Is Eli Apple The Starting CB?

[KillerGoose]

Quote:Quote all the stats you want, but if he was good he wouldn't be on his 4th team in 6 or 7 years.  

Well, there's a reason why I haven't said he was good. Your claim was that he was arguably the worst CB in the league prior to coming to Cincinnati. That is where you're grossly overrating how bad he was. From his Saints tenure on, Apple has been an okay corner. He wasn't great in NY, but he also wasn't as bad as fans would have you believe. He wasn't the worst CB in the league, not even close. 

Quote:Nobody wants to talk about the TD Eli gave up before he made that game saving tackle vs the Chiefs. The entire team is in man coverage and Apple is 5 yards deep in the endzone while his man is in motion 10 yards away from him.  Never even had a chance to make a play because he was so far behind him.  Moments like that make me think "WTF Eli?"   

Yes, he was deep because that is what he was supposed to do. He does the same thing against Hill at the end of the half. When he follows the motion, he follows deep. The Chiefs called a great play to beat it, but Hardman ran a better route than Hill did. He was able to get flatter. Apple followed the call, so if anything, take up beef with Lou. On motion, he has to run around the defense. This forces him deep.

Quote:As for Jimmy Smith, I guess you just would've had to watch him play.  Or ask Ravens fans?  He was wonderfully awful when he was a starter.  I don't subscribe to PFF anymore but I suggest (if you do) then go back and look at ratings from like 2010-2015.  Jimmy Smith was a champion at being terrible in PFF ratings...however I think PFF was harder on him than anyone else ever was.  I'm not sure any of the data points you cited now matter since he's not a starter anymore.  

Yeah, I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. You have no idea what you're talking about, man. Everything you said here is wrong. Jimmy Smith from 2011-2015 (he was drafted in 2011) had an average rating of 67 with a peak of 81.4 in 2013. Ask Ravens fans? Here is a post from the Ravens subreddit where they are voting on whether or not to induct him into the Ring of Honor. I did watch the guy play, I'm a Bengals fan for Christ's sake lol. He was still a starter as of 2020 but is slipping down the depth chart as he ages (33) and injuries pile up. He hasn't played a full season since 2015. 

Your hate boner for Apple is bizarre. You seem like you're just going to bury your head in the sand and refuse to listen to anything else. Eli played good football in 2018. He was pretty bleh in 2019 and didn't play much in 2020. He played fine football here in Cincinnati, and was good over the last half of the season. That's the reality of it all. Not sure what to say, here's to a good 2022 season. Lol.