Eugene Wilson

[BelichickFan]

I would have guessed higher. Don't you think that Rodney wrapping things up soon increases Wilson's chances of sticking around?

I don't think so unless he takes a cheap deal. Assuming Rodney calls it quits after this year I expect Sanders and Meriweather to be our starters with the backups/depth TBD.

 

[Slagathor]

I would have guessed higher. Don't you think that Rodney wrapping things up soon increases Wilson's chances of sticking around?

My pipe dream for next year is Merriweather solidifies the FS position and we draft Tom Zbikowski to complete our secondary of the future along with Hobbs and resigning Asante.

 

[Rob0729]

People overplay this "he is only good because of Harrison" stuff. Yes, he struggled in 2005 without Harrison, but that was probably because he needed to take over Harrison's play calling duties and was in a backfield with a lot of young players and may have overcompensated. He seemed to be overloaded. And let's not forget we didn't pressure the QB until the tail end of the KC game that year (week 12 of the season) which put more pressure on secondary.

Right now Wilson is clearly our starter if healthy. Meriweather showed last night that he has the skills to be a top flight safety, but clearly is not ready for primetime. He was out of position in coverage several times. The Shockey catch at the 1 yard line, he gave up his coverage on Shockey to leave him wide open. Meriweather needs to work on a few things before he is ready to start. He would be a liability in coverage if he was to start at this point.

 

[Oswlek]

People overplay this "he is only good because of Harrison" stuff. Yes, he struggled in 2005 without Harrison, but that was probably because he needed to take over Harrison's play calling duties and was in a backfield with a lot of young players and may have overcompensated. He seemed to be overloaded. And let's not forget we didn't pressure the QB until the tail end of the KC game that year (week 12 of the season) which put more pressure on secondary.

Right now Wilson is clearly our starter if healthy. Meriweather showed last night that he has the skills to be a top flight safety, but clearly is not ready for primetime. He was out of position in coverage several times. The Shockey catch at the 1 yard line, he gave up his coverage on Shockey to leave him wide open. Meriweather needs to work on a few things before he is ready to start. He would be a liability in coverage if he was to start at this point.

Exactly. You can't name one single player on the defense that played well from the SD game to the first Jet game. Even the DL was lousy.

 

[Patjew]

I don't think so unless he takes a cheap deal. Assuming Rodney calls it quits after this year I expect Sanders and Meriweather to be our starters with the backups/depth TBD.

We shall see, BF. I am thinking that this may be Rodney's last year (pls note that he is my #1 fav Pat, so I hope it's not), but I am not going to risk my fine reputation arguing about the secondary in 2008 and beyond.

Though you can label me a Geno-supporter.

 

[Slagathor]

People overplay this "he is only good because of Harrison" stuff. Yes, he struggled in 2005 without Harrison, but that was probably because he needed to take over Harrison's play calling duties and was in a backfield with a lot of young players and may have overcompensated. He seemed to be overloaded. And let's not forget we didn't pressure the QB until the tail end of the KC game that year (week 12 of the season) which put more pressure on secondary.

Right now Wilson is clearly our starter if healthy. Meriweather showed last night that he has the skills to be a top flight safety, but clearly is not ready for primetime. He was out of position in coverage several times. The Shockey catch at the 1 yard line, he gave up his coverage on Shockey to leave him wide open. Meriweather needs to work on a few things before he is ready to start. He would be a liability in coverage if he was to start at this point.

You can excuse a rookie for being out of position in the 4th pre-season game.

Geno has hiccups like that to this day.

Wilson may have hold on that starting spot, but to me, it's by default due to his experience in the system alone.

 

[cstjohn17]

My pipe dream for next year is Merriweather solidifies the FS position and we draft Tom Zbikowski to complete our secondary of the future along with Hobbs and resigning Asante.

The FS position is Merriweather's but Zbikowski? He is a nice enough fellow but extremely over rated. I would rather have 'bad angles' Sanders in there then Zbikowski.

 

[Oswlek]

You can excuse a rookie for being out of position in the 4th pre-season game.

Geno has hiccups like that to this day.

Wilson may have hold on that starting spot, but to me, it's by default due to his experience in the system alone.

Where are these hiccups?

 

[Rob0729]

What do you think the odds are that he's a Patriots this time next year ? I think it's 25% on the high side. He won't help us for a long time - we drafted his replacement this year.

I think the odds of him being with the team depends on whether he can recapture his 2004 form or not. Before this injury, he did look like it. If he does and doesn't want to break the bank, he could very well.

I think Meriweather could ultimately replace Harrison next year if Harrison retires. The whole FS/SS thing is quickly becoming blurred. The Pats play a lot of split safety anyway where both safeties are more responsible for a half of the field rather than one close to the line and one deep. Belichick has said that he wants his safeties to be able to play both positions.

 

[Rob0729]

You can excuse a rookie for being out of position in the 4th pre-season game.

Geno has hiccups like that to this day.

Wilson may have hold on that starting spot, but to me, it's by default due to his experience in the system alone.

I think he earned it. Why would cut Hawkins if Wilson backed into the position? Wilson's play made Hawkins expendable and allowed us to give other younger players a chance to learn the role.

