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Pats trying CB Will Allen at safety in OTAs
By: John Morgan

I'm hesitant to read too much into what happens during an OTA, but I thought it was interesting to note that today the Patriots were lining up cornerback Will Allen at the safety position during the majority of drills in Foxborough...

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Guimond3434

To be honest, I wouldn't read to much into it. It's just BB doing his due-diligence with his roster, and seeing what his players can bring to the table. We don't want a situation like last year in which we were forced to play un-prepared CB's at Safety (such as Moore and McCourty). McCourty did pretty well at Safety, but he's best fit at CB, and at least we know he can play the part now if needed.

Will Allen is a savvy veteran who doesn't bring much to the table in terms of ST's, so if he is going to stick on this roster....he's going to have to prove himself to be versitile and an asset to stick on the final-53, especially with so many other hungry players waiting in the wings (Dennard, Moore, Arrington, Dowling, McCourty, Gregory, etc etc).

I hope he makes it. As much as I like the youth on this squad, I think we really need a veteran back there.

Sicilian

After the free agent signings (and then following the drafting of Tavon Wilson), I started thinking that BB is taking the same approach to the secondary that he seems to be molding with the front seven: Very few if any players having a set position.

McCourty, Moore, and Gregory all played some S and some CB last year.

Allen seems to have the physical tools needed to play S, but was a CB last year.

Dowling has been projected by some as a player who could play both.

Tavon Wilson's biggest selling point post draft was his position flexibility.

Whether it's to get the best 6-7 DB's on the field or to cause confusion in the opposing offenses, it seems like they have more secondary players that can move all over the field than they have since BB took over.

BradyFTW!

In other words: all amoeba, all the time.

mayoclinic

OTG and I have both been advocating the use of CB/S "hyrbids" for some time. Grid would go so far as to have 5 such guys in the secondary, though I can see a role for a more "traditional" safety like Pat Chung along with 3-4 CB/S hybrids who can be moved around flexibly. Ian Rapoport has written about this "4 corners and a safety" approach recently for NFL.com in connection with the Pats and with the Dallas Cowboys:

Dallas Cowboys still have plans for disgruntled CB Mike Jenkins - NFL.com

As Dallas DBs coach Jerome Henderson noted:

That kind of "ameboid" flexibility gives a lot of options to create confusion and to match up with different offenses. Chris Price has also written about this flexibility:

patriots - Why Bill Belichick will enter a whole new world with his secondary in 2012 - WEEI | Christopher Price

Other than Pat Chung (and possibly Josh Barrett) as pure safeties, the Pats have a bunch of guys who can be used at CB or S: Devin McCourty, Ras-I Dowling, Steven Gregory, Tavon Wilson, Sterling Moore, Alfonzo Dennard. Possibly Kyle Arrington. And now it looks like BB is at least taking a look at whether Will Allen could offer that kind of versatility as well.

BB has gone down this road before, at least to a limited extent:

The Belichick Defense Pt. 3 | 60 Max Power O - The Strategist's Guide to New England Patriots Football

Having this kind of secondary really requires physical DBs who can play run support as well as cover, and a versatile LB corps. Those seem to be two things that BB has prioritized in recent years. It will be very interesting to see how all this plays out.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

mgteich

I would not make too much of this. All non-starters need to be able to be valuable at another position or on special teams. In Allen's case, he need some time at safety in order to be better evaluate his value compared to others competing for roster spot in the secondary.

LOCKS (6)
McCourty, Dowling, Arrington
Chung, Gregory, Wilson

COMPETING FOR 3-4 ROSTER SPOTS
Moore, Barrett, Dennard, Allen, Cole, Brown, Williams
I favor the first 3 to make the 53. However, there is much competition for these roster spots.

mayoclinic

I wouldn't make too much of Allen playing safety at all. What I would emphasize is that BB seems to be moving towards players with CB/S versatility. Chung is the only one of your "locks" without such versatility. Moore and Dennard among the competing guys clearly have some positional versatility, and trying Allen at S seems to underscore that BB is intersted in for this kind of ability.

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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Deus Irae

This team has only one player, Gregory, who's shown the ability to play both safety and cornerback at a high enough level to be of any value to an NFL team.

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mgteich

As a nitpick, I would say that McCourty has "some" value at safety to an nfl team. He did play safety for us at times last year.

That being said, I would rather that our safeties have value as safeties. We will have Chung, Gregory and Barrett. We will also have rookie Wilson, who is obviously unproven. In any case, it seems to take a year to be valuable at safety for the patriots (at least in recent years).

Belichick needs to decide whether any of his corners have any skills at safety, in case of emergency.

betterthanthealternative

How much does this trend shift the definition of DB's, and the value in the words "safety" and "cornerback"?