How Samuel, Asomugha stack up
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
How Samuel, Asomugha stack up
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
When the Eagles traded for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and signed Nnamdi Asomugha in August, they made it pretty clear that Asante Samuel was available for the right offer.
But apparently, no team matched their asking price.
When the trade deadline came around months later, a similar scenario played out.
And when the offseason begins, the Eagles will again have to decide what to do about their cornerback situation going forward.
Rodgers-Cromartie is only 25 and is under contract for a reported $1.1M in 2012. And Asomugha signed a five-year, $60M deal in the offseason.
Considering none of the three cornerbacks has looked comfortable in the slot, that likely leaves Samuel, who turns 31 next week, as the odd man out.
Andy Reid has said multiple times in recent weeks that Rodgers-Cromartie is more comfortable on the outside. And Asomugha continues to be used in a variety of ways. But both are better equipped than Samuel to play press coverage.
Joselio Hanson is really the only player on the roster who looks comfortable playing the slot. And the Eagles have Brandon Hughes and last year's third-round pick Curtis Marsh for depth.
But by one set of numbers, Samuel has had easily the best year of any cornerback on the Birds' roster.
According to early charting numbers from Football Outsiders, Samuel has had a 67 percent success rate, which is tied for fifth in the league among cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 28 times. Success rate is defined as "the percentage of passes that don't manage to get at least 45 percent of needed yards on first down, 60 percent of needed yards on second down, or 100 percent of needed yards on third down."
Samuel, who's been targeted 55 times, is allowing 4.5 yards per pass, which is third in the NFL.
The charting numbers, meanwhile, describe Asomugha as a "steady cornerback who occasionally gets burned." This season, Asomugha's had a 53 percent success rate and allowed 9.9 yards per pass. Samuel and Asomugha had three interceptions apiece.
While these numbers are certainly useful, there are other factors to keep in mind. Samuel got a little lucky on a few occasions this season. For example, Hakeem Nicks dropped a deep ball against him in the second Giants game. And in the Eagles' loss to Arizona, Larry Fitzgerald beat Samuel for what would have been a big gain, but John Skelton made a bad throw.
Samuel's inclination to avoid contact, specifically when teams run the ball to his side, need to be factored in as well. Although, to be fair, Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie had their share of issues with missed tackles as well.
Given his age and the fact that he's due reported base salaries of $8.4M and $10.4M in the next two seasons, it will be interesting to see what the market is for Samuel, assuming the Eagles make him available.
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Asante is a goner, and he'll be missed. It's not often that a "big ticket" free agent lives up to the hype, but this guy has. Thanks for four great years! And please don't sign with WAS, DAL or NYG! Thanks!!— bpgavin1- Trade him…I am sooo tired of watching him jog alongside plays afraid to stick his shoulder in and wrap up like any high school football player is taught. The guy is a liability in any running situation and he only enjoys/plays to try to sit back and try to get an INT. 3 INT's are not worth the cost the Eagles are paying in cash/yrs nor the lack of tackling they are getting from Asante. I hope they can get a 2nd round pick for him from someone though!— connorjr
- It seems clear to me that Asante is going to get released. The Eagles will never find a trade partner willing to take on his contract....let alone give them anything worthwhile in return, in addition to taking his salary off their hands. Asante will end up a free agent and sign a one year deal for whatever he can get (probably slightly over the vet minimum).— SteveS11
- Eagles will use Asante's salary to pay McCoy.— SteveS11
- SteveS11 first post starts off correct but ends in nonsense with the one year minimum line. His second post again makes sense. No team is taking on asante's contract and giving up anything but a 5th round pick. If he gets released, and he will be gone bc the Eagles need all the money they can get to sign McCoy, Maclin and yes, DJax, he will resign for a nice signing bonus and 4-6 million a year somewhere else. The guy can play is def. one of the better corners in the league. Side note: Nnamdi does not look like he will ever be the player he was, and he is on the wrong side of 30 making 12 million a year.— UncleStosh
Comment removed.- Gotta get at least a third rounder for him...hopefully a second rounder...Oakland would do it!— DavezMental.Com
- nnamdi can not play. he is a stiff. for some reason the writers and press here have not called him out. He isn't lost, he can't play. this is not fantasy football or the AFC west. we will look back on that signing as one of the biggest mistakes from a dollar perspective of the andy reid era.— stevejones
- Lucky goes both ways. Quarterbacks (I'm talking to you, Eli Manning) throws balls that they should never throw, and sometimes it is caught. The reason why statistics that spans the entire year is useful is that it accounts for both the lucky and unlucky plays. SO yea, Samuels may have had two plays that worked well for his statistic, but I'm sure over the year it averages it out. (Sort of like how Cromartie with the Jets got burnt for a 99 year TD last Saturday, and yet it wasn't entirely his fault that the safety whiffed and allowed Cruz to scamper 99 yards.)— trungy
- I don't want no stinking-cover-corner! Give me a CB that can tackle and gets burned any day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah and FIRE ANDY!— Bob Loblaw
- I don't want no stinking-cover-corner! Give me a CB that can tackle and gets burned any day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah and FIRE ANDY!— Bob Loblaw
- Asomugha can play when they use him properly. Asante can't/won't press. DRC is fast, but still a question mark. I think Samuel being gone will be an upgrade. With the pass rush what it is, they should be aggressive on the outside.— rustypop58
- Asante is on my Good list. I agree he is going to go. I know we have issues with his physicality of play, but he was Asante before he got here and he will be after. He did a nice job of bringing energy and being Asante while he was here.
— dmanphilly - He sure is a threat to EXPOSING that Front Office. I want him to stay. I hope the Eagles make another Public statement behind a player(s) back about being shopped or put on the Trading Block. So, that way they can preach the TRUTH about this Organization. Yeah Lurie and the rest of the staff, The TRUTH HURTS!— Ace-Philadelphia
u GUYS R NUTS ,nhamdi IS the best corner ,WE SAW THAT AS SOON AS CASTILLO STOPPED PLAYING HIM ALL OVER ,LOOK HOW WELL HE AND drc SHUTDOWN DALLAS wr AND witten CUZ THE CAN PLAY PRESS AGGRESSIVE d NOT LIKE 22 WHO IS 10 YRDS OFF THE LINE AND TEAMS ARE RUNNING WITH GREAT SUCCESS ON HIS SIDE!NHAMDI IS A GREAT ATHLETE AND HE IS WAY FASTER AND BETTER CONDITIONED ATHLETE THEN asante NHAMDI WILL PLAY AT ALL-PRO LEVEL NEXT YEAR ,U GUYS CLAIM TO KNOW FOOTBALL BUT U GUYS THINK WITH CASTILLO TROWING MATTHEWS AND NHAMDI AND DRC IN THE SLOT ACTUALLY BELEIVED THEY WERENT GOING TO BE GROWING PAIONS???NOW LOOK AT HOW OUR D HAS COME TOGETHER NOW WE DRAFT A BEAST LB AND WERE SET!!— eaglhitz
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