Ok, so which 1st round Safety fits our Strong Safety position best?

[chunkypony]

I am starting to get confused; I thought Michael Griffin would be ok, but then everyone said he is a better FS prospect. I am having trouble getting excited about Brandon Meriweather, and I dont think Laron Landry will fall to us.

Is Reggie Nelson the correct size to play SS in New England?
Or is Josh Gattis/Wendling our best prospects at that position?
Is there a college player that should go in the first round that can play New England's SS position?

I thought I had it figured out, but I guess not...

 

[AzPatsFan]

I am starting to get confused; I thought Michael Griffin would be ok, but then everyone said he is a better FS prospect. I am having trouble getting excited about Brandon Meriweather, and I dont think Laron Landry will fall to us.

Is Reggie Nelson the correct size to play SS in New England?
Or is Josh Gattis/Wendling our best prospects at that position?
Is there a college player that should go in the first round that can play New England's SS position?

I thought I had it figured out, but I guess not...

You don't draft big SS on the first round, unless they are special. Only Landry fit in that category. Rouse and Piscatelli and Wendling will be there in the third. Thats's where you take the big safety, if you insist that you want one, perhaps with a psoitioning tradeup in the third round.

 

[cstjohn17]

I am starting to get confused; I thought Michael Griffin would be ok, but then everyone said he is a better FS prospect. I am having trouble getting excited about Brandon Meriweather, and I dont think Laron Landry will fall to us.

Is Reggie Nelson the correct size to play SS in New England?
Or is Josh Gattis/Wendling our best prospects at that position?
Is there a college player that should go in the first round that can play New England's SS position?

I thought I had it figured out, but I guess not...

I think SS can be upgraded but put FS higher on the list. I expect Rodney to come back and play at a pretty high level in 07, if he gets dinged or needs a rest Sanders seems to be getting better and is an acceptable starter.

FS is much more of a question mark, who know what we will get out of Wilson. I excpect him to play pretty well in his contract year but don't think he is viewed as a long-term solution. Hawkins is an ok backup, it looked like he was playing hurt, maybe thats why he looked so slow. Looking at the 1st round Safeties they all seem to fit the mold of a FS, even Landry seems like a better fit a FS than an in the box type of hitter like Rodney.

Right now my money is on Nelson, he replaces Hawkins and then takes over in 2008.

 

[carolinatony]

It may be just me but; I would rather us take a LB in the first

 

[mavfan2390]

Ok, assuming that Laron Landry (who is by far the best fit for our D as he is big, fast, strong, versatile, and intelligent), is out of our draft position barring a trade up, there's three safeties we should be looking at, Reggie Nelson, Michael Griffin, and Brandon Meriweather.

First let me say that the NFL is shifting less towards traditional safeties, and more towards hybrid safeties that can do everything. Think Ed Reed, Bob Sanders, etc.

A look at our safeties makes one thing evident, our strong safeties are significantly bigger than our free safeties

SS
Rodney Harrison, 6-1, 220 lbs.
James Sanders, 5-10, 210 lbs.


FS
Rashad Baker, 5-10, 198 lbs.
Eugene Wilson, 5-10, 195
Artell Hawkins, 5-10, 195

There's two things that you expect your strong safety to be able to do, go in the box to stop the run, and cover tight ends. Let's take a look at the three safeties that the Pats have to choose from

Michael Griffin (6-0, 195), out of the three Griffin has the best size, BUT he is much better suited for free safety at the next level, he's bad against the run, and will get man handled by blockers, that being said his ability to cover is second to none, he is a better prospect than Michael Huff was last year, hes also a great st'er, and will make some plays there for us

Reggie Nelson (6-0, 193), Nelson has a similar build to Griffin, and is my choice for the Pats, he's intinctive, and field smart, and plays faster than he times, he's a hart hitter and won't be afraid to support the run, but can also cover, he's very versatile, might might need to add a few pounds to keep up with some of the tight end's that are around, but he would most definently help the Pats the most with Griffin being a close second

Brandon Meriweather (5-11, 192), Meriweather is basically Nelson with better speed, but character concerns, and durability concerns are more prominent than with Nelson

 

[Fencer]

We don't need a strong safety so much as we need a free safety.

