Byron Jones could move into the starting lineup at Safety

[xwalker]

Church goes out of his way to make himself available. He plays team leader for them and they help him in return.

Coverage in the middle of the field has to get better. I don't care how it gets done. Jones, Brady, et al have ravished the middle of the field for big gains where for the most part the defense has been solid to good.

I'm referring to the fact that Church is injured. If he misses the game I'm curious who will replace him.

 

[Wood]

Which begs the question...Can Wilcox cover TE in slot if Jones goes to FS?

 

[jnday]

I think Jones can be the safety upgrade that we have all been wanting . I have no problem with him being s starting safety. He has had a really nice rookie year.

 

[Jstopper]

whoopee do. #6 pick, traded up to get him and you are happy because he is SOLID?

Yep. Seeing as how we weren't getting almost any return on him in the other seasons I will definitely take good cb play from him this season. Draft status is irrelevant at this point

 

[Arkyvarminter]

Is Heath as good as Church now days? Thoughts?

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

Church goes out of his way to make himself available. He plays team leader for them and they help him in return.

Coverage in the middle of the field has to get better. I don't care how it gets done. Jones, Brady, et al have ravished the middle of the field for big gains where for the most part the defense has been solid to good.

Yeah. For me, that was actually a positive. Not that he misplayed it at first, but the fact that he can make a mistake like that and have the athleticism to recover. Not many people we've put back there at the safety position have ever been as athletically gifted as he is.

 

[Zman5]

Injuries seem to be the only way for better players to crack the starting lineup....Collins, McFadden, Butler (Street) and now, potentially Jones.

That's been always the case with JG as OC/HC. If it wasn't for injuries to Roy Williams and Felix Jones, neither Miles Austin or Demarco would have had their record breaking break out games.

This is why I don't buy into the "coaches know better since they see them in practice everyday" idea.

They may see them everyday but that doesn't mean they don't mistakes in their evaluations.

 

[PoundTheRock]

Nothing he has done suggests he is anything close to a ballhawk, at this point. He's really good at covering tight ends. That's his niche. Keep him doing that. He is more of a cover guy than a safety.

Barry Church and JJ Wilcox don't do anything good, so I don't see where this hurts.

 

[cowboyuptx]

I like that the Cowboys have brought him along slow, it's a long season for a rookie... Once he knows when and where to be without much thinking, then his athleticism could really help him make some big plays... He's been great at covering TE's, and there's so many really good TE's in the NFL, that even if that's all he can do, it's not too bad if he can do it this well consistently... If they think he's ready, then I'd love to see more from him at FS.

 

[Risen Star]

His agent can't be happy about it.

 

[SportsGuru80]

****in' right!

 

[big dog cowboy]

His agent can't be happy about it.

Lucky for us we have a strong HC who won't give a crap about stuff like that.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

His agent can't be happy about it.

If he turns out to be the only actually good safety we've had in 15 years or something, we'll pay him well I'm sure.

 

[AbeBeta]

Which begs the question...Can Wilcox cover TE in slot if Jones goes to FS?

We'd be morons to take Jones off the TE.

 

[xwalker]

Which begs the question...Can Wilcox cover TE in slot if Jones goes to FS?

No need. Wilcox will play FS when Jones is in his role of covering the TE.

 

[jobberone]

Without knowing the offensive and defensive formations presnap and the defensive calls as well as routes there is no way to know who covers a TE. Where is he lined up? What are his tendencies in certain formations? Etc. Are you blitzing? Are you rolling coverage to a threat or overload or stack? And way more that I don't know what I don't know.

OTOH, it's generally going to be the outside LB on the strong side or the S on that side. If they are passing people off in a zone or man under it might be more than one player including a CB.

 

[CyberB0b]

Barry Church and JJ Wilcox don't do anything good, so I don't see where this hurts.

Well, the issue is that no one has really seen Byron Jones play safety in a few years. He's been good and effective in the role he has been playing. You may be getting something worse at safety than what you see now.

 

[darthseinfeld]

He played more snaps than Church against the Giants and only 1 less snaps than Wilcox.

Jones played 97% of the snaps against the Pats.

The bigger question will be who replaces Church as the in the box Safety. Heath replaced Church for a few snaps in the Giants game.

My guess is Wilcox with White taking over Jones role and Patmon getting slot work

 

[darthseinfeld]

No need. Wilcox will play FS when Jones is in his role of covering the TE.

I think Cory would do very well in Jones role. If FS is the route they are going to go, I say play him there full time because in White you have the luxury of a guy who should be able to fill Jones role of cover TE's as well or almost as well

 

[BermyStar]

Well, the issue is that no one has really seen Byron Jones play safety in a few years. He's been good and effective in the role he has been playing. You may be getting something worse at safety than what you see now.

Re-watch the last game. They subbed him in for whole series in place of Wilcox on some series and Church on others, so he got quite a few snaps at Safety and looked the part. The aforementioned pass break up was a play that he made from the safety position.