Is Patrick Chung the reason Jordan Richards is still on the team?

[convertedpatsfan]

First, Jordan ****ing Richards sucks. I just need to get that out of the way. What a ****ing terrible ****.

Richards is Chung's back-up. But is BB keeping Richards on the team because of how things went with Chung?

Chung was a second round pick who struggled in his first stint with the team. When he left, nobody seemed to care, and then he struggled with Philly and got cut.

Then BB brings him back and he's suddenly one of the most important players on the team. Belichick recently called him "one of the best players in the league." But Belichick also talked about how they misused Chung originally, and how that was the coach's fault. And now that Chung has emerged, I wonder if his success is influencing Bill into thinking Richards is going to emerge similarly.

For one thing, Chung was used as a free safety initially, and Belichick moved him to strong safety. Richards never projected to free safety, sucks at strong safety, and Belichick should move him off the roster.

For another, Chung can tackle. He was always a hard hitter. Richards has missed a lot of tackles. Even the forced fumble earlier in the year feels like it was more of a missed tackle that luckily hit the football than anything else.

I'm all for second and third chances. But even Chung had to get cut to get better. Teammates mentioned he's more detail-oriented and cerebral this time around. So if BB truly believes Richards can be Chung 2.0, he needs to cut him.

Oh what the hell am I talking about? Just ****ing cut the ****er already!

 

[jah]

Yeah...he has a Stanford degree, he'll be fine.

 

[Sicilian]

No, that's not why Richards is on the team.

 

[Soliel]

I hate Chung and that goes triple for Richards. They should not just be cut. I want them to be put wherever Jimmy Hoffa is

 

[Keyser Söze]

Richards is the worst football player I’ve ever seen. Good thing he has a high football IQ. Totally makes up for it! Ugh.

I still can’t fathom how he couldn’t push JuJu out of bounds. Literally useless.

 

[Flash]

He's on the team because he's a good ST player (but I agree he's terrible when he's playing defense, duh).

 

[Keyser Söze]

He's on the team because he's a good ST player (but I agree he's terrible when he's playing defense, duh).

I honestly don’t notice him in ST ever.

 

[Jackson 2]

I hate Chung and that goes triple for Richards. They should not just be cut. I want them to be put wherever Jimmy Hoffa is

If you hate Chung, I'm guessing it's personal, because he has developed into a helluva good player. And, his mother was one, spectacular singer in the '80s...

 

[RobertWeathers]

I hate Chung and that goes triple for Richards. They should not just be cut. I want them to be put wherever Jimmy Hoffa is

The hate for Chung is misdirected.

Richards should be William Wallace'd

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I honestly don’t notice him in ST ever.

He's the personal protector, so it's a very good thing that you don't notice him. It's actually a valuable role, and the only reason I'm okay with him coming back for camp next year. Otherwise, I hope he's never on defense again.

 

[TBR]

That would be a weird reason to keep a guy as awful as Richards. "X player took a while to fully develop so I'll hold on to Y player expecting the same result."

At least Chung provided some decent production throughout his first 4 years with the Pats (prior to leaving), which makes him look like an All-Pro in contrast with Richards' production - or lack thereof. In Chung's first 4 years he racked up 7 INTs including a pick 6, 3 sacks, 19 passes defensed. Richards has a measly 3 passes defensed in 3 years, 2 of which came in garbage time in his rookie season in blowout games (vs JAX, TEN). 0 INTs. Thankfully, he was a healthy scratch for all 3 playoff games for the SB 51 run.

 

[primetime]

First, Chung's one of the best box safeties in the league.

Second, Richards played meaningful snaps in the Super Bowl. One has to assume that the coaching staff sees something, or imagines that they see something, that we don't.

 

[IcyPatriot]

It's the Sesame Street meme:

One of these things is not like the other.

Richards will be replaced in 2018 ... probably by an undrafted FA no less.

 

[Uptown]

No. Chung was initially misused as a deep safety during his first stint. However, he’s pretty good as a JOAT type player (box safety, dime LB, Nickel corner etc).

Jordan Richards just flat out sucks everywhere on the field......even on the bench.

 

[Sicilian]

I honestly don’t notice him in ST ever.

I'm pretty sure 99% of fans (including myself) couldn't describe all the ST roles enough to notice what anyone does other than the guy who actually tackles a returner. And the kickers of course. I think most of ST play happens off camera and is too subtle to notice unless you break down film for a living. And as has been pointed out, you'd only notice him if he was messing up, most likely.

 

[Sciz]

At this exact point in time, he’s on the roster because he’s cheap and is going to be far from the worst player on the 90 man roster.

 

[Kontradiction]

He’s there because of ST. He’s fine there. On defense where he may have to cover and make tackles in space? He’s a total liability. Dreadfully slow in pursuit, takes horrible angles, and seems unable to wrap up unless it’s a gang tackle. In coverage, he’s been abysmal. He can’t stay with RBs or, seemingly, TEs. Chung is by far the superior of the two when it comes to that role. And, unlike Chung, I can’t see Richards improving as time goes on. He simply does not have the athleticism.

 

[luuked]

I hate Chung and that goes triple for Richards. They should not just be cut. I want them to be put wherever Jimmy Hoffa is

Why ?

 

[Wheelssps]

It's exactly this that makes the Butler benching so confusing. I get that Butler might have been struggling with some coverage responsibilities., but I completely honestly would rather have had Butler playing the strong safety in the box role over Richards in the Super Bowl. He's much smaller, but is a better tackler, and there's absolutely no way he would have performed worse that Richards. Cover the RB's, TE's, fine, I would have trusted Butler more than Richards. If the Pats had a better option off of the bench, like a Chung lite, then fine. but Richards is like fat free Chung. Just a disgusting option. Richards just plays so slow, like Brady on a scramble slow. It's amazing seeing that speed out of a non-QB in the NFL. I just, but only slightly.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

The compromising photos given to him by Jake bequette are the reason he’s still on the team.