Skins re-sign Iffy!

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Wed May 12, 2004 8:02 pm

Redskins re-sign safety Ohalete

.c The Associated Press

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) - The Washington Redskins re-signed safety Ifeanyi Ohalete on Wednesday.

Ohalete started 15 games at strong safety last season and made a career-high 105 tackles, but he probably lost his starting job when the Redskins drafted Sean Taylor with the No. 5 overall pick last month. Taylor is expected to start at free safety, moving Matt Bowen to strong safety.

Ohalete joined the Redskins as an undrafted free agent from USC in 2001. He has started 25 games over three seasons.

Ohalete was a restricted free agent this offseason, but he didn't sign an offer from another team before last month's restricted free agent deadline, giving the Redskins exclusive rights to re-sign him.

05/12/04 19:45 EDT

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

RedskinsRule56 · Post by **RedskinsRule56** » Wed May 12, 2004 8:09 pm

Good news, now we have more depth in our secondary and him and bowen will compete for the starting job alongside Taylor!

1niksder · Post by **1niksder** » Wed May 12, 2004 8:11 pm

it was just a matter of time

The Skins Fan · Post by **The Skins Fan** » Wed May 12, 2004 8:13 pm

Good news, now we have more depth in our secondary and him and bowen will compete for the starting job alongside Taylor!

Hit the nail on the head there!! Very, very good move by the Redskins

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Wed May 12, 2004 9:08 pm

Here's A link, not THE exact link:

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.as ... 224617.htm

I'm excited that my boy Iffy gets to stay. Clinton, say goodbye to your 2 year reign as #26. :lol:

Redskin006 · Post by **Redskin006** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:02 pm

im extremely happy. hes one of my fave players. hes a hard worker and may end up starting at either safety position.

tcwest10 · Post by **tcwest10** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:54 pm

Here we go. Big issues with the #26 on the horizon.
I'd've been willing to let Iffy go just to see this stupid issue put to rest, but Joe knows more than I do.

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Thu May 13, 2004 5:33 am

tcwest10 wrote:Here we go. Big issues with the #26 on the horizon.
I'd've been willing to let Iffy go just to see this stupid issue put to rest, but Joe knows more than I do.

So you're saying... if you were in charge, you would let Iffy go JUST to put the number issue to rest and ignore his ability to bring great depth and battle for the starting SS spot with Matt Bowen? That's a bad way to run things.

Magoo · Post by **Magoo** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:35 am

Maybe I'm missing something here, but what's with the love this guy gets on this bbs? He's a backup safety with limited skill. IMO if his having the #26 is going to screw with Clinton's mojo - and don't think things like numbers and ritual don't matter enough to athletes that it can play with their minds - 'iffy' should be given the boot.

gambit187 · Post by **gambit187** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:55 am

Magoo wrote:Maybe I'm missing something here, but what's with the love this guy gets on this bbs? He's a backup safety with limited skill. IMO if his having the #26 is going to screw with Clinton's mojo - and don't think things like numbers and ritual don't matter enough to athletes that it can play with their minds - 'iffy' should be given the boot.

Magoo,
Let me just put this from MY perspective as a Cowboy fan who happens to live in DC and watches all the games. Iffy IMO looks like a very good FS. He seems like he has alot of playmaking abiltiy. He was all over the field last year. He IMO plays with alot of heart and emotion. Now remember i am a cowboy fan so you can choose to believe what i say or not. BUT I WOULD NOT MIND HIM ON MY SQUAD IF WE COULD SIGN HIM. He would be perfect to replace aging D. Woodsen at FS.

BossHog · Post by **BossHog** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:55 am

... the only number I wanna see Clinton get is 100... as in YARDS PER GAME.

But I agree with Magoo on Iffy... I think there is a relatively bloated opinion of him around here.

I still laugh when I think about my Browns fan buddy sitting here watching a game with me and he said, 'How do you pronounce that guy's name? So I told him that you pronounce it kind of like 'If-I-Only-had-A-Laitte'

To which he responded... 'Yeah that's how he plays... like he's waiting around for a hot milky beverage. That guy sucks man.'

Just giving you an 'outsider's' point of view. He had no stake in the conversation and was just offering his opinion...

I think Ohalete provides good depth which is always good... nothing more. The way I see it... we haven't had good safety play for over a decade... and if you can't shine in that environment... then you're probably not going to.

But Taylor will

gambit187 · Post by **gambit187** » Thu May 13, 2004 9:28 am

So Boss Hog, I wonder why you felt the need to say

Just giving you an 'outsider's' point of view. He had no stake in the conversation and was just offering his opinion...

Was it because ummm maybe i am right. Or maybe becuase I prove you wrong that I do not just contribute nonsense. Get over yourself BossHog.

Lets compare some stats
Brian Dawkins at a full 16 games 2002
91 Tackles 3 sacks and 2 ints and 9 pass deflections

Ifeanyi Ohalet at a 15 games in 2003
103 Tackles 0 sacks and 3 ints and 5 pass deflections

Now consider that Dawkins was drafted Ohalete was not. Also Dawkins had better defensive help.

curveball · Post by **curveball** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:07 am

You cannot compare safeties stats. It doesn't work unless you have statistics for missed tackles, blown coverages and missed assignments.

In a perfect world, a safety would never make a tackle because ball carriers would never make it to the defensive backfield.

riggofan · Post by **riggofan** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:12 am

I wouldn't be surprised to see Iffy beat out Bowen for the starting job this season.

