R_T26

Dragda

I enjoyed watching that. the kid can make plays.

upstater1

If that kid is there at 24, how can you pass over him if you're Pioil/Belichick?

They must be absolutely salivating with this kid.

slash83

If Willis is off the boards by the time we pick at 24 or 28 and if Nelson is still on the boards and we dont draft him id be shocked... id take him over Griffin anyday...

VJCPatriot

Keep in mind that's a very short selection of footage. BB and company will be looking at a much wider sample. They'll see his goofups as well as his big plays. That being said I have liked Nelson for a while now. He has great gamespeed, looks like a ballhawk out there, and he plays with a bit of a mean streak. I think receivers would be hearing footsteps with Rodney and Nelson out there.

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DB15

ive been high on this guy all year

BelichickFan

I love Nelson - and his personality on the field reminds me a lot of a defensive Maroney - but I really do worry about his durability being a banger at his slight build.

sebman2112

I have had questions about his run support, but I've also been thinking about a few things. A Centerfielder type might not seem the most appealing but there could be some advantages to having that type of ballhawk/centerfielder in the secondary:

One of NE's problems last year was coverage from the LB position. Now having that type of coverage/ballhawk/centerfielder Safety would limit the coverage load on the LB's. If you know you have someone you can trust to cover the mid-deep middle it will allow you to play closer to the LOS. This could help the rush defense just because the LB's wouldn't have to worry about mid-deep coverage so much. We've seen what Ed Reed does for the Ravens defense, and I think Nelson could have somewhat of a simular effect on NE's defense. I think he might be a little one demensional, but it also seems he can improve his run suport, and at times looked good in that area.

I like Meriweather because he has CB coverage skills, but also likes to play close to the LOS, and gets his nose dirty in run support. If not for the question marks Meriweather would almost be a slam dunk choice for NE, in my opinion.

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BelichickFan

That is definitely not "not appealing". In other words it's very appealing. We only have one huge problem in my mind and that is the pass defense in the middle of the field. Our ILB aren't good coverage guys and neither are the safeties, not the ones that played in the playoffs anyway.

Look, I know Dallas Clark is a good receiving TE. But give me a break, as a #3 WR he's not that good and we made him look like freaking Jerry Rice. I don't care if we do it from the LB spot or the Safety spot, or both, but we have to get better coverage in the short to medium middle of the field. Nelson, Merriweather, whoever.

BTW, I expect to see Adalius Thomas as the WILB quite a lot next year as he's our best coverage LB. Bruschi has slowed to to the point that he couldn't be the old Bruschi even if he went back to his old WILB spot.

sebman2112

Thomas will play both ILB and OLB, but I don't think they'll keep him at ILB a lot more than OLB. The idiots on "FSNSports tonight" suggested that NE will play AD at ILB full time, so they can move Vrabel back outside full time, I don't buy that. He's more valueble moving around, and is a better OLB/pass rusher off the edge than Vrabel. If anything Vrabel might go back to being more of a rotational LB at both OLB, and ILB, or a fulltime starter at ILB. I also expect them to bring in at least a somewhat high level backer, or two from the draft, so this whole thing will look a little different a month from now.

I'm starting to think they might actually go after Beason or Willis if either is on the board. If NE drafts one of those two it will be to play WILB, and rotate with whomever is starting. NE is showing a lot of interest in high level LB's this year, so I think they're going LB somewhere in the first three rounds.

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