Tale of tape: Goodman vs. Green

The addition of veteran cornerback Eric Green gives the Dolphins a fallback position -- a player with starting NFL experience -- if their plans with a rookie draftee or Nate Jones or Jason Allen or someone else somehow falls through.

But we know that mostly Green was necessary because the Dolphins lost their starting cornerback of the past few years -- Andre' Goodman -- in free agency. Goodman signed with Denver.

So the natural question is have the Dolphins upgraded, downgraded or broken even in basically exchanging Green for Goodman? It is impossible to know for sure until we actually see Green play and compare that to what Goodman did for Miami last season and continues doing in Denver.

But let's compare the players and their histories to, as Nick Saban would say, get a predictor of their future performance:

MEASURABLES: Green is 26 years old. He is 5-11 and 196 pounds. Goodman is 30 years old. He is 5-10 and 190 pounds. ADVANTAGE: Green. He's bigger and younger.

PRODUCTION: The past three years Goodman has played 44 games. He had seven interceptions, 26 passes defensed, 101 total tackles and two forced fumbles. Green has played 39 games. He had one interception, 26 passes defensed, 127 total tackles, and one forced fumble. ADVANTAGE: Goodman. Although Green has been a bigger producer in run support, Goodman's early 2008 slump didn't erase the fact he was productive against the passing game and later in the year became a turnover threat when attacked too often.

PROJECTION: According to one pro scout, who always takes my call God bless him, Green is probably the better athlete in that he has better speed and won't get overmatched as often as Goodman can against big receivers. But the same scout says Goodman is a better technician, has greater instincts, and has shown better overall balance than Green. The scout said Goodman has a reputation for playing even when he's not 100 percent healthy while Green has not played very well when playing hurt. ADVANTAGE: Goodman. The scout said he would grade Goodman a 65 player while grading Green a 63.

Obviously this is only one man's opinion. Beyond that, the statistics speak to what has happened rather than what is about to happen. One area that must also be taken into account is the contract Green got.

That is not available yet. If Green signed for bargain money, that works in Green's favor because Goodman didn't come cheap. Goodman signed for five years and $25 million with $10 million in guarantees. If Green signed for less than that, he pulls ahead in this comparison.

If Green's contract is comparable,however, then the fact Goodman is slightly better in pass defense and has more experience in Miami's system gives him a small edge over Green's youth, superior overall athleticism and potential.

  

Comments

[carlito from golfito]

Many Me,

I'm glad to see you like my name, you can have it. I surrender it to you and your multiple personalities. Good job failing at life. Go Dolphins.

[Luggi]

Go dolphins! I think Chad Pennington will lead the dolphins to a super bowl win. The patriots not very good. Tom Brady is over-rated and bill belichek is a cheater and can't win win he is not allowed to cheat.

sorry to say tom brady will lead the pats to a 2-14

dolphins 13-3

[carlito from golfito]

Many Me,
i really like you but some times you drive me crazy,can we become more nice to each other like me and wendy whiner or lets do this oh no i forgot what i wanted to say dude.

[RickNY]

LOL, Alienman going banana like old days.it's great to read his funny weird stuff.

[carlito from golfito]

I don't like you or any of your other "personalities" you don't drive me crazy or make me mad, I just think you need someone to bust your chops like you try to do to all dolphins fans...this is the last time I will use this name, any other posts under this name luggi (many me)

[carlito from golfito]

Also i must add i am not crazy dude

[Hal Marion]

5 of Goodman's 7 INTs came in the last 3 games of 2009 I believe. If you take away that flukey stretch, Goodman had 2 INTs over 41 games. That makes the end comparison a wash on INTs, Green with many more tackles in run support, a wash in passes defensed and Green is only 26 years old. No brainer. Not to mention, you know Green is not getting near the money a 30 year old Goodman signed for.

[carlito from golfito]

Many Me,
Why your not answering me Many Me dude.i told you this is my last time i am going to talk to you dude

[Jamil]

Let's also consider that Goodman is coming off of his best year ever as a pro and did not become the starter until 2007 when he was switching in and out with Michael Lehan. Its not like he was consistantly putting up last year's numbers.
Green is younger, bigger, more athletic, more physical, and a better tackler. While Goodman is better in coverage (but not by much) and better ball skills, the difference isn't significant. So as we keep getting younger and building a consistant TEAM for years to come, Green has more upside and was found at a better price. A definte TEAM upgrade.

