The coaches can talk all they want, but I see this as a demotion for Blackmon. I think that because of his injury history, they no longer have confidence in his ability to develop into a serviceable CB, so they're moving him to safety, where there is less need for speed and quick-cutting ability.

All the talk about the safety position being a way to utilize Blackmon's "ball skills" is pure BS, because a CB needs ball skills a lot more than a safety does. If the injuries are behind this move, it does not bode well for Blackmon's prospects for being an effective punt returner again.

Another bad sign that I see with this move is that Jarrett Bush just moved one step ahead in the CB rotation. I was hoping that Bush, not Blackmon, would be moved to safety. They toyed with that idea a bit last year but never really followed through with it, for whatever reason.

"Greg C." wrote:

I think Bush was Safety, but with the injuries filled in as Nickel.

Al Harris has virtually no ball hawking skills at all and he's a very effective CB.

I have a hard time understanding how a CB needs ball hawking skills more than a Safety. CB is usually locked onto one guy or one side of the field. A Safety has a lot more field to protect than a CB and that makes me think a Safety has a tad more need for ball hawking than a CB.

"Zero2Cool" wrote:

Unfortunately, I don't think he's a pro-level WR. He "took one for the team" when he played WR his last year at BC, because they needed weapons there. His strengths lie in his vision plus his defensive and ballhawking abilities, which is why safety may be a very good fit for him.

"MassPackersFan" wrote: