Blake to the Titans

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/03/titans-sign-steelers-free-agent-cb-antwon-blake/
Cornerback Antwon Blake is now a former member of the Pittsburgh Steelers as the former undrafted player has signed with the Tennessee Titans.

Last season, Blake started all 16 regular season games for the Steelers and he recorded 76 total tackles in addition to 2 interceptions.

While Blake was regarded as an above average special teams player during his three seasons in Pittsburgh, his play at cornerback wasn’t good at all. Last season, Blake gave up more than his fair share of receptions along with missing several tackles. While he did play through a thumb injury last season, Blake was a liability whenever he was on the field.

Blake is now the second Steelers unrestricted free agent to sign with the Titans this offseason as linebacker Sean Spence agreed to a one-year contract with them on Wednesday. Blake and Spence will now be reunited with Dick LeBeau in Tennessee as both played for him in Pittsburgh when he held that same position on the Steelers coaching staff.

With Blake now gone, the Steelers are left with William Gay, Cortez Allen and Ross Cockrell when it comes to experienced cornerbacks. The Steelers, however, did draft Senquez Golson and Doran Grant last year. Golson missed his entire rookie season with a shoulder injury while Grant only played one defensive snap during his first year in the league after starting the season on the team’s practice squad.

Blake originally entered the league in 2012 as an undrafted free agent with Jacksonville Jaguars. After one season as a special teams player in Jacksonville, Blake was waived by the Jaguars prior to the start of the 2013 season and the Steelers quickly scooped him up.

Surprised that he signed before Boykin. Adios Boykin. Hope he does well enough to get a comp pick.

YES!!!!!!!!!!

Titans plan is to develop good special teams with these Steelers signings?

damn....what ever shall we do

Good luck Blake. You seemed like a good, hard working dude. It wasn't working out here though. It's not you, it's, well, yes it was.

Boykin should've been resigned. He's 10x better than Blake and Cortez Allen, but Tomlin gave those guys plenty of chances, but Boykin doesnt??? Really don't understand why Tomlin is doing Boykin like this.

SUPERBOWL!

ImmaculateGreenePolamalu wrote:

Surprised that he signed before Boykin. Adios Boykin. Hope he does well enough to get a comp pick.

boykin signed somewhere else? all i heard was atlanta was interested but nothing else

Blake got a lot of flak, some of it rightfully so. Some of it though was people being a little harsh. He did injure his hand last season, and there was a discernible drop off in his play after that injury. He got better after it healed up and played much better to close out the season.

I wish him luck in Tennessee. He's a hard working kid, and I think sometimes we as Steelers fans can be a bit harsh on these younger guys because we're used to seeing guys like Ike Taylor who shut guys down week in and week out.

Blake allowed more receiving yards than any other CB in the NFL last season and you think fans were being a little harsh?

Blake gave up so much cushion that 15 yard dig routes were pitch and catch for QB's.

Blake was targeted by opposing QB's more often than any CB in the NFL, because of his deficiency and it was on tape to see.

PFF graded him the worst on 3 separate weeks and we all know his season ranking.

NFL analyst and 8 year NFL safety Lewis Riddick tweeted about how bad of a cushion he gave in games. Riddick say after the Seattle game "Blake just isn't that good".

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus....and he lives in Tennessee, because Steelers just got a gift that Blake will not be in a Steelers uniform next season.

The steelers would really have to try to find a worse starting CB than Blake......it'd be a total failure on this FOs part this year if that CB position is allowed to be anywhere close to that bad again....when this team is supposed to have SB aspirations

Remember the Titans. We'll probably meet them in the AFCCG. Blake will intercept Ben twice. One will be a pick-6 and seal the win.
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Talk about our worst nightmare.

solardave wrote:

Remember the Titans. We'll probably meet them in the AFCCG. Blake will intercept Ben twice. One will be a pick-6 and seal the win.
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Talk about our worst nightmare.

As always, that is the risk. Perhaps Blake meets with LeBeau and discovers some secret sauce and becomes a top tier CB.

Doubtful. However, I do think he will improve a little and not be 2nd to worst in the league. People that are that bad usually don't make it in the NFL.

The Titans fans know what they are getting. I haven't read any delusions about him being an impact player. They see him being buried on the depth chart as a slot CB and a special teamer.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Blake allowed more receiving yards than any other CB in the NFL last season and you think fans were being a little harsh?

