Courtney Greene Should Start in 2011

A lot has been made of the Jaguars' current safety situation. Most believe that Don Carey won't be a starting safety again in 2011, but many, myself included, think that Courtney Greene should continue to be in the starting lineup in the upcoming season. We saw some development in his game as the year progressed, especially in reagards to his tackling. Let's take a look at what he's done to this point in his career.

Courtney Greene was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2009 draft 245th overall (7th round) just 5 picks in front of Jaguars RB Rashad Jennings. Greene was later signed by the Jaguars as his short stay in Seattle never amounted to anything. Greene is 212 pounds, and he is 6 feet tall. He's entering his third year in the NFL out of Rutgers. Since he didn't play much in 2009, let's look at his 2010 stats:

• 14 games played
• 58 tackles
• 4 passes defensed
• 1 interception
• 20 tackles assisted

Now that doesn't seem like a big-time stat line, but it's certainly a starting point. For fun, I compared his stats to Eric Weddle's first season in the league. I know the systems are different, but I just wanted a very basic feel for how they compared. Here's the stats from Weddle's first year in the pros:

• 15 games played
• 42 tackles
• 1 sack
• 6 passes defensed
• 1 interception
• 11 tackels assisted

I'm no expert, but those are comparable stat lines. I'm not saying that Greene is a guy that will someday become a big name safety, but he certainly deserves more time to see what happens. Eric Weddle's career really took off in his second year of significant time. Let's wait and see if the same thing happens for Courtney Greene.