Darrelle Revis thinks he's eventually going to switch positions
Darrelle Revis has been in the NFL since 2007, when the New York Jets made him the No. 14 pick out of the University of Pittsburgh. For most, if not all the time since then, Revis has been one of the league’s very best cornerbacks, and there was a period where he was the undisputed Best Corner Alive. He’ll likely stay a corner, and a very good one, for another few years.
After that, Revis thinks he might shift to another position.
“There will probably be conversations in the future about maybe moving my position to safety,” Revis said Thursday, per NJ.com. “But as of right now, I still feel I can play at a high level, and play the cornerback position at a high level.”
A top-flight cornerback moving to safety toward the back half of his career is not without precedent. Charles Woodson, who himself was one of the best corners in the league for the first 14 years of his illustrious career, played his final four seasons as a safety before retiring at the end of the 2015 season. (He also played parts of earlier seasons at safety but was primarily a corner.) Rod Woodson was a great corner for over a decade before shifting to safety for the last five years of his NFL career. Plenty more have made the switch, with some of them even doing it much earlier, like the Patriots‘ Devin McCourty.
With Revis’ coverage instincts, he would make for a great free safety. It’s easy to envision him covering large swaths of the field and picking off passes left and right. It’s a different position with vastly different responsibilities, but it’s not hard to see how his skill set will play well there. Just, not right now.
“Darrelle is a pro. He understands himself,” Jets GM Mike Maccagnan told WFAN after the Revis appearance. “We think he’s a heck of a football player. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. But Darrelle is a corner, and we like him as a corner.”