FO My thoughts - New England Patriots Forums

satz · 02-01-2007, 07:52 AM

Graham stays .If not we signed a 6 7 270lbs blocking TE ,so his backup incase that falls through is here .
Thomas has been a good blocker and we can always use heath evans more and he does play a TE/FB in our system .We also got hill a UFA if he develops into a young FB great! or millis is also around to do some blocking FB/TE.

Asante i am not sure i want to pay so much money as with our history of injured DB`s .I am worred to pay the guy 10% of the cap to sit in injured reserve.

If we draft 2 DB`s high then we will be all set with gay,hobbs,scott,micken,rashid,michell and 2 rookies in rotation.

At safety we have hawkins,sanders,wilson,harrison,jones. who can also be used in nickel and as cb`s.

With troy that is 12 DB`s again given our history i would get spann and another guy to back up.I know people think i am going crazy with 14 DB`s but that has been our undoing and i would rather spend the 10 million to get 2-3 FA/Rookies of good skill rather than put all eggs in 1 basket and hold my breath.

How many people think the way i do ? or give me your thoughts.
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DW Toys · 02-01-2007, 10:16 AM

SATZ,
I have trouble with some of your stuff. Graham was under the radar and extremely productive. He made a few timely catches and his blocking was perhasp the best of any TE in the NFL this year.

"I think Thomas is more of a pass catcher than blocker in make-up. Hopefully he will change with experience but he is really only about 245lbs.

To me Watson had some very bad games and he has had a case of the "metal mitts" this year and for some reason does not secure the ball. He also had a few "look-out" blocks, meaning Opps and "Look-Out"! He was the only early year target for Brady but he was fair at best. He MUST get better. He is THE guy at TE.

Your DB combination of "gay,hobbs,scott,micken,rashid,michell" and "hawkins,sanders,wilson,harrison,jones" are not a thrilling bunch. I love Rodney but he and Teddy are at the crossroads. Hobbs is an enigma. Sanders hasn't shown anything yet as the stud hitter he was supposed to be. He'd be a back up on most teams. Hawkins was a great fill (see Rodney and Teddy). Wilson gets hurt every year and has definately slipped in ability. Gay (see Wilson) and the rest are journeymen, roster fills and a rookie decent special teamer who was supposed to be a kick returner but never did(go figure). I would like to have seen TB for a full season. He might have helped when Rodney went down in a decent S rotation, or perhaps covered Fletcher in the Colts game rather than Alexander with less than 2 minutes left in a Championship game. He might have a year or two left and helps ST play.

Signing Assante needs to be a priority. The Godfather and SP can't feed tghe fans a line of crap saying the Pats are a better team without him. He's 25 and on the rise. This signing should be a no-brainer and sends a message to other possible Pats FA potentials that productivity does pay in NE. The PR with the fans maybe is not an issue with those guys, but I don't want to hear the words "Best for the organization" if they left him fall through the cracks. This just isn't about Assante. They have to show agents and players that NE is not wasteland for long term longevity and financial reward if your perform.

Now the big question. Really who do you replace him with? None of the above. And a rookie CB gets torched 1st rounder or not, we all can agree.
DW Toys

satz · 02-01-2007, 10:43 AM

I think i will add graham is more important to me than asante .with a improved front 7 we need decent and alot of DBs looking from a historical point of view.