Little Value To The Last 2 Preseason Games

[mgteich]

IMHO, there are no roster decisions to be made on the field. Belichick can still make final decisions based on evaluations of practice sessions. The key issues now are the injuries and how Belichick will cope until the players are healthy. Personally, I would play the first string units as little as possible. The young roster player backups need some playing time. It is time for the scrubs to audition for the Practice Squad and for other teams.

I do understand that the third preseason is traditionally the time when we play the first string more. I just wouldn't do it. The risks are too great.

TO THE PUP
Tate
LeVoir (O'Callaghan can warm his roster spot or not depending on the health of Morris)

TO THE IR
McKenzie
Crable (?)

TO THE 53
Morris (BJGE might make the squad if Morris doen't make it back soon)
Lenon (or Alexander if Lenon isn't ready)

 

[PatriotsInGA]

Can we just forfeit the last two games? It'd do us more good than playing them.

 

[mgteich]

I agree. As in the past, if Belichick wanted a scrimmage with another team, he could call up the Giants for a joint practice.

Can we just forfeit the last two games? It'd do us more good than playing them.

 

[mayoclinic]

Do you think that Tank Wiliams has 0% chance of making the team at this point as a hydrid DB/LB?

 

[patfanken]

Didn't you watch the last game? I think 2 more weeks and about 6 more series are critical for Brady in his effort to get his timing down and his mind in the right place. We will see him playing the entire first half (about 5 series) next week in the traditional dress rehearsal, and one more in the last game.

There is still work to do and rust to come off. The offense is clearly not clicking...just yet.

As to your roster projections here's what I'm thinking.

1. Given Edelman's fast start and Nunn to the PS, its more likely that Tate winds up on IR than the PUP, though they MIGHT want to keep him on the PUP for the six weeks just in case of massive injuries to the WRs. BTW - can IR people use the facilities and go to meeting etc? Just curious. I agree with Lavoir.

2. Crabel isn't going anywhere, unless he had an ACL, and I don't think so. Lawrence Maroney is secretly pleased to see that there is ANOTHER Whipping boy (besides Watson) for the fans to dispense their venom on.

3. You actually could be right about BJGE and Morris. IMHO that scenario makes a lot more sense than keeping 5 RBs

4. Alexander WILL make the 53, for STs alone...and secondarily as a back up coverage LB. Lenon, I'm not so sure.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Oddly, or actually not so oddly, Bill doesn't agree with you. He sees quite a bit of value in all 4 pre season games, as do most NFL HC's. And I guarantee you Brady wants to see more live action before he heads to Buffalo. You simply cannot simulate live game action reps in practices or scrimmages, and there are a lot of newly acquired moving parts to this team this season that have yet to get in synch. And veterans need to re-build game stamina. The risk is balanced against the reward of being ready to compete when the bell rings and not still knocking off rust and working on timing. Brady is on record saying that perhaps if he had played last pre season things wouldn't have transpired as they did in quarter one of week one.

 

[mgteich]

ROSTER POSITION QUESTION
Which of the last four roster spots would you give to Crable? I've listed my choices. I presume that you keep Crable instead of Slater.

QB Walter
OT/RB O'Callaghan (or BJGE)
LB/ST Alexander (or Lenon if he is healthy)
Player 53 Slater

Didn't you watch the last game? I think 2 more weeks and about 6 more series are critical for Brady in his effort to get his timing down and his mind in the right place. We will see him playing the entire first half (about 5 series) next week in the traditional dress rehearsal, and one more in the last game.

There is still work to do and rust to come off. The offense is clearly not clicking...just yet.

As to your roster projections here's what I'm thinking.

1. Given Edelman's fast start and Nunn to the PS, its more likely that Tate winds up on IR than the PUP, though they MIGHT want to keep him on the PUP for the six weeks just in case of massive injuries to the WRs. BTW - can IR people use the facilities and go to meeting etc? Just curious. I agree with Lavoir.

2. Crabel isn't going anywhere, unless he had an ACL, and I don't think so. Lawrence Maroney is secretly pleased to see that there is ANOTHER Whipping boy (besides Watson) for the fans to dispense their venom on.

3. You actually could be right about BJGE and Morris. IMHO that scenario makes a lot more sense than keeping 5 RBs

4. Alexander WILL make the 53, for STs alone...and secondarily as a back up coverage LB. Lenon, I'm not so sure.

 

[mgteich]

It is not odd that Belichick knows better what he needs. IMHO, managed scrimmages with the giants would work as well as televised pre-season games to get out the rust.

