Good article on Wilson
 

He admits the reason he was in the dog house was no effort on practice field

I know a lot of you were upset he wasn’t playing. Now we know why. And they is good on Pags and now Eberflus for not rewarding his talent over his attitude


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ind...amp/2072511002

We need some upgrades at cb. At this point I think his effort will always be an issue

Good, hopefully he's turned it around and can become what we all hoped for from him. That said, why is a veteran player coming in and showing this 2nd year player how to watch film? That's definitely a thing the coaches should be doing.

Interesting article, but if he spent a year and a half as a slacker, chances are, he IS a slacker. If he actually can turn it around for good, that's great, but I wouldn't rely on it.

This is a really solid article and it speaks to one of the key drawbacks to a youth movement: veteran leadership. It's obvious from this piece that Wilson needed a pro to show him how it's done. Whether or not that turns around Wilson's season/career remains to be seen, but this is a positive development.

I think you're going too far here. He's 22 years old and clearly didn't have older players showing him the ropes. It sounds more like he's been winging it so far, but is now putting in the work after a little guidance. It could simply be ignorance of youth.

Of course you are right that he could end up being a slacker and never fulfilling his potential, but I'm significantly more encouraged about his prospects after reading that piece.

The "didn't have a vet to show him the ropes" excuse is just BS. That may matter on technique and such, but not on effort and laziness. You don't need a vet to show you how not to be lazy.

And yet Pagano never did.

You're only considering effort on the field. What about understanding the value of film study, or even how to watch film and translate it into on-field adjustments? What about being young, single, with a million dollars in your bank account? Might a respected, more mature compatriot help?

Also, I've read and heard a lot of interviews of professional athletes talking about how they only had to rely on their athleticism their entire life and how big of an adjustment it was when they got to the pros and they had to do things they never had to do before.

Where we sit right now, I would have to say that our needs in 2019 are in order:

1. 2 or 3x Cornerback (Desir and Moore are the only two I really like)
2. 2x Defensive Line
3. 1x Wide Receiver
4. 1x Linebacker

I don't mind upgrades to just about any position on defense not named Darius Leonard and Malik Hooker but I think those are our most pressing needs for upgrades right now.

Walk Worthy,

His attitude was on him. So I can understand why Pagano didn't just put him in the game despite the way he outplayed some of the other players.

But it says a lot that he figured out he wasn't going anywhere and was running out of time. He has admitted what he did wrong and that he needed to do better. So he humbled himself and sought out help, shut up, and learned from someone who knew what to do.

There are sullen losers who never do that. They have talent but blame others and refuse to do what it takes to improve. They think they are the best, because they've always been, and so if something is holding them back it must be someone else's fault. That's not what I am seeing here from Wilson.

I will agree with Dam (though I see the irony here given the subject of coaching) that it's stupid it took 1.5 years and a recent veteran signing to get through to him. This is a position coach's job, or a defensive QC assistant's job. If a player is doing something wrong, you can't just punish him and wait for him to somehow just magically become better. You have to show him what to do. The effort is on him, the teaching is not. Where were the coaches in this situation?

I'm glad he seems to be turning it around. I hope the end part of the article is right and that he understands putting in effort isn't a 2-3 week thing, it's a rest-of-his-career thing. He has the talent, if he puts in the effort he can be a CB1.

I also hope Mitchell's influence will have a positive effect on Hooker, who I think also needs help reaching his potential. I don't think he's not trying, he is just relatively new to football and I would not be surprised if he also is ignorant of a number of things it takes to be a top NFL DB.

You can't teach (or coach) someone who doesn't want to learn. Sometimes it takes a wake-up call to garner enough maturity to realize you've been a dick and need to listen to/seek out advice. I know I've been there. All of us probably have.

We had two coaching staffs say it was an effort issue. Some guys need mentorship, to be shown how to do things. Hopefully the light came on, see if he can keep it up.

That was a good article, Wilson’s been a binky of mine since he was drafted. It’s mostly SEC bias on my end but by far he has the best physical gifts of any CB we have IMO and he’s the most opportunistic and plays with a nasty streak that we certainly lacked in the Pagano era.

