supafly

In Reiss' recent interview with Ras-I-Dowling, the rookie CB claims that he has not yet seen the team's playbook. "I haven't had a chance. That's the real reason I'm waiting for the lockout to end, to get in the playbook and learn the system, and learn from the other guys also."

Now, before anyone cries 'conspiracy theory' to the effect that he's lying etc, let's consider the fact that most of the teams were able to get their playbooks out to the rookies via the window during the lifting of the lockout itself. The problem is, that was only one day IIRC. So we can assume that the day one rookies (Solder is our case) received the playbook. I can't remember if as of Friday (day two) the lifting was overruled or not? Maybe someone can chime in.

The problem is, if the lockout was still lifted as of Friday (day two), why would Dowling feel the need to then lie about it? I think most of us have assumed that copies have been made, and that whatever players were in possession of a playbook would then share them with the incoming rookies.

Is there a possibility that Dowling, and of course pretty much every rookie after him, truly has not seen the playbook yet? If so, that is a huge detriment to their development, as we have all been assuming that all they 'really missed were some OTA's,' and that their development would not be affected too greatly.

Is it unreasonable to assume that they may indeed be quite hampered by this labor delay, possibly more than we have been crediting, or do most of you feel as though Dowling is simply lying to cover any possible cries of wrongdoing? Again, knowing if the lockout was lifted during the selection of Dowling would be key here, but I believe technically by the time the day two draft had started on Fri. night, the lockout was back in place.

We have talked at length about the possibility of Solder starting at LT right off the bat, and that the RB's would be another group whose hampering may not be as affected, due to the easier learning curve of the position. Knowing that there may be a chance that many of the rookies haven't even seen the playbook could make this theory somewhat altered.

Apologies if you do not this thread as a worthwhile fit to the boards, but it is a relevant subject, and we basically don't have much else to currently discuss. Thanks for the thoughts.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-e...-ras-i-dowling

IllegalContact

a defender not seeing the playbook is not as much of a concern as an offensive player.

DB's are either assigned to a guy to cover, or play a zone. the biggest playbook in the world is not going to instill instinct as well as reps with the defensive unit

I would be more concerned with the 2 RB's and no playbook

what's more, Dowling is not under contract and has never been under contract, so I am not even sure that he is technically locked out

BlueThunder

I think that the RB's should be fine...hardest part might be blitz pickups....the speed difference between college and NFL players will take some getting used to, but the Patriot RB's are all young and the rookies look to hit their holes fast...watching some of their tapes, they seem to have good vision and bounce into an open hole fairly quickly...how this translates into the Patriots blocking schemes remains to be seen, but it's nice to think they have that vision and speed to get to the hole fast...

IMHO the hardest position might be the WR's that have to learn defenses and routes, knowing when to cut off routes, as well as get their timing down with TB.........With no new WR's yet, that area should move along smoothly.


I can remember having high expectations for Ryan O'Callaghan due to his size and being disappointed....Solder is a higher pick so I hope that his skills are better and his learning curve is faster.....In Dante We Trust...

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IllegalContact

o'callaghan could not stay healthy for very long..........which was why he was a 5th round pick......

ctpatsfan77

Besides which, they have Woodhead and BJGE to carry the load right now, so Vereen and Ridley don't need to be ready for 20+ snaps each in Week 1.

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BlueThunder

Agree ct.....Will be nice to have someone young to spell BJGE and Woody ...

Youth and speed coupled with Ridley's power will be exciting to watch.....having 4 young RB's should make the Pats Offense even more unpredictable.....

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Sicilian

Ras-I is in the same situation too. The Pats have five other corners on the roster who have experience on this team (and three other safeties, for the crowd who believes he's being groomed there), so he doesn't have to step in and win a huge role right off the bat.

In fact, of our rookies, Solder is the only one who is coming into a position of relative weakness, and he's the pick with the highest perceived ability. The more I think about that, the less I think that's a coincidence.

Disclaimer: Yes, technically Carter is coming into a weaker group at OLB, but 6th and 7th round picks have such low rates of success that I wasn't expecting major contributions from him in year one anyway.

HomerSchooled

I think Dowling is a player we can afford a slower development with, anyway. If he were anything higher than third or fourth on the depth chart for either CB or S at some point during the season, that would be great, but it's not critical to our success. I'm comfortable with the people ahead of him, and so long as he's worthy of being the nickel back by 2012, I'll be quite happy.

By the way, it's starting to seem pretty clever that all the other positions we drafted high are ones with fairly straight forward transitions from college to the NFL. Considering the lockout, this was an awful good year to stock up on OTs and RBs. It's another fine reminder that the FO is much, much smarter than me.

Rob0729

I wouldn't expect much from any rookie on any team. Everyone needs to go into the league with low expectations since even the most NFL ready rookie is months behind schedule.

I think several of the Pats' rookies could emerge, but the likelihood of them being breakout players is low.

PatsWickedPissah

Other than occasional acne breakouts I agree.

I do however expect and hope that several 2nd and 3rd year players show signs of future stardom this season.

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