Battlefight: Haloti Ngata vs. Nnamdi Asomugha

Unless your name is Darrell Green, CBs, in general, do not age well into their 30s. Just the possibility of lining up Mario, Smith, Okoye, and Ngata makes me drool, especially with Cushing and Barwin as well. Plus, for the first time in the history of the franchise, we’ll have a legitimate beast in the middle.

but young inexperienced CBs. Secondary is our biggest weakness

Because a CB will primarily enhance pass defense… Whereas a planetoid at NT will enhance both pass defense AND run defense, IMO…

Easy pick. QBs can ignore Nhamdi. Noone can ignore NGATA. In related news, a friend once asked me if the Texans could sign any single player in the NFL, regardless of contract situation, who would I pick. I immediately said Troy Polamalu, but upon further inspection, it’s gotta be Ngata.

Is there really a chance the Ravens let him go?

That’s like asking me if I would rather have sex with a the playmate of the month or playmate of the year……can I have both?!?

I’ll take Scrabble. Ngata is AWESOME but truly great CB’s are much harder to come by. NT’s still have rely on other d-linemen to be successful, whereas someone like Scrabble can single handedly take away a team’s best WR.

Since he’s restricted, there’s even less of a chance than Nnamdi, but a man can dream.

In a vacuum I would pick the stud DT every time. However, I’m MUCH more comfortable with our d line than I am with the secondary. They are both special players, so the deciding factor for me is age. If I’m going to spend big money I would rather spend it on the Guy entering his prime. Scrabble has shown no sign of decline, but it will come much sooner for him than ngata.

I’m still waiting for this choice…

But limited to one I’ve got to go get Scrabble. Just as a good D-line will help the secondary a good Defensive Backfield will allow more blitz packages.

Besides above average DB’s are much harder to come by than above average D-linemen

I won’t BOTH of them. Seriously

I would have to go Scrabble, I’m sick of seeing guys like Tebow just throw the ball up cause he knows the receivers aren’t covered

… Josh Wilson, Drayton Florence, Brandon Carr, Kelly Jennings, or Eric Wright, please.

Ngata is one of the best players in the game. Also, it’s a pipe dream because he’s not leaving the Ravens. Ever.

Here’s why. I’ve been crunching numbers and top flight NTs, on average, cost less than top flight CBs.

Average Salary for CB: $11M/year (for the better corners in the league)
Average Length of Contract: 4 years (again based on better corners)

Average Salary for NT: $6M/year (higher level NT)
Average Length of Contract: Also 4 years.

Let’s suppose that Uncle Bob goes nuts and signs Ngata to a 5 year 9 million dollar per year deal; which is a better deal than Vince Wilfork got. That leave money in the kitty to sign a mid-level corner like Richard Marshall or Jonathan Joseph.

It would be nice to get a shutdown corner but to get one would mean smashing the piggy bank into a million pieces and I’m willing to bet that would be the only signing we get; and that’s before the draft, where an 11th pick will not be cheap. It would also open up our options more in the draft so that we’re not completely committed to getting Stephen Paea with that pick. We would have some leeway, not a lot, but some.

And since we have so many glaring holes on defense, it would be nice to take care of multiple issues in one fell swoop as opposed to getting one top-flight FA, then hoping we nail our draft picks and do nothing else in free agency.

Versatility is our friend, especially when it comes to personnel.

What are two players who would never be caught dead in a Texans uniform?

Scrabble was granted free agency because the Raiders were unwilling to pay him a minimum of $16.8MM. It is feasible a team will be willing to match that number, but even at around $13MM, Scrabble will be one expensive cookie. Basing this on pure speculation, I see Ngata closer to the $10MM range. Albert Haynesworth’s contract was for 7 years, $100MM, but that was given to him by crazy Daniel Snyder.

I could easily see Ngata getting as much as Scrabble on the open market. At this point nearly all of this is speculation, especially with no CBA, which is why I tried to specifically not mention caps, dollars, or whathaveyou in my original phrasing of the question. Coincidentally, wouldn’t crazy Daniel Snyder be actively bidding on Ngata to replace Haynesworth? Doesn’t Ngata have a much better on-field reputation for effort and such? I think phrasing the question this way leads it a little bit.

Anyway, I personally take Scrabble, and here’s why:
-A rarer and more exclusive talent than Ngata. There are many good defensive tackles to add to the line, there’s only two cornerbacks (Scrabble and Revis) who can reliably shut down a wide receiver.
-Fills a much bigger position of need for the Texans.
-The Texans, with the offense they have, need to be in a win-now mode. I’m not so much worried about diminishing returns on a contract, especially since NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed, as I am worried about the boost it would provide the team right now.
-While Nmandi is older, he’s also got quite a ways to decline from. He’s proven over the years to be one of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL. Ngata, according to BFD’s friends at PFF, hasn’t always played up to the hype.
-Injury risk: Front seven players tend to have to deal with more dings then cornerbacks, and if I’m paying elite money to somebody, they’d better be able to stay on the field. While they’ve both started about the same number of average games, I think the net risk leans towards Scrabble.

What if we keep Ngata and sign Scrabble

he gets my vote because it takes 2-3 years for rookie DB’s to develop into his caliber of player. a DT can come in day 1 and make a difference with proper ability / coaching / scheme.

looking at the draft and there being more DT than DB in the first round or so, i’d say we (hypothetically) get Scrabble to immediately help out AND grab a DT to most likely immediately help out

Seriously can’t make up my mind.

I’m bracing myself for Travis Johnson and Fred Bennett.

second rate DT/NT and a second rate CB. With potential to excel of course.

And isn’t Ngata a DE?

…for “Battlefight”… It speaks to me in a Paklid kinda’ way…