Charles Woodson or Darren Sharper?

December 3rd, 2009 | By boadurichard

To the Charles Woodson folk out there, 21 is half of 42. So Darren’s gotta be better right? If only it were that simple. I’m a natural Woodson from since I been on the porch. I also love ball hawking free safeties i.e. Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Kwame Lassiter, Eric Turner etc. This year that ball hawking safety is Darren Sharper. Before I start my debate with myself let’s look at the numbers, because it’s the wise thing to do, Sean Carter taught me that they don’t lie and I believe him.

Darren Sharper

33 years old. 13th NFL season out of William & Mary

2009 Stat Line ( I’m not putting “Games Started” we ain’t stupid, we know they started they both raw!)

Games Played      Tackles            Sacks       Pass Defensed    Picks     Housed    Forced Fumbles

10                           46                      0.5                    13                          8                3                          0

Charles Woodson

33 years old. 12th season out of Michigan. He’s earned defensive player of the week twice this year and was named Defensive Player of the November.

2009 Stat Line

Games Played      Tackles            Sacks       Pass Defensed    Picks     Housed    Forced Fumbles

11                          54                      2                       11                          7                  2                        4

Ight, so from the numbers you’d have to ride with Sharper because he has more picks and tds and has played one less game. Yes numbers don’t lie when it comes to selling music, but they may not tell the whole truth when it comes to football. Two of Woodson’s picks came against Carson Palmer. One pick against Palmer was while Woodson was playing nickel corner on 3rd down and out played the tight end and outsmarted Palmer and took it back for six. The second pick of Palmer came while he was in Man under coverage on Chad OchoCinco and he intercepted the most impossible to pick off which is a stop fade route.

We all saw his performance against Dallas a few weeks back. Total domination. He recorded 9 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 1 pass defensed and 1 pick. He single-handedly defeated the Cowboys by himself.

What he did to poor old Matt Stafford was rude too. Someone needs to tell his mama on him for what he did to that boy. Woodson amassed 6 tackles, 1 sack, 4 passes defensed, 2 picks one of which he housed, and 1 forced fumble. A stat line like that for a 33 year old man makes me sick to my stomach.

The good thing about Woodson is that one he puts his head in there and ain’t afraid to lay the wood on a sucka. Second thing is that he’s so versatile. When Bradon Stokley was tearing up the slot for the Colts a few years back people could not stop it. Now Wes Welker is doing the same. Solution? Take your boundary/short corner and have him man up on the slot and have everyone else on his side play zone coverage or blitz the hell out of the quarterback making the slot receiver the hot read while having him covered by your best corner. Whoever came up with this solution is genius.

He’s not a spring chicken like he once was so no more returning punts for him. I would have loved to see the Raiders let him take on this duty full time when he was younger or run back kickoffs. Also, it would have been cool if they really let him play offense consistently.

To say that Darren Sharper has “just be in the right place at the right time” could be fair if you knew nothing about football. Being at the right place at the right is exactly what he is paid to do and has made a healthy living off of. I mean 8 picks in 10 games. Serious business baby, don’t forget the 13 passes defensed. At safety he’s not busting heads as you’d like or causing as many fumbles. (Pause) Oh yeah, I forgot what he did to Kevin Faulk on Monday Night Football last week where he also recorded a pick as well.

It’s a toss up right now. If you’re playing strictly a numbers game you gotta roll with Sharper, but if you look inside the numbers you gotta ride with Woodson. If I had my pick, I’d take Woodson. He’s a corner right now but once he’s speed leaves him, he’ll have enough intelligence to slide back and play safety for another five years. He also brings the wood, causing fumbles, and leads his defense on top of the picks. Also his ability to slide down the line and play the slot is virtually invaluable. Either both of these cats are in their mid-30s playing out of their minds and need to get mad love. Yeah, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Chris Johnson are all the MVP rage, but defense wins championships and Woodson and Sharper are going to play a pivotal role if their team wins the Super Bowl. (Well maybe Sharper, we all know the Packers ain’t gone make that happen this year)

That’s all I got,

Ricky Writer