This is true, though I'm sure that Bill as DBs Coach prob. had some input into the who plays/who sits decisions.

Here's PFW's list of '09 FAs, incl. Safeties:
Features - NFL pro football articles and coverage from Pro Football Weekly

Adrian Wilson isn't a FA, but Brian Dawkins is. He'll turn 36 next season, however, so at best he could serve as a 1/2-year mentor to our SS of the Future, if he were so inclined.

Other interesting FA names at SS:
Yeremiah Bell, Michael Boulware, James Butler, Sean Considine, Sean Jones,
Brandon McGowan, Jon McGraw, Jermaine Phillips, Gerald Sensabaugh, and Darren Sharper.

Oh, and Lawyer Milloy, too. But he would never return here, would he?

What the NEP should do is sign one of the aforementioned SSs - Jones & Phillips are my top 2 - and draft a SS of the Future, a young Rodney Harrison, with a Top 100 pick - the earlier the better.

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I think he was drafted as an additional late round candidate for ILB.

He's the lightest LB they've drafted while in NE, but he has the frame to carry more muscle, he also comes from a LB family and has experience in a two-gap, zone blitz defensive system. Looking at his stats suggests he had some coverage ability, but certainly not enough for SS.

My best guess is he was the late round candidate whom they believed offered the best mental and physical tools, combined with his starting experience in the Big 12, to compete for an ILB role while on Special Teams. I think they would have preferred to have him on the Practice Squad, but IR also allows him to work with Woicik, Nash, and Davis to get stronger and more explosive. Reading his profile at NFLDraftScout.com he's described as "instinctive" and "quick to diagnose." His athleticism is questioned, but he was being projected as a 4-3 OLB. He's also described as having good hands to stack and shed blockers and being good in "trash," if he can bulk up to survive a 3-4, he reads like the kind of cerebral, good in a phone booth player whom BB would use at SILB - I hope he is spending film time with Tedy.

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Interesting that they have Meriweather in the box more often. I think Meriweather has looked pretty good in run support. On the surface, he looks a little too small for the job, but he has a bit of that stockiness that Bob Sanders has, and he packs a pretty good hit. Perhaps more importantly, he locates and gets to the ball carrier quickly. (Admittedly, Meriweather's hits on TEs on late have left a little more to be desired, at least the Jets game that is)

So is Meriweather-Sanders the combo of the future at safety?

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the pats don't have anyone that opposing players need to be fearful of.........if a WR/TE is going across the middle, they need to assume that there's someone back there that will ring their bell.......either that or an ed reed type whose instincts are off the charts where the QB always has him on their mind

the pats have neither the physical play back there nor the instinct

This was certain the plan of the Front Office. This will likely be settled before free agency opens. Once James Sanders is a free agent, it seems likely that several teams will pay more than the patriots.

Of course, most posters on this site would prefer to have James Sanders as a backup for us, or have him play somewhere else.

I don't think it was the plan otherwise why would they wait so long? Sanders would be a fool to not test free agency now that there are only 4 games left in the season (plus 4 playoff games).

Maybe they will add both a veteran JAG (Williams, Harrison, etc.) and a mid level draft pick (rounds 3-4).

Truer words were never spoken.

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A great safety would really change this team. Nobody will ever mistake Sanders for a great safety. We've been missing Rodney's presence in the backfield, even at his age he has made this team better when healthy. I don't think he is coming back next year. It's time to draft a true hitting safety that can actually cover a tight end as well as deliver the big hit to make the receivers hear footsteps coming.

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"Are you not ENTERTAINED?!" - Addressing the Romans

The FO thought they had their future starters in Meriweather and Sanders, with Sanders as the "true" strong safety. I agree that it is time to look again. After all we have three openings at safety.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Glad to see more are coming around to this. It's a bit of sore spot for me after having gotten flamed a year ago that I didn't see Sanders as a starting caliber safety though I thought then and still think now that he's a decent 3rd safety. There's just so much one can attribute to the Rashomon phenomenon and at some point, one begins to wonder what a great deal of otherwise knowlegeable posters have been smoking. I'll also note, nowhere in my posts contra Sanders have I been even close to that DW Toys "dear cousins" character's pathological disdain for Sanders.

Now, I regret I could not catch more college games so for the scouts here, your contributions on the subject have been and will continue to be greatly appreciated.

We need someone back there to smack the snot out of would be receivers coming over the middle. We also need a sure tackler who'll actually bring down a RB or TE on contact without getting dragged three additional yards for a first down.

I noticed Box's threads which he was good enough to have re-posted here. A few of the usual suspect seem to have stayed the same on the list as those mentioned here following the draft.

My Only Question Re: Draft...Why No SS Pick?

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