The future of Brandon Spikes and Dont'a Hightower - Page 4 - New England Patriots Forums

Patriot Missile · 02-21-2013, 02:02 PM

Been kind of surprised how much criticism the LB's have taken. Considering how young they are I thought they were making strides to becoming a better unit as the season went on.

***Brady_to_Moss*** · 02-21-2013, 05:26 PM

i would hate to see spikes go. Causes turnovers when we need them and stops the run like no tomorrow.

***mgteich*** · 02-21-2013, 05:36 PM

Agreed, but he may charge more than we are willing to pay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brady_to_Moss

i would hate to see spikes go. Causes turnovers when we need them and stops the run like no tomorrow.

***patsinthesnow*** · 02-21-2013, 06:35 PM

The Hightower pick is in BB we trust. BB had his choice or faster, smaller, more coverage type LBers in Wagner and David, but chose the huge enforcer in Hightower. He had a solid rookie year.

Avenger · 02-21-2013, 06:40 PM

Hightower played all over in Saban's D. ILB, OLB and dropped into DE in sub package. Very versatile player.

Gostkowski for 3 · 02-22-2013, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urgent

The Pats are overloaded at ILB types.

Spikes is only an inside/MLB.
Hightower is better inside, given his size.
Mayo played better as a 3-4 ILB than 4-3 OLB.

They have no coverage linebackers.
They have no rush linebackers.

I cannot see the team re-signing Spikes. Mayo is locked up and beloved for his ethic. Hightower has more upside.

Trading him would be fine. Yes, he delivered some nice turnovers. Yes, this defense is less physical than desired, and he is the most physical player on the defense. However, his overall fit makes the defense too run-defense-heavy and a significant liability against the pass. This is a passing league, and the Patriots cannot defend the pass.

To improve the pass defense, they need to replace Spikes.

Yea secondary isn't to blame at all for the pass coverages.

The guys job is to stop the run. The secondarys job is to stop the pass. If teams were running for 200+ yards a game against us, you wouldn't have blamed Asante Samuel back in the day.

manxman2601 · 02-22-2013, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gostkowski for 3

Yea secondary isn't to blame at all for the pass coverages.

The guys job is to stop the run. The secondarys job is to stop the pass. If teams were running for 200+ yards a game against us, you wouldn't have blamed Asante Samuel back in the day.

I bet some on here today would have

Kenneth Sims · 02-22-2013, 11:12 AM

This whole discussion illustrates the downside of drafting BPA rather than for need. Much of Hightower's game overlaps Spikes' game rather than complementing it. Thus, you have Hightower playing out of position limiting his effectiveness, and his limitations in pass coverage only accentuates the problems Spikes has in that area.

It's not about collecting players; it's about building a team. You're better off with players whose skills compliment one another than you are having a mismash of specimens whose talents conflict with others. I'm convinced Belichick's fascination with versatile players is one reason there have been so many bad draft picks over the years. You want a safety. So, rather than drafting one who's either a good cover safety or one who's strong in the box, you draft Pat Chung who you think can so a little of both but turns out to not be able to do much of either.