Blake gave up so much cushion that 15 yard dig routes were pitch and catch for QB's.

Blake was targeted by opposing QB's more often than any CB in the NFL, because of his deficiency and it was on tape to see.

PFF graded him the worst on 3 separate weeks and we all know his season ranking.

NFL analyst and 8 year NFL safety Lewis Riddick tweeted about how bad of a cushion he gave in games.  Riddick say after the Seattle game  "Blake just isn't that good".

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus....and he lives in Tennessee, because Steelers just got a gift that Blake will not be in a Steelers uniform next season.  

Facts are stubborn little things.

Fire Arians wrote:

ImmaculateGreenePolamalu wrote:

Surprised that he signed before Boykin. Adios Boykin. Hope he does well enough to get a comp pick.

boykin signed somewhere else? all i heard was atlanta was interested but nothing else

No, he hasn't hence my surprise at Blake getting a gig first. Looks like we're going to have a good amount of comp picks next year. I saw that Garvin went to D.C in the local paper today.

I do wish Blake well but I agree that it was time to go. Not sure who I want in the draft. It makes me feel like an old man being 9 years younger than Billings, that DT that we seem to really like.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus....and he lives in Tennessee, because Steelers just got a gift that Blake will not be in a Steelers uniform next season.  

Dick Lebeau was Santa?

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus....and he lives in Tennessee, because Steelers just got a gift that Blake will not be in a Steelers uniform next season.  

Dick Lebeau was Santa?

Yes............yes he is!

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Blake allowed more receiving yards than any other CB in the NFL last season and you think fans were being a little harsh?

Yes. I was harsh on the kid as well. I believe he broke his thumb, and he played through that injury. Blake has been able to hide some of the deficiencies in his game through pure physicality. There was a blatant and discernible drop off in his play after he injured his thumb. He couldn't go in and levy those big hits, you could tell he was playing through pain and trying to protect his injured hand. It's pretty difficult to play a position like corner in the NFL to begin with, when you can't use your hand in the way that you need to as a corner, that makes things worse, and it amplified the deficiencies in his game.

So yes I do believe fans were a little harsh on him, ultimately it's the NFL so you've got to do your job, but they were asking a lot of a guy playing through an injury that obviously held him back and Boykin probably should've been playing earlier on so Blake could get a rest and heal up. In the latter part of the season Blake stepped up his game when his hand finally healed enough that he could go back to doing some of the things he was good at.

The kid has heart, he works hard, he plays through injuries, and he really doesn't deserve the sheer amount of hatred that people (myself included) were pouring on him. As I've said before, we've been spoiled by our past successes and I think sometimes that gives us unrealistic expectations. We expect a kid like Blake to play like Ike Taylor in his prime, we expect Jarvis Jones to be James Harrison. Those kinds of players are special, and it's not often you get an entire defensive unit full of star players like that.

We have to remember Blake was a UFA following the 2012 draft. This isn't some kid that was a first round draft pick that fizzled out, he was undrafted and had to work for everything he got. He deserves a modicum of respect for that, and for the good things he did for our team. He had an off year due to injury, and got picked on by some of the best receivers in the game. It happens.

Blake's misfortune was being a starter. He's good enough to be a decent depth player, but just lacks the skill to be a starter. His fan base in Pgh is a bit limited, so a fresh start in another city is in his best interest. He'd never be accepted by the fans after last year.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Blake allowed more receiving yards than any other CB in the NFL last season and you think fans were being a little harsh?

Yes. I was harsh on the kid as well. I believe he broke his thumb, and he played through that injury. Blake has been able to hide some of the deficiencies in his game through pure physicality. There was a blatant and discernible drop off in his play after he injured his thumb. He couldn't go in and levy those big hits, you could tell he was playing through pain and trying to protect his injured hand. It's pretty difficult to play a position like corner in the NFL to begin with, when you can't use your hand in the way that you need to as a corner, that makes things worse, and it amplified the deficiencies in his game.

So yes I do believe fans were a little harsh on him, ultimately it's the NFL so you've got to do your job, but they were asking a lot of a guy playing through an injury that obviously held him back and Boykin probably should've been playing earlier on so Blake could get a rest and heal up. In the latter part of the season Blake stepped up his game when his hand finally healed enough that he could go back to doing some of the things he was good at.

