R7, P238: Stephen Denmark, DB - Valdosta State

Mr.Irrelevant · Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:19 am

southdakbearfan wrote:6'3" safety with ball skills if he doesn't work at corner?

My thinking exactly - in fact I bet he starts right out a safety. Did Pace call him a corner at his press conference?

Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:22 am

Some folks are talking about this dude as a potential LB someday. I think everyone is getting a bit ahead of themselves with this kid. He's a freak athlete for sure, but he doesn't really have a position and we don't know if he can even play football.

Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:23 am

wab wrote:Some folks are talking about this dude as a potential LB someday. I think everyone is getting a bit ahead of themselves with this kid. He's a freak athlete for sure, but he doesn't really have a position and we don't know if he can even play football.

It's the last speck of April and we'll resume being football-starved until late July. People are simply scratching their arms, dying for a fix.

Mr.Irrelevant · Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:29 am

wab wrote:Some folks are talking about this dude as a potential LB someday. I think everyone is getting a bit ahead of themselves with this kid. He's a freak athlete for sure, but he doesn't really have a position and we don't know if he can even play football.

oh yeah - I doubt he makes the team this year. Purely a practice squad pick. Reminds me of the big German WR the Vikings took last year.

VA_Mountain_Bear · Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:51 pm

If I read his college stats right, he intercepted 4 passes, defended 12, and got 1 sack, 55 tackles and 37 of them solo in his first year playing this position. In that perspective he looks like his first year playing CB was damn fine. He is not ready to be a starter, but with his athleticism, I'm intrigued to say the least about him as a developmental player...which is good because we need a little of that as we have our starters.

Mikefive · Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:05 pm

wab wrote:Some folks are talking about this dude as a potential LB someday. I think everyone is getting a bit ahead of themselves with this kid. He's a freak athlete for sure, but he doesn't really have a position and we don't know if he can even play football.

One way I'm looking at the guy is that he's going to be learning no matter where they put him in the NFL. He just looked like a safety to me the way he'd be in coverage with eyes in the backfield, quickly breaking away from his guy to make a stop 5 yards up the field. But what do I know? He's a project from the word go.

He seems destined for the practice squad.

AZ_Bearfan · Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:58 pm

rockrivertimes.com/2019/06/11/not-a-raw-deal-stephen-denmark-has-the-tools-to-defy-expectations/

Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:40 am

I think it would be awesome if Denmark can be a long term solution at SS next to Eddie. I'm not getting my hopes up, but early reports are that he has potentially generational talent...he's just raw as sashimi.

The Marshall Plan · Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:10 am

wab wrote:I think it would be awesome if Denmark can be a long term solution at SS next to Eddie. I'm not getting my hopes up, but early reports are that he has potentially generational talent...he's just raw as sashimi.

Situations like this are going to be where Pagano earns his paycheck. That and making sure the scheme is effective. What is Pagano realistically going to teach Mack and Hicks and get that incremental gain out of the defense because of it? Not very much. However if he can take a guy like Denmark (Iggy too.) and even turn him into a reliable #3 safety and a bigger and better version of Deon Bush, then we've got something because its that depth that is going to give us cap relief to keep as much of the core together as possible. Heck, as a seventh round draft choice, if he's a solid special teamer for his career I'd consider that a win.