Urgent

A comparison by position, from the start of 2010 to the start of 2011.

QB: Wash
Added rookie Ryan Mallet.
More depth, another year of experience for back-up Hoyer, but hard to expect more from Brady.

RB: Upgrade
Added rookies Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, lost Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris
Lost Laurence Maroney midyear
Gained youth & athleticism.

WR: Upgrade
Added Chad Ochocinco for Brandon Tate
Added Deion Branch for Randy Moss midyear
Ochocinco has shown little, but not hard to upgrade over Tate. Taylor looks improved, and even Slater looks like a weapon.

TE: Wash
Added Dan Gronkowski for Alge Crumpler
Both rookies last year had break-out seasons, so hard to expect a major upgrade. Crumpler was a dependable blocking tight end, and by all accounts an excellent mentor and locker-room presence.

OL: Wash
Added Nate Solder, lost Mark LeVoir, Nick Kaczur, and Steve Maneri
Added Brian Waters, lost Steve Neal and Quinn Ojinnaka
Added Logan Mankins midyear
A full year of Mankins is balanced by the retirement of Neal.
The team lost some decent veteran back-ups in Kaczur and LeVoir and an emerging player in Maneri, but gained a young player in Solder who might start for years.

Big DL: Big Upgrade
Added Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Ellis, lost injured Ty Warren, Ron Brace to full-season IR.
Major upgrade in athleticism and experience.

DE/OLB: Upgrade
Added Andre Carter and Mark Anderson, lost Tully Banta-Cain and Eric Moore.
It took a system change, but some real potential production from Andre Carter, and Anderson should be a minor upgrade over Moore.

LB: Wash
Added ST Jeff Tarpinian, lost ST Marques Murrell
eh

CB: Upgrade
Added rookie Ras-I Dowling and Antwaun Molden, Leigh Bodden returns from full-year IR, lost Darius Butler, Terrence Wheatley, Jonathan Wilhite
The return of Bodden solidifies this group. Dowling is a bigger injury risk than Wheatley, and Molden is someone else's bust, but the group that departed all underperformed.

S: Downgrade
Added ST James Ihedigbo, Josh Barrett returned from IR, lost James Sanders, Brandon Meriweather, and Jarrad Page
Page may be the biggest off-season loss when we look back at the season. Huge loss in depth, with dependence on players with some ST experience but not much else. Barrett, if he is the starter, has a total of two quarters of pre-season experience with the defense.

Specialists: Wash
Added rookie LS Danny Aiken, lost Jacob Ingram/Matt Katula
Sort of a revolving door at LS, and Aiken is totally untested and unfamiliar with the kicker or punter. Could be a minor concern. Gostkowski returns from mid-season IR.

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Tunescribe

I'm betting we sign a veteran safety after week one. Darren Sharper, if he's still available.

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scout

Pretty much agree with your assessment. Didn't you mean Price vs Taylor at WR?

kurtinelson

Not what I could see from the preseason. I thought Moore and Carter were an excellent pair of DEs.

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Tasco

Imo we have a slight downgrade at TE, caused by the cut of Crumpler. I think his blocking last year was outstanding and I'm not sure if Gronkowski (not confirmed yet) can supplant him.

I agree with your other points, with OL maybe being a slight upgrade.

Patriot 37

His 1st name is Taylor. Execellent assesment.

bagwell368

Neal was very injury prone, a fine player when healthy. I don't see Waters as downward move at this point - in particular if he stays healthy which his usual MO.

If BB made cuts at S, either he likes what we have or likes what we have and will make a further move. He is known to like Sanders as a person - he said so - so why would he cut him if BB thought he was better then the guys he has now??

For the purposes of the 2011 season, the QB position is a wash, but, unlike our last 3rd round washout QB, Mallet is a keeper. So in the longer term we may have edged upward.

mgteich

I think that we have an upgrade on the OL.
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OT - wash
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out - LeVoir, Maneri, Ojinnaka
in - Solder, Welch (PS)

I'd rather have Solder than the 3 backups from last year, although I would like to see a 4th OT.
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OG - upgrade
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2010 - Mankins and Neal split the year opposite Connolly, with backups Wendell and Ohrnberger.
2011 - Mankins over Mankins/Neal as a starter.
Waters over Connolly as a starter.
Connolly over Ohrnberger as a backup.
Wendell is still here.
Cannon is on PUP and can be available if needed.
BOTTOM LINE -We have Mankins for a full year and we have Waters instead of Ohrnberger.
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C - no change
Koppen and Wendell are still here.