patsfaninpa

I'd prefer to try McCourty at FS too. Re-up Ihegibo. Draft a cb at number one. We're going to draft a cb early. Might as well get a good one. I'd love to see Stephon Gilmore drop to 27. If McCourty is uncomfortable at FS, you can move him back to cb along with; Arrington, Dowling and our top pick. Should be pretty good there. Get a safety next year. When there are some decent ones out there if McCourty experiment doesn't work.

Secondary(9 players)

Safety
Chung and McCourty
Depth
Gregory and Ihedigbo

Cornerback
Arrington and Dowling
Depth
Top pick(Gilmore), S. Moore and W. Allen(Possibly M. Cole)

State

Yeah, I can't McCourty consistently lining up at CB with how poorly he played this past season.

I think some people think it was a sophomore slump and he'll grow out of it. But I don't it works that way. So I think we'll see him lining up as FS a good part of the time.

AzPatsFan

There seems to be a surplus of WRs and a deficit of Safeties.

I think you are all misreading Belichick's plans.

Edelmen becomes a FS, PR and part-time/emergency WR. Allen becomes primarily a Safety with his experience, and declining speed.

I would expect the BPA at the end of the First Round is likely to be a DL, DE/OLB and CB. If Bill chooses three, here is where I expect him to draft, in any order.

rookBoston

Thing with the "McCourty to S" thing, for me, is that I attribute the theory mostly to the media and fans. I haven't seen or heard anything credible associated to the coaching staff to indicate this idea is real or permanent. Also, lest we forget, McCourty was a pro-bowler at CB in 2010. I'm not going to start listing him at S until we see him regularly practicing and playing there in games.

__________________
"We want to build a big, strong, tough, smart, fast, disciplined football team that will consistently compete for a championship."
-- Scott Pioli, from the Patriots scouting manual

patchick

I think it's a bit of an idee fixe for me with Dowling...he was my top SAFETY prospect last year! But he did look good at corner in his limited chances, so who knows.

It just seems to me that they entire roster looks stronger and more balanced if you move one of the existing big corners to S and draft one of the good-looking CBs, rather than picking over the dregs of a weak safety class.

Avenger

Offense:
T. Brady
B. Hoyer
R. Mallet
K. Moore
W. Welker
B. Lloyd
C. Ochocinco
D. Stallworth
D. Coale
M. Slater
R. Gronkowski
A. Hernandez
D. Fells
S. Vereen
S. Ridley
D. Woodhead
S. Larson
B. Waters
R. Gallery
S. Vollmer
M. Light
N. Solder
M. Cannon
D. Connolly
D. Molk
Defense:
R. Dowling
S. Moore
D. McCourty
P. Chung
K. Arrington
S. Gregory S
T. Robinson
H. Smith
B. Boykin
J. Edelman
J. Mayo
B. Spikes
B. Irvin
T. White
R. Ninkovich
N. Koutouvides
B. Carpenter
V. Curry
V. Wilfork
J. Chapman
K. Love
M. Pryor
T. Scott
J. Fanene
Special Teams:
S. Gostkowski
Z. Mesko
D. Aiken
PUP List:
A. Carter
L. Mankins
A. Gonzalez

That gives us 52 (Need the 53rd player RB maybe?) active, 3 (at least) on the PUP list. I can see Hoyer getting traded during the first half of the season opening a slot for one of the PUP Players, IR additions could open others.