...well he was a Steeler and was a former third round draft pick...I guess...
PFF Grades: Overall Burnett 66.7, Murray 67.5
Vs pass B 62.8, M 66.9
Vs run B 69.8, M 71.2.
It's true that John Dorsey was part of the Green Bay crew that drafted Burnett in the third round, and also that (like the rookie Peppers) Burnett was playing free safety rather than strong last season, so he probably does have the inside track.
From what I hear, as a SS with the Packers, he was a pretty good player, so returning to his comfort zone under Steve Wilks should elevate his numbers over those he showed last season.
But people are ignoring both Burnett and Murray, and mindlessly proclaiming Strong Safety a priority in the Draft.
Actually, Murray is a versatile player who can play several positions in Wilks' 3-deep. While not very fast or sudden, he has a Schobertian nose for the ball (he reads and reacts quicker than most defenders), especially in coverage.
Ideally, enough talent gets in front of Murray to render him a situational player, utility depth, and special teams ace, but you could do a lot worse than this guy as your Strong Safety, ok? Get real.
Burnett was, per PFF, pretty close to Murray while playing deep last season, and should indeed be at least as good as he was as a Packer (which was pretty good) at Strong.
Yes, they lost a really good (and improving) player in Jabrill Peppers, and no, niether Burnett nor Murray look as promising as Peppers, but why do you automatically think that every loss has to be replaced by an equivalent or superior player?
That's Utopian. Sure, Dorsey would love not to lose any ground ever anywhere on the roster, but he (*DePodesta*) has to deal with the real world:
Peppers was the second "first round pick" Gettleman wanted for OBJ. He didn't want to trade him, but deemed OBJ as good enough that he was willing to take the hit...to accept a downgrade at one position for a more significant upgrade at a more important position.
He traded a "9" Strong Safety for a "10" Wide receiver. Now, he has added two "7" Strong Safeties, and yes...may have to scrape by with them.
It's called a "trade-off", Virginia.
GMs need short memories. John Dorsey has taken a minor hit at SS in order to get a major upgrade at Wide Receiver, and does NOT consider SS a priority (rule of thumb: when the playerS at any position are above average, that position is NEVER a priority in the real world.)
On this planet, the real priority needs John Dorsey faces are, in order:
1: DEFENSIVE Tackle depth.
2: A tall (matchup) cornerback.
3: Best available.
As you see, Strong Safety is not included. This is because Dorsey/Wilks's current roster includes two above average Strong Safeties DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
The current Browns secondary (with Wilks in charge) is adequate (and deep). ...errah...do any of you get that Wilks aint Gregg Williams yet?)
Zinggg I'll have to redundationalize this in a future post...but for now, you have to admit that I am a genius, since I beat "utilize" by 4 syllables.
I rest my case.
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