supafly

That's a good point Fencer, and a great question. Personally, I am guessing 'no,' but that's just my opinion of course.

I think I am staying with the thought that Belichick won't fix what isn't broke, and since McC is so adept already, if Dowling can indeed cover bigger WR's then it'll be just another bonus. They'll both be helping tremendously no matter who they are covering (hopefully). Therefore, I don't see the immediate need at changing sides etc.

Regardless, it'll be an interesting thing to consider, and there's always the possibility of course. You very well may be on to something there.

DW Toys

I am not buying Dowling as a CB quite yet. IMO he is going to play a hybrid Safety sliding down to the slot upon occasion. Bodden is your starter. Arrington is your true nickle slot CB first up.

Everybody of my Cousins have to take a deep breath and think. We do not have a true Free Safety which is 50% of the reason we were 31st in passing yards against and those yards were not on the outside but up the middle. This in-turn caused your last in the NFL getting off the field on third down.

Aaron Williams of Texas was considered fro that same unique position. He got Drafted one spot after Dowling. Dowling might have the better ball skills. Buffalo mat use Williams as a CB right now because they have to, but if Whitner goes they will use Williams as a Safety that slides to the coverage side as well.

Think of Eugene Wilson. His best years as a pro where when he played Safety as a rookie here. He was a CB at Illinois. He was also smaller than Dowling.

You have a 6'1"+ 200lb CB who is a superb tackler, is smart and has make up speed and has ball skills. You have Chung, Merriweather, and Sanders as well as Page, Brown and Barrett. They are all in the box Safeties except maybe back up Sanders who is not a great tackler. Please pick out your Free Agent? There is not one. They thought Merriweather, but his coverage skills, on the field responsibility discipline and anticipation are lacking.

I would be thoroughly shocked if we do not trade one, if not two of our five Strong Safeties.

A wild card #1 might be Arrington at FS.

By the way, look at Page in 2008 with the Chiefs. That should have been a Pro Bowl year. He is better than we think, hence the BB re-sign and McGowan was expendable.

Not really about Dowling but........Here is another interesting stat. Barrett is being shown as issued #36 on the Pats roster. Hmmm?

How about Pats wild card #2. I was one of the posters who wanted Donte Moch this Draft. He was 6'1" and 236lbs with 4.4 speed. Josh Barrett obviously can play in space and no one knew about Moch. He is 6'2" and 225lbs with 4.35 speed. Remember the Arrington experiment where BB lined him up as DE in pass rush downs? It seemed to work decent when he tried it. Way too much agility for a 320lb OT. We might just have our pass rusher. If we already have him and he was just resigned could BB use Barrett on the edge? No question he can drop back. Can BB teach him how to rush off that edge? It would seem like the type of innovative position invention BB might concoct in his laboratory. Robert Mathis is a pretty good all down DE for the Colts and great pass rusher. He is 6'2" and only 245lbs. Now Barrett is not on the Safety roster.

It is not easy to make an outside rusher. You would think Guyton would be good rushing the passer with his speed. He is bigger and faster than Dumerville.

DW Toys

mgteich

BOTTOM LINE
I agree that we can trade Meriweather. We now have Chung, Sanders, Dowling, Barrett or Page.

CORNER
We've spent years trying to find and develop corners. We found secure. None are moving to safety. As you say we have starters Bodden and McCourty, and nickel Arrington.
We have Butler and Wilhite competing for a backup spot. Alternatively Butler or Wilhite could be the nickel with Arrington being the backup corner and the dime back. The only decision is whether we cut one of the five in the last cut.

FREE SAFETY (2)
As you say, we are set with Sanders and Dowling. Sanders will continue a solid backup when Dowling is ready. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sanders extended.

SAFETY: STRONG, BACKUP and SPECIAL TEAMS (6)
We have Chung and Meriweather (in his contract year).
We also have backup Barrett and special teamer Brown.
Finally, we have Page and Ventrone (in their contract years).

Clearly, we can trade Meriweather if we are so inclined. Chung, Sanders, Dowling and Page or Barrett are more than sufficient (plus Brown and Lockett competing for special team positions).

[QUOTE=DW Toys;2546385]I am not buying Dowling as a CB quite yet. IMO he is going to play a hybrid Safety sliding down to the slot upon occasion. Bodden is your starter. Arrington is your true nickle slot CB first up.

