Weddle and Webb breaking the mold
Smaller, quicker safeties focused more on coverage as offenses pass downfield
The Ravens’ best defenses in years past have had clearly defined roles for their safeties: in 2000, free safety Rod Woodson and strong safety Kim Herring; in 2006 — and many years after — free safety Ed Reed and strong safety Dawan Landry.
One safety had one role; the other had a different one. This year, the Ravens have two new safeties — one new to the team, the other new to the position — who aren’t as quick to make the distinction.
“We’re both safeties,” said Lardarius Webb, a former cornerback. “We don’t just kind of put specifics on it. We’re safeties.”
Free safeties are traditionally smaller and quicker. They stay back in the secondary and serve as the final line of defense against the deep pass.
Strong safeties are usually bigger and more physical. They sometimes play in the box and deliver hard hits.
By those standards, Webb and Eric Weddle, the Ravens’ big free-agent acquisition from the San Diego Chargers, would both be considered free safeties. Their pairing heading into this season is among the more drastic changes the Ravens have made to improve on last season’s 5-11 finish.
“As far as the traditional notion of safeties and having the box guy and the deep guy, there’s something to that,” coach Jim Harbaugh said last week at training camp. “If you have those types of guys, you’re going to have to build your defense around those guys. But there’s really something to be said for having two athletes back there that can move and make plays. We feel it’s really important for us to have guys back there that can make plays on the ball.”
Most teams no longer differentiate between free and strong safeties on their Today: M&T Bank Stadium open practices:
rosters, but some still use the same approach. Perhaps the best safety tandem in the NFL is the Seattle Seahawks’ Earl Thomas (5 feet 10, 202 pounds) and Kam Chancellor (6-2, 225), who have patrolled the field as part of one of the league’s most feared defenses over the past five years. Thomas has great range, while Chancellor serves as the thumper.
More familiar was the Cincinnati Bengals pair of Reggie Nelson (5-11, 210) and George Iloka (6-4, 225) until Nelson signed with the Oakland Raiders in the offseason. The Ravens were 1-7 against the Seahawks and Bengals when those duos played.
For a long time, the Ravens ran their secondary the same way. Among their most productive safety combinations was Reed and Landry, who played together from 2006 to 2010. In 2006, the Ravens allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL.
Reed was listed at 5-11, 205 pounds, Landry at 6-1, 212, each fitting the ideal profile for his position. When Landry left after the 2010 season, the Ravens replaced him with Bernard Pollard (6-1, 225) for the last two years of Reed’s tenure in Baltimore.
The Ravens opened last season with a similar pairing of Kendrick Lewis (6-0, 205) as a free-safety type alongside 6-1, 228pound Will Hill as more of a strong safety. The result was a defense that ranked 24th in the NFL in points allowed per game, the Ravens’ worst showing since 1996.
The Ravens spent the offseason retooling the roster, and perhaps the biggest change is at safety. They signed Weddle, moved Webb, cut Hill and made Lewis the backup, dismissing the idea of a true strong safety to get faster in the defensive backfield and create more turnovers. Webb (5-10, 182) and Weddle (5-11, 195) are smaller than those before them and represent a significant change in the defense’s makeup.
Why smaller safeties could work together, when they might not have five years ago, is largely a product of offenses focusing more on the downfield passing game. Where Landry and Pollard were used in blitzes, to stop the run and match up with the tight end, few safeties play that way anymore. Tight ends are geared more toward catching passes, for which Webb and Weddle are better matchups, and defenses rely on their front seven to stop the run.
There is a drawback, though. As the Ravens maximize speed, they forgo size in the secondary, leaving Webb and Weddle responsible for making more open-field tackles. The toll that will take on two relatively small players remains to be seen.
“I think we’re both more of a free safety, but we both can tackle, are really good tacklers,” Webb said. “I think it’ll be good — interchangeable players. We can do both. So that’s going to ... be our advantage this year.”
The transition appears to be going smoothly. In the opening days of training camp, during live drills, both players have played several spots on the field. Usually, they start plays in the defensive backfield, but both have shaded toward the line of scrimmage in certain formations.
Weddle and Webb can help each other with their respective transitions. Weddle hasn’t played with his new teammates or in coordinator Dean Pees’ defense, while Webb has never played safety for a full season.
“The more we practice together, the more we get to feel what our communication will be — my looks, his looks, what I’m saying when I say certain things,” Weddle said. “The biggest thing is no mental errors.”
Another role of safeties is to organize the defense. Weddle, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, is experienced in that.
“He’s the leader back there,” Webb said. “He’s our Joe Flacco. He puts everybody in a spot. That’s where I’m trying to get to, where I can control everything, to get two quarterbacks in the back. Right now, that’s what he’s doing. He’s putting everybody in the right spots; he’s making sure all the checks are correct. He knows what he’s doing.”