http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=699411
Safety measures. NFC, AFC scouts evaluate Bigby's performance.
Strong safety Atari Bigby, the Green Bay Packers' only new starter on defense in 2007, ranked as an unknown commodity in the personnel world when the season began.But now that Bigby has started 14 games in a row for one of the top teams in the National Football League, scouts have seen enough to begin passing judgment. On Friday, four executives in personnel for NFL teams, two in each conference, unanimously agreed that Bigby was playing the run better than the pass.
"Not a great instinctive football player but he's aggressive and he plays hard," an NFC personnel man said. "He's able to mask a lot of his deficiencies by his effort level. But you're talking about a guy who, in the grand scheme of things, probably is a quality backup and special-teams guy." When asked to rank Bigby among the 64 starting safeties, the scout said he'd place him in the bottom 20. An AFC personnel man also ranked Bigby somewhere in the lower third of starting safeties. Another NFC scout said he doubted Bigby could start for his team, and neither of that team's safeties is highly regarded at all. "My problem with him is in coverage," the NFC scout said. "I don't like him in man coverage and he free-lanced on 'off ball.' He can cover ground but he's just undisciplined in coverage."
However, a second AFC scout who counts the Packers among the teams that he is responsible for ranked Bigby about 25th among the 64. "He's tough and he runs pretty well," the scout said. "I don't think he's going to be overly flashy, but he just shows up and makes plays all the time. He has made big interceptions, fumbles. I think he's on his way to having a good career." Bigby, 26, has intercepted four passes (he has dropped one), including three in the last two weeks, and each one came off a deflection. He also has forced three fumbles, including tremendous strips against Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Jeff Dugan. Those seven turnover plays are the most in a season by a Packers safety since Darren Sharper also had seven in 2004. The last time a safety in Green Bay reached double digits in turnover plays was 1993 when LeRoy Butler registered 12.
While Bigby has demonstrated a nose for the ball, he also has struggled in most types of coverage since early October. "There were four or five games in the middle of the season when teams decided that it was time to point out that he's not very good in coverage," an NFC scout said. "The thing that helps him that doesn't help a lot of safeties is those two guys on the outside do so much of the legwork. Bigby is not an intelligent football player so he's very hesitant with his reactions." Bigby allowed just one pass of 20 yards or more in the first seven games but four in the last seven. He also has allowed two runs of 20 yards or more, both in the first month, by taking bad angles and missing tackles. His total of 7 1/2 plays of 20-plus are the most allowed by a Packers safety in a full season since Mark Roman and Sharper each allowed 9 1/2 in '04. Bigby also has allowed five touchdown passes (3 1/2 to tight ends), the second-most against a Packers safety since 1998.
"Stiff," an AFC scout said. "Has a burst to the ball but struggles to change directions. Throws his body around but probably misses too many tackles. "The safety position has kind of changed. It's more space stuff now. You can kind of cover him up, but eventually in a big game he's going to get exposed." Before the bye, Bigby didn't have a penalty. But he has seven in the last eight games, including four pass-interference flags totaling 79 yards. "His deficiencies come from the fact that he doesn't diagnose things quickly," an NFC scout said as he maintained that the 26-year-old Bigby probably wouldn't improve much. "Most of the time, if that's what you are, that doesn't change. I think what he is is what he's always going to be."
Some of the rap on Bigby is that he's more susceptible to play-action fakes than the average safety. That stems in part, according to scouts, from his attack mentality. "Pretty good in run support," an NFC scout said. "I thought he flew around. Physical. The tackling part is all good. It's the back-end part. He's overaggressive." Bigby is second on the club in solo tackles (88) and third in total tackles (111). He has missed 11 tackles and has three tackles for loss. "He's a reliable tackler," an AFC scout said. "Sometimes he will go for the kill shot, but at the same time he knows when it's time to break down and come to balance and make a sure tackle. Every now and then he will get a little out of control." An NFC scout who ranked Bigby seventh-best among the eight safeties in the NFC North still isn't convinced that his future won't be bright. "I think he has an upside," the scout said. "It's just if he ever learns to become more of a complete player. He has to do both."
