You make it sound that any high profile collegiate hybrid safety such as Robert Lester or Shawn Williams can't provide run support. Chung is not the first nor last NFL safety that will provide run support.
So a collegiate safety such as Shawn Williams, who was named one of the captains of the Georgia Bulldogs, can't run a defensive secondary. So a collegiate safety such as Robert Lester, coached by Nick Saban, can't run a defensive secondary. Chung is not the first nor last NFL safety that can run a defensive secondary.
The New England Patriots defensive secondary needs a safety that is equally adept at run defense as well as pass defense.
There are some problems to this theory though...
1. We have no idea where these highly lauded safeties will go, but common sense says that many will be gone before we pick. That said, I understand that the safety class in supposedly deep in 2013, the problem is that all of the other 31 teams have that information too. How Belichick views our priorities + where we pick one of these guys will partially determine what happens. I am expecting a high rookie safety pick, I think we all are. Sometimes things go according to what we think, sometimes not. Either way, choosing a high safety pick still doesn't necessarily equate to Chung not being here.
2. You are still making the assumption that one can simply dip into the collegiate pool and pluck out an NFL caliber player with a high success rate. I'm not remembing too many pure safeties in the Belichick era who just instantly meshed into the system and ended up doing great with long prosperous careers here. The success/failure rate in all draft picks is nothing more than a crapshoot where approx. 1/2 of all 1st and 2nd round picks never make much of themselves. Again..it's a gamble.
3. While the players you mention may/may not be around/injured/selected by other teams/etc, there will certainly be someone to take. In remembering that our defensive scheme is very complicated, choosing that player + the background that he's from will be important. Your choice of Alabama and Georgia are fine, but there's plenty that aren't. That's part of why we're in this position. Finding a "safety that will be equally adapt at both pass and run defense" isn't exactly easy. Actually, it's one of the tougher positions to hit a homerun on.
4. Even if we do hit on a homerun safety right out of the gate, his run support may not be as good as Chung's. There's no given. Not only that, Belichick mostly chooses to keep a blend of vets and rookies in his safety corps. I find it extremely hard to imagine someone like Gregory being the only vet with more than 1 yr of experience left back there, and I'd much rather see Gregory go to this point, as he certainly isn't a sure thing to stay either. There very well should be a safety added, but there is also a likelihood that Chung may still be here. As I said, I'm not sure why you seem so
sure to the contrary? He won't be that expensive, and that decision will be all Bill Belichick's anyway.
Unless you have some type of inside information, I don't think we can make assumptions that he will/he won't be around, but both possibilities exist, and the issue will be dealt with at a later date than the beginning of October.