I am surprised that a guy like Darius Butler didn't teach him a few things, as he was the veteran presence last year.

Maybe Najee Goode is performing a similar role to Mitchell for the LB's?

Not all veterans help. Some will even mislead. A lot of these guys will see each other as competition, especially in the same position group, and see the young guys as potentially taking food off their table. And I disagree this is a coaching issue. Coaches aren’t there to hold your hand. They will tell you what you need to do and work on. However, they have their own responsibilities, meetings, and their own film to watch and break down. This is part of being a pro, figuring out what you need to do when you are not in practice, meetings, and games. How to eat, getting sleep, how to work out. As Mitchell said if you stow your ego and ask you will likely get help. Some coaches may not even know how to watch film as a player and what to look for, not all coaches are former players and have that perspective.

He is what? 22? It is a short time to figure things out. But I give him credit for reaching out and trying instead of being stubborn and resentful.

Considering the horrible coaching staff in place before and the chaos I imagine the organization was in last year between Luck being out and Pagano being incompetent, I don't put it all on him for taking this long to get his head straight.

Hard enough being a rookie in this league, let alone stepping into that situation last year with this team.

lets hope he keeps improving and works like he should now.

Seems pretty accurate.

Thought I would specify on the DL and LBers, specifically need guys that can pass rush and play those positions

Pass rush and corner, anything to help the pass D, are what this team is missing most.

Everything else is down the list.

I think every fan can agree with this. We've all had high hopes for this kid for some time, and this story is the kind we all want to believe in. We want this to be the turning point for him and that from here on in, he is the CB we all expected when he was drafted. Let's hope this is the beginning of a good career, and not just a brief high point in an otherwise disappointing waste of potential.

As for me, I'm cautiously hopeful.

Still has zero to do with being lazy at practice, which is what he admitted to.

As far as the other things. There were other veterans on the team. He also had coaches. None of it gives him an excuse to be lazy in practice.

A top end pass rusher should be at the top of the list. The closer you line up to the ball, the bigger the impact.

Look, I don't give a rats ass how we get there.

When we improve the talent on our team, by a guy like Dontrell Inman or Mike Mitchell being signed or Quincy Wilson figuring it out or Margus Hunt playing lights out ball early in the season, then I'm all for it.

Hey Ballard, just keep adding talent to this team, so that we can prove all the mother fuckin' naysayers wrong!

If the light has turned on for this guy it would be bigger than huge for this team. It will be fun to watch

Wilson seemed to have another good game. I didn’t watch him exclusively but he almost had a pick and coverage seeemed solid. Hoping he keeps it up.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of confidence. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if the current staff has been responsible for helping him to flip a mental switch that has led to a translation of his physical abilities to tangible results on the field. For whatever reason, there is no doubt that he’s playing better and will hopefully continue to progress toward realizing his full potential.

Would have had a pick if a teammate (Geathers?) had not prevented him from it.

He played the second most snaps as a cb on the team. The coaching staff seems to be picking and choosing where to play him in order to optimize his talents, give him some confidence and continue to help him grow. This must be what it feels like to have a coaching staff that can actually develop a player.

Thought that was Hooker, not sure who had right of way on that one.

Holder shared some thoughts on Wilson in this week's podcast. Here's a quick summary:

Wilson hadn't played much zone until this year. In college and his rookie year, he was always asked to play man. He said man coverage was much simpler since he just shadowed his individual match-up. Now he has to read and react on what the offense is showing and it has taken him some time to pick it up. Holder adds that Wilson had a great attitude when talking about it and felt very encouraged by both Wilson's mindset and his performance in recent weeks.

Wilson's progression is one of the key things I'm most interested in watching the last five games. Has he turned a corner?

It was hookers man. Wilson made a great play on the ball. Had nobody to cover so he played off the qb

It was a little hard to tell based on the camera angle, but I thought Hooker misplayed that into a TD if Wilson doesn’t track back on the throw.

I couldn’t tell. Watched the all 22 and to me it looked like hooker was going to bat it down