The Truth About Nick Harper (and Rod Hood)

1. CB statistics are always skewed. Those numbers are based on the effectiveness of the player when it is the ball is thrown to their side of the field. If you noticed Nick Harper had more passes thrown to his side of the field then many of the elite CBs he was rated above. The difference is that elite CBs cover people better then their peers. Therefore the ball gets thrown to their side of the field only when the receiver is more open.

2. But since you are so apt to state statistics about Nick Harper that paints him in a positive light I would to present these statistics. Nick Harper has an average of 11.3 yards per reception, a completion percentage of 72 percent, and a QB rating of 103.1 when thrown to his side of the field. What that means? That Nick Harper is an opposing offenses first down waiting to happen.

You said that a team built on stopping the run and running the ball needs to be able to tackle and stop the run. True, but it also needs to be able to control the T.O.P. which is impassable with Nick Harper giving up first downs the way he does.

 

i obviously can't talk for everyone, but i don't look at rod hood's three picks and think that automatically makes him better. i look at the three games he played in and then look at the games harper has played in since he's come back and see a difference in the defensive scheme and individual performance.

i saw cortland finnegan lining up against the offense's best WR every snap instead of nick harper covering andre johnson the majority of the game. i saw teams not throw the ball to the same side of the field on 90% of their throws. i saw the defense playing more man-to-man because hood has the speed to avoid being immediately burned.

 

You can find a stat for anything. Kerry Collins was 12-3 LAST YEAR. LenDale white had 15 td's LAST YEAR. It is, what you say it is, LAST YEAR.

You don't have to be Albert Einstein to figure out that Nick Harper is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our secondary, as Steve Young put it, is "suspect". Why is it suspect? Because every team throws passes in Harper's direction because that is the weakest link in our defense.

You are only as strong as your weakest link. No one is calling Rod Hood a shutdown corner. At this point, most Titans fans just want someone who can put a body near the ball, not always pursuing the WR at a trail position. Rod Hood has always been near the ball, Nick harper is always chasing the ball.

 

Last year is last year. It has nothing to do with what's going on this season. The bottom line is Harper is S.L.O.W. SLOW. If he can't run with your average NFL receiver then what good is he? Yay, he stops the run well. He still sucks at covering and consistently gives up big plays. He's a corner, not a linebacker.

For the record, I don't think Hood is the long term answer but for now I'll take him over Harper.

 

my legit argument is this: he may not give up a super amount of td passes, but wether it's deep balls, short completions for first downs, or whatever... he's letting them continue their drives or hit the big play

 

All I know is I see him getting beat on every play, and biting on the play action pass HARD every time.

 

Great fu**in' point Erick. And we don't have to be geniuses to see that Harper gets burnt on the reg, gives up the big play on the reg, keeps drives alive on the reg, and never looks for the ball on the reg.

So I'm not ready to crown Hood as the best corner ever, but he is better than Harper. Now I'm sure someone can pull some BS stats out of their @ss but this much I can see for myself, Harper sucks, and Hood doesn't. Does that mean Hood is the best corner ever? No, just better than Harper.

 

all i know is, last week when the Dolphins completed a pass, the announcers said who caught the pass and then they said Harpers name. gee i wonder why they said Harpers name after every Miami catch?

 

Nobody is saying Hood is our future starting CB..we can just see with our own eyes that Harper is not able to keep up with ANY receiver he covers..72% completion and 11 yards per when thrown to his direction? That's a ridiculously high number and is a HUGE liability to our defense. Heck you're just mad because you think Rod Hood is no good but I would rather see Mouton or Mccourty out there than Harper at this point.. Harpers time is up.

 

The truth about Harper:

He's absolutely terrible in coverage.

No stat is going to say it. Watch the game. Be a fan of football for more than a month- and you'll see it.


Stop being an apologist.