I posted this in the Kerry Rhodes thread, but I thought that it was probably worth bringing up on its own. I think that many of you will remember the Lowery to safety talk a couple years back when he was a rookie, before the last season of the Mangini regime. It's understandable why they decided to leave him at corner after taking a look at him at both positions in camp, because he did turn out to have some solid CB skills. I think the issue with him though is that the same question marks that were brought up when he was drafted may be the same that keep him from being the best corner, especially in Rex's scheme. He's more of a zone scheme guy, someone who can make plays on the ball but has issues keeping up with faster receivers. Would that be enough of a reason alone to slide him back to safety? Probably not, but if the staff isn't sure that they want to bring in someone to take the spot I think he can be a viable option. He knows the defense, his skills would translate well, he's got experience defending the middle part of the field in the nickel, and most importantly he'd have Jim Leonhard right next to him making the calls. Now there are negatives, the big one being that he would probably be a downgrade as a tackler from Kerry, though I certainly think he would actually attempt to make them. Plus, I like the idea of a rotation with Leonhard, Lowery, and Eric Smith, because Smith really was a revelation for the Jets D last year, and deserves a good amount of PT. One thing that stands out to me that I think would push it towards a possibility is what it would allow the Jets to do in the draft. If he were able to play there and be solid, then it would open up another option for the Jets, and that's drafting a cornerback a little bit earlier than if they needed to get a starting safety. In my mind, if the Jets choices were draft a safety to start in Rd 2, and leave Lowery as the nickel OR to start Lowery back at safety and draft a corner to play behind Cromartie and exist as insurance in case he leaves after next season, I'm picking the latter. Again, just an option, but I believe that is at the very least worth considering.
I was all for it when he was drafted. That being said, we'd have a pretty damn small pair of safeties.
There was something out there earlier about Rex eyeing ESmith and Ihedigbo as potential replacements, but says drafting/trading for someone is still a possibility. Nothing really useful there
The Jets are too thin in the secondary to start switching positions around. If they switch Lowery then that leaves the Jets with Revis, Cromartie, and Coleman at CB.
I like Lowery at the nickel, but some flexibility would be fantastic. I really like the idea of being able to bring Smith in and move him up in the box with Cromartie covering teams' #2. If we're not able to bring in a guy like Atogwe, I'd like to see a mid-rounder on a safety and heavy rotation at the position.
They'll still be thin, but they'd be more set in the starting lineup if it were to work out. Plus, I'd much rather be in a spot where depth needed to be added later in the offseason than to see the team still scrambling to sign a starter. In the same vein, if they had to draft someone, I'd rather use a 2nd on a nickel corner and perhaps eventual starter than take a kid there that needed to start from day one.
Smith has started in the past and has not performed too terribly. Switch his role with Leonhard and move him into the box where he will be the most effective. There is not even a guarantee that switching Lowery to safety is going to work. Lowery still has problems tracking the ball in the air or playing it before it hits the receiver's hands. I still have yet to see a play where he batted a ball that was not at chest level. Moving him to safety is far from a sure solution.
I'll be perfectly honest. With Cromartie at the 2, I would have much less of a problem with Smith starting at safety. However, like I said, I love the idea of working Lowery in more at safety. With our new duo at CB, I'd like to have Lowery on the field more. Flexibility and rotation could work out quite well for us.
I like the idea. It's something we won't know how well it will work until it happens, but it makes sense to me. Lowery's problem is that he's not quite fast enough for man-to-man coverage, but he's smart enough to know where he's supposed to be, he's athletic, he plays physical and he's a decent tackler. I think that could translate well to safety, perhaps even better than nickle. He's on the small side but I like his prospects better than E. Smith, who's a good role player, but lousy in coverage.
Not saying that it is, but it's something that the staff would need to look at, and determine from there if is something there. I like Smith too, but I like the safeties as a whole one hell of a lot more if someone gets added to that mix. Unless the Jets bring in a big time FA right now they aren't going to have any kind of sure solution at the safety position, but checking to see if someone already on the payroll with NFL experience can sure up a starting spot would be huge. As for Lowery's skills, he has trouble when he's chasing receivers because he doesn't have the speed to be on them as easily as Revis or other speedy corners would. It's a straight man scheme, no matter how much he might develop he'll always have trouble matched up with fast receivers. When Lowery's actually there he can make plays on the ball, it's more a matter of getting there. His speed would be ideal for a position where he can sit back and watch things unfold.
I agree with that. I don't think his ability to track the ball is the issue. When he lets one get by it's usually because he's just not fast enough to position himself to make a play. And he doesn't have long arms so he has to have tighter coverage, which doesn't help.
Agree to disagree on his coverage skills for now. I still like him better in Strickland's old role than in Rhodes'. He has the football IQ and the physicalityto diagnose and attack screens like Strickland from the nickel position. His size isn't ideal for safety, especially not when playing next to Leonhard. We need better size at the safety position than 5'8"(listed) and 5'11".
Dwight Lowery played corner AND safety at San Jose State, and some people thought he was always a better safety prospect than corner. I kind of felt that way too. So I do think it makes perfect sense to shift Lowery back to safety. That's where the need for a starter is and I think he has a chance to be better than some people might suspect. He was a nice ball-hawking centerfielder at SJS, so maybe he can do likewise in the pros. Anyway, I think its a good idea cane. If we don't sign a veteran starting safety or draft one (like Mays or Thomas) high, Lowery is worth a shot. Its better than just handing the job to Eric Smith by default.
you know who would be a pretty good safety? brad smith. he's tall, fast, has good hands, and knows how to tackle from his 3 years playing special teams. just saying
