The sad state of the Pats Safeties

[Rob0729]

The big question on Ras-I is does BB play him as a Safety or at CB ?

Maybe he becomes a Safeback

My personal opinion is Belichick may try to turn him into an elite safety. I will admit I didn't watch him much in college, but looking at highlight reels and a lot of his skill sets, he looks more like a safety than a CB. He excels in zone and is physical. He struggles at man coverage.

With McCourty and Bodden, the Pats have a starting CB tandem for at least the next two to three years barring injuries. I think the Pats have a far more immediate need at FS and many projected Dowling as a safety at this level.

 

[ddanny1992]

video highlight of BM

YouTube - ‪Brandon Meriweather Highlights‬‏

 

[RayClay]

Remember, though, that the Patriots felt that a year of Asante at $7M+ was worth more than the difference between the #97 comp pick they got for him in 2009 and any pick they could have gotten for him in a trade.

I have no problem with how they handled that, I'm just saying I think BM has a little problem with our team concept, he's seen as a perennial pro bowler elsewhere and he's likely going to want to break the bank (I'm guessing) we're strong otherwise and Ras I seems he maybe takes the quicker safety spot.

Let's make a deal.

 

[condon84]

No one will ever have the same impact Rodney did for our teams. It's not fair to expect that out of anyone from our current group. Chung's got work to do, but he's showed that he'll compete. Merriweather is arguably the most athletic and has the highest ceiling, but he's also proven that he can stray a little bit from his responsibilities. All in all though, I like this group and what they bring to the table. Sanders is a good backup and Mcgowan is as well.

 

[randomk1]

Meriweather is the kind of guy that can make a spectacular play on 1 play and on the next one you might throw your remote at the tv. He definately has room to improve his game but i doubt he will be a Patriot when/if that happens.

Chung was a beast for the early part of the year. He was flying around and it seemed like he was in on every tackle.

 

[Sivy]

Remember that game Chung had against miami? What a game.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I love Chung..only going to get better

 

[Deus Irae]

Meriweather is the team's best safety, and is top 10 at the position. Chung is an improving young player who could become an impact guy if he ever learns to cover. Sanders is a solid, steady player who can start or serve as a rotational safety. The team has backups that can fill specific roles (i.e. run support or TE coverage), and can do more than that against the right teams.


Somewhere between 25-30 NFL teams wish they could match the so-called sad state of the Pats safeties.

 

[TheSolderKing]

clueless you are truly lost. You do know they have plans to implement Ras Al Ghul at S at some point right??? He has the speed and physicallity to play the Safety position along with CB. Liam Niessen will play safety and start their @ some point during the reign of BB

YouTube - ‪Batman Begins: Training Scene - The Will to Act‬‏ Ras I Dowling
in action
book it



bruins 5 (empty netter) and the bad guys 3

Tim Thomas MVP of Series

HOO-RAH :rocker:

 

[patfanken]

Meriweather is the team's best safety, and is top 10 at the position. Chung is an improving young player who could become an impact guy if he ever learns to cover. Sanders is a solid, steady player who can start or serve as a rotational safety. The team has backups that can fill specific roles (i.e. run support or TE coverage), and can do more than that against the right teams.


Somewhere between 25-30 NFL teams wish they could match the so-called sad state of the Pats safeties.

A much more accurate description of the state of Safety nation than what has proceeded your post. I know Merriweather is an easy target for the local media and cynics on this site. And I know he has his faults. Remember it was I who coined the term "Geometrically challenged" to describe some of his pursuit angles.

Its easy to point out his head shot. But its harder to remember that it never happened again. Its easy to point out his pursuit angles, but its harder to remember that in the 3 seasons he's been a starter he has 12 picks.

Merriweather has his faults, but in the great scheme of things DI's description of him is closer to the reality than all the "mary's" calling for him to be traded/cut/demoted....and then expect that a rookie, playing out of position is going to be an upgrade.

Like DI said, there are many teams who would just LOVE to have the "sad state of Patriot Safeties"

 

[Oswlek]

Merriweather has his faults, but in the great scheme of things DI's description of him is closer to the reality than all the "mary's" calling for him to be traded/cut/demoted....and then expect that a rookie, playing out of position is going to be an upgrade.

I certainly don't expect a rookie to replace BM, but between Chung, Page, McGowan and Brown, I could see BB thinging that Brandon offers more value on the trade market than he does as an upgrade to the others.

 

[Oswlek]

People forget that we grabbed Rodney at the peak of his career. Chung is nowhere near that, and Meriweather is only in the 4th year of his career.

The same could be said for the entire defense. NE fans haven't had to go through a youthfull rebuild in well over a decade and as a result have a very low tolerance for it.

