Position Overview - Safety

Another installment of the Position Overview blog. With the news coming out of camp that Will Allen took all of his snaps at safety, we are going to go with the Safetys today. Jersey number in quotes.


Patrick Chung (25): Bona fide number 1. Can he make the leap this year? He played nearly 100% of the snaps in the games he appeared in and looks to have the potential to be a top flight safety. More of a Strong Safety, than a Free Safety, but is still solid in coverage. Only had 1 Sack, 1 interception and no Forced Fumbles. Those are probably three of the most important impact stats. Those numbers are not good. Those are three categories I will be monitoring closely this season. If he wants to get paid in line with the top Safetys in the league (around 8 mil per year) he will need to improve his playmaking.


Steve Gregory (28): New face, played with the Chargers last year. A little older at 29, but should still have a few years in him. Signed a 3 year 8.5 million dollar deal that screams STARTING DOLLARS to me. He played out of position opposite Weddle last year as more of a Strong Safety. His skills seem to be more suited to playing more of a Free Safety roamer, but he can still pack a punch. 67 tackles and a pick last year. Hopefully playing more Free Safety, he can improve on those numbers in the interception category and provide a solid last line of defense behind our young corners. 


Tavon Wilson (27): Our 2nd round pick that many had tabbed as a mid-late round pick. He has been getting a lot of reps and is a bigger safety who many have speculated will play a 3rd safety/linebacker role in a "Big Nickel" package. (Great read on Big Nickel here) He started 38 consecutive games in college, so is durable, which is something we have had trouble getting out of our Safetys in recent years. Not much on him, but hopefully he can fulfill his potential and make the 2nd round reach worth it. If you recall, the last time we had a huge second round reach was Seabass and we all now how that turned out (2nd team All-Pro).


James Ihedigbo (44): Mostly a special teams player. If everything breaks right, he should not make this team. He is a solid guy, prototypical Patriot, but I saw him get burned waaaaaay too many times last year to want him getting a lot of snaps at safety. 


Will Allen (26): 12 year vet from the Dolphins. He is trying to make the switch from Corner to Safety late in his career. Depending on how that switch goes, I could see him sticking around here. Belicichick loves to have an old guy in young meeting rooms (ie. Crumpler when we drafted Gronk/Hernandez) so that is a possibility. I think his biggest competition here is going to be Josh Barett, fighting for that 4th Safety spot.


Josh Barrett (45): This is a real make or break year for Barrett. If you do not remember, we snagged him from the Broncos the same way we just did with Ballard from the Giants. He has spent the last two years pretty much on the IR. He needs to show he can stay healthy, but obvious has talent, or Belichick wouldn't have grabbed him. He has some good special teams versatility and in my mind should have the inside track for that 4th Safety spot.


Sergio Brown (31): GTFO my team please. Thank you. That is all.


Nate Ebner (43): Watch this immediately and you will understand my mancrush on Nate Ebner. He was a 6th roudner out of Ohio State. He just started playing football a few years ago and projects only to special teams this year, with the hope that he can develop into a competent safety. Mike Vrabel, now the LB coach at Ohio State gave him a vote of confidence and hopes he can develop into a Larry Izzo type player. Count me in on those who hope that too. He is definitely on the bubble here, and is probably more likely to end up on practice squad than anything, but want to see this crazy person run down the field at 100 miles an hour and knock some fuckers out bountygate style.


Ross Ventrone (35): I love the guy, but don't see how fits in here. He is pretty much special teams only, and we have a lot of special teamers this year it seems. Barring a major run of injuries, don't see him sticking here. I have a feeling the two will move on from each other and I hope he latches on with another team because he was a standup guy last year. At the very least, he has left us with a new term "Ventrone'd" that will live on forever.