Could We Be Planning to Move James Bradberry to FS?

[Jay Roosevelt]

No rumors or anything, but it's something that has been mentioned by some folks here in the past.

I generally dismissed the idea last off-season given how good he was at CB as a rookie, but after struggling there in year 2 - and with us releasing Kurt Coleman, but apparently planning to keep Mike Adams - I wonder if Bradberry at free safety is something they're considering.

He's certainly got the size for it, as well as the ball skills and isn't a bad tackler either. His experience at CB could also prove vital if he were to switch positions. Suddenly he'd go from being a marginal cover man at CB to really solid in coverage as a FS, where he's not asked to matchup with the other team's #1 WR all game.

With the talk of the Redskins possibly releasing Josh Norman, we could end up bringing him back to upgrade Bradberry's spot at CB, draft another starter in the 1st or 2nd round, move Bradberry to FS, and draft a young strong safety in the 2nd or 3rd round to compete with Mike Adams, and hopefully replace him.

I think Bradberry can play; I'm just not sure we're putting him in the best position to allow this team to get the maximum return on the pick we invested in him. He can be an average to slightly above/below average CB and have a decent career in the NFL, but he has the skillset and traits to be a much better safety, IMO.

[Moo Daeng]

I certainly hope not

[Davidson Deac II]

A few people on the board saying it is meaningless.  I will believe when I actually hear a coach discussing it. 

And I am not sure I agree with him being a marginal cornerback for the rest of his career.  There are many elements that go into a successful corner, and it could be that we didn't always put him in the best position to succeed.  Fwiw, it took Norman 3 plus years to become a good cornerback, it could take both Bradberry and Worley a similar amount of time.    

[Khyber53]

Honestly, Worley would make the better safety. He's a more aggressive tackler and more willing to take on a running back. Bradberry suffered last year for the same reasons that most second year CBs of merit suffer -- other teams have an entire year of tape on him to study, picking up his tendencies and learning when to go against him and when to just surrender that part of the field.

Bradberry, for the drop off, held up well, all things considered. If he watches his own tape and learns what opposing OCs and WRs saw, then he can improve his game and become more mature in his approach. The guy has the physical skills and I think he's got it upstairs as well.

Worley, even though he got a ton of criticism, got picked on heavily not because he was bad but because it was a better decision not to throw to Bradberry. He played like a second year CB2 in coverage, but did his best work on getting in on run stops (which had to happen more than one would like to see thanks to our porous d-line and aged safeties. Worley's build and aggressiveness would be the better match as a FS than anyone else we currently have under contract. 

Moving Worley, though, doesn't solve the problem, it just moves it to CB. It might be better to address Safety positions in the draft and let Bradberry and Worley keep maturing as CBs.

 

[top dawg]

1 minute ago, Davidson Deac II said:

A few people on the board saying it is meaningless.  I will believe when I actually hear a coach discussing it. 

And I am not sure I agree with him being a marginal cornerback for the rest of his career.  There are many elements that go into a successful corner, and it could be that we didn't always put him in the best position to succeed.  Fwiw, it took Norman 3 plus years to become a good cornerback, it could take both Bradberry and Worley a similar amount of time.    

With all due respect,  J-No always had the talent, skill and instincts.   His problem was trying to freelance,  and the coaches (especially Rivera) weren't going for it.  Once J-No bought in, he earned his starting role back and the rest was history.  

I'm highly skeptical that either Bradberry or Worley have the talent and instincts to be consistent. J-No never looked as bad as they have at times. 

[fieryprophet]

You can't just move a guy to safety and expect him to suddenly be better just because he's not playing corner, those positions are not interchangeable.

[panthers34]

Worley maybe but not Bradberry.

Bradberry isn't a great tackler and doesn't have a ton of range 

[chknwing]

5 minutes ago, fieryprophet said:

You can't just move a guy to safety and expect him to suddenly be better just because he's not playing corner, those positions are not interchangeable.

shhh don't make his thread look dumb with facts

[nickzz]

32 minutes ago, fieryprophet said:

You can't just move a guy to safety and expect him to suddenly be better just because he's not playing corner, those positions are not interchangeable.

didn't devin mccourty do exactly this? though he might have played some S in college, but so did worley.

[Moo Daeng]

43 minutes ago, top dawg said:

With all due respect,  J-No always had the talent, skill and instincts.   His problem was trying to freelance,  and the coaches (especially Rivera) weren't going for it.  Once J-No bought in, he earned his starting role back and the rest was history.  

I'm highly skeptical that either Bradberry or Worley have the talent and instincts to be consistent. J-No never looked as bad as they have at times. 

Instincts are a fair debate. Bradberry is the more skilled athlete and the measurable show it. 

[Toomers]

4 minutes ago, nickzz said:

didn't devin mccourty do exactly this? though he might have played some S in college, but so did worley.

Many have. And Worley was projected by some as a FS coming out. He lacks the hips to turn quick enough. I said when we picked him I thought he was a Safety. His instincts are served much better there. And he goes from stiff CB to rangy FS. 

[top dawg]

3 minutes ago, Moo Daeng said:

Instincts are a fair debate. Bradberry is the more skilled athlete and the measurable show it. 

Measurables are really overrated.

I don't mean this in a rude or terse way, just really as a point of emphasis: Measurables without instincts ain't poo. 

 

[Hoenheim]

53 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

 

Moving Worley, though, doesn't solve the problem, it just moves it to CB. It might be better to address Safety positions in the draft and let Bradberry and Worley keep maturing as CBs.

 

Exactly this. Our team historically doesnt given a flying fug about drafting safties in general . Here is our history drafting Safteys in the last 10 years :

2008 : Charles Goddfrey , 3rd Round

2010 : Jordan Pugh , 6th Round

2012 : DJ Campbell, 7th Round

2014 : Tre Boston, 3rd Round

So we haven't drafted a saftey in 4 years, and that saftey we drafted is no longer on the team lol. Never more than a 3rd rounder on a saftey in the last decade. And only 4 total picked in 10 years. Its mostly horrible talent evaluation and not taking the saftey position seriously at all. Its no wonder why we eventually got to the point where we had a couple of sub six feet aging safety getting torched by most WRs in the league. 

Its just past time for us to spend either a 1st or 2nd on a saftey, we haven't done that since Thomas Davis and he ended up at LB so that doesnt really count.

Also in that same period, the only DEs taken in the first two rounds were Everett Brown and Kony Ealy, two huge busts . 

S and DE are overdue for high selections . 

 

[My Goodness My Guinness]

1 hour ago, top dawg said:

With all due respect,  J-No always had the talent, skill and instincts.   His problem was trying to freelance,  and the coaches (especially Rivera) weren't going for it.  Once J-No bought in, he earned his starting role back and the rest was history.  

I'm highly skeptical that either Bradberry or Worley have the talent and instincts to be consistent. J-No never looked as bad as they have at times. 

This couldn’t be more false. Josh Norman looked absolutely terrible during his first 2 seasons. Neither Worley or Bradberry have played close to that bad. Not saying the switch will click with them like it did Josh but that statement is not true whatsoever.