Stephon Gilmore Thinks He Could Play Wide Receiver: 'It Don't Look That Hard To Me'
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Stephon Gilmore is generally a quiet, soft-spoken guy. But lately, he's been more willing than ever to speak -- and speak with confidence.
That was pretty clear on Twitter on Tuesday evening, when Gilmore responded (out of nowhere) to a DeAndre Hopkins tweet. In that tweet, the receiver boasted about drawing double coverage, and he included a picture of himself catching a pass while Gilmore was on the ground.
"Bro was doubled on only 2 snaps all game and wants to be loud lol," Gilmore tweeted.
It was an interesting comment, a bit of a break of character, and somewhat of a follow-up to his criticism of Zach Ertz a few weeks ago.
As it turns out, such commentary may come from Gilmore simply not believing that wide receivers are all that great.
In his weekly interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Zolak & Bertrand" show, the All-Pro cornerback was asked if he could play receiver at the NFL level, despite never playing the position.
"I could do it. I think I could do it," Gilmore confidently answered. "I've never done it, but I think it's .. it don't look that hard to me."
It is a classic response from Gilmore, who's established himself over the past few years as one of the best -- if not the very best -- cornerbacks on the planet. With that label has come the responsibility of covering some of the best receivers in the NFL, a task which Gilmore has handled better than anybody should ever be expected to do so.
In addition to covering receivers, Gilmore's shown off a tremendous ability to make some really impressive catches, drawing some people to suggest ... he might actually be able to play receiver.
Check out these catches. They are not easy.
He's also proven to be able to catch passes in some slightly large moments:
He's not just capable of making difficult catches. He seems to be willing.
"Whatever it takes to help the team, I'd do," he told Zolak & Bertrand. "I just think any position, it's a mind-set. You gotta want to do it, and you gotta be confident in it. I feel like you can be successful if you have those things. ... Whatever it takes. Whatever they say, whatever we need at the moment, I feel like everybody on this team does it if it's going to benefit the team."
The Patriots, obviously, are slightly thin at wide receiver. Julian Edelman ranks 11th in the NFL in receiving yards, but the team doesn't have another receiver in the top 100 in receiving yards. (Mohamed Sanu does rank 75th, but more than 70 percent of those yards were accumulated when he was on the Falcons. Running back James White ranks 58th.)
Bill Belichick has never hesitated to use players on both sides of the football, going back to Richard Seymour taking snaps at fullback. Julian Edelman played cornerback for a bit, including in the AFC Championship Game. Troy Brown also spent even more time playing defense. Linebacker Elandon Roberts is currently working as the primary fullback, due to injuries at the position. Most famously, linebacker Mike Vrabel was a touchdown-catching machine for the Patriots' goal line offense.
So, after Gilmore essentially volunteered to line up on offense ... would Belichick ever do it? Prrrrrobably not. Gilmore's doing pretty well at what he's doing, and it's a fairly important job. With Bill, though, nothing should ever be completely ruled out. So look for Gilmore to trot onto the field before making a toe-tapping touchdown catch in the back of the end zone to win the AFC Championship Game. Shouldn't be too hard.