[Jamil]

PS I went to Highschool with Eric Green! Middle of nowhere Clewiston (The Muck) where all we do is play football (same area Anquan Boldin, Santonio Holmes, Fred Taylor and Edge. James are from.)

[Mark in Toronto]

First off, Goodman was a stud down the stretch and he should be remembered for what he provided to the Dolphin miracle season. I remember one game where the QB wasn't even looking at his side of the field. But he did sign for a lot of money and it isn't known if he will play up to that contract because he wasn't always as effective as he was down the stretch.

Green sounds like he is a young, cheaper, trade off while possibly playing to the same level by the sounds of the scout. So I think it's a good move as Mando said, it provides some depth.

But again, thanks Andre, you will be remembered and congrats on your payday - you deserve it!

[luggi from costa rica]

The signing of green proves once more that dolphins trying hard to copy their last season good results to next season

[FinFanRod]

I wonder what the difference in defensive schemes will do to balance the scales though. I don't claim to know a lot about Green but I do believe that the trifecta didn't walk into this offseason looking to downgrade anywhere. Obviously we can't get all big-time players all the time like we would like. The hope is that we find a player in the draft that will light it up and take the place of Green, Allen (either of them), or anyone else on the roster steps it up and gives hard decisions to make. You can't stars everywhere and as fans we still need to realize that even after last season we are STILL rebuilding. I can't wait until the season starts and even the draft. This is a great time to be a Dolphins fan! We're moving on up! I hope to be picking this late or later every season for a long time.

[space man]

Many Me,
what's up dude ,what do you think who we shoud draft for CB dude?

[David in Galveston]

I don't know where they got this figure since it's completely insconsistent with his official stats, but the Associated Press reported that Green has forced 7 fumbles in his career, and recovered 6:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3975091

[Brain NJ]

FinFanRod, how can you say that it's good time to be fin fan when we keep signing average players? we got to spend some money man like the JETS and BLLIS.What say you?

[Space Man]

Based on my deep research Green never had any forced fumbles.

[y-not]

Goody was terrific last year and would have preferred he stayed. Hard to compare because overall the Fins had a better pass rush throughout the year and that helps our DB's.

I really hope Jason Allen steps up to the plate this year and the light bulb finally goes on. On balance, I like the acquisition and you have to assume the money is right from the Fins point of view since we got him the second time around.

[jets rock]

5-11

[Space Man]

Hey guys, jets rock is carlito from golfito, don't take the bait

[Space Man]

Nice article mando,i love it

[Swifty]

Armando, the Darlington/AP story on the Green signing says he forced 7 fumbles and recovered 6 of those. That's kind of a big difference from your post. Care to say which one is right?

[Nando]

Armando,
You forgot to add Special Teams play in favor of Green over Goodman.
I think we got Green cheap as a safety net in case the Corner(s) we draft don't pan out.

[Nathaniel Dodsworth]

Let's get right to brass tacks, and not pull any punches. bla_ks have more rhythm than wh_tes. The best illustration is that bla_ks clap on beats 2 and 4, whereas wh_tes clap on beats 1 and 3. The wh_te way is SO lame. Can I give you an example? Take the song "Dixie."
Bl_cks clap on the accented (CAPITALIZED) beats as follows (where there is no word, I've typed "BEAT"):

o, i wish I was IN THE land OF cot-TON
old TIMES there [BEAT] are not [BEAT] forgotten

Now look at how lame wh_tes do it:

o, i WISH i WAS in the LAND of COT-ton
OLD times THERE are NOT for-GOT-ten

C'mon wh_te people. Smarten up.

[Armando Salguero]

The deal on Green's statistics is I took them off of NFL.com and ESPN.com. Those are the "official" NFL stats taken off the play-by-play books.

However, some teams don't go by those statistics for their defensive players. They put out their own stats based on coaches reporting of what they saw on film. Some teams do it that way, some teams go by the official play-by-play.

The Dolphins use the official play-by-play book. The Cardinals use stats off coaches reports, which then go to Stats LLC, a stats accumulation service.

Even though the Dolphins are currently among teams that recognize only NFL official statistics, they released Green's stats from the Cards which came from Stats LLC, which came from coaches. That is where the difference comes into play on the reporting of Green's forced fumbles and alike. Some reports used the numbers released by the Dolphins. Some reports, including mine, used the official NFL stats on NFL.com and ESPN.com and other places.

