Steve Smith says that Champ Bailey is the best CB he's ever faced, takes shot at JNo?

[Icege]

http://espn.go.com/blog/denver-broncos/post/_/id/16053/steve-smith-says-champ-bailey-best-cornerback-hes-ever-faced
 

Quote

 

“And I think that’s kinda been lost a little bit in this day and age,’’ Smith continued. “You hear a guy who says he’s a lock-down corner, but let a guy go in the slot, and he’s nowhere to be found. Let a guy line up at No. 3 [wide receiver], and he stays outside … and then they go to a different coverage. Well, you can’t be lock-down if you’re only locking down certain portions of the field.’’

“It’s so hard now because there are a ton of good corners,” Smith said. “But the reason that I really just say Champ is because everybody wants to talk about the success of all these guys who are in their fourth or fifth years. I’m in my 15th year, and I’m 36. Some of these guys, when I was a rookie, were in elementary school. So I’m not going to crown a guy who’s been in the league six years and had three years of success and three years of failure or average. I want to see how he is in three or four more years when his speed goes, and he has to learn how to use his technique. That’s just me, but that’s where I feel like the legacy is built.’

 

[Icege]

FWIW I don't think he's singling out Josh Norman. I think that he's referencing most CBs in the league today. Figured it'd be something to talk about around the water cooler.

But hey... at least we're not talking about OB-GYN? :P

[Icege]

Related:

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25363239/champ-bailey-josh-norman-is-ridiculous-should-be-paid-as-the-top-cb

 

Quote

"His instincts are ridiculous," Bailey said,

 per Black and Blue Review

. "You don't play Cover 3 and then jump routes like he does. You don't just do that without film study or without confidence. And you see deep balls where he looks like he's beat, but that's all part of his setup. People don't understand it, but this guy is long and athletic, and he knows it, so he wants you to throw the ball."

Bailey also said Norman is deserving of a big pay raise. "No doubt," Bailey said. "If it just started this year, then I'd be reluctant, I'd say show me more. But this goes back into last year.

"To have a whole offseason to prepare and come out and match up against the best guys and hold your own and still be rated the top corner in the game? No doubt, he should be paid as the top corner in the game."

[Cary Kollins]

He's got a pretty good point.

 

But the media isn't like it was 10 years ago. Now a days, someone needs to be crowned the best and talked about 24/7...embrace debate as they say. So ultimately, it really doesn't matter who is being talked about as "the best", because next year the conversation will be reset and everyone will have forgotten about what was said in 2015.

[TheRumGone]

Naw I don't think that's a slam at Josh. Smitty is right though about the consistency year in and year out. But at the same time you can't fault a corner who is told to play where he is told to play and excels. Josh is a shutdown corner but I think that definition has changed as the game has evolved from when smitty is talking about. 

[IMON KRAQUE]

He specifically points out the slot situation, which is the biggest criticism of Josh Norman around the league. So I have to say it very well may be a shot at Norman. And if so? he needs to worry about the ravens and helping develop Pickles. He needs to chill out on the panthers, and maybe he still gets an invite to our super bowl party?

[The Saltman]

You can't blame Norman for the scheme of the defense.

I also remember Norman's first year in training camp. Smith and Norman had some little scuffles if I recall correctly.

[Chaos]

Smith is speaking the truth from a veteran's perspective.  He wants a guy to earn the label of being the best over a longer career span.  Nothing wrong with that. 

[JawnyBlaze]

Not a shot at Norman. Was Norman even playing when we played the Ravens last year?  Practice doesn't even count for stuff like this, Smitty might not have even been considering Norman.  Plus, while Norman is the best in the league right now, it'd be pretty audacious to say he's the best in the past 15 years or so....

[cgarsmoker]

Josh is an up and coming young player that's still making his mark.  Champ is an established veteran who played great for a decade.  I don't think it's a shot but even if it was, the Josh Norman star didn't start to rise until SS89 was shipped out of town.  This is not the same Josh Norman SS89 faced in practice 3 years ago.  

[TheWiz]

May not have been a shot a Josh... but it was definitely shade. 

You guys dont remember the training camp where Josh Norman came in and the news was that he seemed to be getting the best of Steve Smith? I remember hearing of Josh's big time plays early in his career. It seemed that Josh was getting in his own way early in his career and he was being put in the dog house early because of his firey attitude... which at the time didn't mesh well with the other top dogs on the team. 

We loved Steve Smith, but he was a bully... it's how he got the edge. He may not directly mentioning Josh Norman,  but if you think that he wasnt thinking of Josh Norman when you read this means that you havent been paying attention to Steve Smith his entire career. 

http://espn.go.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/9033/norman-on-smith-we-had-a-little-twist-of-words

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d829de05b/article/steve-smith-trades-barbs-with-teammate-josh-norman

[Snake]

1 hour ago, IMON KRAQUE said:

He specifically points out the slot situation, which is the biggest criticism of Josh Norman around the league. So I have to say it very well may be a shot at Norman. And if so? he needs to worry about the ravens and helping develop Pickles. He needs to chill out on the panthers, and maybe he still gets an invite to our super bowl party?

There are a bunch of top CBS that don't go in the slot. Revis is one of them. 

[bleys]

Smitty isn't keeping in mind how much the chips are stacked his way these days.   

 

I don't know how guys are able to play good defense these days.  

 

Also, used to be you weren't a quality receiver if you had to step inside to get open.   I don't remember when CBs were asked to step inside to get respect. 

[Ruff]

Was he taking a shot a shot at Chris Gamble? :(