Ihedigbo

[mgteich]

It's a slow morning.

I thought that I would give props to Ihedigbo. He is new in the system, is a perennial special teamer, and has stepped up to play reasonably well. If either Brown or Barrett can step up a bit, we actually may have a C secondary, as long as the top four remain healthy.

I don't mind being wrong when it is because a player stepped up and helped the team. I really thought that Ihedigbo would be limited to special team play. Obviously, he looks better given that his competition is Barrett and Brown.

I don't see how this would be enough to beat GB or even NO, but that issue is a long way in the future. The secondary is good enough to be favorites to reach the AFC title game.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Like when Ellis Hobbs was the #1 CB in 08, it's not Ihedigbo's fault he is the
2nd best Safety on the team.

Atleast he is not playing atrocious.

 

[BlitzFritz]

he might be playing on par with James Sanders.

(and Sergio Brown is more athletic than Sanders)

 

[DaBruinz]

Ihedigbo has gotten better.. His first couple of games, he was just as bad as Brown and Barrett. He's gotten better, but last weeks game showed that he's not really an answer to the problem...

 

[tobias funke]

As Cosell pointed out, Ihedigbo is an asset to the team, but a starting-caliber safety he is not.

 

[primetime]

he's a linebacker in a safety's body... good blitzer, good special teamer, bad in coverage, mediocre against the run

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

he's a linebacker in a safety's body... good blitzer, good special teamer, bad in coverage, mediocre against the run

I wish they let him blitz more. That's his thing. Maybe today?

 

[Patriot Missile]

It's hard for a safety to look good when he is playing 20 yards down field and the cb's are giving 10 yards of space to the wr's. An exaggeration maybe but it's been frustrating the last couple of years to see this belly gutted continually. To be honest I think it is hard for a safety to react with the spacing that our cb's give but I realize we don't have players that are good at jamming at the line and playing man to man. I just think that extra jam would give the safeties a little more time to see the play unfold, determine play action,run etc.

 

[TheSolderKing]

As Cosell pointed out, Ihedigbo is an asset to the team, but a starting-caliber safety he is not.

That phrase is very Yoda like

 

[holyredeemer]

It's amazing that our standards have fallen so low that we are trying to convince ourselves that our grp of safeties is a decent one. The guys that cant consistently cover, properly diagnose run plays, or tackle. Chung is the only bright spot of this grp and the rest of em would be on most teams ST and nothing more.

Depressing....

 

[mgteich]

Free safety is one of the two weakest positions on the team, along with nickel back.

All teams, even SB teams, have weak positions.

The question is how bad and exploitable these positions are.

We can win the AFC with C- players at both free safety and nickel. The question is whether Ihedigbo and our nickel meet that standard.

It's amazing that our standards have fallen so low that we are trying to convince ourselves that our grp of safeties is a decent one. The guys that cant consistently cover, properly diagnose run plays, or tackle. Chung is the only bright spot of this grp and the rest of em would be on most teams ST and nothing more.

Depressing....

 

[mgteich]

If only being more athletic than Sanders were enough to be even an OK option at safety.

he might be playing on par with James Sanders.

(and Sergio Brown is more athletic than Sanders)

 

[Ring 6]

Free safety is one of the two weakest positions on the team, along with nickel back.

All teams, even SB teams, have weak positions.

The question is how bad and exploitable these positions are.

We can win the AFC with C- players at both free safety and nickel. The question is whether Ihedigbo and our nickel meet that standard.

I think the valid point here is that next to Chung you have:
Ihedigbo who is decent but best suited to be a nickel LB.
Barrett, who is inexperienced and new here, so what we saw in his first 4 games of his Patriot career has a better than average chance to improve. He is here for a reason.
Brown, who is seeing his first real playing time, and clearly is making mistake from overexuberance, so there is also a liklihood of improvement.
There are many reasons to believe there could be improvement at safety. Doesnt mean there will be but to dismiss the facts is silly.

 

[Ring 6]

If only being more athletic than Sanders were enough to be even an OK option at safety.

Hell, I might be.

 

[PatsBoy12]

As someone mentioned, the guy has gotten markedly better over the past few games. I definitely don't feel as bad about him being back there as I did Brown and Barrett. Brown is interesting because he showed some flashes, particularly in the SD game last season. Some guys just aren't meant to be full-time starters.

 

[Ring 6]

As someone mentioned, the guy has gotten markedly better over the past few games. I definitely don't feel as bad about him being back there as I did Brown and Barrett. Brown is interesting because he showed some flashes, particularly in the SD game last season. Some guys just aren't meant to be full-time starters.

True, but some just need to develop.