Personally, I will continue to use NFL.com stats as they are considered official and seem more fair for use in comparisons. That way I'm not comparing apples and oranges, but rather all stats off game books, or apples to apples.

[Space Man]

based on my deep and vast studying of green statistics ,i agree with you that NFL official statistics are the best to go by compare apples to apples. good job dude

[cuban menace]

Space man, what Galaxy or dimension are you from?? and are you related to alien man??

[Space MAN]

I am not related to Alienman and i want that to be very clear ,what's your name again cuban menace? what that mean's any way ?are you related to AlieFinz?

[Space women]

Cuban Menace, be aware that spaceman is carlito from golfito or could be cuban menace

[Jrock]

What about Brandon London at 6′4″ 210? seems we have potential already on our roster.

I dont see any great talent at DT other than Raji, deserving our first or second round selection??

I dont want to see Justin Smilie at left guard, they already talking position battle for RG with Satele in the mix. Since Groove is another Satele with a little meaner streak, why not have him compete for LG and get a day 1 starter Max or Unger at C, with our first pick.

why not always pick a day 1 starter? possibly most likely pro bowl caliber player on our O-line? Watch the stocks rise for our Rb’s when we can run for 5 plus yard average between the tackles.

our O-line is almost done lets finish it right.

what do you guys think?

[morphin]

The Green signing makes the DB position younger and is also insurance. I think the trifecta really likes D.Butler but has now heard the Falcons and the Patsies like him too. Unfortunatly they're picks are in the low 20's. There is some good value for CB's in the second to fourth round.

[nj phin fan]

BESELFISH , OH , so know it's because mando said this and mando said That . Who's mando ? He a sports writer. He's never been wrong ? " He just needs help in consistancy and decision making ( which is huge playing db ) ". You think maybe after 5 years in the league , green would be better at that ? LOL . You're the one who mentioned bowles and his magic. IF he was so magical , bowles would've turned around allen where others could'nt. Some players have it and others don't . That's all i said .... READ !!!!

[Space man]

nj phin fan, come on man mando is great and he teaches you a lot about football since you came and write in here your thinking of football way way better

[Dolphins4life]

I think we can get O-line help with a lot of value later in the draft. There will not be any elite O-linemen available when the Dolphins pick at 25. So we go after either a WR or CB say Hakeem Nicks or Sean Smith.

[Dolphins4life]

nj phin fan, so your saying todd bowles can't coach and if he did he would have made jason allen better?

[Dolphins4life]

Or are you saying Mando is over rated because of his lack of consistency, journalism and prediction?

[Dolphinbrian]

LB or DT

[Dolphinsfan]

nj phin fan is a tool

[oaktree]

If Green grows and becomes better. We'll be much happier with Green at 30 than we were with Goodman at 30. It is just another move that builds for our future.

Going back to Mando's comparison between Miami's and N.E.'s perspective philosophies this offseason, signing Green gives a little more freedom come draft time. Cb has just become a "want" in the draft as apposed to a "need." Some added insurance or depth would be nice, but, in terms of the beginning of last season, we are pretty much on par at the cb postion. When you add that safety is stronger than at any time last year, it is safe to say our secondary is already better. It still has flaws, but it is better.

[Jimbo]

Green should help on special teams. We still need to upgrade at linebacker and corner.

[Patsfan]

There's no part of dolphins team is better than pats team and any one to suggest that has no touch with reality.new england is in a different level than dolphins period.

[Bobaloo]

Youth and athleticism are an advantage. Technique can be taught and it will depend on the coaching and more importantly the players ability to learn. Unfortunately youth and athleticism doesn't mean anything without intelligence and more importantly, the heart of the player

[CardiacFin]

Guys,

This Green signing isn't an upgrade if u compare him to Goodman. He's a comp guy brought in to compete against J. Allen.

There will be one if not two cb selected in the draft. The signing of Green just plainly creates the situation that we can draft the best available player(with the attributes to fit our system). With only Allen it would force the Trifecta to select a corner early and maybe having to pass on a player they rather select.

[GetterDone Phins]

Hey PatsieFan,
If the Cheatriots are so much better than the Dolphins on all levels then why are you over here worried about reading up on the latest Phins news?
Good luck with Tom Bundchen this year when she's running for her life...lmao.