http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/story/2007/12/18/7156/2885
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/12/17/ramblings/audibles/5891/
It's too bad that S Aaron Rouse's only playing time now comes when the coaches pull Collins for the game for precautionary reasons. Rouse is still the best safety on the roster. Don't let S Atari Bigby's two interception game fool you either. Bigby is still awful in pass coverage. Here's the guys at Football Outsiders making fun of his "coverage" skills: Bill Barnwell: Man, is Atari Bigby awful. He had one of the most ridiculous interceptions I've ever seen today on a play where a tight end settled in ten yards in front of him without Bigby reacting, but Bulger threw it behind the receiver, who tipped it into Bigby's hands. Doug Farrar: Awful and awfully lucky. He had a tipped interception last week as well.
BIGBY DID IT AGAIN. He had another tipped pick. Of course, the announcers say he's "always around the ball," which is true. He's always seven yards behind the ball. Ned Macey: If you go to Atari Bigby's player page on NFL.com, his stats would list six interceptions while Brian Dawkins has one. It lists eight passes defensed before today's games; Dawkins had five. Based on those freely available stats, one would think Bigby is the better pass defender, when he really is among the very worst safeties in the league in pass defense. As for today's picks, the first one was embarrassing since he left Drew Bennett (big white guy exhibiting stone hands, but alas not a tight end) wide-open for a long first down. The second one, however, was not his poor coverage, as the receiver was tightly covered (by someone else). Still, he was just there to pick up the free gift. Bigby is an excellent run-support safety, but I fear these interception numbers will make somebody somewhere think he is good in pass defense.
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/PKR01/71222052/1989
...At safety, for all the flack Atari Bigby has taken for some boneheaded personal-foul penalties and deficiencies playing the ball in the man-to-man coverage, he’s young (26) and a major upgrade over the Mark Romans and Marquand Manuels who preceded him. Also, rookie Aaron Rouse has improved as much as anyone in the past couple months and could win that starting job next year....
[align=center]PACK FANS: YOU DECIDE...ADJUSTMENTS BEFORE PLAYOFF RUN? [/align]
op: 8) :lol: :lol: 8) 8)
Safety measures. NFC, AFC scouts evaluate Bigby's performance.
Strong safety Atari Bigby, the Green Bay Packers' only new starter on defense in 2007, ranked as an unknown commodity in the personnel world when the season began.But now that Bigby has started 14 games in a row for one of the top teams in the National Football League, scouts have seen enough to begin passing judgment. On Friday, four executives in personnel for NFL teams, two in each conference, unanimously agreed that Bigby was playing the run better than the pass.
"Not a great instinctive football player but he's aggressive and he plays hard," an NFC personnel man said. "He's able to mask a lot of his deficiencies by his effort level. But you're talking about a guy who, in the grand scheme of things, probably is a quality backup and special-teams guy." When asked to rank Bigby among the 64 starting safeties, the scout said he'd place him in the bottom 20. An AFC personnel man also ranked Bigby somewhere in the lower third of starting safeties. Another NFC scout said he doubted Bigby could start for his team, and neither of that team's safeties is highly regarded at all. "My problem with him is in coverage," the NFC scout said. "I don't like him in man coverage and he free-lanced on 'off ball.' He can cover ground but he's just undisciplined in coverage."
However, a second AFC scout who counts the Packers among the teams that he is responsible for ranked Bigby about 25th among the 64. "He's tough and he runs pretty well," the scout said. "I don't think he's going to be overly flashy, but he just shows up and makes plays all the time. He has made big interceptions, fumbles. I think he's on his way to having a good career." Bigby, 26, has intercepted four passes (he has dropped one), including three in the last two weeks, and each one came off a deflection. He also has forced three fumbles, including tremendous strips against Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Jeff Dugan. Those seven turnover plays are the most in a season by a Packers safety since Darren Sharper also had seven in 2004. The last time a safety in Green Bay reached double digits in turnover plays was 1993 when LeRoy Butler registered 12.
