear these guys say they are gonna show everyone, makes me think of Datone Jones and how he never did squat. Even though he is still claiming he is going to do stuff now that he’s with the Vikings.
Jones wasn’t really good in the first place. He’s more of a 4-3 player than a 3-4. He suits better there.
I hope that Randall has a great year. Randall does have good ball skills. He can track the ball when it is in the air, and make a play on the ball better than any of the other DBs the Packers have had the last couple of years. Maybe it is his baseball background. I don’t think Randall was the type of baseball player to try and run over the catcher to get to home plate. That is the problem with Randall as he stated in the referenced interview.
“I didn’t want to tackle nobody. Because I was afraid to tweak it, pull it, hurt it again,” Randall said. I would say it is commendable for Randall to play hurt, but as Lombardi said, in part, football is about two things blocking and tackling. What the hell is a defensive player doing on the field who doesn’t want to tackle? And who’s fault is that?
Randall did play through injuries last year, but we all saw he did not want to tackle. My concern is that in Randall’s first year there was also tendencies by Randall to not want to put his nose into plays. That showed up on tape in Randall’s first year along with some other coverage issues. Teams take advantage of players weaknesses that show up on tape. Randall needs to correct those weaknesses that show up on tape, including but not limited to his willingness to tackle. Hopefully Randall is a student of the game and not only improves his physical ability and health, but also corrects his mental errors in coverage.
Damarius is actually a very good cornerback. As long as the receiver doesn’t make any cuts or adjustments in his route. If all the receivers that Damarius covers, just ran go routes, he’s be a top flight corner.
“My game is going to speak for itself.”…..”If I come back and be an All-Pro guy, a Pro Bowler….”
Then let it speak for itself and quit telling us how great you are going to be.