Patrick Chung question please: average, above average or below average NFL safety?

[Double TE]

Would someone who understands football better than me...a simple fan please answer this.

Is Patrick Chung an average safety, above average, below average? I just from my observation do not see him as a playmaker OR a nasty tackler. That one play where Thomas caught that pass and Chung was right there he did not make the play. When Rodney was back there he seemed to be intimidating AND would make critical INTs frequently. Chung is a good dude and seems to give 100% at all times but talent wise is he just a C player?

Would the Pats be better served with Wilson and McCourty as starting safeties and Dennard and Arrington as starting CBs?

Just curious

Thanks

 

[MrNathanDrake]

He's been average in previous years, flashing potential to be above average here and there.... but he's below average so far this year.



After numerous injuries, it seems like he's going the "play it safe" route to getting a new contract, instead of going 110% and risking another injury.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I think a lot of the uncertainty and confusion around here will go away once people just accept that is isn't particularly good. He has regressed this year, but I don't understand why people are acting like he went from a Pro Bowler to where he is now. He was never much better than average.

 

[Double TE]

Is it because he gives 100% effort and never complains? I am not sure but to me he is neither a playmaker nor a super strong hitter. Which is too bad since NE used a 2nd rounder on him. We must have better options though I actually don't mind McCourty who will make plays here and there but Chung seems to rarely if ever do anything noteworthy. Play Wilson and McCourty at the safety slots and rotate Moore, Dowling, Arrington and Dennard at the CB position.

 

[goheels22002]

Great question. Of all the positions on a football field, safety is one of the hardest to assess. Statistics like tackles and assists don't tell you much.

Salary is an interesting measure - it tells you what the market thinks, but Chung is not in that age range yet where he commands a market like Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed.

I have no idea.

 

[Patriots Nation NY]

He is on the level of "Gary Guyton" in my mind. Brings nada, zilch to the table. I asked the question a week or so ago .. What does he do well? It was like if I shot BB in the leg with some of the fanboys ..lol Still waiting for an answer BTW ...

 

[Alfred]

and Arrington as starting CBs?

I was having a nice day until I saw that. Arrington is the worst cover corner on this team. He was taken OFF the corner and moved inside where he can't do as much damage. Somehow though, he still manages to do damage.

 

[Double TE]

I am very curious what non-biased fans think. Generally we overestimate our own players. I am curious if thats what is happening with Chung? If QBs are not hesitant to throw near him then how effective is he? Honestly.

I think he is a FA next year, correct?

 

[Double TE]

I was having a nice day until I saw that. Arrington is the worst cover corner on this team. He was taken OFF the corner and moved inside where he can't do as much damage. Somehow though, he still manages to do damage.

He makes plays though

 

[Alfred]

He makes plays though

Not really. He makes good tackles and if he does get the ball, he runs well with it. However, if you take the time to look at his team leading seven interceptions last year, he was beaten badly and out of position on five of them and the ball either got deflected to him or was overthrown to him. In all cases he had lost his cover and was standing alone. One interception rolled onto his stomach when laying on the ground.

If you do not believe it, take the time and go back and look at the videos of all his ints.

Numbers do not, always, give a true impression.

He is a pitiful cover corner, nearly beaten every time. That has to be part of the reason Belichick moved him inside where he can't cause as much damage.

 

[jah]

Chung pulled a David Harris and got "so underrated he's overrated" syndrome.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Not that he's alone in making horrible attempts at tackles but he always goes for the kill shot instead of executing proper tackling technique. Likely this results in him getting nicked up because he leads with his helmet more often than not.

There's a picture from another thread where Chung is looking confused as #87 for the Broncos (Decker, I think?) makes a catch and Dennard is in the process of swatting the ball away because he turned his head to watch the ball instead of going for a 'kill shot' tackle.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Chung and Arrington are the worst starters on the defense, and really are the only mediocre players on the unit. (When gregory isnt playing) I don't know what happened to Arrington really, Chung was always a meh player though.

This could be fixed by starting Dennard and giving Ebner a shot, but then we would have five rookies on the starting defense.....

Chung offers 0 support for CBs on deep passes. He can't cover worth a damn and never even nails a WR anymore.

 

[Double TE]

I can only talk about what I see and to my naked eye test Arrington is not awful. Chung is ineffective but I concede that better football minds than me that see more than I do would be able to access the players much better so therefore I posted this thread.

Like with Chandler Jones, Hightower and Spikes I can see they are excellent players. I can tell that Mayo and Wilfork are elite. But from the naked eye test Chung looks to be the worst player in that secondary. IDK...I hate saying such things.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Ah, here it is...

 

[patsinthesnow]

I can only talk about what I see and to my naked eye test Arrington is not awful. Chung is ineffective but I concede that better football minds than me that see more than I do would be able to access the players much better so therefore I posted this thread.

Like with Chandler Jones, Hightower and Spikes I can see they are excellent players. I can tell that Mayo and Wilfork are elite. But from the naked eye test Chung looks to be the worst player in that secondary. IDK...I hate saying such things.

IMO if I had to rate the defensive starters into categories:

All-Pro-best in the league (Revis, D'ware, etc)
-Vince Wilfork

Pro-bowl Caliber/Great players
-Jerod Mayo
-Brandon Spikes
-Chandler Jones

Solid/Good players
-Kyle Love
-Rob Ninkovich
-Devin Mccourty
-Dont'a Hightower
-Tavon Wilson

Below average/mediocre
-Kyle Arrington
-Steve Gregory
-Patrick Chung

 

[Deus Irae]

I am very curious what non-biased fans think. Generally we overestimate our own players. I am curious if thats what is happening with Chung? If QBs are not hesitant to throw near him then how effective is he? Honestly.

I think he is a FA next year, correct?

If he were being used as an in-the-box safety, he'd be fine in terms of his skill set. He can diagnose the run and tackle moving forward. He's terrible in coverage, though, despite the Patriots trying to force his development in that area since the day he arrived on the scene. He's also not a huge guy (207 lbs), so this isn't a case where he'd be well served to just play the roll of a hammer, either.

If he asks for real coin next year, they should let him walk.


Just my $.02

 

[Sciz]

Given the state of the safety position league-wide, I don't think he's below average. There are just not enough safeties to go around right now. There are more bad players at safety than any other position in the NFL right now, and it makes sense. The players who can cover really well are playing cornerback. The bigger ones that can play the run better are playing linebacker. The ones that can't do either overly well are playing safety.

Chung is one of the many, many starting safeties right now that isn't starting quality by the standards for other positions, but is a starter simply because there aren't that many good safeties right now. Earlier in his career, I think he was toward the top of that "not quite ideal" tier. He's probably lower now, but still right around average.

 

[Double TE]

Guess thats why Bill went after Lynch a while back, eh? Just not enough good ones out there.

 

[Betterthanmost]

This is my issue with Chung, he closes his eyes around the ball and receive when he attempts to bring the big hits. In such a case, try to hit the receivers arms or attempt to dislodge the ball or just watch what you are hitting.
I have so many shots of him just closing his eyes, lunching himself regardless of the target and sometimes he aids the opponent by reducing the impact the other defender might have had on the play.
Don't know if all this makes sense as I am not talking football but just describing what I see with my limited vocabulary.
Moore was reaching in to try and dislodge the ball, then boom, Chung comes in lays into the receiver and Moore can't reach in as the receiver is pushed to the ground faster than he normally would have.