DaBruinz

McKenzie won't make it through Waivers to get to the PS. Denver would snatch him in a heartbeat.

Box_O_Rocks

Why Denver? Why would they snatch a guy who is still adapting to playing inside a 3-4?

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RussFrancis

Reiss is a good reporter, so I wouldnt take any shots at him needlessly. But I think one of the problems with alot of reporting and reporters in general when it comes to actually analyzing positions, depth, performance, etc is that they never actually played any football. You can watch football all you want. You can cover it for years. But if youve never actually played it on any level, your expertise will always be somewhat limited. Not to say youre not qualified to write and report and entertain and sell stories, but your analysis as a reporter with zero actual experience should just be read with some degree of perspective. Having said all that, he's the best we've got on the Pats, and I appreciate pretty much all the stuff he writes.

BradyManny

I watched him rather closely as well - I wouldn't say I was disappointed, necessarily. He was rather inconsistent. He'd get off blocks on one play and get swallowed up on the next. But you can say that about anybody, really.

Still, my point wasn't necessarily that McKenzie should or should not make the team. He may be a bubble guy, like Reiss suggests, but his reasoning is terribly flawed. McKenzie is not going to be on the field at the same time as Spikes, ever - they both play SILB, and neither really has the speed to backup Mayo at WILB. So to draw a conclusion from the fact that Alexander or Fletcher replaces Mayo when the 1's leave, and tie that conclusion to McKenzie, it's just asinine and really misleading to his blog readers.

AndyJohnson

A) McKenzie is making the team
B) What order the 3rd or 4th LB enters a preseason game has little relevance
C) Backup ILBs need to play both side. LILB and RILB...since we dont flip the LB there is no such position in our defense as SILB or WILB

SEPatsFan

I know this part has been historically true, but my eyes (and others have reported seeing the same thing), tell me that Spikes and Mayo have been swapping sides fairly often presnap. Of course without knowledge of the defensive calls we have no idea why, but they have been doing it.

SSDD

bucky

They've absolutely been flipping sides. Spikes has been playing the strong side next to Mayo. In the Atlanta game, you can even see them switching sides as the TE goes in motion.

With regard to McKenzie, I actually think he's been fine in the first 2 games. Fletcher was clearly much worse in the 1st game and Alexander is what he is. The one part of McKenzie's game I've been disappointed with is his lack of participation on ST. If he was playing ST with the first unit, I'd say he's a lock for a roster spot. I would watch that more so that when he comes in to play LB to gauge his roster status.

BradyManny

I'd strongly object to point C since I do see Mayo and Spikes switch sides depending upon where the strongside of the defense is. I'm rather certain we have a SILB and WILB, we've heard Belichick talk about these guys in terms of strongside and weakside as it is, so if he makes the distinction, we should, too.

Not to mention its a moot point anyway - you don't want two slower, bigger, run-stuffing ILBs on the field at the same time in the 3-4 anyway. McKenzie backups Spikes; Alexander backs up Mayo - whether you call them LILB, SILB, or whatever, it's clear that the Patriots coaching staff are making a distinction between those two positions. And part of that distinction means McKenzie backs up Spikes.

We clearly ask for two distinct ILB skillsets - quicker, lighter, faster & bigger, stouter, stronger. We're lucky Jerod Mayo is a freak and fits both, but McKenzie does not, so he's only lining up in one of the spots.

Box_O_Rocks

NE ILBs flipped sides all the time since one backer will usually have a tendency to line up on one side over the other. What AJ is referring to is the requirement for them to be formation ambidextrous since it may not be practical to flip around again once the offense starts motioning and shifting to create mismatches. Mayo, Guyton, Spikes, McKenzie, Alexander, Fletcher, and Williams all are trained to play both sides regardless of any personal tendencies to play one better than the other.

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crowell33

Fletcher could also add value as a nickel pass rusher. Organized chaos.