Oddly, or actually not so oddly, Bill doesn't agree with you. He sees quite a bit of value in all 4 pre season games, as do most NFL HC's. And I guarantee you Brady wants to see more live action before he heads to Buffalo. You simply cannot simulate live game action reps in practices or scrimmages, and there are a lot of newly acquired moving parts to this team this season that have yet to get in synch. And veterans need to re-build game stamina. The risk is balanced against the reward of being ready to compete when the bell rings and not still knocking off rust and working on timing. Brady is on record saying that perhaps if he had played last pre season things wouldn't have transpired as they did in quarter one of week one.

 

[mayoclinic]

ROSTER POSITION QUESTION
Which of the last four roster spots would you give to Crable? I've listed my choices. I presume that you keep Crable instead of Slater.

QB Walter
OT/RB O'Callaghan (or BJGE)
LB/ST Alexander (or Lenon if he is healthy)
Player 53 Slater

Easy - I give Slater's position to Crable anyday, even if not 100%.

Slater doesn't add anything to this time, as far as I can tell. He has no value except as a STer, and from what I've seen he's not that special as a STer. We let Kelly Washington go, who was much more value on special teams and had more potential as a WR. We have plenty of players who are as good or better return kickoffs, and plenty who can play gunner. I'd love to see Chung or McGowan opposite Aiken as our gunners - they can both get downfield and lay the leather.

Didn't you watch the last game? I think 2 more weeks and about 6 more series are critical for Brady in his effort to get his timing down and his mind in the right place. We will see him playing the entire first half (about 5 series) next week in the traditional dress rehearsal, and one more in the last game.

There is still work to do and rust to come off. The offense is clearly not clicking...just yet.

As to your roster projections here's what I'm thinking.

1. Given Edelman's fast start and Nunn to the PS, its more likely that Tate winds up on IR than the PUP, though they MIGHT want to keep him on the PUP for the six weeks just in case of massive injuries to the WRs. BTW - can IR people use the facilities and go to meeting etc? Just curious. I agree with Lavoir.

2. Crabel isn't going anywhere, unless he had an ACL, and I don't think so. Lawrence Maroney is secretly pleased to see that there is ANOTHER Whipping boy (besides Watson) for the fans to dispense their venom on.

3. You actually could be right about BJGE and Morris. IMHO that scenario makes a lot more sense than keeping 5 RBs

4. Alexander WILL make the 53, for STs alone...and secondarily as a back up coverage LB. Lenon, I'm not so sure.

Patfanken, I agree with you about Crable, but God forbid that you're right about Alexander. Alexander has proven time and again that JAG is a compliment as far as he's concerned, and after the 2006 AFCCG I quake at the thought that we would ever rely on him as a "coverage LB". Lenon has real value to this team if he can ever get out of the tub. I'd tike Ninkovich over Alexander in a heartbeat at this point.

As far as I can tell, given that Tate can be PUP'd there's no reason to IR him at the beginning of the season, is there? Why not just PUP him and then put him on IR in 6 weeks if he's not ready, or if there doesn't seem to be room at WR. That way, if someone turns out to be a bust or gets hurt, Tate could easily move onto the roster and get some experience practicing with the team, if physically able.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Didn't you watch the last game? I think 2 more weeks and about 6 more series are critical for Brady in his effort to get his timing down and his mind in the right place. We will see him playing the entire first half (about 5 series) next week in the traditional dress rehearsal, and one more in the last game.

There is still work to do and rust to come off. The offense is clearly not clicking...just yet.

As to your roster projections here's what I'm thinking.

1. Given Edelman's fast start and Nunn to the PS, its more likely that Tate winds up on IR than the PUP, though they MIGHT want to keep him on the PUP for the six weeks just in case of massive injuries to the WRs. BTW - can IR people use the facilities and go to meeting etc? Just curious. I agree with Lavoir.

2. Crabel isn't going anywhere, unless he had an ACL, and I don't think so. Lawrence Maroney is secretly pleased to see that there is ANOTHER Whipping boy (besides Watson) for the fans to dispense their venom on.

3. You actually could be right about BJGE and Morris. IMHO that scenario makes a lot more sense than keeping 5 RBs

4. Alexander WILL make the 53, for STs alone...and secondarily as a back up coverage LB. Lenon, I'm not so sure.

+1 my friend. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

I bet there is to Brady..

 

[SHOWTIME15]

i'm just worried what redskins and the giants d-lines are going to do to brady. maybe we should let walter play both those games in their entirety and let them hit him like a pinieta. better him than brady.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

i'm just worried what redskins and the giants d-lines are going to do to brady. maybe we should let walter play both those games in their entirety and let them hit him like a pinieta. better him than brady.

