DaBruinz

Well, this is my 1st off-season review for this year. Call it the Pre-Free Agency / Pre-Combine review. For the purpose of this review, I am going to consider ERFA and RFA as part of the team.



NT – Vince Wilfork, Michael Wright, LeKevan Smith, Santonio Thomas– The Pats drafted LeKevan Smith last year and he saw a few snaps. Nothing exciting. Santonio Thomas spent the entire year on the Practice Squad. Wilfork and Wright were the main-stays at NT, though I think that Wright is better suited to DE and getting more snaps.

I don’t see the Pats drafting a DT unless he is better than LeKevan Smith, Santonio Holmes and Marquis Hill.
Free Agents: Mike Wright (ERFA)

DE – Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Jarvis Green, Marquise Hill - I have to admit that Marquis Hill needs to be considered a bust. I held out hope that the kid would get it together, but it just hasn’t happened. Ty Warren, in my estimation, has passed Seymour as the best Pats D-lineman. The coaches credited him with 117 tackles last season, though the NFL only credited him with 87. Wait a minute, 87? HOLY damn. Most NFL Linemen only get 40-50 and he surpassed that by 60-100%. Maybe it was because teams were doubling up Seymour, but it didn’t look like it. Warren, Seymour and Wilfork are amongst the best D-linemen in the league.

I don’t see the Pats drafting anyone unless they believe that person is better than Marquise Hill AND Mike Wright.
Free Agents:None

OLB – Rosie Colvin, Mike Vrabel, Pierre Woods,– The TBC experiment didn’t pan out. He was only ok against the run and didn’t produce enough presence off the edge to be a full-time starter. Rumors have it that the Pats won’t be bringing him back and the Jets are planning to make him a substantial offer. More power to them, I say.
Mike Vrabel and Rose Colvin were good when they played together, however, that didn’t happen once Seau went down and Vrabel had to move back inside. Woods showed promise on special teams and could become a starter one day.

Free Agents mentioned to give the team an infusion here include Adalius Thomas and Carlos Polk.
Free Agents: Tully Banta-Cain (UFA)

ILB - Tedy Bruschi, Eric Alexander, Corey Mays – Another off-season and another time for us to say that the Pats are WOEFULLY thin here. What makes matters worse is that Eric Alexander proved that he’s not up to the task of going against the better TEs in the league. Also, there are rumors that Tedy is contemplating retirement, though will probably be back.
The problem is who to bring in. There are very few players with the talent to play ILB in the Pats system. Bringing Seau back is a definite option as the defense was great against the run with him in there. The problem is that Seau, Bruschi nor Alexander can cover TEs. That leaves the Pats to find someone who can.

One free agent that I would love the Pats to sign is Jarrett Johnson. He’s smart, versatile (DE/ILB/OLB) and doesn’t make many mistakes. He filled in admirably for Ray Lewis at MLB in the Ravens defense this past year and many people compare him to a young Mike Vrabel but for the ILB position.

Free Agents: Larry Izzo (UFA), Don Davis (UFA), Junior Seau (UFA), Barry Gardner (UFA), Corey Mays (ERFA), Eric Alexander (ERFA)

CB - Randall Gay, Ellis Hobbs, Antwain Spann, Gemara Williams - What the Pats do hinges on whether they put the franchise tag on Asante Samuel. With the weakness of the draft and the relative weakness of the free agency class at CB, Asante is worth 6yrs/$44 million in my eyes. Even with his lousy tackling. There just isn’t a lot of help out there.

Nick Harper was mentioned, but I don’t want any Colts players, honestly.

Free Agents: Asante Samuel (UFA), Randall Gay (RFA), Gemara Williams (ERFA), Antwain Spann (ERFA), Chad Scott (UFA), Ray Mickens (UFA)

Safety - Rodney Harrison, Eugene Wilson, James Sanders, Artrell Hawkins, Mel Mitchell, Tebucky Jones, Willie Andrews, Ray Ventrone, Rashad Baker-
Rodney went down due to a low blow by Bobby Wade. Sanders stepped in and was above average. Artrell Hawkins did well last year, but, by the end of the season this year, he was getting burned badly. Willie Andrews was amazing on special teams and really helped the kick-off and punt coverage units excel.

Eugene Wilson may get moved to CB if he doesn’t show the same killer attitude he did during his rookie and sophomore years. Ever since he broke his arm during SB 39, he’s been gunshy and not nearly the player he was.
Mel Mithcell, Tebucky Jones, and Ray Ventrone all were on the IR and joined by Wilson not long into the season.

Ken Hamlin and Tank Williams are probably two of the bigger names out there. As is Kevin Kaesviharn (though he’s been cheap-shotting a lot). Deon Grant and Jon McGraw could get looks by the Pats as well.

Free Agents: Rashad Baker (RFA), Ray Ventrone (ERFA)

363839

Hey Dabruinz. Regarding Seymour's perfomance for 06. I'd LIKE to think that his drop in production was due to injury. Elbow and knee, I believe.
Do you think he can return to his former self when he returns to camp rested and healed?

satz

seymour played the whole year injured and against good OL he sufferred.He already had surgery and i am sure hope he will be back in full force.

WIth him ,vince and ty health we should be good with mike green in rotation.I would like a NT to give vince a break.wright is a little small for it.

ILB - Get donnie edwards he is lighter but can cover faster TE.Shore it up with bru+seau in rotation with a rookie thrown in their.I still believe this is the way to go.Eric alexander is quite young and got his first start against peyton and clark - i believe he should get more snaps and will improve alot over the offseason.He will work on to prevent getting burned by TE.

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Jimke

I enjoyed reading all three of your posts. Guess I won't have to buy Patriots

Football Weekly this month.

Miguel

If there was any doubt that PatsFans.Com is the place to be for insightful discussion on our favorite NFL team, DaBruinz' posts just erased them.

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stinkypete

I've been hearing about Jarret Johnson alot on here lately. I'm not very familiar with him, but he sounds intriguing. Anybody know any scouting information on him?

This is the type of FA I see us bringing in, along with a bigger name, more veteran player, to shore up the linebackers. Hopefully he is more of a Vrabel and less of a Beisel.

BelichickFan

I actually like this draft for CB. There's a solid 4-5 CB I would consider as solid late first rounders and most of them are expected to drop to within striking range if we chose to trade up a little.

PATRIOTS-80

Yes, CB in FA is weak... I think we should draft DBs.

And yes, we are woefully think at ILB.

ayjackson

Nice post DaBruinz. Though, I'm a little skeptical of your condemnation of Alexander's ability to cover a tight end. Are you going on something more than the AFC Championship game? Isn't he a converted SS? It was Clark. He may have been sick. He certainly wasn't used to being on the field that much. I'm inclined give him a little more tether. BB doesn't teach linebackers for two to three years just to give up after one tough half of football.

DaBruinz

Even Last year I felt that Warren was under-rated by everyone and that he out-played Seymour. It could just be my perception. Don't get me wrong. I love Seymour, but I think Warren is better.

As for Alexander, he finally cracked the line-up because the Pats didn't have anyone else. Bruschi has lost a step and doesn't cover as well. Vrabel doesn't cover as well either. And neither does Colvin. We can figure on facing the Colts every year because of the talent of both teams. If we don't have someone who can cover clark, be it a safety or a LB, then the Pats will get burned every time.

BTW, It was Aaron Moorehead who burned Alexander on one play. Moorehead is the Colts 3rd TE.