Free or Strong Safety... Which Position Do I Prefer? - @Kevin_Payne

by KevinPayne on May 19, 2010 10:32 AM CDT

Your honorable leader of Turf Show Times, Ryan Van Awesome (Bibber), threw an email my way the other day that included some football questions, so here I am to throw some answers back 'atcha. I plan on responding to each one of them over the course of the coming days.

So to kick off this little Q&A, I'll first answer this question...

Which position do you prefer... free safety or strong safety?

Honestly, I don't really don't have a position preference. I feel I have the ability to play both - I'm comfortable playing free safety and I'm comfortable playing strong. Basically, whatever the coaches want me to do, I do ;-)

I played both positions in Chicago, and I played both in college, so it's really not an issue for me. I could play free safety and be in the box, and I can play strong safety and be in the deep middle, like a free safety. So it really just depends on what defenses you run. A lot of defenses within the St. Louis Rams' packages require the safeties be interchangeable - meaning that they could both play the middle, and both come down in the box. So, you know, that's good, because I like to do both. It's really not a big issue for me on that standpoint.

Of course, if any of you guys have any questions for me, feel free to post them in the comments or on Facebook.com/KevinPayneNFL or Twitter.com/Kevin_Payne. I probably won't be able to answer all of them, but I'll definitely try (FYI... I like to use questions as inspiration for blog posts, so feel free to ask me about whatever's on your mind - football questions, as well as off-the-field questions, are good to go.)

Ttyl...

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Hoo-Yah Soldier

Hoo-Yah

by RamsQb5 on May 19, 2010 10:36 AM CDT reply actions

thanks Kevin

The Rams really seem to be intent on finding players with versatility like that, and it makes a lot of sense.

Turf Show Times

by Ryan Van Bibber on May 19, 2010 10:49 AM CDT reply actions

As if I haven't said it before...

Thanks Kevin, I can’t put into words just how refreshing it is to have a professional athlete to take time to interact with the fans. This is great stuff!!

by bdemartin on May 19, 2010 11:40 AM CDT reply actions

+1

by dbcouver on May 19, 2010 12:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Pleasure's all mine, man ;-)

Seriously. I have so much fun hangin’ with you guys. Y’all are too cool, and I’m proud to play for a team that has such supportive fans.

by KevinPayne on May 19, 2010 1:23 PM CDT up reply actions

Versatile Safety

YES that is one of the key things we need in our defense. An individual that can 1 step up to stop the run and 2 sit back to help our corners (if need be). That my friend is what I’m talking about.

I do have some questions if you don’t mind. From your perspective would you prefer defending against a smash mouth type offense such as big running backs pounding the ball or receivers that prefer the YAC. And two which is pretty boy receivers who like to run routes and slide before getting hit which would require a defender who has nice reads on offensive plays?

by BurnoutJoeB. on May 19, 2010 1:39 PM CDT reply actions