After McCourty, Who Gets The Reps At Safety?

As andy said in another post, we haven't a clue with regard to the depth chart and number of reps at the safety position, after McCourty.

We have FIVE other safeties, plus some corners who could get reps at safety.

As is the case on the OL, we don't even know who will start.

Tavon Wilson is my pick to start opposite McCourty.

Brady6 said:

Tavon Wilson is my pick to start opposite McCourty.

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Based on what we've seen in the preseason, all signs point to Arrington starting at SS.

PP2 said:

Based on what we've seen in the preseason, all signs point to Arrington starting at SS.

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All signs? Arrington didn't start at SS against Carolina. He didn't play a snap of safety that game.

If we use 70 defensive snaps as a hypothetical, here's the breakdown I expect:

• McCourty - 70/70
• Harmon - 35/70
• Wilson - 15/70
• Chung - 15/70
• Ryan/Dennard/Arrington - 15/70 combined

I know that doesn't add up to 70 snaps total, but I assume there will be a handful of 3 safety sets throughout. This may not be the breakdown in every game, but against Miami where I'm more worried about Wallace and Hartline than about their running game, I expect more Harmon than anyone else.

Sicilian said:

If we use 70 defensive snaps as a hypothetical, here's the breakdown I expect:

• McCourty - 70/70
• Harmon - 35/70
• Wilson - 15/70
• Chung - 15/70
• Ryan/Dennard/Arrington - 15/70 combined

I know that doesn't add up to 70 snaps total, but I assume there will be a handful of 3 safety sets throughout. This may not be the breakdown in every game, but against Miami where I'm more worried about Wallace and Hartline than about their running game, I expect more Harmon than anyone else.

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Based on how they used Harmon in the preseason they apparently are not pleased with his year 2 development, he was playing deep into every game, sometimes not seeing the field until the third quarter of games. Honestly, if Harmon and Ryan fail to show any improvements in year 2 and have actually regressed as appears to be the case based on their preseason use I am going to be a leading advocate for firing are secondary coaches. This will be multiple years in a row that are second year defensive backs went backwards from their rookie year to second year. I really do not understand it, what do they do to players like Wilson who go from playing 50% of the defensive snaps as a rookie to basically being invisible in their second season.

Marqui said:

All signs? Arrington didn't start at SS against Carolina. He didn't play a snap of safety that game.

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Yes, do you know who started in his stead? Chung. We're talking about a guy who can't cover, couldn't even cover himself if he got into bed.

My thinking is not just based on the games, but also the practices, joint-practices especially. In the one against Washington, Arrington was at SS for the most part.

I could be wrong, we'll see.

Brady6 said:

Based on how they used Harmon in the preseason they apparently are not pleased with his year 2 development, he was playing deep into every game, sometimes not seeing the field until the third quarter of games. Honestly, if Harmon and Ryan fail to show any improvements in year 2 and have actually regressed as appears to be the case based on their preseason use I am going to be a leading advocate for firing are secondary coaches. This will be multiple years in a row that are second year defensive backs went backwards from their rookie year to second year. I really do not understand it, what do they do to players like Wilson who go from playing 50% of the defensive snaps as a rookie to basically being invisible in their second season.

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As a general rule I've stopped looking too deeply into preseason games. Cassel looked awful the preseason before he had to take over for Brady. Everyone thought he was done, turns out he put together a really solid season in one of the most pressure packed situations a young player can imagine. Sudfeld and Thompkins looked awesome last preaseason, then one failed miserably and the other was inconsistent.

I still believe that Harmon is the best option as a cover safety versus Chung or Wilson. I haven't seen any extensive play time at safety for Ryan, Dennard, or Arrington, just a few preseason snaps here and there. Things can always change, but until I see some regular season evidence otherwise, I'm going to assume Harmon is the S2 against teams that haven't a stronger pass than run.

I'd go with single high safety and 3 Corners.

Why go with 2 Safeties if the weakest spot on the defense is Strong Safety and the strongest is the depth at Corner?

Revis, Butler, Dennard & McCourty.

