Cynthia Frelund - NFL Network
I challenge you to find a player who was more versatile than Baker in 2019. Next Gen Stats shows the following snap distribution for Baker (this is about to become a meaty sentence): 647 snaps at safety, 174 as an outside linebacker, 155 as a slot corner, 39 at inside linebacker, 31 as an edge defender, 12 at left corner and 10 on the right. That’s 1,068 snaps that pretty much required him to be a defensive coordinator on the field. My spatial model shows that Baker’s ability to stop and/or limit runs when he was playing safety ranked 12th best in the NFL last season. With their smart offseason acquisitions, including No. 8 overall pick Isaiah Simmons, who also has a versatile college resume, the Cardinals’ defense figures to be much more efficient in 2020.
In part, this is why I made the statement in the first place.
I am trying to think back to the impactful, game altering plays that Budda makes and i just don't have a deep reserve of memories.
INT's...... Sacks...... TFL........ 4th down pass breakups....... Please help me here guys.... Because I haven't seen the Honey Badger level yet.
With that being said, I can thing of a few TE TD's that looked like his man. Including the Kittle emasculation on TNF.
Not saying he isn't valuable....... but HOW valuable he is versus the contract he is about to sign is of great importance. My thinking is that if we have Simmons emulating many of the things Budda does, with 5 full seasons on a rookie deal...... Would it make more sense to have a Jamal Adams type over a Baker type.
Would paying Adams make more sense in the overall perspective of squad building? I'm not so sure.
And with Baker's NFL presence and image at an all time high...... Why not move him for a perennial All-Pro at his position who is just as young as Baker is but seems to play the position a bit better than our guy does. It just seems like a better allocation of resources.
Of course...... I could be dead wrong about all of this.
