Where does Browner fit in when he comes back?

I really don't see Browner as a strong safety as some want him to be.

He plays to high. He doesn't bend at his knees, he bends at his waist. He takes large steps when going in for the tackle. Those are not good traits in someone who plays in the open field. I think that he would miss a lot of open field tackles against speedy/shifty guys if he played safety.

What I wonder is whose place he will take on the roster. I'm sure it will depend on the health of players at more than one position, but it's hard to imagine that he won't be replacing one of the secondary players, if nobody goes down with injury. This being the NFL, that's not terribly likely.

Okay, I got this. To make room on the roster you cut Bolden. I chose Bolden because he isn't doing anything and Browner can probably take over his st snaps as well. Then you let Browner take all of the reps Dennard would have received. I love Dennard but I think it would pay off to deactivate him and let that shoulder heal. And I mean really heal, and not the Gronk's good to go but re-brake your arm instantly kind of heal.

Sometimes I think the "Browner to safety" crowd is basing their entire prediction on that one highlight of him pummeling Wes Welker. That's the only thing I've seen to suggest he's good playing in space.

I've been saying it since training camp (and I'll keep saying it until I'm inevitably proven wrong, as usual), but after McCourty and Revis, no one is getting full time snaps in the secondary. It's all going to rotate based on matchups, gameplans, game situations, and injuries, and there will be plenty of snaps to go around.

I suspect he'll mostly be outside, beating the hell out of whomever the WR2 is at the LOS. For teams like Denver, it will be interesting to see if Belichick uses him close to the LOS to help out with Julius Thomas.

Sicilian said:

Sometimes I think the "Browner to safety" crowd is basing their entire prediction on that one highlight of him pummeling Wes Welker. That's the only thing I've seen to suggest he's good playing in space.

I've been saying it since training camp (and I'll keep saying it until I'm inevitably proven wrong, as usual), but after McCourty and Revis, no one is getting full time snaps in the secondary. It's all going to rotate based on matchups, gameplans, game situations, and injuries, and there will be plenty of snaps to go around.

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And this is a good thing, both from a game planning standpoint and from getting the most out of your guys over the course of a game. Situational substitution is a problem when you get caught in a hurry up with somebody like Spikes who can barely cover anyone or an undersized DL that can't stop the run. However, none of the rotating SS's is likely to get burned time and again, even if they do make a bad play on occasion.

jsull87 said:

Personally i recon it will be Ebner who see's his snaps go down. I's rather have Browner play that Hybrid LB/S role than Ebner as you'd have to wager he has superior cover skills in general.

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I hope not. I think Ebner's shown significant development, and looked pretty solid as a LB/S in the dime. I'd rather see Browner replace Chung, with Ryan playing a CB/S hybrid role, and Ebner remaining as a LB/S in the dime.

jsull87 said:

Having Ryan, Dennard, Revis, McCourty and browner out there as much as possible IMO means good things for this Defense.

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That I agree with completely.

I think we will probably see 3 main defensive sets from the pass:

1. A 4-2-5 "sub" as the most frequent set, about 60% of the time. I'd like to see the 5 DBs you mention on the field most of the time in this set. Dominique Easley will thrive in this set, and in the "dime" (see below).

2. A hybrid front 3-4/4-3 "base" about 30% of the time. This will also morph into 5-2, 2-4 and semi-ameboid fronts at times depending on how many players are standing up and moving around prior to the snap.

3. A 4-1-6 or 3-2-6 "dime" about 10% of the time, with Ebner/Chung/Wilson as a LB/S. Ebner seems the most promising to me.

pencilneckgeek said:

What I wonder is whose place he will take on the roster. I'm sure it will depend on the health of players at more than one position, but it's hard to imagine that he won't be replacing one of the secondary players, if nobody goes down with injury. This being the NFL, that's not terribly likely.

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Dennard is injury prone. There will be a lot of playing time for Browner, also Ryan. I think even Arrington playing limited only where he is good, can have a good season. I'm really happy with this secondary.

varjao said:

Dennard is injury prone. There will be a lot of playing time for Browner, also Ryan. I think even Arrington playing limited only where he is good, can have a good season. I'm really happy with this secondary.

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The late 70's secondary may have been better, but this is certainly the deepest quality secondary the Patriots have ever had.

I think Browner resolves one of our biggest issues upon his return and that is covering TEs.