Magoo · Post by **Magoo** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:21 am

Gambit, you're my favorite comedian. Get over yourself boss hog? Did that come with two snaps or one? I love ya' - but take a deep breath. And IMO curveball is right about safety stats - there are a zillion factors to take into account - field position, opposing offense time of possession, missed tackles, blown assignments, and yada-yada.

hkHog · Post by **hkHog** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:30 am

Magoo wrote:Maybe I'm missing something here, but what's with the love this guy gets on this bbs? He's a backup safety with limited skill.

Agreed. I still like him though just because of his name. I think that is why he gets so much attention. When you hear the announcer say "Ohalete" you pick it up because it is different than more traditional names like "Bowen". For example, I remember that after a 'Skins victory last year someone called into the Larry Mibhael post-game show and sang "Ifeanyi Ohalete, clap your hands; Ifeanyi Ohalete clap your hands". He hadn't done anything special in the game. People just like him because of his name and the fact that he was undrafted and made the team (mainly because we had no good Safeties at the time).

gambit187 · Post by **gambit187** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:33 am

Magoo wrote:Gambit, you're my favorite comedian. Get over yourself boss hog? Did that come with two snaps or one? I love ya' - but take a deep breath. And IMO curveball is right about safety stats - there are a zillion factors to take into account - field position, opposing offense time of possession, missed tackles, blown assignments, and yada-yada.

Well I as a cowboy fan can say i watched every dayum Skins game last year. I dont think Curve ball can say that, maybe Boss can. I understand that there are alot of factors when it comes to judging players. Espcially Safeties and Corners. So to me it seems like Boss was discrediting my critque simply because I was an "outsider". To be honest I think Bowen had more blown assignments then anyone on the field. There were alot of times i saw Ohalete cover an assignment that was blown by Bowen or on of the LB's.

BossHog · Post by **BossHog** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:42 am

gambit187 wrote:Was it because ummm maybe i am right. Or maybe becuase I prove you wrong that I do not just contribute nonsense. Get over yourself BossHog.

What are you talking about?

What does my Cleveland Browns friend have to do with you? First of all, he offers an IMPARTIAL view, making the two of your relative contributions completely uncmomparable.

Get over myself? I'm not the one interjecting myself into topics completely unrelated to them. So I'm not really sure what are you referring to, but I can be reached in the Smack forum any time. As for the fact that it is basically a personal attack and a violation of the rules, a rule that you have been warned about more than once, I will remind you one last time to keep your personal attacks and profanity to the appropriate forum.

As for your little stats comparison, I'm not rally sure what that's intended to depict... I guess you're trying to say that Iffy is right up there with Brian Dawkins and if that's your opinion well then hey, you're entitled to it... but I think if that were true then some team might have taken a stab at signing him.

NikiH · Post by **NikiH** » Thu May 13, 2004 12:28 pm

See I like Iffy, just my personal opinion. I always root for the underdog! I don't hold anyone's performance against them from the last few years. Let's see what he's capable of with a coaching staff like we have now! But I am very excited to see them keep him. If nothing else he's a decent back up at a decent price I'm sure.

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Thu May 13, 2004 12:29 pm

I like Iffy and I'm glad he's staying and I hope he keeps #26. It's his number as a Redskin. And that's all I have to say about that !

trey53 · Post by **trey53** » Thu May 13, 2004 12:37 pm

I personally think that Iffy is a pretty darn good saftey, especially considering our sieve of a d-line last year. He's done just as well as any other safety in the league. He's gotten better each year. To be quite honest I can't believe that people automatically think that Bowen is going to be the starter. I seem to remember him being out of position and taking horrible angles of pursuit to the ball carrier a good amount of the time. (I know , I know he wasn't playing his "Natural" position of SS...but he's a professional) I for one am glad that Iffy signed as he will at the very least make Bowen work for a spot and I wouldn't be surprised if Iffy wins it.

Texas Redskin · Post by **Texas Redskin** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:08 pm

I rooting for Iffy. I think he's got a lot of heart and Boss.....I'd still take Iffy over Lynch.haha

Dangermouse · Post by **Dangermouse** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:26 pm

I know that I'm fresh to this site so excuse me. I was wondering, if Matt Bowen is a better Strong Safety than Free Safety and he is a better Strong Safety than Iffy, then why wasn't he the starting Strong Safety last season? I hope that if Bowen is the starter this year it's not because of his 40 time.

Why isn't Larry Brown in the Hall of Fame?

curveball · Post by **curveball** » Thu May 13, 2004 1:35 pm

gambit187 wrote:
Well I as a cowboy fan can say i watched every dayum Skins game last year. I dont think Curve ball can say that, maybe Boss can. .

Of course I didn't watch every 'skins game last season. See, sometimes they're on opposite the Cowboys game and it's a no-brainer which one I'd watch.

What that has to do with my observation that safeties cannot be compared based on tackles in beyond me.

Plenty of safeties had better statistics than Roy Williams last season, but even 'skins fans here would agree that he's one of the top 5 safeties in the NFL.

LetsRollBurgundyNGold · Thu May 13, 2004 2:19 pm

Wow, this is a hot topic right here, you've got Cow fans beefin with each other on a B&G board! The only thing better would be to watch em argue w/ each other during the regular season as the try and explain away gettin swept by Gibbs' boys (I can hope, can't I...)

My take is I think Ohalete is a solid player that has a nose for the ball and makes plays. I thought he played better than Bowen last season, but it's been shown that their stats could be comparable. Maybe with Bowen playin his 'natural' position we'll see a difference. In any case, the decision is up to Joe and Gregg, they'll start the best one. Either way, it's another position that's 2-deep, and that depth will take them farther than most would envision...