Joejuan Williams playing safety

Joejuan Williams was drafted by the Patriots last offseason to play cornerback. He was selected in the second round, 45th overall after playing college at Vanderbilt. He committed to Vanderbilt who was excited to bring him in even though he was deemed ineligible to play his senior season of high school after moving schools late. He went on to follow this trend by forgoing his senior season of college after 3 years with Vanderbilt, he chose a good time to declare for the draft following a Junior season that was his first full season as a starter in which he had 61 tackles, 13 passes defended, 4 ints, and 2 tackles for a loss. This strong season coupled with his size (6'3 208lbs), led him to be picked in the second round despite a worse than expected 40 yard dash time of 4.6. However Williams is the type of corner that thrives off of physical play, and using his size and strength (17 reps of 225 lbs), to bully receivers early in their route and disrupt timing so his speed didn't hamper him as much as it would have if he didnt stand 6'3. Even after being selected so high Williams only played 77 snaps on defense due to some quality depth. 

With starters Stephon Gilmore, and Jason McCourty leading the way, as well as JC Jackson, and Jonathon Jones ahead of the 2019 rookie it's clear to see why he didn't play much. But due to an offseason that saw the Patriots lose Duron Harmon, Nate Ebner, and Patrick Chung the Patriots decided to use the 6'3 211 lb cb as a part time safety, a pretty natural move for a guy of his size and limited speed, but I wonder if this is with an eye on the future, namely 2 years from now when Devin McCourty's deal expires. Williams could move up to free safety full time much like McCourty did early in his career, while 2020 second round pick Kyle Duggar starts at strong safety after they let Chung go for good. Eventually they'll move on from Jason McCourty and Gilmore at cornerback but both Jones, and Jackson are young and up and coming players that could be looked to as starters. This would shore up the future of their secondary, whileincresasing their versatility and depth after losing 3 players at safety who contributed in big ways.