Some comments on the comments:
1. Kudos to the Herald for inciting a great thread. I love it when we get into this kind of football discussion. Thus far the back and forth has been eminently both entertaining and informative.
2. Jeers to the Herald for once again attempting to imply that they have some inside source that's feeding them info. BS. SacPete was the first to question it, and he's right. In what world would the organization that is the most closed-mouthed in the league, suddenly tell a reporter how they are going to use their personnel?
3. Its just another example of the Herald making it up as they go along. At least this time they chose an interesting topic.
4. Forget about thinking about Browner as a SS. The simple fact is that he's not any good in space. And while he'd be a better physical presence than Gregory at the spot, he'd be a major downgrade in coverage.
That's not to say that he'd never line up in the middle on occasion. But Browner is here to play press physical man or zone coverage with help over the top.....period. What makes him so potentially valuable, is WHO he plays press man week to week will depend on who we play.
5. Contrary to the article, I don't see Browner as taking Dennard's role as the outside CB. Dennard was progressing very nicely last season, getting better with every game. Its actually surprising how much bigger and physical he plays than his actual size.
No I see Browner as the "wildcard" BB will pick Browner's best matchup each week depending on who they play, and when they need to play press/man or match up zones, that's where he'll play. One week it might be a big outside WR. Another week it might be the TE, etc
6. In this day and age you can't have too many DB who can play against the pass. With every year position designations like SS and FS become less and less meaningful. In today's NFL the team that can put out the best DB's regardless of "position" is the team that will be most effective against the pass.
7. One of the best ways to defend against the pass these days is to disguise secondary coverage. That's the reason BB has been loathe to flop safeties with formation, simply because that's the easiest way for the QB to determine coverage. Being able to flood the secondary with good coverage people regardless of what their positions are stated on the program will be a huge advantage.
Being able to successfully disguise their coverages is the key reason why the Pats have been consistently at the top of the league in picks, even though they have had sub par personnel back there for the most part.
8. I doubt very much that McCourty will be anything but our "FS". Because of his range and rare skill set, he is the guy who allows all the aggressiveness in front of him to happen. You need an "eraser". A guy with the range to help out on those times when DB's get beat. The guy to turns long TD's into 20 yd gains.
Remember BB is at heart, the ultimate bend but don't break coach. "Big plays" are his biggest fear. So why would he take the guy with the most range in the league and put him "inside the box" to put a guy without nearly the same range in his place. It makes no sense at all. Typical Herald logic.
9. I am very excited about this year. For the first time in the new era of the NFL passing game (post Polian rules), the Pats have the size and numbers to really compete against the best passing attacks in the league.
Think about this. Looking at this skill sets and depth of this secondary, how many of the 2011 secondary who made it to the superbowl and played well, would even make this team, let alone start.
24 Kyle Arrington CB
31 Sergio Brown FS
25 Patrick Chung FS/SS
44 James Ihedigbo SS
23 Nate Jones CB/FS
32 Devin McCourty CB/FS
27 Antwaun Molden CB
29 Sterling Moore CB/FS
41 Malcolm Williams CB
Only McCourty and Arrington are still on the team, and only Ihedigbo has had even moderate success after he left, and it wasn't enough for his team to want to keep him. Remember this was the year where Julian Edelman played a significant amount of time on defense
10. I think it would behoove us all if we started to forget about the old position designations like FS, and SS, as well as looking for players who can be the next Ty Law and Rodney Harrison in our minds. Those are players who played in a literally a different league, which required different skill sets to succeed.
DB's in this era face a myriad of differing issues that Rodney and Ty only rarely had to face. Today EVERY team will have a couple 4.4 and 4.5 guys who are 6'3 and above. Law and Harrison rarely had to play against a "move TE" In retrospect Dallas Clark was really the first of his kind. Now the league is rife with them. Back in the day, for the most part TE's were just adjuncts to the passing game, not the focus.
No this is a new age, and the Pats, for the first time, in that age have the size quickness and depth to compete with the best pass offenses in the league, and if that doesn't get your juices flowing then.....