 

[ausbacker]

Didn't this young and developing team go 14-3 last year? Must be a real sad state of affairs to have a .823 winning percentage with a roster in complete overhaul mode.

 

[patriot lifer]

Not to broaden the topic from the original post, but entering this season, our secondary will likely be one of the most underrated secondaries in the NFL. What other fanbases are thinking about the impact of Bodden? Does he strike fear into fans? We know it's big, but most won't feel the same way. Fans generally know Meriweather and now know of McCourty, but they don't know of the other guys. And with the added CB depth, Chung won't be forced into Nickel. I can't wait for Sanchez to struggle throwing in our secondary. At both safety and CB we will be 4 deep (barring injuries). After that, we just need the poundage up front to stymie the run.

 

[Observer]

Judging by the eagerness of some posters to dump Meriweather, one would think he is the worst player on the team. I think he is a good player and I am glad he is on the team. Hope he doesn't visit this website.

 

[ausbacker]

Judging by the eagerness of some posters to dump Meriweather, one would think he is the worst player on the team. I think he is a good player and I am glad he is on the team. Hope he doesn't visit this website.

One thing is certain when it comes to Belichick and the Patriots, they do what's best for the team not what keeps the barbarian hordes at the gates.

Meriweather is better than what most Patsfans like to let on but probably a little less deserving of a Pro Bowl berth than what he's received.

One thing that has struck me as strange is the amount of people that have forgotten how good Bodden's 2009 was.

 

[Professor Frink]

Meriweather is the team's best safety, and is top 10 at the position. Chung is an improving young player who could become an impact guy if he ever learns to cover. Sanders is a solid, steady player who can start or serve as a rotational safety. The team has backups that can fill specific roles (i.e. run support or TE coverage), and can do more than that against the right teams.


Somewhere between 25-30 NFL teams wish they could match the so-called sad state of the Pats safeties.

I think you're being a little hard on Chung's coverage skills. He's definitely not a great coverage safety in the mold of an Ed Reed, but I think he compares favorably to other "in the box" safeties.

He looked bad at times last year, but that was because in nickel packages he would drop down and line up over a WR. The only reason he was there was because the CBs were so bad. If they can find someone else to line up over slot receivers (Arrington, Dowling, or Butler) then they can keep him at safety and his coverage shortcomings won't be so easily exposed.

For the record, I think if you put Polamalu or Jim Leonhard in that position, they would have looked a lot worst than Chung did.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think you're being a little hard on Chung's coverage skills. He's definitely not a great coverage safety in the mold of an Ed Reed, but I think he compares favorably to other "in the box" safeties.

He looked bad at times last year, but that was because in nickel packages he would drop down and line up over a WR. The only reason he was there was because the CBs were so bad. If they can find someone else to line up over slot receivers (Arrington, Dowling, or Butler) then they can keep him at safety and his coverage shortcomings won't be so easily exposed.

For the record, I think if you put Polamalu or Jim Leonhard in that position, they would have looked a lot worst than Chung did.

Chung sucks in coverage, which is actually a damning indictment of the Patriots corners, considering how often the team went with extra safeties on passing downs instead of extra corners. That said, he showed improvement last year compared to his rookie season, where he couldn't cover a dead man in a phone booth.

 

[patriot lifer]

Chung sucks in coverage, which is actually a damning indictment of the Patriots corners, considering how often the team went with extra safeties on passing downs instead of extra corners. That said, he showed improvement last year compared to his rookie season, where he couldn't cover a dead man in a phone booth.

Let's not forget that Bodden was out the whole season and Wilhite missed at least half the season. That's a lot of injuries at CB. With Butler missing some games and regressing, who else did we have outside of our starters McCourty and Arrington? We had plenty of depth at safety but not at CB. That's why we didn't use extra corners. This year, we're reloaded.

 

[patfanken]

I certainly don't expect a rookie to replace BM, but between Chung, Page, McGowan and Brown, I could see BB thinging that Brandon offers more value on the trade market than he does as an upgrade to the others.

I love Chung's potential, but I worry about his long term durability. He isn't a big guy, but he throws himself around with such reckless abandon, that I can see him having a "Bob Sanders" type of career. Great when he plays, but you can't count on him being there. The rest, like Page, McGowan, and Brown are all more SS/run support guys. None of them is a good as Merriweather in coverage.

People should get used to the idea of Brandon Merriweather being one of our starting Safeties and hope that he freelances a bit less and gets his own internal GPS system to improve on his angles. I expect him to have a very good year, in his all important contract year, and be part of a much improved Pats Secondary.