b72s

This week the press is saying the brass uncharacteristically missed on FAs Brown, Beisel and Starks.

I agree on maybe 2 of 3. But we need to give Beisel some time similar to Bruschi's rise.

Just Like Tedy did, he needs to learn the system and fully convert to Linebacker from a down lineman. The Mike is a huge responsibility in the pats system.

It took Tedy a more than a few years to go from special teamer to full time Mike.

I just think it may be a little early to give up on him and he is apparently frustrated with his play and the conversion (i.e. Curran incident) but unless we draft another LB, we can do a lot worse than having Beisel being tutored by Tedy.

Does anyone think there is some value?

Richter

I even wonder about Starks, if he really was hurt all that time. It may very well have just been an injury miss, and a miss because they traded a pick for a guy that had a long injury history. Chad Brown was definitely a miss though, he's just too far past his prime.

emoney_33

I think Brown could be a decent backup OLB rushing the qb. He can't play ILB, but we didn't really have anyone else at the beginning of the year.

Also it's not known how much Starks injury really hindered him so while he did absolutely stink this year, it may not have been a bad signing if he stayed healthy.


Performance wise none of these guys have contributed much of anything to the team, but at the time of the signings they may not have been as bad as people think. Hindsight of course is always 20/20

mgteich

I do think that there was a personnel miss an ILB. Our brain trust seemed to have believed that Brown, Beisel and Chatham could do the job.
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I disagree with comments with regard to the three players.

BEISEL
Many posting here and at kffl thought that Beisel was competing with Chatham and Davis for a emergency linebaker/special team position. I think he is fine in that role. Perhaps he can play a bit more as he learns the system, but I'm fine with him as a backup ILB perhaps competing with Claridge for the first off the bench. He has already beaten out Chatham.

BROWN
Brown is an aging OLB, and a fine backup. He is first off the bench, having easily replaced TBC in that role, even though he has almost no experience with our system playing at OLB. I see no reason no to have him continue in this role.

STARKS
I believe that if Starks didn't play hurt (very injured), we would have lost another game or two. I give Starks a lot of credit. He played hurt when a lot of others didn't. That being said, he is unlikely to be worth anywhere near his new money when he returns next year, and will need to restructure very early or be cut as Law was, very early.

BOTTOM LINE
Management should ahve done better at filling the whole at ILB. I think they did fine at CB (Recall that they also picked up a very capable Chad Scott).

AndyJohnson

Mg,
I think that the ILB position was a case of making the best out of a bad situation.

BB liked Beisel, and probably would have signed him even if Bruschi, Phifer and TJ were all ready to go. He got elevated out of necessity.

Brown was a good football player who was available, and in a position with little depth. Again, I think BB signs him even if there wasnt a clear role.

I wouldnt judge it a personnel mismanagement unless there were other players available that they passed on. But I dont think there were.

Because of the record of personnel decisions, I think we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking BB can always find what he wants.
The stark reality is that sometimes all of the options arent good ones. It is entirely possible that BB wasn't exactly thrilled with Beisel and Brown being starting ILBs, but it was the best of string of weak choices.

That said, somehow I have this feeling that Beisel and or Brown will make some type of key play in a playoff game, whether its on defense or special teams, and could go down 'genius role player acquisitions'. It seems par for the course around here, doesnt it?

scott99

I agree on Beisel. I think he needs some time to develop. Like Bruschi & Vrabel, he was a college D-Linemen, and it took time for Bruschi & Vrabel to develop. Not saying he will be anywhere near the players those two have become, but he could. I like his size & speed. And his youth. Let's say this was his redshirt year, and let's see what he can do next year. Best case scenerio, he becomes a stud, Colvin replaces McGinest when he retires (I hate saying that) and Vrabel moves back outside. Need a replacement for Bruschi in the near future too.

The Coon

With our misses, we have also had some "hits" in the draft. Mankins, Hobbs, and Kazcur have all done well this season. I like James Sanders as well and also like Cassel as the #2 QB down the line.

We have another draft next year with the picks we have, and all i can say is WOW. The depth on this team would be unmatched.

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Arizona Patsfan

Nice diagnosis and I like the prognosis too. I'd like to see all three invited back to TC, and to see what they can do for the roles they were ORIGINALLY brought in to play. The openings for the new rookie LB hotshots, can probably come from Davis, Izzo, Chatham, and maybe TBC's jobs in that order.

jczxohn1

The ILB situation wouldn't have been nearly so bad if TJ hadn't unexpectedly retired. No offense to Big Ted, he did what he had to do, but it certainly wasn't in the plan.

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Felger started his question, "Correct me if I'm wrong," BB quickly interjected, "I can't wait--"


``The officials now are evaluating the players and their performance, I mean, that's great,'' Belichick deadpanned. ``I can't say how much that means to me, really.''

DaBruinz

The only thing that I can surmise about the Ted Johnson situation is that he suffered a concussion, somehow, during the mini-camps or that Johnson wasn't upfront with the team about his concussion. Otherwise, how is it that the Patriots didn't know he had Post Concussion syndrome and wouldn't pass a physical? Had they known this prior to the draft, I think they would have changed their drafting priorities. Though, i wouldn't replace any of our top 3 picks.

I know we drafted Claridge and there weren't many option on the free agent market, but there were some (Ed Hartwell, Anthony Pierce) besides Beisel.

But, as was said, I think the Pats made the most of a bad situation.