Revis - #1 WR
Dennard/Ryan - #2 WR
Browner - #1 TE
McCourty – Centerfielder
Collins - #1 RB or #2 TE
Arrington – Slot

I think it will be more 1-safety formations with McCourty in the deep middle similar to what Earl Thomas does for Seattle.

mayoclinic said:

I hope not. I think Ebner's shown significant development, and looked pretty solid as a LB/S in the dime. I'd rather see Browner replace Chung, with Ryan playing a CB/S hybrid role, and Ebner remaining as a LB/S in the dime.

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Ebner is one of the players I would love see get on a scale, because I do not see any way he still weighs just 210lbs.

Brady6 said:

Ebner is one of the players I would love see get on a scale, because I do not see any way he still weighs just 210lbs.

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yeah, I noticed that, too, the other day. He looks beefy, and man, what a solid tackler.

Brady6 said:

Ebner is one of the players I would love see get on a scale, because I do not see any way he still weighs just 210lbs.

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I agree, he looked HUGE to me in some of the photos:

http://www.gfycat.com/RecklessCelebratedGlowworm

I'd guess 220-230#.

doesntmatter1 said:

Okay, I got this. To make room on the roster you cut Bolden. I chose Bolden because he isn't doing anything and Browner can probably take over his st snaps as well. Then you let Browner take all of the reps Dennard would have received. I love Dennard but I think it would pay off to deactivate him and let that shoulder heal. And I mean really heal, and not the Gronk's good to go but re-brake your arm instantly kind of heal.

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By deactivate do you mean IR? If so, might as well just do that rather than cut Bolden too.

mayoclinic said:

I agree, he looked HUGE to me in some of the photos:

http://www.gfycat.com/RecklessCelebratedGlowworm

I'd guess 220-230#.

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As a rugby player he was focused more on being lean, in the NFL he is more of a special teams LB in the Izzo role so he has bulked up and it shows, especially this season. Ebner goes unnoticed as one of the offseason award winners, but it shows up on the field.

50-yard-line said:

yeah, I noticed that, too, the other day. He looks beefy, and man, what a solid tackler.

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His development over the course of the last 3 seasons is not talked about a lot but he has really turned into a nice player. He is a gifted athlete and puts in the work, he has a ton of upside.

Sicilian said:

Sometimes I think the "Browner to safety" crowd is basing their entire prediction on that one highlight of him pummeling Wes Welker. That's the only thing I've seen to suggest he's good playing in space.

I've been saying it since training camp (and I'll keep saying it until I'm inevitably proven wrong, as usual), but after McCourty and Revis, no one is getting full time snaps in the secondary. It's all going to rotate based on matchups, gameplans, game situations, and injuries, and there will be plenty of snaps to go around.

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That and they base it on the fact he's 6'4 220. They think he's the next Chancellor even though he never played that position at Seattle.

Browner is at his best when he's beating the crap out of a receiver at the LOS. Why anyone wants to take him away from that I dunno.

Brady6 said:

As a rugby player he was focused more on being lean, in the NFL he is more of a special teams LB in the Izzo role so he has bulked up and it shows, especially this season. Ebner goes unnoticed as one of the offseason award winners, but it shows up on the field.

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He could be the next Stephen Neal/ Julian Edelman. 2-3 year projects thst slowly develops into a solid player. Edelman was a college QB, Neal a college wrestler.

AzorianPats said:

He could be the next Stephen Neal/ Julian Edelman. 2-3 year projects thst slowly develops into a solid player. Edelman was a college QB, Neal a college wrestler.

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If you watch Ebner in training camp even as a rookie you see that he naturally has impressive balls skills. Over the course of the last 3 seasons he has develop into arguably the best tackler on the team. Ebner is around 6'0"-6'1" and as Mayo said earlier in the thread he likely weighs 220-230lbs, if he can continue to develop his skill set he could end up being a poor mans Kam Chancellor.

AzorianPats said:

That and they base it on the fact he's 6'4 220. They think he's the next Chancellor even though he never played that position at Seattle.

Browner is at his best when he's beating the crap out of a receiver at the LOS. Why anyone wants to take him away from that I dunno.

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I think that Browner will be the "enforcer" in our secondary, but not in the same role that Chancellor is used. He'll beat the crap out of a receiver and set the tone, but he won't be roaming the middle of the field, though I could see him dropped down into a "robber" role on occasion.