ARE YOU NEW HERE? NOT LOGGED IN? PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT AND LOGIN TO REMOVE THIS WINDOW
Welcome to PatsFans.com. Do you have an account? If not - please take a moment to register for our forum and experience a much smoother experience with fewer ads, along with no longer having to see this notification window. Also learn about how you can receive a free Patriots T-Shirt from the Patriots Official ProShop by CLICKING HERE. Please enjoy your stay here, and Go Pats!
The Patriots have a complete team ready to compete in the NFL before the draft. I always felt that you had to attempt to cover your team needs before the draft so that you could enter the draft with the intention of taking the best player. Having the ability to be flexible in the draft allows you to just pick players and not have to worry about waiting for a certain player. The best drafts normally come from having the best offseasons. You enter the draft room with a sense of peace and know that if the chips don’t fall your way, your team can still go out and compete.
Now, I know this sounds elementary and you’re probably asking, “Don’t all NFL teams try to do this?” The answer is a big NO. Many teams don’t want to sign a veteran player at a position of draft need because they fear the coaches will not play the rookie and will end up playing the rundown veteran. Unless the head coach dictates who will play and when they play, this problem will always be a part of many organizations. In New England, for example, there’s only one person who determines who gets on the field, and if the veteran is better than the rookie, he plays. If the rookie is best, he will play. New England’s way of handling the manipulation of personnel is not the norm in the NFL. New England’s football operation runs like a paramilitary organization while many other teams take the “committee approach.” Everyone knows how I feel about the committee approach.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Last edited by JSn; 03-11-2009 at 08:51 AM..
FEATURED ADVERTISEMENT
DONATE TO PATSFANS.COM
RECEIVE A FREE PATS T-SHIRT AND SAVE 15% OFF WHEN YOU BUY FROM THE OFFICIAL PROSHOP!
Free T-Shirt & Save 15% Off!
Like Our Site? Please help support our site and server costs by DONATING TO PATSFANS.COM and receive a FREE PATRIOTS T-SHIRT and SAVE 15% off EVERY purchase you make from PatriotsProShop.com. You'll also receive added benefits to your account including Removing All Ads During Your Experience Here At Our Forum.
NEEDED YEARLY SITE DONATIONS: 345 | CURRENT # OF SUBSCRIBED SUPPORTERS: 98
It's a good read. It would have been better if it had mentioned that even with one guy running the show, it's difficult to find FA's for all your needs that will join your team for what you think they are worth. I also think it would be worth mentioning that, in the case of the Pats, two major factors are winning and the culture of the locker room and organization that can coax some players to accept going there for less than they might get elsewhere.... tho I wonder if that is enough to balance the crappy weather and high taxes.
Last edited by NEGoldenAge; 03-11-2009 at 09:01 AM..
I'm guessing he meant that he thinks Sanders is more backup than starter. I'm not the world's biggest Sanders fan but he's alright. Vrabel's old spot and probably Gaffney's are still up for grabs IMO. Woods played alright with Thomas out so I think we can get by that way. Same with Lewis at WR. For now they're JAGs though, I would say that we aren't "set" at those positions unless we signed, say, Taylor and Galloway. As it stands we should have some competition there. The main point, though, is our holes are insignificant enough that we can look to BPA and development of players at upcoming FA positions (like DL) in the draft.
Yes. I believe the poster means that Woods and Sanders are both upgradeable at their positions, which is true. But both are serviceable starters at worst, and excellent rotational guys. Sanders was essentially our starting FS all of last year, so there's at least no real dropoff there from 2008. Woods was a part-time starter and was adequate at the very least.
I see both positions being upgraded long term through the draft, and possibly OLB through FA (Taylor).
There is certainly plenty of room to improve the team. But we essentially have a complete team in place going into the draft, so whatever we pick up will essentially be gravy. No gaping holes to fill. I'm not sure any other team can say that, and no other team is as stacked as we are going into a very deep draft.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid
"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi
The defense needs playmakers to replace Vrabel and Harrison. Neither Sanders nor Woods yet qualify (and in Sanders I don't see a big up side). There is some competition at OLB with Crable, Redd, but nothing else at SS. I hope both positions will be addressed before TC, either through draft and/or FA signings of late cuts.
The defense needs playmakers to replace Vrabel and Harrison. Neither Sanders nor Woods yet qualify (and in Sanders I don't see a big up side). There is some competition at OLB with Crable, Redd, but nothing else at SS. I hope both positions will be addressed before TC, either through draft and/or FA signings of late cuts.
Nice, but a couple of positions are still ? at the moment (OLB=Woods, SS=Sanders)
Don't we have A.Thomas, TBC, Colvin, Crable, and Rudd at OLB in addition to Woods? Or are any of those projected to play ILB?
I'm not saying we shouldn't draft an OLB... in fact, I'd like to see us draft at least one good player at OLB and ILB... I'm just saying that we are not paper thin at OLB.
That was the premise of the OP... we are going into the draft being able to draft the best player available because we are not critically thin at any position.
At safety, we have Meriweather and Sanders starting with (presumably) Harrison as a backup along with the possibility of moving Springs to Safety if needed. There are also plenty of servicable, even if not flashy, safeties available in FA.
__________________ A Truly Vindictive Fanboy-type Poster
"My name is William Stephen Belichick, Coach of the New England Patriots, Three Time Super Bowl Champion, Defensive Guru, Pride of Karlovac, The Greatest Coach in the History of the NFL Since Vince Lombardi. Target of the spygate lynching, Defender of our Dynasty's legacy. And I will have my vengeance, in this game and the rest."
More Belichick, Patriots in the NFP
Re: More Belichick, Patriots in the NFP
Linear Mode
