Here's what we saw:
1.) When the team rolled coverage to one side of the field, it was usually to Samuel's side, not Hobbs, even though Hobbs was facing the opponent's #1 receiver most of the time.
2.) Hobbs' percentage numbers were almost identical to Samuel's, despite having to face the opponent's #1 receiver most of the time.
3.) Hobbs surrendered fewer touchdowns than Samuel, despite having to face the opponent's #1 receiver most of the time.
Count me among those who thinks our DBs are going to be fine even without Samuel.
But I'm not sure I'm understand what you're saying beyond that - or what stats you're using to show that the coverage "rolled out" to Samuel's side.
Assuming opposing WRs are comfortable on either side of the field, I understand the concept that they'd choose to have their #1 WR go against Hobbs as opposed to Samuel.
That would likely mean that they threw away from Samuel and he saw far fewer balls than Hobbs (I assume the stats bear that out but I didn't check).
But why - and what stats show this - would the Patriots choose to "roll out coverage" to the side of the field where the opposing offense would have been less likely to throw to?
What you've conveyed implies that the Patriots had more faith in Hobbs, and felt a need to shore up Samuel more than Hobbs by "rolling out the coverage" to his side, even knowing that the opposing team would likely look to take advantage of a "mismatch" of Hobbs and their #1 WR.
Can you embellish and actually cite your statistics?
I see Hobbs with 63 total tackles 51 solo
I see Samuel with 44 total tackles 41 solo.
I'm trying to figure out what stats you cite to show that Sameul, and not Hobbs, tended to have the coverage "roll out" to his side to help him, because the fact that nearly all of Samuel's tackles were solo doesn't strike me as something implying that the team was most often "rolling out the coverage" to give him more help.
The fact that his numbers would be lower than Hobbs I understand, given the fact that teams would likely throw away from Samuel - espeicially if they have their #1 WR going up against Hobbs as you said.
It may be that the statistics I mentioned are misleading, as I think they very often can be, though I know you and I disagree about that.