Were Brady as potentially fragile as you suggest, we should right now forget about being in the SB. Obviously you put him out there with the #1 OL, but if he's going to play QB, he's going to face elite pass rushes.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I predict we carry 5 RB's and BJGE makes the roster. We have 3 relatively injury prone backs and a 3rd down back. BJGE provides the insurance as well as someone who can take lesser significant carries (e.g late possessions in blowouts, other misc carries) to lighten the load on others. It would be great to have the top 4 guys prime for January.

 

[patfanken]

Patfanken, I agree with you about Crable, but God forbid that you're right about Alexander. Alexander has proven time and again that JAG is a compliment as far as he's concerned, and after the 2006 AFCCG I quake at the thought that we would ever rely on him as a "coverage LB". Lenon has real value to this team if he can ever get out of the tub. I'd tike Ninkovich over Alexander in a heartbeat at this point.

2 points - Alexander is one of the core STers, and he's good at it. That alone would get him a roster spot. Secondly, the 2006 AFCCG is a bad example. That was almost 3 seasons ago, in a game where he was a last minute throw in, because they were THAT banged up. IIRC he was a rookie or 2nd year UFDA, and Peyton Manning torched him a few times. What a shock.

I'm not saying he's the answer for us at LB, but is a lot more of an answer than Larry Izzo, and probably a better special teamer at this stage of their respective carreers.

 

[mgteich]

Would you give Alexander a special teams roster spot over Slater?

2 points - Alexander is one of the core STers, and he's good at it. That alone would get him a roster spot. Secondly, the 2006 AFCCG is a bad example. That was almost 3 seasons ago, in a game where he was a last minute throw in, because they were THAT banged up. IIRC he was a rookie or 2nd year UFDA, and Peyton Manning torched him a few times. What a shock.

I'm not saying he's the answer for us at LB, but is a lot more of an answer than Larry Izzo, and probably a better special teamer at this stage of their respective carreers.

 

[Bluto]

I agree. As in the past, if Belichick wanted a scrimmage with another team, he could call up the Giants for a joint practice.

let's hope the NFL reduces the schedule to just 2 pre-season 'games'. Even the lousy teams don't play their lousy starters so what's the point?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I predict we carry 5 RB's and BJGE makes the roster. We have 3 relatively injury prone backs and a 3rd down back. BJGE provides the insurance as well as someone who can take lesser significant carries (e.g late possessions in blowouts, other misc carries) to lighten the load on others. It would be great to have the top 4 guys prime for January.

Only he's not going to be active to take those "lesser snaps" on a 45 man gameday active roster... And if there are so called lesser snaps to be taken we have 4 guys to divide them amongst. Might work out to a carry a game apiece over the course of a season...probably a less than half that...

 

[Rob0729]

Funny, I think there is more of a need to play the next two games than any year. There are still a lot of roster battles going on. It may not be for bubble players to make the roster, but there are a lot of players fighting for positions on the depth charts especially at CB, WR, TE, and d-line. All these players may have lcoked in a roster spot, but many of them are fighting to get significant time on the field as contributors. That is huge.

Personally, the fights for roster spots in preseason games is overrated. Most coaching staffs have their 53 man roster almost made when they go into camp. A few players may play themselves on or off the roster, but that may only be 2-3 guys. Most of the other guys are already a lock when they come into camp.

I think most roster battles are perceived by the fans than are actual roster battles. That is why people are shocked when binkies get cut or traded. They usually have a great preseason against garbage talent and everyone thinks they worked their way onto the roster when they never really had a shot at all.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Funny, I think there is more of a need to play the next two games than any year. There are still a lot of roster battles going on. It may not be for bubble players to make the roster, but there are a lot of players fighting for positions on the depth charts especially at CB, WR, TE, and d-line. All these players may have lcoked in a roster spot, but many of them are fighting to get significant time on the field as contributors. That is huge.

Personally, the fights for roster spots in preseason games is overrated. Most coaching staffs have their 53 man roster almost made when they go into camp. A few players may play themselves on or off the roster, but that may only be 2-3 guys. Most of the other guys are already a lock when they come into camp.

I think most roster battles are perceived by the fans than are actual roster battles. That is why people are shocked when binkies get cut or traded. They usually have a great preseason against garbage talent and everyone thinks they worked their way onto the roster when they never really had a shot at all.

True, although here I bet there's a little less lock and a tad more opportunity. The pre season, particularly the first and fourth games, represent significant reps at game speed for guys who may desperately need it and won't see more in the regular season until the injuries start cropping up. No matter what you do in practices and scrimmages you cannot replicate NFL game speed and tempo.