Analysis: Defensive back Obi Melifonwu looking for career reset with Patriots

The problem when trying to figure out Obi Melifonwu’s strengths and weaknesses at the NFL level? There’s just not a lot to go on.

The UConn product and Grafton native, who was signed by the Patriots Monday, was taken in the second round of last year’s draft by the Raiders after a dynamite performance at the combine. But he's been dogged by injury for much of his year-plus in the NFL, having dealt with knee and hip problems last year that limited his availability. And he was waived off injured reserve earlier this season by Oakland, although now, he’s presumably healthy. So there’s just not a lot out there when it comes to judging how he might fit in Foxborough.

But after watching the limited amount of film he has at the NFL level — he had 34 defensive snaps last year on defense, with 26 of them in Oakland’s loss to the Patriots, and most of those at corner — there are a few things that jump out.


First, we have to start with the understanding that, because he’s coming from the Raiders’ organization, he should be graded on a curve. The coaching can be suspect, and the compete level can waiver from player to player on occasion. Basically, bad performances need to be put in some sort of context.

That being said, in New England, he would join a safety room that includes Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon. The biggest of that group, the 24-year-old would also be the youngest, as both McCourty and Chung are 31 and Harmon is 27. (There is something to be said for making that position a little younger, and Melifonwu certainly brings the average age down a bit.) He would also theoretically be a special teams addition — he played snaps on coverage units in his relatively brief stint in Oakland.

The 6-foot-4, 207-pounder does have some impressive positional versatility. He lined up as a boundary corner to open the game against the Patriots, and moved inside later in the contest. In the first screenshot, he's at the bottom, lined up opposite Martellus Bennett.



In this one, he's again at the bottom of the screen.



And here, he's inside (No. 20).



While he’s never going to be mistaken for Darrelle Revis, he showed he was at least competitive when it comes to battling opposing receivers, and does a nice job wrapping up when asked to tackle. He's at the top of the screen on each one of these plays.





Here, he's playing a deeper safety role, and after the completion to Rob Gronkowski, helps out on the tackle.



In this game, he was opposite Gronkowski on multiple occasions, and while he didn’t necessarily go head-to-head with the big tight end in terms of coverage, it does say something about the level of faith the coaching staff had in the youngster that he could compete if called upon. As one analyst noted, Melifonwu could theoretically be a tight end-specific defender for the Patriots down the stretch and into the playoffs. New England has struggled to contain athletic, pass-catching tight ends at times this season, and a bigger defender like Melifonwu could certainly provide help in that regard.

The biggest drawback? For all his versatility and physical skills, don’t leave him on an island. Brandin Cooks was able to shake him on a double move here, a pass play that produced the longest completion of the 2017 season for New England. (Maybe something to keep in mind for a potential Super Bowl LIII matchup?) Yikes.



If he’s truly healthy, the best course of action for Melifonwu would appear to be as a physical defender in coverage against tight ends and backs, a complementary piece of the puzzle who works with the likes of Chung and Kyle Van Noy when it comes to coverage. Let him use his size and physicality and slightly slower pass catchers -- not X receivers -- to help deliver a jolt to a position that needs an infusion of youth.

Ultimately, Melifonwu’s combine performance has yet to translate to the field. For a young player who has yet to show his athletic potential, this represents a terrific opportunity to hit the reset button on his professional career. For the Patriots, they’re betting Melifonwu could be the sort of late-season addition who ends up paying dividends down the road.