I am not jumping all over Meriweather for making those mistakes. I am just saying that he is making those mistakes in a vanilla defense with no disguised coverages. He needs to learn the playbook more before he is ready to start.

 

[Slagathor]

Where are these hiccups?

I'll point out ALL of them as the season plays out.

 

[Oswlek]

I think the odds of him being with the team depends on whether he can recapture his 2004 form or not. Before this injury, he did look like it. If he does and doesn't want to break the bank, he could very well.

I think Meriweather could ultimately replace Harrison next year if Harrison retires. The whole FS/SS thing is quickly becoming blurred. The Pats play a lot of split safety anyway where both safeties are more responsible for a half of the field rather than one close to the line and one deep. Belichick has said that he wants his safeties to be able to play both positions.

Which is a big reason why Wilson may not last here much longer. Also for those that are not in Wilson's corner, BB and DP admitted that they overloaded him last PS by having Wilson play too many different spots.

 

[Oswlek]

I'll point out ALL of them as the season plays out.

Alright. 1010101

 

[Rob0729]

Where are these hiccups?

Yeah, I don't get it. I thought Wilson did ok last year before he got injured. The only big play he gave up last year was a TD to Cotchery and he actually tackled the guy, but buy luck Cotchery landed on top of Wilson and was able to get up and run for the TD.

In 2005, opposing QBs had all day to throw on us for most of the year, but it seems that Wilson gets blamed for the problems. He didn't play great, but I didn't think he played awful either.

 

[Oswlek]

Yeah, I don't get it. I thought Wilson did ok last year before he got injured. The only big play he gave up last year was a TD to Cotchery and he actually tackled the guy, but buy luck Cotchery landed on top of Wilson and was able to get up and run for the TD.

In 2005, opposing QBs had all day to throw on us for most of the year, but it seems that Wilson gets blamed for the problems. He didn't play great, but I didn't think he played awful either.

In fairness to everyone else, Wilson did wiff badly twice on Coles' TD in that same game.

But he came right back the next game and save two TDs with open field tackles. He also caught MacGahee from behind on the play that he injured his hamstring. Wilson was very good last year with the exception of the Jet game. As I said with Samuel last year, you just can't use anything from that 2005 season. The whole defense sucked.

 

[Slagathor]

I think he earned it. Why would cut Hawkins if Wilson backed into the position? Wilson's play made Hawkins expendable and allowed us to give other younger players a chance to learn the role.

I am not jumping all over Meriweather for making those mistakes. I am just saying that he is making those mistakes in a vanilla defense with no disguised coverages. He needs to learn the playbook more before he is ready to start.

I think the thing that I like about Merriweather at safety over Geno, is the natural safety swagger and toughness Merriweather has.

Geno had to be taught those intangibles since he had been a CB. He's always been a little soft for the position.

 

[Oswlek]

I think the thing that I like about Merriweather at safety over Geno, is the natural safety swagger and toughness Merriweather has.

Geno had to be taught those intangibles since he had been a CB. He's always been a little soft for the position.

Huh!?

Now you're just going overboard. Wilson was just as much of a hammer as Harrison was in 2003 and 2004. Don't you remember guys like Rod Smith and Reggie Wayne writhing around in pain after being leveled by Geno? Sure he had to be taught to be more physical, but he passed that test with flying colors.

 

[Rob0729]

In fairness to everyone else, Wilson did wiff badly twice on Coles' TD in that same game.

But he came right back the next game and save two TDs with open field tackles. He also caught MacGahee from behind on the play that he injured his hamstring. Wilson was very good last year with the exception of the Jet game. As I said with Samuel last year, you just can't use anything from that 2005 season. The whole defense sucked.

I thought that was Samuel who wiffed the Coles TD, but I guess I am remembering it incorrectly.

 

[Slagathor]

Huh!?

Now you're just going overboard. Wilson was just as much of a hammer as Harrison was in 2003 and 2004. Don't you remember guys like Rod Smith and Reggie Wayne writhing around in pain after being leveled by Geno? Sure he had to be taught to be more physical, but he passed that test with flying colors.

That to me is Rodney's influence. Those were nice highlights but I don't see that type of play as the norm for him.

I've seen Asante lay out people like that from his corner spot.

 

[Rob0729]

I think the thing that I like about Merriweather at safety over Geno, is the natural safety swagger and toughness Merriweather has.

Geno had to be taught those intangibles since he had been a CB. He's always been a little soft for the position.

Come on now. Wilson has not always been a little soft at that position. Wilson has as many fines for aggressive hits as Harrison has since Harrison has come to the Patriots. Remember that monster hit that Wilson made in the Dallas game in 2004 which bought him a fine because the league deemed he was launching into a defenseless receiver?

Wilson is a very good tackler. He chooses to wrap up the ball carrier rather than smack him on every play. Sometimes hard hitting ability can be a negative for a safety. Take Tebucky Jones for example. The guy couldn't tackle for the life of him. He had to lay wood on every play and that meant he gave up a lot of big plays because he bounced off the ball carrier because he didn't have a good angle where he could have brought the guy down if he knew how to tackle.