Do you think Adrian Wilson makes the 2014 roster?

[Brady6]

Poll Question (Vote Above)

I may be in the minority but unless he suffers a preseason injury, I expect Adrian Wilson to be on the 53-man roster in 2014. I just do not expect it to be as a safety, I think he will work with the LBs and see reps in the nickel and dime packages as a cover LB.

What do you think?

 

[mayoclinic]

I think you should have included the poll.

 

[Brady6]

I think you should have included the poll.

It is there now, for some reason the thread posted as I was filling in the poll part.

 

[mayoclinic]

I will personally be surprised if he is on the roster in September.

 

[JackBauer]

What good is a safety who can't run?

 

[LiamUK]

I sure hope so, I think he was one of our only decent signings last offseason. I think he'll be a good player and a good presence on the team. I can see him playing SS because, lets be honest, who else do we have? I like Harmon and T. Wilson, but I think he's a good player!

 

[Brady6]

What good is a safety who can't run?

He may have lost a step as a safety but that would still make him a very fast LB. I am thinking he is completely out of the safety discussion and solely here to compete as a fourth or fifth LB.

 

[Froob]

I though for sure he would be cut but, I'd think that he would have been cut by now. I think he'll get cut during preseason.

 

[Kontradiction]

 

[Claremonster]

I don't know, I never seen the guy run yet.

 

[50-yard-line]

Poll Question (Vote Above)

I may be in the minority but unless he suffers a preseason injury, I expect Adrian Wilson to be on the 53-man roster in 2014. I just do not expect it to be as a safety, I think he will work with the LBs and see reps in the nickel and dime packages as a cover LB.

What do you think?

I think there area ton of sub-packages where a guy with his skill set and imposing presence makes a lot of sense.

The idea of him, Browner and Jamie Collins patrolling the first down line on 3rd and 8 makes me very happy.

They haven't cut him yet - they have no reason to until they determine whether or not he can go. I'm rooting for him - I think he's a consummate professional, great presence and mentor for the younger kids (and Browner, should he try to move to SS).

He can do a lot of things on this defense, particularly with McCourty and Revis taking away the over-the-top stuff.

 

[Ring 6]

I definitely hope he is.
He was one of the best safeties of a generation.
Last year he looked bad, possibly because of the injury.
He has had a year to rehab.
I would never, ever, write off a guy who played at the level he did after having a year to bust his balls to rehab it.
Optimistically, he could recapture the level of play he had 2-3 years ago, which was all-pro. As was mentioned, another possibilities is to have him in a big nickel type role where he is as much LB as S. He has always been a great blitzer, and as we saw with Rodney Harrison, if anyone knows how to use a safety effectively in that role, its Belechick.

 

[strngplyr]

I definitely hope he is.
He was one of the best safeties of a generation.
Last year he looked bad, possibly because of the injury.
He has had a year to rehab.
I would never, ever, write off a guy who played at the level he did after having a year to bust his balls to rehab it.
Optimistically, he could recapture the level of play he had 2-3 years ago, which was all-pro. As was mentioned, another possibilities is to have him in a big nickel type role where he is as much LB as S. He has always been a great blitzer, and as we saw with Rodney Harrison, if anyone knows how to use a safety effectively in that role, its Belechick.

I'm with you on loving everything he's done but I had to vote no. The one thing I don't share is your optimism.

Sometimes it's just time for the guys to call it quit, Ed Reed for example should NOT have suited up last year. He was benched with the Texans' and only started for the Jets because they had one of the worst safety situations in the league.

Love everything about Wilson but unfortunately I think he left Arizona a season or two too late to help us out here.

Edit: If he still has SOMETHING left, yeah, I'd like to see him patrolling the short middle field as an LB type more than an S, I don't really want to see him in the back 3rd without proving he still has his legs first.

Also interested in the looming camp controversy of who wears 24.

I think maybe it's time for Revis to give it up, he wore 24 as an enemy, a fresh start in Foxboro would be good.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'm with you on loving everything he's done but I had to vote no. The one thing I don't share is your optimism.

Sometimes it's just time for the guys to call it quit, Ed Reed for example should NOT have suited up last year. He was benched with the Texans' and only started for the Jets because they had one of the worst safety situations in the league.

Love everything about Wilson but unfortunately I think he left Arizona a season or two too late to help us out here.

Edit: If he still has SOMETHING left, yeah, I'd like to see him patrolling the short middle field as an LB type more than an S, I don't really want to see him in the back 3rd without proving he still has his legs first.

Also interested in the looming camp controversy of who wears 24.

I think maybe it's time for Revis to give it up, he wore 24 as an enemy, a fresh start in Foxboro would be good.