Everybody of my Cousins have to take a deep breath and think. We do not have a true Free Safety which is 50% of the reason we were 31st in passing yards against and those yards were not on the outside but up the middle. This in-turn caused your last in the NFL getting off the field on third down.

Aaron Williams of Texas was considered fro that same unique position. He got Drafted one spot after Dowling. Dowling might have the better ball skills. Buffalo mat use Williams as a CB right now because they have to, but if Whitner goes they will use Williams as a Safety that slides to the coverage side as well.

Think of Eugene Wilson. His best years as a pro where when he played Safety as a rookie here. He was a CB at Illinois. He was also smaller than Dowling.

You have a 6'1"+ 200lb CB who is a superb tackler, is smart and has make up speed and has ball skills. You have Chung, Merriweather, and Sanders as well as Page, Brown and Barrett. They are all in the box Safeties except maybe back up Sanders who is not a great tackler. Please pick out your Free Agent? There is not one. They thought Merriweather, but his coverage skills, on the field responsibility discipline and anticipation are lacking.

I would be thoroughly shocked if we do not trade one, if not two of our five Strong Safeties.

MaineMan

Some very intriguing thoughts here. Nice to see that someone else noticed Barrett's numbers. Actually, all our "scrub" DBs put up some not-awful pre-draft numbers.

Here's the comparison (FWIW):

6002/219 - 4.34/40 - 1.49/10yd - 38.0v - 10'06"brd - 4.07/20s - 6.58/3cone - Peterson
6000/206 - 4.43/40 - 1.50/10yd - 38.0v - 10'08"brd - 4.08/20s - 6.97/3cone - Amukamara
6022/211 - 4.46/40 - 1.53/10yd - 36.0v - 10'03"brd - 4.06/20s - 6.93/3cone - Jimmy Smith
5117/204 - 4.56/40 - 1.57/10yd - 37.5v - 10'07"brd - 4.07/20s - 6.72/3cone - Aaron Williams

6016/223 - 4.34/40 - 1.50/10yd - 31.5v - 10'01"brd - 4.27/20s - 7.07/3cone - Barrett
5095/187 - 4.37/40 - 1.48/10yd - 36.5v - 10'08"brd - 4.20/20s - 6.74/3cone - Wheatley
5094/185 - 4.38/40 - 1.43/10yd - 33.5v - 09'11"brd - 4.41/20s - 7.17/3cone - Wilhite
5106/193 - 4.38/40 - 1.53/10yd - 36.0v - 10'06"brd - 4.07/20s - 6.70/3cone - McCourty
5103/183 - 4.41/40 - 1.46/10yd - 43.0v - 11'02"brd - 4.18/20s - 6.92/3cone - Butler
5086/179 - 4.41/40 - 1.53/10yd - 39.0v - 10'00"brd - 4.19/20s - 7.18/3cone - Tony Carter
6003/212 - 4.45/40 - 1.51/10yd - 36.0v - 10'02"brd - ............ - ............... - Lockett
6013/198 - 4.46/40 - 1.47/10yd - 38.0v - 10'08"brd - 4.26/20s - 6.85/3cone - Dowling
5105/195 - 4.47/40 - 1.53/10yd - 35.0v - 09'03"brd - 4.33/20s - 7.06/3cone - Meriweather
5095/204 - 4.47/40 - 1.48/10yd - 40.0v - 10'06"brd - 4.39/20s - 6.90/3cone - Malcolm Wms.
5081/198 - 4.48/40 - 1.55/10yd - 35.5v - 09'09"brd - 4.27/20s - 6.78/3cone - Ventrone
5112/212 - 4.49/40 - 1.49/10yd - 34.0v - 09'11"brd - 4.24/20s - 7.11/3cone - Chung
6005/210 - 4.49/40 - 1.56/10yd - 35.0v - 10'03"brd - 4.10/20s - 6.58/3cone - Sergio Brown
5103/188 - 4.51/40 - 1.56/10yd - 41.0v - 10'03"brd - 4.26/20s - 7.20/3cone - Thad Turner
6003/239 - 4.63/40 - 1.59/10yd - 38.0v - 10'07"brd - 4.14/20s - 6.70/3cone - Page
5106/214 - 4.65/40 - ............ - 36.0v - 09'04"brd - 4.02/20s - 7.12/3cone - Sanders

Obviously, numbers don't translate into skill (or Butler might be a two-time unanimous All-Pro by now), but still .... Compare Sergio Brown's overall numbers to the top five CBs taken in this draft.