Browner not a safety, here to man up
This was stupid to begin with. Brandon Browner has never had success playing safety in his career. All of his NFL success has come strictly playing corner in a press-man scheme, a role that makes logical sense across from Darrelle Revis in the Patriots secondary.
Yet, thanks largely to some of the uninformed members of the media (looking at you, Tony Massarotti), some in Pats Nation wanted Browner to be utilized as a strong safety. Massarotti suggested on-air that Browner has the body type (6'4", 220) to be the Patriots answer to Kam Chancelor. Never mind that a move to safety would negate Browner's biggest strength (physicality on the line of scrimmage) and expose his biggest weakness (zone coverage).
This doesn't make sense, and judging by Browner's conference call yesterday it's not going to happen.
No, they haven’t talked to me about playing safety. So far, I’m here to play cornerback. I’ll play wherever need be. I just want to play football and I’m fortunate to be playing for a team like the Pats.
Browner also shed a little light on the Patriots plans for himself and Revis.
From what I understand, they’re going to have us matching up with guys. Our strongest suit is man-to-man, my strongest suit is man-to-man. Our main thing up in Seattle is to compete. That’s what we did, day-in and day-out.
What’s so unique is, a lot of the stuff I’ll be doing on defense I did in Seattle. The only thing that changed is the terminology. I was also told that we play a lot of man-to-man, which is my strong suit. I’ll take it in stride and I can’t wait to get back out there.
In acknowledging the similarities to his role in Seattle, Browner did note that he'll going from playing alongside one true shutdown corner (Richard Sherman) to another in Darrelle Revis. In fact, Browner said that Revis was the only player that he's exchanged jerseys with after a game; a major sign of respect. Browner also said that he and Sherman constantly pushed each other to get better, and said he expects the same will transpire with Revis.
Browner's position will be corner, but the concept of "matching up with guys" leaves open the possibility for Browner to occasionally cover some tight ends. Considering how much time most of the league's top "move" tight ends spend split out, it's certainly not inconceivable to use a top cover corner on them. The Patriots did so with great success last year against the Saints, matching Aqib Talib up with Jimmy Graham.
For example, consider the on-paper matchups for next season's Denver/New England showdown. Revis will almost surely be on Demaryius Thomas. Rather than risk Browner getting burned by Denver's quick shifty guys (Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders), wouldn't it make more sense to match him up with TE Julius Thomas, a guy the Patriots didn't have an answer for last year? Thomas is essentially a big (and very good) receiver, and Patriots smaller, quicker corners (Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan, Kyle Arrington) are better equipped to handle Welker and Sanders anyways.
With Revis and Browner in the fold, the Pats now have two big corners (Revis, Browner), two jitterbugs (Dennard, Arrington) and one tweener (Ryan). It's a unique combination of talent and depth that should give Bill Belichick tons of flexibility when matching up with different offenses. Browner's size is key to that, as it wouldn't be surprising to see him go from covering a Julius Thomas type one week to teaming up with Revis to man up on the Bears supersized receiving duo of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery the next.
For a full transcript of Browner's conference call, click here.
