rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Does it seem like Brandon Stephens and Pepe are competing for the primary Nickle CB spot or are both of them largely also competing with a S like Hamilton?
Seems like our defense might be an ever changing dynamic cluster fuck of different possibilities with rotations possible everywhere except ILB.
Well I look at it this way...macdonald's already talked about not locking guys into specific roles yet as they figure out who fits where and does what best in the defence right now
stephens is gonna play - i think a lot of those snaps will come at corner and nickel but you might see him rotate into the deep
i think damarion's another guy who probably fits into more of a positionless kind of spot than as a nickel
with the safety overhaul, if JAD and Pepe both turn into something then this secondary is stacked - and if they come far enough along i think kyle fuller's gonna struggle to get snaps because both of these guys are gonna play special teams
I'd be highly surprised if Hamilton or Williams come off the field barely ever. Maybe a snap or two a game, at most. The investments in both are just so big, and they're viewed as playmakers.
Realistically, when healthy, Marlon and Peters aren't coming off the field either. Maybe they rotate a little more earlier just to get back into speed of things, but I wouldn't even bank on that.
I don't think they're just going to mothball Clark either. He's not going to be a 60 snap a game guy, but I think he'll still play plenty if he's here.
I agree they might not be "position specific", but lets face it... Marlon and Peters are not going to play Safety, and I really don't see Williams in press coverage on an outside Corner that often. Maybe Hamilton, but I wouldn't even bet on that.
So given that, barring injury, I think Stephens is playing mostly corner, and he'll rotate with Fuller and maybe others. Obviously things can change with injury, but I think you'll see Stephens a lot more in coverage than you will as a freelancing or even box Safety.