Review: Safety Donovan Wilson

[xwalker]

I reviewed all snaps played by Wilson vs the Browns.

• He replaced Thompson after the 1st series.
• Wilson played 93% of the defensive snaps.
• Thompson only played 4 snaps on defense.
  • He was not injured because he played 58% on special teams.
• They changed the base coverage to single-high.
  • They had been playing 2-deep as the base.
  • Single-high puts the SS in the box.
• The change makes it difficult to compare to the play of the Safeties in previous games.
• Wilson played as the FS in single-high.
• There are a few reasons that they likely played him at FS instead of SS.
  • The previous coaching staff training him to play FS in single-high.
  • All of his 2019 preseason snaps were there.
  • He replaced Thompson who was the FS this season.
  • They often played base vs 3 WR sets.
  • SS X.Woods has the ability to cover the slot WR when there is not a Nickel CB.
• Coverage:
  • Wilson looked decent in coverage outside of the redzone.
  • He does not have ideal range for a single-high FS but he looked decent nonetheless.
  • In the redzone he made some mistakes.
    • It is always difficult to know Safety assignments for certain.
    • He was late on the TD pass to the TE on the offensive left side.
    • He appeared to be a gap too far inside on a TD run off LT.
• Tackling
  • He had about 4 missed tackles, maybe 5.
  • He is physical and almost always got himself into the correct position.
  • He just didn't make the tackle on those occasions.
  • He probably needs to take one more step before uncoiling to attempt the tackle.
  • On one of the more obvious missed tackles, he did play the correct technique.
  • He maintained outside contain vs the blocker which was his top responsibility.
  • That made it difficult to get to the RB once he committed to the inside.
  • He redirected the RB to where other defenders are located which is good.
• Overall he looked better than Thompson (yes, that's not saying much).
  • I expect him to start this week.
  • He has the upside to get better with experience.
  • Thompson does not have upside.
• Physically he is probably a better fit if they go back to the 2 deep base.
  • The 2-deep Safeties that are somewhat of a tweener between FS and SS.
  • The 2 deep alignment requires the front 7 to stop the run (i.e. No Safety in the box).

 

[Hennessy_King]

I reviewed all snaps played by Wilson vs the Browns.

• He replaced Thompson after the 1st series.
• Wilson played 93% of the defensive snaps.
• Thompson only played 4 snaps on defense.
  • He was not injured because he played 58% on special teams.
• They changed the base coverage to single-high.
  • They had been playing 2-deep as the base.
  • Single-high puts the SS in the box.
• The change makes it difficult to compare to the play of the Safeties in previous games.
• Wilson played as the FS in single-high.
• There are a few reasons that they likely played him at FS instead of SS.
  • The previous coaching staff training him to play FS in single-high.
  • All of his 2019 preseason snaps were there.
  • He replaced Thompson who was the FS this season.
  • They often played base vs 3 WR sets.
  • SS X.Woods has the ability to cover the slot WR when there is not a Nickel CB.
• Coverage:
  • Wilson looked decent in coverage outside of the redzone.
  • He does not have ideal range for a single-high FS but he looked decent nonetheless.
  • In the redzone he made some mistakes.
    • It is always difficult to know Safety assignments for certain.
    • He was late on the TD pass to the TE on the offensive left side.
    • He appeared to be a gap too far inside on a TD run off LT.
• Tackling
  • He had about 4 missed tackles, maybe 5.
  • He is physical and almost always got himself into the correct position.
  • He just didn't make the tackle on those occasions.
  • He probably needs to take one more step before uncoiling to attempt the tackle.
  • On one of the more obvious missed tackles, he did play the correct technique.
  • He maintained outside contain vs the blocker which was his top responsibility.
  • That made it difficult to get to the RB once he committed to the inside.
  • He redirected the RB to where other defenders are located which is good.
• Overall he looked better than Thompson (yes, that's not saying much).
  • I expect him to start this week.
  • He has the upside to get better with experience.
  • Thompson does not have upside.
• Physically he is probably a better fit if they go back to the 2 deep base.
  • The 2-deep Safeties that are somewhat of a tweener between FS and SS.
  • The 2 deep alignment requires the front 7 to stop the run (i.e. No Safety in the box).

