The Myth that Nelson Sucks

[Buckweath]

Originally Posted by O.city

He's not a bad player, but he's basically a guy you can get in the 3rd round of every draft every year.

I would say he's clearly better than your average 3rd round CB.

He was another good pick by John Dorsey.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Buckweath

I would say he's clearly better than your average 3rd round CB.

He was another good pick by John Dorsey.

Agreed. He was better than your average 3rd round corner AND he'd gone through the 2-3 year development curve you usually see with guys like that any way.

Corner's not an easy position for guys to pick up immediately, especially not guys who aren't physically ahead of anyone anymore. Nelson was probably a top 15% athlete in college and fell immediately into the bottom tiers among his piers when he got to the pros. That's a massive adjustment and one that many mid-round corners simply never make.

I think there's a pretty good chance that, unless we throw a 1st round pick at the position, the guy that replaces Nelson next season will be worse than he is. And frankly, even if we do use a 1 on a CB, the odds are still long that he's better than Nelson was last season in year 1.

But it's almost certainly the route we have go. The Chiefs can't afford to bring Nelson back at anything approximating his market value. Given his physical limitations, I'm not sure they should even if they COULD get him at the Sorensen rate (which would likely represent a massive discount over what he'll get in the market).

Still shaking my head at how badly he got roasted by Dorsett on that long TD. That was just awful.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Still shaking my head at how badly he got roasted by Dorsett on that long TD. That was just awful.

That's Nelson in a nutshell though. Locks it down for 3 quarters and then gives up the biggest play of the game, although usually it's a PI penalty more often than not.

He's not bad. But it's really hard to argue, in a league that is so much about big plays, that he's "good". He's just way too streaky. He has physical limitations as you mentioned and he doesn't have the best technique either in trail (he NEVER looks for the ball).

The bottom line is that somebody out there is going to pay him A LOT more than he's actually worth this offseason.