Is Patriots Safety Tavon Wilson Showing Signs of Life?

Expectations aren't high for former second round pick Tavon Wilson heading into training camp, but according to a report, things finally may have "clicked" for the third year safety.In 2012, safety Tavon Wilson was a second round pick of the New England Patriots. In his second season with the team, he barely saw the field with the base defense.

In fact, despite an expected open competition for the strong safety position heading into training camp, many have already written him off in that battle and have had him on the outside looking in for a roster spot.

Well, perhaps we jumped the gun a bit with Wilson.Sources told Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that Wilson has performed quite well during offseason workouts with team veterans:

Another 2012 draft pick (second round) who hasn't panned out, Wilson played just 17 snaps last season and could lose out to Duron Harmon, Kanorris Davis, Nate Ebner, and Patrick Chung. However, we're intrigued to hear from league sources this offseason that the lightbulb may have finally clicked for Wilson, who is taking his training and film work more seriously and was impressive at summer workouts in Phoenix with Darrelle Revis, Devin McCourty, and Logan Ryan. The Patriots can only shave off about $400,000 of his $1.15 million cap number, so maybe Wilson gets another shot to prove himself.

At this point, anything we get out of Wilson is a positive. He's proven to be a very solid special teams player, and if he can prove he's still worth developing on the defense, perhaps he can make the roster over someone like Nate Ebner.

Of course, we'll find out in just a few days exactly how much Wilson has progressed. For now, this is an encouraging sign from a player we haven't heard a lot about this offseason.