Joejuan Williams moving to safety

[Patsgofor4]

He should have been covering Gesicki, rather than Chung in week 17 last year.

 

[mgteich]

The last safety spot is a bit difficult to project. DMac, Terrence Brooks, Kyle Dugger, and now Joejuan Williams are locks as of right now. Cody Davis has no value as a safety, but reports suggest that he has been the primary punt protector, a role formerly held by Nate Ebner and Jordan Richards. If Davis is cut, who will play the punt protector role? I think Adrian Phillips really might be on the outside looking in.

On the CB side, I strongly believe Belichick will have to carry 6 CBs as a minimum. Justin Bethel is ST anyways. One of MJ Sr. and Myles Bryant, both of whom have been impressing in camp, might make the team.

Williams is fine as the #6 emergency corner. Both Phillips and Davis are more valuable than any of the additional corners. There is room on the PS for a corner.

 

[Nunchucks]

I dont see it as a failure that Williams isn't beating out Jackson or gilmore.

 

[Patsgofor4]

So, a failure at CB, then, right? I mean, we can acknowledge that, can't we?

Yeah, I will never forgive McCourty for ultimately failing at cornerback.

Does anyone on this board know what specific plans BB and co. had for Williams when they drafted him? The answer is no. Also, of course the Patriots talent and depth at cornerback is important to consider, when analyzing this decision. To argue otherwise it's silly.

We have been waiting for years to have a safety who can consistently keep the elite move tight ends (ie. the extra large wide receivers) in check. If Williams can fill this role will it matter that the coaching staff decided that his game was more tailored to that role than as a pure CB prior to year 2.

Shocking that the usual suspects came out of their caves to put a negative spin on yet another development.

 

[Patsgofor4]

You know what they say about assumptions.. LOL

Captain Dropkick Irae.

 

[Hawaiianpatsfan2]

I don’t even think it necessarily ends his career at corner, because Gilmore, Jackson, and J-Mac are all set to hit free agency in the next two offseasons. It makes a ton of sense for this year’s team, though.

the other day I was thinking about how Gilmore would fit as a safety in the later part of his Career. He’s a very high Iq football player. Wonder if he could make the switch like Charles Woodson. This would make give him a long extension potentially worth doing along with JC Jackson.

 

[Deus Irae]

Yeah, I will never forgive McCourty for ultimately failing at cornerback.

Does anyone on this board know what specific plans BB and co. had for Williams when they drafted him? The answer is no. Also, of course the Patriots talent and depth at cornerback is important to consider, when analyzing this decision. To argue otherwise it's silly.

We have been waiting for years to have a safety who can consistently keep the elite move tight ends (ie. the extra large wide receivers) in check. If Williams can fill this role will it matter that the coaching staff decided that his game was more tailored to that role than as a pure CB prior to year 2.

Shocking that the usual suspects came out of their caves to put a negative spin on yet another development.

So, rather than just make a simple acknowledgement, you went off and got ridiculous. And the notion that I'm a "usual suspect" with regards to negative spin is even more ridiculous.



Thanks for making my point for me.

 

[Wozzy]

He was always destined to be a safety, he's Chung's eventual replacement at SS. He's 6'4" tall, 212 pounds, strong and can tackle well in the open field. They start every rookie DB at corner to teach them coverages and always have.

 

[n6249c]

the other day I was thinking about how Gilmore would fit as a safety in the later part of his Career. He’s a very high Iq football player. Wonder if he could make the switch like Charles Woodson. This would make give him a long extension potentially worth doing along with JC Jackson.

DMac’s successor?

 

[luuked]

He should have been covering Gesicki, rather than Chung in week 17 last year.

Why would you assume that this would lead to a more favorable result ? Just throwing a rookie who has been at the end of the depth chart into the fray does not sound like a high probability scenario.

This is more or less the corollary for what will most definitely be uttered by someone in a GDT during September about "BB should have let Harris start over Michel last year" when Harris has a good game. Even though it makes absolutely no sense comparing the rookie version of a player to them as a sophomore.

 

[Hawaiianpatsfan2]

DMac’s successor?

yeah, if you extended him on a front loaded, say 5 year contract, which would pay him reflecting his DPOY and outstanding play by making him the highest paid CB for the next two years, with much lower Salaries and guarantees for the last three years. Play him as long as he’s elite at corner, and maybe have him switch to safety at a below market value at safety when he slightly falls off.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Not surprised by this at all. This may simply be a byproduct of having too many good CB's and BB wanting to get him on the field more. I'm excited to see what he can do with more snaps.

 

[Triumph]

DMac’s successor?

Gilmore is Elite so he has that Dmac attribute going for him.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

As @reamer has said he'd see the field in matchups that favor him more than other CBs on our roster.. e.g. against taller WRs outside and inside against TEs.

One could argue that he can easily still be deployed in those matchups even if he is officially designated as safety the same way DMac has played all over the place in the last couple of seasons.

At the end of the day, this is the role that reamer and other draft forum folks were envisioning from day 1 (that is, during the pre-draft scouting process). And also at the end of the day, Williams hasn’t yet shown he can play at an NFL level in an actual NFL game. Very happy that he’s been placed in what appears to be the best position for him to succeed; now it’s up to him to prove he can do it. Let’s hope he can.

 

[Joey007]

So, a failure at CB, then, right? I mean, we can acknowledge that, can't we?

I mean you could say Devin McCourty was a failure at CB too.

 

[Joey007]

Remember Superbowl 49 when 6'5'' Chris Matthews was destroying 5'10'' Kyle Arrington? Once they put 6'4" Brandon Browner on him he disappeared. Joejaun is also 6'4''. Even when he's playing safety, he can always switch around if we're getting burned by a height mismatch. He's just another tool in Bill's toolbox.

This.

I want Williams to be our new Browner.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

*intended fully as a joke* And then moving to another team for a 5th/6th round pick, as it is written for 2nd round DBs (joking, joking, since nobody can tell online these days).

 

[Brandon_Cox]

I want Williams to be our new Browner.

Agreed, except without all the penalties and horrific off the field behavior.

 

[jah]

Are we really debating whether Williams "failed" at corner? What a stupid ass take. We really have no idea how good he is at corner because our depth chart is so absurdly stacked at that position, whereas we really don't have more than 1 true starter at safety. It's about putting your best players on the field.

 

[Deus Irae]

I mean you could say Devin McCourty was a failure at CB too.

Yes.




And?