Pierre Woods is a pretty good story, a guy who made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2006, played all 16 games in 2007 and every game so far this year. This past preseason he was one of the Pats’ better players, so he’s clearly made strides. But there’s no getting around the fact that the drop-off between Thomas and Woods is huge, and that’s nobody’s fault. There aren’t many guys like Thomas who are 270 pounds and can run like a tight end. Thomas can do so many more things and play so many more roles, but that lost versatility isn’t even the worst of it. It all comes down to the pass rush. Thomas was pressuring the pocket better than any Patriots player not named Richard Seymour so far this year, and there’s just no way to replace his burst and athleticism. If the Patriots are going to surprise people come December and January, they’ll probably need some game-changing plays on defense. Something on the order of what Thomas did to Jets running back Leon Washington and quarterback Brett Favre in Week 2, or what Thomas did to the Rams three weeks ago (eight tackles; two sacks).
Woods figures to be a starter now in the 3-4, but if you’ve been watching the defense recently you’ve seen the Pats haven’t exactly spent a lot of time in their base defense. So it’s possible you won’t see a ton of Woods even if he starts. Perhaps Thomas’ loss will mean more snaps for linemen like Jarvis Green, Mike Wright or Vince Wilfork in passing situations. Maybe the coaches won’t have Seymour on the bench quite so much. Maybe we’ll see the 4-3. In other words, don’t expect Woods to step directly into Thomas’ shoes and play all his responsibilities. It will be divvied up. Again, I’ll be looking to see if anyone can pick up the slack on the rush. The top candidate should be Mike Vrabel, who hasn’t had a sack since Week 1 and has just one hit on the QB over the past eight games.