[Jason]

Andre Goodman was cast off from the Lions when he signed as an extra DB for the Dolphins in 2005. I wonder what the scouting report on him was then when the Lions didnt think enough of him to resign him...Green is an upgrade simply because Goodman will soon be on the decline and Green is just entering his prime. We have speed at both corners now.

[George]

The need for a "shutdown CB", as Kiper calls it, is much less a need if we address our more substantial need for pass-rushing DL players. Our DBs performed very well last year considering the time opposing QBs had on a consistent basis.

I would assume that we didn't pay for Green anything near the money Goodman got, which makes this a great franchise move- I give more weight to the youth factor on a BP team, too.

[Patsfan]

GetterDone Phins, I Challange you to come up with any dolphin player has a beauty even close to mrs.Brady Bundchen

[nj phin fan]

DOLPHINSFAN , is a bigger tool and a chickenshyt for hiding behind a different screenname than the one he uses. YOU know who you are. LOL

[Larry C.]

I think our back field will be a hard hitting mofoing unit. WR's will not want to be going across the middle!!! Our pass rush should be of the hook aswell. Wake will get doubled and so will Porter. That means Ferg, Merling and Langford will have a field day knockin the bottom out of some QB's!!! With the front 7, SS, FS and the db's being good against the run people will be forced to pass and thats when the picks come... Dolphins 2009 will be the Raviens of 2008 with a lil better OL.

[GetterDone Phins]

Cardiac, couldn't have said it better than myself...oh wait, I already did...lol.
But yes our free agency was a balance that solidified a few spots and filled a few holes with depth.
Now the trifecta have set themselves up for the best Draft Day scenario in each round of BPA baby!
Gotta love the way the youth foundation is being set to make us longterm contenders.

GetterDone!

[CardiacFin]

Patsfan

Our secondary is better. With the addition of Wilson even more so now. Our running backs are better. Our oline is much better.

Funny thing about your statement is we won the division. We kept your team that only lost one game the year before from even making the playoffs the next.

Does that make your Pats underacheivers or what? Were we just lucky? Hmm, or was it that without the cheating you guys are just another team not a dynasty?

[anti.......]

ok,kids any one has a question about tuna or ted ginn for me?

[nj phin fan]

Menace , i should've known is was you .

[nj phin fan]

it

[DC Finatic]

I don't really see it like many others I guess (from reading the posts). I happen to think Goody wasn't all that bad. Yes, he's getting up in age, and has limitations, but maybe that could have been used to negotiate a smaller contract. Also, he'd be a temporary fix until we found our shutdown corner. And, I haven't heard this yet, but we need TWO shutdown corners. If anyone thinks Will Allen is a shutdown, I suggest you go back to Week 1 against the Jets. That one throw Favre threw up for grabs, falling backwards, in the endzone (or 1 yd line). Who's that behind Stuckey, basically watching him for seconds jump up and catch the ball, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE, and fall in the endzone, while 3 other Dolphin players are covering guys in the back of the endzone? Yup, yours truly, Will Allen. The only reason Will Allen isn't on the chopping block is because he played for the Def Coordinator in college. Next year this time, we'll all be talking about upgrading Will Allen's position.

[Dolphins4life]

Patsfan, your living in the past new england was yesterday two years ago you guys are done!

[DC Finatic]

And one more thing, PLEASE stop talking about Jason Allen and potential. The only potential he has is in heating/AC repair. The guy is a BUST. 100% INEFFECTIVE. The guy sucks. He's the worst. Complete NON-football player. He's a body, that's it. Ted Ginn has one more year before he gets that title too. Jason Allen makes Andre Goodman look like Champ Bailey, no lie.

[Patsfan]

CardiacFin,
Dolphins last year were luckiest team in pro football with 11-5 against the most lousy teams ever in football,Now let's see how they are going to do against Tom.B ,MOSS and T.O.
5-11 at best w/ respect to you.

[Patsfin]

Dolphins4life.....the future is here with your night mare Tom.B is back and don't forget that the last season he played before his injury he took Pats to SUPER BOWL. while you had all the luck last season you still manged to have the worst interception playoff in history thanks to Chad 4 interceptions Penne.LOL

[GetterDone Phins]

DC,
Yes you are right, we will be talking about upgrading Will Allen's spot about this time next year since he is entering the last year of his current contract and he'll be 31.
Hence the reason why we signed Green and will likely draft 1-2 CB's to groom behind Allen and Green.