While Bigby has demonstrated a nose for the ball, he also has struggled in most types of coverage since early October. "There were four or five games in the middle of the season when teams decided that it was time to point out that he's not very good in coverage," an NFC scout said. "The thing that helps him that doesn't help a lot of safeties is those two guys on the outside do so much of the legwork. Bigby is not an intelligent football player so he's very hesitant with his reactions." Bigby allowed just one pass of 20 yards or more in the first seven games but four in the last seven. He also has allowed two runs of 20 yards or more, both in the first month, by taking bad angles and missing tackles. His total of 7 1/2 plays of 20-plus are the most allowed by a Packers safety in a full season since Mark Roman and Sharper each allowed 9 1/2 in '04. Bigby also has allowed five touchdown passes (3 1/2 to tight ends), the second-most against a Packers safety since 1998.
"Stiff," an AFC scout said. "Has a burst to the ball but struggles to change directions. Throws his body around but probably misses too many tackles. "The safety position has kind of changed. It's more space stuff now. You can kind of cover him up, but eventually in a big game he's going to get exposed." Before the bye, Bigby didn't have a penalty. But he has seven in the last eight games, including four pass-interference flags totaling 79 yards. "His deficiencies come from the fact that he doesn't diagnose things quickly," an NFC scout said as he maintained that the 26-year-old Bigby probably wouldn't improve much. "Most of the time, if that's what you are, that doesn't change. I think what he is is what he's always going to be."
Some of the rap on Bigby is that he's more susceptible to play-action fakes than the average safety. That stems in part, according to scouts, from his attack mentality. "Pretty good in run support," an NFC scout said. "I thought he flew around. Physical. The tackling part is all good. It's the back-end part. He's overaggressive." Bigby is second on the club in solo tackles (88) and third in total tackles (111). He has missed 11 tackles and has three tackles for loss. "He's a reliable tackler," an AFC scout said. "Sometimes he will go for the kill shot, but at the same time he knows when it's time to break down and come to balance and make a sure tackle. Every now and then he will get a little out of control." An NFC scout who ranked Bigby seventh-best among the eight safeties in the NFC North still isn't convinced that his future won't be bright. "I think he has an upside," the scout said. "It's just if he ever learns to become more of a complete player. He has to do both."
http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/story/2007/12/18/7156/2885
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/12/17/ramblings/audibles/5891/
It's too bad that S Aaron Rouse's only playing time now comes when the coaches pull Collins for the game for precautionary reasons. Rouse is still the best safety on the roster. Don't let S Atari Bigby's two interception game fool you either. Bigby is still awful in pass coverage. Here's the guys at Football Outsiders making fun of his "coverage" skills: Bill Barnwell: Man, is Atari Bigby awful. He had one of the most ridiculous interceptions I've ever seen today on a play where a tight end settled in ten yards in front of him without Bigby reacting, but Bulger threw it behind the receiver, who tipped it into Bigby's hands. Doug Farrar: Awful and awfully lucky. He had a tipped interception last week as well.
BIGBY DID IT AGAIN. He had another tipped pick. Of course, the announcers say he's "always around the ball," which is true. He's always seven yards behind the ball. Ned Macey: If you go to Atari Bigby's player page on NFL.com, his stats would list six interceptions while Brian Dawkins has one. It lists eight passes defensed before today's games; Dawkins had five. Based on those freely available stats, one would think Bigby is the better pass defender, when he really is among the very worst safeties in the league in pass defense. As for today's picks, the first one was embarrassing since he left Drew Bennett (big white guy exhibiting stone hands, but alas not a tight end) wide-open for a long first down. The second one, however, was not his poor coverage, as the receiver was tightly covered (by someone else). Still, he was just there to pick up the free gift. Bigby is an excellent run-support safety, but I fear these interception numbers will make somebody somewhere think he is good in pass defense.
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/PKR01/71222052/1989
...At safety, for all the flack Atari Bigby has taken for some boneheaded personal-foul penalties and deficiencies playing the ball in the man-to-man coverage, he’s young (26) and a major upgrade over the Mark Romans and Marquand Manuels who preceded him. Also, rookie Aaron Rouse has improved as much as anyone in the past couple months and could win that starting job next year....
[align=center]PACK FANS: YOU DECIDE...ADJUSTMENTS BEFORE PLAYOFF RUN? [/align]
op: 8) :lol: :lol: 8) 8)
mg: 
