After a disappointing 5-11 season, the Ravens front office took a proactive approach in the offseason and signed several free agents with the headliner being three time Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle. There have been major issues in the secondary ever since the departure of Ed Reed, so brining in one of the top safeties over the past decade made a lot of sense. Weddle should be a major upgrade as the captain in the back end of the defense, but he isn’t the only new player projected to start for the Ravens at safety in 2016. Lardarius Webb is making a full-time change of position to safety after playing seven seasons at CB for the Ravens. Webb was a safety in college before making the transition to CB in the NFL, but he has only started two games at the position at the end of the 2015 season. I’ll take a look at his limited snaps at safety and see how he looked in this brief stint to get a better idea of how he will fit in in 2016.

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While Webb only started two games at safety in 2015, he did see a few snaps in the week 15 game vs Kansas City as well. He also played a number of snaps in the slot CB position where he may continue to see time in 2016 in certain sub packages. In the play below, Webb blitzes from his slot CB position and pressures the QB forcing him to scramble. Webb times his blitz well, and while he did not come away with a sack, it would have been a positive play for the defense if not for a late hit penalty.

In 2016, Webb should continue to see time as a slot CB in certain sub packages. He still has the speed and quickness to cover WRs well as can be seen in this play where he sticks to Antonio Brown running down the seam.

He can also match up with most TEs. Although in some instances his smaller size may be an issue in getting a jam or in jumpball situations. In this play against the Bengals, he got beat over the top by 6’6” Tyler Eifert. However, as long as he is not matched up in man coverage in the Red Zone, these size mismatches can be mitigated for the most part.

The number of snaps where Webb was tested as a single high safety are quite limited, but in this small sample size he appears to have good recognition skills and range to make plays. In this play pictured below, Webb is lined up past the far hash mark from the eventual target. He gains ground in his drop after the ball is snapped and is still even with the far hash mark when the ball is released. The ball ends up falling incomplete (PI on Smith), but Webb demonstrates impressive range on this play as he would have been able to make a play on the WR even if he may not have been able to break up the pass.

Webb was not tested often when playing in a two high look, but we can get an idea of his instincts and ability from a couple of different instances. In this first play against the Steelers, Antonio Brown runs a 16 yard out route, a common Cover 2 beater. Webb quickly recognizes the route and makes the proper read and break before the ball is even thrown. The ball is perfectly thrown resulting in an easy completion, but this play demonstrates Webb’s recognition skills and ability to process the play as a safety.

In this next play against the Bengals, Webb shows his inexperience at the position. Once again playing in a 2 high safety look, he is standing flat-footed as the WR runs a post route splitting the 2 deep safeties. Green is open for a long TD if the QB makes the right read, but fortunately in this play the mistake by the defense did not result in a TD.

Webb was often used deep in coverage either in a single high or 2 deep look, so there were not many plays to estimate his ability as a run defender from the safety position. Webb has always been a hard-nosed tackler as a CB, proving to be very willing to makes plays around the LOS, but playing deep as the last safety net is a very different role. In this play, the Bengals are aligned in what looks to be an obvious running formation. Webb is aligned about 12 yards behind the LOS and drops to about 15 yards before reading run and starting to move downhill. Kendrick Lewis is taken out of the play leaving Webb as the last line of defense. Unfortunately, Webb takes an awful angle on the RB and is unable to recover, losing the footrace to the endzone.

There were clearly some rough spots in Webb’s transition to safety, but overall he demonstrated quality range and instincts on the back-end. For a player with his experience, better feel for the position will come with more reps. I expect Webb to be a quality starting safety for the Ravens if he can stay healthy. He has the ball-skills to generate turnovers as well which is something the Ravens have desperately missed in recent seasons. His experience and versatility at CB will also serve Dean Pees and the Ravens defense well as Pees will be able to mix and match CBs and safeties to provide the best personnel match-ups.