Has anything been said about Foxworth starting opposite Champ Bailey in light of the recent tragedy to Darrent Williams?
Denver PostThe underrated Domonique Foxworth will replace his close friend at right cornerback. Karl Paymah likely will become the team's nickel cornerback. Curome Cox also can play cornerback.
Foxworth is expected to start in 2007, although Karl Paymah filled in solidly at nickel when Williams was dinged at year's end. It's possible, though unlikely, that he could have a great offseason and move into the role. While Foxworth is a very solid player -- some felt he was every bit the player Williams was at times in 2005 -- he's not likely to provide the consistent numbers Williams did in 2006 in standard scoring systems. The firing of Larry Coyer and hiring of Jim Bates means much less Cover-2 calls for 2007 and beyond, which may boost the coverage stats of the corners but blunt the tackle numbers.
While not great comps, the relevant recent statlines are those of...
2003 Mike McKenzie (14 games, 52 solos, 4 INT, 18 PD)
2003 Al Harris (16 games, 46 solos, 3 INT, 14 PD)
2004 Al Harris (16 games, 56 solos, 1 INT, 20 PD)
...which were good for low 50 - high 60 range under the FBG standard scoring system.
Foxworth isn't a good bet to do much better than those lines and Bailey will be still more dependent on his big coverage statlines in Bates' defense. I had suggested -- wrongly -- that Bailey would be a sell high candidate before the 2006 season. I'll be doing the same this offseason. I don't see any way one Denver CB, much less both, gets to 75 solos in 2007. Let somebody else hope that these guys can put up yet another 8-10 INT season.