Rodney is a better player than Wilson.
Rodney will likely be a Patriot longer than Wilson.
Sanders is our best young backup safety, and he projects to strong safety.
Run defense wasn't as big a problem for us as was the safeties' part of pass defense.

 

[Water Boy]

We don't need a strong safety so much as we need a free safety.

Rodney is a better player than Wilson.
Rodney will likely be a Patriot longer than Wilson.
Sanders is our best young backup safety, and he projects to strong safety.
Run defense wasn't as big a problem for us as was the safeties' part of pass defense.

I'm not ready to give up on Wilson yet. When he was healthy and on the field with Rodney, he was one of the best Free Safeties in the league. Clearly he wasn't able to be the leader of the secondary in Rodney's absence, which is problematic. If he can be teamed with someone who can be the quarterback of the secondary, I think he can still play at a high level.

I don't see Rodney playing beyond this year, so I think if the right player is available as a possible replacement at SS, we need to draft him. I'm not convinced that Sanders can start for us.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I think Sanders came a long way in 2006. That's not to say that he doesn't have a ways to go yet, but he really showed me he can be a playmaker if he continues to develop.

None of the 3 safeties mentioned are SS types. All are best at FS. Meriweather is probably the best hitter among the 3, but also the worst in coverage. Nelson is young and too inexperienced to gamble a 1st round pick with. Griffin is solid and has the potential to be a playmaker.

 

[Fencer]

I think Wilson is in the ability range where the Patriots won't pay up for him -- good starter, but fairly easy to replace.

The guys who they bid for competitively are usually either better than that (near Pro Bowlers and above), worse than that (e.g., outstanding role players), or guys with a lot of baggage that makes them potential bargains (on or off the field -- Dillon, Starks, etc.)

 

[AzPatsFan]

It may be just me but; I would rather us take a LB in the first

You are NOT alone !

 

[Remix 6]

Sanders might be fine at SS...hes shorter than a lot of strongside safeties but he tackles well and im not sure hes fast enough to consistently drop back so Safety is fine and he cna blitz aswell

 

[chunkypony]

Sanders might be fine at SS...hes shorter than a lot of strongside safeties but he tackles well and im not sure hes fast enough to consistently drop back so Safety is fine and he cna blitz aswell

What I was originally trying to say in this thread is that we need a Rodney replacement. I didn't think about Sanders, but do some of us agree that he could be the replacement we need?

So if we are going to draft a safety, its more likely going to be a FS than a strong safety?

 

[patfanken]

We don't need a strong safety so much as we need a free safety.

Rodney is a better player than Wilson.
Rodney will likely be a Patriot longer than Wilson.
Sanders is our best young backup safety, and he projects to strong safety.
Run defense wasn't as big a problem for us as was the safeties' part of pass defense.

Fencer, we might be miles from home, but we still think alike: I agree totally. We need to find the FS of the future. Sanders and Harrison can effectively take care of SS for the immediate future. We need someone who has more range and hopefully more size than Wilson. I'm not down on him, but his continual leg injuries means we can't COUNT on him. Grab a first round FS and we get someone who can make an older and slower Rodney MORE effective. We need range and coverage abilities above all. We can teach a willing kid to become a better tackler. Now Wilson can add to the CB depth...while he's still here.

We can get a future FS in the lower rounds.

AZ- we could very well pick up a LB with one of the first 2 picks; Personally I'd rather add a CB first.

 

[Water Boy]

I think Wilson is in the ability range where the Patriots won't pay up for him -- good starter, but fairly easy to replace.

The guys who they bid for competitively are usually either better than that (near Pro Bowlers and above), worse than that (e.g., outstanding role players), or guys with a lot of baggage that makes them potential bargains (on or off the field -- Dillon, Starks, etc.)

Given his injuries and recent struggles, I don't see Wilson having a high market value. If he starts and plays well next season, that may change.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I think the Pats safeties struggle the most against the pass so I'd like them to draft a safety that is a good cover man. Some tackling ability is good too but the guy better be able to blanket tight ends and inside slot receivers. I think that was a weakness of our team last season that can be improved upon. If there is a safety that can both hit and cover go after him, but I think it is ok to get a specialist cover safety to defend against throw happy teams (think Colts!)