DW Toys

DL. B. Wilfork was great this season until yesterday. Love is a rotation guy and good but not an impact player. Deaderick is replaceable. Chandler Jones maybe fragile but great when healthy. I like Trevor Scott as a rotation guy for depth and he had some pressure in games this year. Justin Francis might be a good one. Ninc played lights out but is he an OLB or a DE? Bye Bye Cunningham.

Solution: PASS RUSH PASS RUSH PASS RUSH. Disruptor tough guy like Bjorne Werner from FL. St. who might be gone in the top fifteen of the first or perhaps under the radar is a 6’8” DE who can pass rush, Devin Taylor from South Carolina latter on in the 2nd or 3rd. As FA’s I love DE Michael Johnson who was my binkie in the Draft from G Tech. Nobody would listen. Another FA is DE Michael Bennett from the Bucs who is unheralded. Both FAs can rush the passer. How about Lions DT Sammie Lee Hill who is behind some pretty stout all pros on the Lions? 6’4” and 329 and can get to the QB. An upgrade over Love and Deaderick. How about Freeney in the rotation on passing downs?

LB B. OK on the run. Very mediocre on covereage. White? Nyet!!! I think Mayo had a bad year for him over other years. Spikes is streaky. Hightower is learning. Ninc did well and overachieved.

Solutions: "Binkie" Barwin? Too much the same as Ninc. Ninc was better in 2012. FA Phillip Weaver might be a good one. Can rush and cover. 109 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 passes defended. Or maybe use Arrington more as a hybrid OLB? His CB skills are not great but he seems to have a knack to blitz and he can cover TE and FBs better than Chung or some others, barely. Can’t see any great OLBs in the Draft. Jarvis Jones will be a top ten kid. Next? Khaseem Greene from Rutgers maybe a third rounder.

CB,D+. Enough said, When Talib was in they are much better. Dennard might have been steal. When the pair are not…..poopy!

Solutions: Resign Talib. No choice here. Then see if the “Walking (or I should say,) limping Hospital Resident” Ras “I” for injured Dowling can stay healthy. Consider FA Derek Cox who is rising as a star. Leodis McKelvin, CB/KR, won’t embarrass you at CB but solves the Pats return issue and is probably better than Arrington or Cole.

S, C-. Gregory was up and down. He was ok I guess. McCourty is still not right at Safety either. I guess he is still learning, so I give his a slight pass…..Completed!!! Opps! Chung has been a bust and is glass.

Solutions: A few nice sized Safeties like Vaccaro who can cover are on the Draft board, Bill is reluctant on a starter pick there. Spend the dough and get Ed Reed. Or Jarius Byrd, Goldston, William Moore or Delmas would be good additions. Use Gregory and McCourty as the opposite S tandem rotation.

OK Now comes the DW Toys shocker of the day Cousins. It’s coverage that Pats Safeties are poor at. I am thinking out of the box and say Nnamdi Asomugha as the new Pats S. His tackling has always been decent. At 6’2” and 210 he is not going to be overwhelmed by a bigger TE like Gregory and McCourty can be. His issue was eroding skills at CB. He still defended 12 passes and made 55 tackles those are the second best he has ever done in his career. He is only 31 and needs the new start. He is smart and perhaps cannot cover a quick WR but would be masterful on a TE. He will be a CAP casualty in Philly. He will not command the big bucks. Mediocre TEs have done way too good against the Pats Safeties like Pitta, Heath Miller, Fassano, Chandler, Keller et,al.
DW Toys

MTM558

McCourty was worlds better at Safety this year than he was at Cornerback. It was night and day. With that said, he is still a decent Cornerback. For our defense to have any identity, Bill NEEDS to give him a single position to settle into. He can't go every year switching from CB to Safety based on Gameplan or need.

1%er

Cunningham had his best year as a pro and can play inside and out. His suspension stopped his momentum but you're crazy to cut him now.

Fencer

Getting Scrabble at S would indeed be pretty interesting.

More generally, if our LBs are heavy and slow, maybe it's OK for our safeties to be smaller/lighter -- i.e., like bigger CBs.

__________________
"To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." -- Oscar Wilde

1%er

Mayo had his best year. Where are you getting this crap from? Did you watch games?

AzPatsFan

DW Toys,

You Prognosis is spot on. There is only one problem. Your prescription would only work if the Patriots CAP was about $160 million instead of $120 million.