Another thing you forgot to mention is that he was benched in Arizona because he was a liability in coverage. He then looked god awful in the preseason last year. The team needs to get younger at that position. This is a deep draft and that position has a lot of capable prospects that can come in and play right off the bat.

 

[mayoclinic]

I definitely hope he is.
He was one of the best safeties of a generation.
Last year he looked bad, possibly because of the injury.
He has had a year to rehab.
I would never, ever, write off a guy who played at the level he did after having a year to bust his balls to rehab it.
Optimistically, he could recapture the level of play he had 2-3 years ago, which was all-pro. As was mentioned, another possibilities is to have him in a big nickel type role where he is as much LB as S. He has always been a great blitzer, and as we saw with Rodney Harrison, if anyone knows how to use a safety effectively in that role, its Belechick.

I'm with you on loving everything he's done but I had to vote no. The one thing I don't share is your optimism.

An Adrian Wilson at anything close to what he used to be would be exactly what this defense needs. Wilson was Kam Chancellor before Chancellor, and the old Wilson would fit perfectly as a SS in a Cover 3 scheme given what we already have in our secondary. In that scheme, the SS functions in a similar role to the WLB in run support and underneath zone coverage:

Inside the playbook: Cover 3 | National Football Post
Stopping the run with a Cover-3 base defense - Big Cat Country
How Earl Thomas and the Seahawks' defense use the Cover-3 - Field Gulls
Super Bowl XLVIII: Secrets of the Seahawks secondary - SBNation.com
Seattle Seahawks walloped Denver Broncos with simple scheme - NFL.com

Even if he's lost something, Wilson could be used effectively as a hybrid LB/S in sub packages.

The question is whether the Wilson we saw in 2013 was affected by injury, or whether he's lost it. As Kontra notes, he was benched 2 years ago because he was a coverage liability. But given how little is saved by cutting him now, I assume BB wants to find out the answer to that question. I'm personally not particularly optimistic, but I see no reason at this point not to let Wilson prove whether he has anything left. I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong.

 

[50-yard-line]

I'm with you on loving everything he's done but I had to vote no. The one thing I don't share is your optimism.

Sometimes it's just time for the guys to call it quit, Ed Reed for example should NOT have suited up last year. He was benched with the Texans' and only started for the Jets because they had one of the worst safety situations in the league.

And Ed Reed STILL rated out higher than anyone the Pats had opposite McCourty last year. The thing is, Reed was/is expensive. A Wilson isn't.

 

[50-yard-line]

Another thing you forgot to mention is that he was benched in Arizona because he was a liability in coverage. He then looked god awful in the preseason last year. The team needs to get younger at that position. This is a deep draft and that position has a lot of capable prospects that can come in and play right off the bat.

I still think that was severely overblown. I read some articles saying AZ knew they couldn't keep him because of salary limitations and so they were trying to ease him out and get the kids some playing time, both for the future and for their fans. In the end, he didn't rate out that badly for them in coverage or otherwise.

And I don't think the draft is that deep at Safety. Pryor and Ha Ha are solid prospects...other than that, meh.

 

[strngplyr]

And Ed Reed STILL rated out higher than anyone the Pats had opposite McCourty last year. The thing is, Reed was/is expensive. A Wilson isn't.

You don't compare Ed Reed to the guy that started opposite McCourty, you compare him TO McCourty.

The guy opposite McCourty plays a different role. Reed and McCourty had similar jobs.

Edit: Cheap and finished is still the same end result as expensive and finished when it comes to the football field. I don't want either as of right now. I'll love Wilson if he can give us what he gave the Cards, but if he's done then I want him just as much as I want Reed. At this point, that's not a whole lot.

 

[Tunescribe]

If he can achieve anything close to his 2012 form he'd be a great asset.

 

[50-yard-line]

You don't compare Ed Reed to the guy that started opposite McCourty, you compare him TO McCourty.

The guy opposite McCourty plays a different role. Reed and McCourty had similar jobs.

Edit: Cheap and finished is still the same end result as expensive and finished when it comes to the football field. I don't want either as of right now. I'll love Wilson if he can give us what he gave the Cards, but if he's done then I want him just as much as I want Reed. At this point, that's not a whole lot.

"Finished" is an opinion until we see it as fact.

Wilson has forgotten more about football than Harmon, T Wilson, or any rookie we're bringing in ever knew.

Neither Wilson or Wilfork looked good early last year, then both went out with Achilles ruptures. That's typical.

So let's see and hope. If he's got nothing left, then so be it. when a guy like Ed Reed loses a step, it's a far more dramatic drop-off than when a guy closer to the line loses one, in terms of expected performance.