Barry Church ‘not terrible in coverage, but it is not his strength’

As a Jacksonville Jaguars blog we focus on, well, the Jacksonville Jaguars. So when a newly signed player comes to the team, even if they’re from a large market like Dallas Cowboys strong safety Barry Church, we like to reach out to our friends and ask their opinion of them.

Here’s David Halprin of SBNation’s BloggingTheBoys.com with his thoughts on Church:

Barry Church is a steady player, a smart player and a leader on defense. He is a solid tackler who is generally in position to make plays. He's not someone who is going to wow you with his physicality or athleticism, but he's a guy who will get you 100 tackles a season (at least according to the Cowboys internal stats). His teammates respect him and look to him on defense as a captain. Just an all-round good player, a "glue guy" as some have called him. He's not terrible in coverage, but it is not his strength. Doesn't have great long speed, so you have to watch who he gets matched up on in a passing situation, but decent short-area agility. You want to keep him in the box and not out in space.

Church isn't a ballhawking type of safety, fitting more in the traditional strong safety role, which is exactly what the Jaguars need right now. While Tashaun Gipson had a disappointing season, a pairing of Gipson and Church should be an upgrade over what the team has had the past few seasons.

What do you think? How do you think Church will adapt to the Jaguars’ scheme?