patsfan55

we werent spectacular at holding the edge either
which is why i wanted lamar woodley in this draft
willie was one of the best ive ever seen at containing the outside run,
i dont know how good adalius is at it, but colvin gets sucked in almost every play, and vrabel has had trouble gettin off the block the last couple yrs

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


“My favorite ring? I've always said, you know, I always said the next one. The next one is the best,” Brady says.

spacecrime

Of course!

VJCPatriot

Thank you for being the only one to notice this after the "wringing of hands" over the "linebacker" issue.

We just added Adalius Thomas, a seasoned pro bowler LB to our backfield who can play any of the 4 linebacker positions as well as drop into coverage to handle the tight end, and yet people still aren't happy. I guess you can't please everyone, and the point is that it's not BB's job to please the fans. It's his job to build teams that can win championships.

Brady, Moss, Stallworth, Maroney, and company are going to put up ridiculous points in 2007. Remember Montana to Rice and Taylor? Well now Brady has the targets to throw to in Moss and Stallworth. And it's gonna be damn exciting to watch. The defense will have to play its part next season, but they won't have to pull the whole load for this team to win. The real question is can this team remain healthy before its postseason run. If the Pats stay healthy I have no doubts we have a Superbowl caliber roster. And that's not something I was prepared to say last year with the awful receiving corps we fielded. The Pats as they now stand are more complete than ever.

No they did not expend 1st round picks on linebackers to placate the masses. Instead they took a cover safety to address their only significant weakness, obtained TWO receivers with draft picks, one of whom is arguably one of the best wide receivers of all time, the other who will be a capable return man and possession receiver. The rest of the draft was gravy and who knows the Pats may hit on some late round gems or udfas as they did with Pierre Woods last year or TBC in years prior. No team, even a superbowl champion is without some warts, but to complain over lack of depth at one position when we have assembled the most talented New England unit since... ever. Well it blows my mind.

You can acquire depth in free agency, that's what it's for. Football doesn't start tomorrow. We haven't even gotten into June 1st cuts and the Pats always scoop a few good veterans during that time. Let's not push the panic button yet folks. Let's take a deep breath, relax, and PRETEND just for a moment that the New England personnel men might know a LITTLE bit more about building a football team than we do.

__________________

hwc

The thing people are overlooking. We lost an ILB (Seau), had another playing hurt (Bruschi), and lost both starting safeties (Harrison and Wilson). When you lose that much up the middle of the field, you are going to have a fall-off. Plus, the Chinese firedrill in the defensive backfield forced the Pats to play cautious in the secondary, providing less help in the short middle of the field.

scout

We came within less of a minute of going to the Superbowl last year with our linebackers. This year, we have added one of the best lb in football. Did the Colts improve more then we did? Are we playing them at home in the playoffs next year for sure? San Diego is a very good team as is Denver. I like our chances better then any of the above mentioned.

DW Toys

Cousins,
I have a solution to the ILB situation. It is a solid move. I have a very simple do-able trade that has already been discussed. The Browns want Schaefer to switch to RT next year and will let Thomas play LG for a year. The problem is Schaefer can't play RT (or does not want to). We just drafted two OT's.

The Giants have called and asked the Browns to trade them Schaefer to put Diehl back to OG. Manning can't pass from his back.They did not pick up a single OT in the draft.

We did not address our ILB depth. OT Kaczur for ILB Audra Davis (104 tackles in 2006) and he knows our system because of Romeo. The Browns have a wealth at ILB. Then they would be happy to trade Schaefer to the Giants.
He can't play RT next year anyway.
DW Toys

braveht

Our LBs are NOT old!! The minimum age for our LBs is 25-27, i.e. after their rookie contract. They need 3-4 years to do anything other than pass rush from OLB. You can't make the starters get younger by drafting 1st rounders and training them for 3-4 years. Better to let other teams have LBs, teach them, and let us watch for 4 years. Developing late rounders is cost-effective as they provide ST warriors and emergency depth.

Our drafts show that we can use early round RBs, TEs, OL, CBs , and S's in year 1 and 2. What they learned in NCAA plus raw talent pays off. The learning curve is slower for WR, 2-gap DL, and ILB.

Jimke

From a depth perspective our linebacking situation is a little scary.

I expect the Pats to have Alexander, Lua, Mays, Rodgers, Warren, and

Woods compete for three roster spots. If none of them can do the job,

they will add a veteran linebacker. Gardiner and Seau may be over their

injuries by the start of the season.

jczxohn1

No evaluation of the ILB position can be complete without factoring in the presence of Rodney Harrison. Even in 2004, when our ILB's were Bruschi and Johnson, Rodney played a critical role in supporting the run as well as coverage. His loss the last two seasons has definitely been apparent. Sanders showed some spirit filling in and may have some more upside, spelling and learning from Rodney, as well as Merriweather. Not too sure about Wilson. It's a contract year for him, if Asante gets signed, there may not be a fit for him.

__________________
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.''

onegr8om

I think the signing of AT ALONE would have put us over the top in the COLTS game. IF we had Adalius THEN, we'd probably have won the superbowl and that "collapse" doesn't happen.

I'm happy we've gone out and got the players we did NOW, so they have time to grow together as a team before the season and can start building the chemistry our Patriots teams are famous for.

A little Depth at LB would be nice, but i still think we're in better shape than most teams right now. Although i do still feel that either Seau or a similiar player will be added prior to training camp.