If the Redskins sign O.J. Atogwe, they would get a player who can give them ballhawking sills — and help them adapt to an evolving passing game in the NFL.
So says former Redskins safety Matt Bowen. He touched on the Redskins being a good fit for Atogwe in his National Football Post column. And, because I found him to be one of the most insightful players I’ve covered, I asked him to expand on Atogwe for Redskins Confidential. Atogwe was released by St. Louis last week for financial reasons.
First, my take: Atogwe does things that Kareem Moore wasn’t able to do this past season. How much of that was because of Moore’s knee injury? Before he got hurt, Moore looked good. But that was also in training camp and it’s not uncommon for guys to look good in the summer and not in the season. Is he a developing talent or a guy better used as a backup?
But how much money should they spend on a safety? Do they view free agency — once again — as the way to fill every need? That hasn’t worked in the past; it won’t work this year; it won’t work in the future. Until they commit to building through the draft the franchise will be stuck in the ways of selling hope in the offseason and explaining disappointment during the season.
But … what if there is no free agency, or if it’s just limited? Then this is a chance, right now, to sign a player who is an upgrade. With no free safety worth taking at No. 10 — and with bigger needs, why would you? — then this is a way to get better. And, in my mind, he’s a better fit than Bob Sanders simply because of Sanders’ injury history.
Enter Bowen.
Here are two reasons why he says Atogwe would be a big upgrade:
Ball skills. “If you watch him on tape you can see he takes good angles to the ball. That’s not discussed enough. It comes down to technique. He plays with solid technique, takes good angles and players who do that are always around the ball. You see guys that don’t – like me for instance – who can get too tall in their backpedal, don’t read routes fast enough and when they do read the route they don’t get there on time because they take sloppy routes. But he takes those good angles to the ball and he will go after the ball. He’s not going there just to play his position. He’s going there to make a play.”
My take: Moore’s angles weren’t very good, particularly vs. the run, and that meant few plays were made. Again, is that inexperience and his injury? Or is this who he is?
Back to Bowen.
Empty sets. Before the Super Bowl, I talked to Bowen about the matchup. One point he made: when a team goes to empty sets, a defense often checks out of whatever they had called into a cover-2. That means less ability to blitz vs. that formation.
That sets up Bowen’s next take:
“If you want to make the secondary better, you have to have a free safety. I go back to the Super Bowl. How many times did you see Green Bay line up in empty sets? How man times did you see Pittsburgh in empty sets? That’s where the league is going. It’s a lot different from when I played. You have eto come down and cover, you have to have more man to man skills. You have to sometimes leave your base personnel on the field to play against three wide receivers.
“Going back to the Super Bowl, those deep inside breaking routes, you have to have someone there that makes you think twice about throwing it. Think how many routes Ed Reed takes away. There are certain routes that you can’t throw vs. Baltimore because Ed takes great angles. If you do throw that route, it’s a blow-up hit or an interception. Having that guy in the middle of the field gives you that advantage. When you don’t have to check to cover 2 every time a team goes to empty … it helps your corners.”
Bowen said he didn’t think Atogwe was the best tackler. And he’s not a phsyical player. But he also said pairing him with a safety coach such as Steve Jackson would help him.
“He puts you in the toughest position possible and shows you what you’ve got. You’re challenged every day. Some coaches don’t do that. Some let the veterans run practice and let the veterans run drills. He doesn’t give special treatment to anyone. He worked us like we all just got into the league. He keeps you humble every day. And one thing I learned about Steve the most, and it’s not practiced enough, is you work on technique every day. That’s huge. You forget that when you’re a pro. You become a better student of the game, but he works on footwork and hands and teaches you how to blitz.
“I remember in ’05 when we beat Dallas down there. I thought I played a good game. He crushed me in meetings. Even our game to open the season vs. Tampa. I had a couple sacks and was confident going into meetings. No. He doesn’t allow you to get too high. He’d say, you had a sack here but on the next play this isn’t good enough. He’s open and honest with players.”
