Asomugha: Bowles will help
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Asomugha: Bowles will help
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha made the media rounds last week to spread the word about a new initiative with the United Way focused on reducing the number of high school dropouts in this country.
During interviews, he also talked about football and expectations for the 2012 Eagles.
Speaking with Tony Bruno and Harry Mayes of 97.5 The Fanatic, Asomugha said the team's new secondary coach, Todd Bowles, is a welcome addition.
"Oh man, that guy's smart. He's smart. I don't know how much else to say," Asomugha said. "He understands the game, not only from a secondary's point of view and not only from a defense's point of view, but he understands it as a whole. He sees it very well. There are things that myself, that I see or that last year a couple other guys would see that... it helps to have a guy also that can help Juan [Castillo] out with that because he's seeing the same things that we see, whether it's how teams want to attack us, or ways to get better at our positions, how to cut off the things that don't work for the defense and how to upgrade on the things that do. So he's been very helpful so far, and obviously we'll continue to see how helpful he'll be, but it's been a great addition."
Asomugha was used in a variety of ways last year - playing inside, outside, even back as a safety in some packages. He gave up too many big plays when quarterbacks targeted him, but as I've pointed out before, opponents stayed away from Asomugha for the most part. When in coverage, he was only targeted about 6.3 percent of the time. As a point of reference, Asante Samuel was targeted 12.6 percent.
This year, I still expect Juan Castillo to use Asomugha in different ways; he won't just be parked at right cornerback, playing press coverage on every snap. But the Eagles have some more flexibility with their scheme this year. For example, if they want Asomugha to shadow one wide receiver the entire game, they can do that.
Even though he had a down year in 2011, the three-time Pro Bowler is not short on confidence. Here's what he said when asked by PFT's Mike Florio which NFL wide receivers concern him.
"If you were just going to sit up there and play man against a guy, then that's a different story. If that were the case, there aren't guys that stand out in my mind," Asomugha said. "There's a handful of guys that are really good at what they're doing from the receiver position, which is the easiest position in the NFL. There are a handful of guys that are good at it. So it's not one particular guy that would concern me when I'm going into a game, but there are guys that you have to take notice of in the league, absolutely."
I'll let you guys make the Victor Cruz references in the comments section.
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Days before he was named a senior college scout by the Eagles, Greg Gabriel (National Football Post) named the Birds one of his breakout teams in 2012.
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I love Nnamdi's confidence...He'll plenty of opportunities to back it up, as in the first 5 weeks he'll see Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Wallace, Calvin Johnson, Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.— audrina- we play the browns first ...— positive eagle
- Does the whole fourth paragraph translate into, "Juan Castillo is an idiot who has no idea what he's doing"?— HorshamGuy
- Castillo better pay attention to what Bowles says because some team is gonna hire Bowles as DC if he's as good as advertised. — essell
- I'm definitely behind Nnamdi as well. Yes he looked bad in multiple moments last year, but a guy that throughout the league (peers, coaches, execs) has been considered the best corner in the game for a while and at worst 2nd best (even if you wanted to hate he's probably at worst 4th - Revis, Bailey, Flowers) did not all of a sudden forget how to play the position. He wasn't put in the best position for him to succeed at times last year and I'm positive that the bad plays are still in the back of his mind - I'm sure he is going to have a big year this year. Lock him on Cruz or Fitzgerald for a full game with the previous week filled with film study, a well-designed game plan/appropriate coverages and I think you'll get a different result.— mx55
- great to know the players recognize that the D coordinator needs help.
not installing confidence here.
— raoool - Nnamdi continues to rack up the humanitarian points...nice to read about this.— 2ndNlong
- So basically he is saying that Juan doesnt know what the hell he is doing and having a real Defense guy helps. lol He is using Bowles as a "translator" for Juan lol. Aww man this is going to be a funny situation. Week 9 Bowles will be the defensive coordinator and Juan will be the quality control guy.— Zeru
- yeah sounds like juan needs a lot of help. here's and idea.....hire a freaking real d-corrdinator.— psualum
- Just put him in man coverage on Victor Cruz and we'll see. I don't see Cruz doing much with Asomugha assigned to him for a whole game. Nicks had a broken foot not too long ago. That has to be a pretty big injury for a position that relies so much on speed and pivoting.— p-diddy
- The Victor Cruz TD was not man coverage. However, watch the Burress TD. That was man coverage. Good coverage too. Just a well thrown ball.— Cr0we
- He talks a good game; like everyone else on this team!— JBinPA
- i wouldnt mind bowles as DC. seems like a smart guy— HDemetriou
- Uh, folks? Every DCoordinator has a specialty. Secondary, LBs/front seven etc... Juan's been an LOS specialist his whole career, be it from the offensive side or his defensive beginnings. To say that Bowles, who's a secondary guy all his life, brings ideas that can help Castillo is exactly what you want for the coaching staff. To turn that into a negative is like saying Andy Reid needs help with the special teams...huh?!? that's why you have assistants in the first place.— KNuff
- There's that sentence again that we hear alot -- "... helping out Juan Castillio."— ej610
- If JC falls flat this coming season, Bowles will take over as DC for us.— NC Eagle Fan
- There's a diffence between knowing what you're doing and having credibility. Juan might know defense, but it seems that the defensive players don't believe in his credibility. Only by having success can Juan earn it.— airbuzz
- If we see a situation where Bowles replaces Juan Castillo during the season, we'll be in a situation where he could very well be replacing Andy next season. Problem #1 with this defense, Juan Castillo. You don't have a stable of Pro Bowlers all of a sudden look like a collective hot mess. Sorry Juan, you have to work so hard because you're just simply not good. Our offensive line with less talent is even better without you.— voodoochile75
I think some of you need to look up the word cordinate and find out what a coordinator does. Juan was a rookie defensive coordinator last year and having to incorporate the wide 9 alignment, and didn't know much about it, did fairly well. When it was all said and done, Juan had the Eagles 11th or so in total Defense. Give the guy a break.- Juan needs the help. He's a good coach but going up against great offensive coordinators. Hiring Bowles was smart to help Juan learn. No excuses this year Nnamdi. There's a full training season in place and a year under the belt for everybody. Tough schedule but there should be significant improvements. The first half of last year looked like nobody knew what they were doing on defense.— dapmman
- The way Nnamdi played last year... I hope so. The birds. Alot of talk with nothing to show. Projection 10-6, 1st round exit. Typical birds.— Apollo Creed
- Andy will make Bowles our "offensive" coordinator next year. So smart!— ANDY-IS-FAT
- Prediction: if JC doesn't do well in the first few games next season, they will replace him with bowles— Extremecheddar
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