Spot on

 

[DanTanna]

Good wrtie-up.

At A&M he cracked heads while tackling but is a step slow to be a cover guy. The guy has a nose for the ball though and has good hands - we need that LOL.

 

[stilltheguru]

Just glad hes getting a shot. I don't understand why Thompson got to play if the gap between them isn't big. If they are close to equal play the guy who atleast may have upside, not the guy who is in year 5 and still the same

 

[BigTimeBlues]

Good wrtie-up.

At A&M he cracked heads while tackling but is a step slow to be a cover guy. The guy has a nose for the ball though and has good hands - we need that LOL.

That dude laid some serious wood as an Aggie. He was so much fun to watch. I'm rooting for him, for sure.

 

[Aven8]

You forgot he led the team in tackles too. He wasn’t all world but he wasn’t meh either. I hope he starts again this week too.

 

[jazzcat22]

I say leave him in. Need to see what they have going forward.
I never thought Thompson was the answer anyway. I figured he would be cut during TC.

 

[fivetwos]

I had a feeling his problem was speed.

It was only a guess given I havent seen much of the guy.

He does seem to play with a certain urgency.

All in all, he is of 6th round pedigree and while I've been wanting him to get a shot...I'm not really thinking he is the answer to the ongoing problem at the position.

 

[Jarntt]

I struggle to see how this team was better off without HHCD in the mix for snaps. We knew he wasn't a superstar when he signed and was going to be at best NFL average, but even slightly below NFL average would be a humongous upgrade at this point.

 

[Kaiser]

• Overall he looked better than Thompson (yes, that's not saying much).
  • I expect him to start this week.
  • He has the upside to get better with experience.
  • Thompson does not have upside.

Thanks for doing this, I was thinking about doing it. I never say "put in the backup because it can't be worse", because it usually is worse. But I'd much rather roll the dice on Wilson and at least get a thumper in the secondary.

 

[Cowboyny]

I reviewed all snaps played by Wilson vs the Browns.

• He replaced Thompson after the 1st series.
• Wilson played 93% of the defensive snaps.
• Thompson only played 4 snaps on defense.
  • He was not injured because he played 58% on special teams.
• They changed the base coverage to single-high.
  • They had been playing 2-deep as the base.
  • Single-high puts the SS in the box.
• The change makes it difficult to compare to the play of the Safeties in previous games.
• Wilson played as the FS in single-high.
• There are a few reasons that they likely played him at FS instead of SS.
  • The previous coaching staff training him to play FS in single-high.
  • All of his 2019 preseason snaps were there.
  • He replaced Thompson who was the FS this season.
  • They often played base vs 3 WR sets.
  • SS X.Woods has the ability to cover the slot WR when there is not a Nickel CB.
• Coverage:
  • Wilson looked decent in coverage outside of the redzone.
  • He does not have ideal range for a single-high FS but he looked decent nonetheless.
  • In the redzone he made some mistakes.
    • It is always difficult to know Safety assignments for certain.
    • He was late on the TD pass to the TE on the offensive left side.
    • He appeared to be a gap too far inside on a TD run off LT.
• Tackling
  • He had about 4 missed tackles, maybe 5.
  • He is physical and almost always got himself into the correct position.
  • He just didn't make the tackle on those occasions.
  • He probably needs to take one more step before uncoiling to attempt the tackle.
  • On one of the more obvious missed tackles, he did play the correct technique.
  • He maintained outside contain vs the blocker which was his top responsibility.
  • That made it difficult to get to the RB once he committed to the inside.
  • He redirected the RB to where other defenders are located which is good.
• Overall he looked better than Thompson (yes, that's not saying much).
  • I expect him to start this week.
  • He has the upside to get better with experience.
  • Thompson does not have upside.
• Physically he is probably a better fit if they go back to the 2 deep base.
  • The 2-deep Safeties that are somewhat of a tweener between FS and SS.
  • The 2 deep alignment requires the front 7 to stop the run (i.e. No Safety in the box).

Much appreciated! This is what you expect from a green prospect playing his first time with starting reps.

If you have the time, an evaluation of Xavier Woods. The eye test doesn't look good, especially as a tackler.

 

[Sydla]

He better start. Enough with Thompson.