I quite like Harmon, I think his rookie year was solid and I hope he keeps improving.

As long as it's not Chung, I'm good.

BradyFTW! said:

As long as it's not Chung, I'm good.

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Are you one of those who has been making the exact same statement about Wilson for 2 years?

mgteich said:

Are you one of those who has been making the exact same statement about Wilson for 2 years?

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... no? Probably not, anyway. Wilson has been a bad safety when he's played there, but he's also a small college guy entering his third season. He has the physical tools--the issues are all mental with him--so there's reason to believe that he might yet improve. He absolutely needs to improve, and if he hasn't then yes, I'll be saying the exact same thing about him.

I'm not banking on that improvement, and based on his career trajectory so far I'd say it's far more likely that he busts out of the league than becomes even an average starter. But it's not written in stone yet; sometimes it just takes a couple of seasons to put it all together. And if he does put it all together, he has the physical tools to be really good.

Chung, though? The guy's entering his sixth season. He is what he is, and what he is is a thumper who's great in run support and godawful in coverage. There's no fixing what's wrong with him. 15 years ago that was fine, but in today's NFL you don't want coverage liabilities in your starting secondary.

It's most likely going to be Chung until he puts a big hit on a guy and injures only himself. After Chung, can't say for sure. Harmon is safe and boring. Arrington might be the best choice if he had more experience and Tavon is an enigma(a safety that can't get deep despite his speed).

I wish Tavon would just straighten up. Tavon is sneaky good at covering tight ends, is a solid tackler, and seems to be somewhat of a ballhawk. I don't understand why he can't cover the deep ball since that seems like the easiest part of the job, especially with his athleticism, but I digress.

How about BB throws everybody for a loop and starts Nate Ebner at SS. honestly though nobody stood out all preseason, I hope somebody does something during the season to earn that starting job

Hopefully not Chung or Wilson as they are the worst of the bunch. I fully expect a CB to eventually end up winning the starting job next to McCourty. The bodies that we can throw out there right now haven't shown anything more than JAG potential.

meatface said:

How about BB throws everybody for a loop and starts Nate Ebner at SS. honestly though nobody stood out all preseason, I hope somebody does something during the season to earn that starting job

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Ebner is among the best tacklers on the team, but in my opinion if he's starting we're in deep doo doo.

We have a lot of guys who can play the position. They all have good skills, but they are not identical. We'll have to see what the offense tries to do. We could see different guys in different situations. Ultimately, we will do what is best for the team.

Mack Herron said:

We have a lot of guys who can play the position. They all have good skills, but they are not identical. We'll have to see what the offense tries to do. We could see different guys in different situations. Ultimately, we will do what is best for the team.

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I'm having a hard time understanding this one.

McCourty is a given. Ryan has good skills as a McCourty-type safety, but it's not clear how that will play out. It's not clear that any of the other guys can play the position at a starting level.

Depth is a major question at DE and LB. But in terms of starting caliber talent, the 2nd safety position is by far the major question mark. I agree that we'll see different guys in different situations and that BB will try to get the 5 best DBs on the field, but this is a big, big hole right now. This position plus injuries are the only things that I see stopping us from having a top 5, possibly top 3 defense.

mayoclinic said:

I'm having a hard time understanding this one.

McCourty is a given. Ryan has good skills as a McCourty-type safety, but it's not clear how that will play out. It's not clear that any of the other guys can play the position at a starting level.

Depth is a major question at DE and LB. But in terms of starting caliber talent, the 2nd safety position is by far the major question mark. I agree that we'll see different guys in different situations and that BB will try to get the 5 best DBs on the field, but this is a big, big hole right now. This position plus injuries are the only things that I see stopping us from having a top 5, possibly top 3 defense.

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Apologies Mayo as I am working on my mini-Bill impression. I have S2, DT, OL, KR as unknowns, with several other depth positions not far behind. If we are right that nobody has emerged from the pack at S2, then maybe they will continue a rotation until somebody does. Bill hinted as much when queried about the OL this morning.