1) Introduction: In a contract year, Davon House needed to show that he was worth the money and produce a high-value type of season. But with the talent in front of him and his injury history, would he be able to maximize his value?
2) Profile:
Davon Thomas House
- Age: 25
- Born: July 10, 1989 in Van Nuys, CA
- Height: 6’0″
- Weight: 195
- College: New Mexico State
- Rookie Year: 2011
- NFL Experience: 4
3) Expectations coming into the season: House, like pretty much the entire defense, did not play well in 2013 and coming into 2014, his position was much in flux. While Sam Shields and Tramon Williams remained pretty much uncontested as the starters on the boundary, Micah Hyde and Casey Hayward had all made statements in 2013 as to why they also deserved to be on the field. While House has shown glimpses of his aggressive bump and run skills, House has also been burned on occasions where receivers have managed to slip past him. For 2014, House was looking to build on a healthy 2013 where he played in all 16 games and show that he was worth reinvesting in as this was his contract year.
4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: House’s highlight came early in the season when he recorded two pass breakups in week 2 against the Jets and an interception in week 3 against the Lions. After that unfortunately, ineffectiveness and injuries started to take its toll; with Sam Shields still out of it from a concussion suffered in the previous week, House took over during the Falcons game and appeared to be the only guy on the roster capable of defending Julio Jones…until he was hurt and didn’t see a snap for the rest of the season.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Average. House is a different type of player from the rest of the Packers cornerbacks, being considerably bigger and definitely more aggressive in his play style, which does mean that he often fares a lot better against certain bigger receivers than his counterparts. Unfortunately, while he does have great size, his technique is average at best and he has been injury prone through out his career. While House is a good back to have in a secondary rotation, at this point he hasn’t shown that he is starter caliber in his 4th year.
6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: House did not see any snaps past week 14, which obviously includes the playoffs.
7) Intangibles: House will be an interesting resigning option. On one hand, the Packers don’t have a cornerback like him and his size and physicality have proven useful against certain receivers. On the other hand, he’s not particularly good and its not like the Packers couldn’t find a similar player in the draft. In the end, if House wants to come back on a team friendly deal the Packers might consider it, but he’s definitely on a lower priority than Bryan Bulaga or Randall Cobb.
Season Report Card (Player Grades):
(B) Level of expectations met during the season
(C) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(INC) Contributions to team during the playoffs
Overall Grade: C
——————Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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A case of ‘he is who he is’. Which is to say a middling reserve CB that fizzles more often than he flashes. C is right for this year, but unless he gets a transfusion of the quicks in the offseason, his continued presence on the team will be determined by his (or his agent’s) perception of his value.
I think he’s an interesting foil to the Packers smaller and quicker cornerbacks, but I agree that the Packers shouldn’t pay more than slightly above minimum since it’s not like the body type is that rare and House hasn’t shown all that much.
Given his performance and injury history, House should only be re-signed for depth assuming that the price is reasonable. The Packers should probably draft a CB this year in the event that House or T. Williams are not re-signed. Thanks, Since ’61
Helluva draft there back in 2011 …. 4th-5th round picks aren’t banked on becoming key contributors but they often are.
Teddy took a chance there on a cornerback with House, from New Mexico, and a few picks later his protegé John Schneider took a different CB from Stanford named Richard Sherman.
I’d like to see more attitude on defense, like Mike Daniels.
Sherman sure has that attitude.
Let’s add a little more “nasty” this draft on defense, starting at ILB & CB.
Can’t forget about a DL now, too.
Apparently Sherman was bad mouthed by then head coach Jim Harbaugh so it’s not that surprising that the entire league passed him over a couple times. Keep in mind the Seahawks also passed him up 4 times before picking him so it’s not like they knew all that much either. I’d really put it more to the fact that the Seahawks got lucky much like any team gets lucky when they get a star in the later rounds.
You do wonder how much Williams has left in the tank, there aren’t many cornerbacks who get better or faster after 30.
Williams is already past 30. He’ll be 32 in March. He’s started and played in 32 of the last 32 games. His 2nd half of 2013 was much better than the first, but I’d say he’s taken care of his body extremely well thus far.
TT needs to invest a higher draft pick to get another physical corner who also has the speed to start opposite Sam Shields. May I suggest one possibility, Ohio State’s Doran Grant. Keep House as a backup. Let Tramon walk. If Grant is there in the 3rd round, take him!
Based on past history, Thompson prefers his cornerbacks to be quick and agile as opposed to big and strong. If you think of Shields, Hayward, Williams etc, they are all on the smaller end and quicker than strong. Woodson and House would be the two that stand out the other way, but then again Woodson was fast and strong, and that doesn’t come around that often. Though with the league in love with taller cornerbacks maybe Thompson will change his mind somewhat.
Best man cover CB on the roster.
Generally agree with what you wrote. House has been either very good but sometimes pretty bad. Grades are hard. I would personally have given him a C+, but I had higher expectations for him, hoping that he would push Tramon. His stats actually are pretty good, bearing in mind that he played half of the defensive snaps played by Shields, and about 40% of the snaps played by Tramon Williams. Here are some stats:
13 games, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble, 10 passes defended, 27 tackles, 4 assists.
47 targets, 22 receptions allowed, 46.8%, 11.9 Y/R against, 3 TDs allowed, 76.6 QB rating allowed.
This seems to be above average production. He did play against some #1 and #2 WRs. I don’t have a good handle on what TT should do with him, but at something less than $4 million/yr, and not too much guaranteed, I would probably sign him in preference to Tramon. I’d be up for 3yrs/$10 million with $2.8 million guaranteed.
Has House ever played in the slot? I can’t recall off the top of my head but I’m guessing no. I wonder if they would consider flip flopping Hayward and Williams at some point since they’ve been trying Hayward out on the boundary in the preseason and Williams started out as a slot corner. That might increase the value of Williams over House.
I’d guess no. Mulling flip flopping Hayward and Williams. Never entered my mind to do that. It may all be moot. PFF loves Hayward, and House too, to a lesser extent.