BradyManny
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2006
- Messages
- 11,103
- Reaction score
- 1,520
Whether this season or once Bruschi retires, does he have the size, instincts and ability to shed blocks? Because, if so, that would certainly make life easier going forward. There are plenty of us who love AD at SILB, but the release of Vrabel makes moving AD there a bit more difficult.
Finding a guy to play WILB is a little bit easier. Theoretically, they are the member of the front 7 with the most freedom to operate, the guy who benefits most from the big guys absorbing blockers up front. I know, in a practical sense, that strongside v. weakside isn't always appropriate, but in a general sense, that is what we look for when talking about WILB v. SILB candidates.
At times, Mayo struggled shedding blockers at the start of the season and I remember the Dolphins targetting him, putting the TE in motion and moving them to Mayo's side and running at him. As the season went on, Mayo got much better, to the point where he was a complete beast against the Jets and was meeting blockers and discarding them as good as any strongside ILB could do. Not to mention, he is the surest tackler I've seen in a Patriot uniform in quite some time.
Hopefully in the offseason he has put on weight and increased his strength.
If so, moving Mayo - arguably, our best tackler, one of our hardest working players and most committed to watching film - over to a position of greater need, a position we've found harder to fill, and perhaps a position of greater importance - might be the best move we could.
Finding a guy to play WILB is a little bit easier. Theoretically, they are the member of the front 7 with the most freedom to operate, the guy who benefits most from the big guys absorbing blockers up front. I know, in a practical sense, that strongside v. weakside isn't always appropriate, but in a general sense, that is what we look for when talking about WILB v. SILB candidates.
At times, Mayo struggled shedding blockers at the start of the season and I remember the Dolphins targetting him, putting the TE in motion and moving them to Mayo's side and running at him. As the season went on, Mayo got much better, to the point where he was a complete beast against the Jets and was meeting blockers and discarding them as good as any strongside ILB could do. Not to mention, he is the surest tackler I've seen in a Patriot uniform in quite some time.
Hopefully in the offseason he has put on weight and increased his strength.
If so, moving Mayo - arguably, our best tackler, one of our hardest working players and most committed to watching film - over to a position of greater need, a position we've found harder to fill, and perhaps a position of greater importance - might be the best move we could.