The kid has heart, he works hard, he plays through injuries, and he really doesn't deserve the sheer amount of hatred that people (myself included) were pouring on him. As I've said before, we've been spoiled by our past successes and I think sometimes that gives us unrealistic expectations. We expect a kid like Blake to play like Ike Taylor in his prime, we expect Jarvis Jones to be James Harrison. Those kinds of players are special, and it's not often you get an entire defensive unit full of star players like that.

We have to remember Blake was a UFA following the 2012 draft. This isn't some kid that was a first round draft pick that fizzled out, he was undrafted and had to work for everything he got. He deserves a modicum of respect for that, and for the good things he did for our team. He had an off year due to injury, and got picked on by some of the best receivers in the game. It happens.

So you are saying that because he was an UDFA, he deserves some leeway for being one of the worst CB's in the NFL?? I disagree. Brent Grimes or Josh Norman don't want any pity because of their draft status or the fact they went to Coastal Carolina or Shippensburg. Patrick Peterson or Revis don't deserve any different treatment because they were 1st round picks from D1 schools.

If you start as a CB in the NFL, you either get the job done or they find somebody else that will. Blake was very fortunate that the Steelers gave him so many chances despite having better options on the team. Not surprising that when they limited his snap count, the secondary improved.

The NFL is a results based business and Blake consistently produced poor results. As a long time fan of the Steelers, I never hated Blake the man, I hated his terrible level of play. It was embarrassing to watch him start in the secondary and allow receptions at a record rate. Good luck to him, but thankfully he is not in B&G any longer.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Blake allowed more receiving yards than any other CB in the NFL last season and you think fans were being a little harsh?

Yes. I was harsh on the kid as well. I believe he broke his thumb, and he played through that injury. Blake has been able to hide some of the deficiencies in his game through pure physicality. There was a blatant and discernible drop off in his play after he injured his thumb. He couldn't go in and levy those big hits, you could tell he was playing through pain and trying to protect his injured hand. It's pretty difficult to play a position like corner in the NFL to begin with, when you can't use your hand in the way that you need to as a corner, that makes things worse, and it amplified the deficiencies in his game.

So yes I do believe fans were a little harsh on him, ultimately it's the NFL so you've got to do your job, but they were asking a lot of a guy playing through an injury that obviously held him back and Boykin probably should've been playing earlier on so Blake could get a rest and heal up. In the latter part of the season Blake stepped up his game when his hand finally healed enough that he could go back to doing some of the things he was good at.

The kid has heart, he works hard, he plays through injuries, and he really doesn't deserve the sheer amount of hatred that people (myself included) were pouring on him. As I've said before, we've been spoiled by our past successes and I think sometimes that gives us unrealistic expectations. We expect a kid like Blake to play like Ike Taylor in his prime, we expect Jarvis Jones to be James Harrison. Those kinds of players are special, and it's not often you get an entire defensive unit full of star players like that.

We have to remember Blake was a UFA following the 2012 draft. This isn't some kid that was a first round draft pick that fizzled out, he was undrafted and had to work for everything he got. He deserves a modicum of respect for that, and for the good things he did for our team. He had an off year due to injury, and got picked on by some of the best receivers in the game. It happens.

So you are saying that because he was an UDFA, he deserves some leeway for being one of the worst CB's in the NFL??  I disagree.  Brent Grimes or Josh Norman don't want any pity because of their draft status or the fact they went to Coastal Carolina or Shippensburg.  Patrick Peterson or Revis don't deserve any different treatment because they were 1st round picks from D1 schools.

If you start as a CB in the NFL, you either get the job done or they find somebody else that will.  Blake was very fortunate that the Steelers gave him so many chances despite having better options on the team.  Not surprising that when they limited his snap count, the secondary improved.

The NFL is a results based business and Blake consistently produced poor results.  As a long time fan of the Steelers, I never hated Blake the man, I hated his terrible level of play.  It was embarrassing to watch him start in the secondary and allow receptions at a record rate.  Good luck to him, but thankfully he is not in B&G any longer.

You're kind of ignoring the fact he was playing hurt most of the season. He was decent the season prior, got worse with the injury, and got better at the end of last season when he'd recovered somewhat.