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Why Patriots acted quickly on Seymour trade; top five teams of '09
He brings up some good points, good read.
He brings up some good points, good read.
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He brings up some good points, good read.
Nice read. I agree with a lot of what he says.
The Pats used Ron Brace a lot at DE in the preseason. I wonder whether we will see them move him around a lot the way the Ravens do Haloti Ngata, playing both 4-3 DT, 3-4 NT, and 3-4 DE. He shows much more quickness and penetration on the field than his timed numbers would suggest, and he has nice lateral movement for his size.
We shall see. There is a huge difference between preseason reps and the regular season. I look forward to seeing our four expereinced DL's (and one more if Belichick is willing). I expect to see alot of Warren, Willfork, Wright and Green. And when we go to the 4-3, I expect to see a lot of Burgess and Banta-Cain.
The patriots may indeed start or give a major role to rookie DL's this year, but not unless we are forced to do so.
To continue our conversation
Actually, to me, the big ?? (and it is a BIG question mark) is Green. Personally, I think he project's as a much better 4-3 DE then 3-4. He's lighter, faster and more aggressive then Sey, and I think that in a new scheme (that relies heavily on the 4-3), he could be much more of a beast them people give credit for. I think that he may surprise some this year.
BB was just on WEEI and while he did not give away the farm, he surely talked about 2001 and how the defense evolved from a primary 3-4 in games 1-10, to a 4-3 attacking defense in the last part of the season, which was basically DOMINANT. He said that change was predicated on the emergence and leadership of the middle linebacker position (at the time it was Bruschi). All preseason, we've listened to eveyrone talk about new young leadership at that position in Mayo.
Perhaps, in the off season, he had found a similar structure that will allow for a similar set-up. However, it's predicated by leadership at the MLB position and more speed up front. Burgess, Green and Wright represent that. If Brace and Pryor are farther ahead then we think, then coupled with the known Wilfork, Warren, we could be in good shape. Better then I think all of us realize.
It was illuminatiing to say the least. He made it seem that the MLB was the key to the style of D we had in the latter half of 2001, and the rest were just moving parts. That D was pretty good if I remember.
It was good stuff.
To continue our conversation
Actually, to me, the big ?? (and it is a BIG question mark) is Green. Personally, I think he project's as a much better 4-3 DE then 3-4. He's lighter, faster and more aggressive then Sey, and I think that in a new scheme (that relies heavily on the 4-3), he could be much more of a beast them people give credit for. I think that he may surprise some this year.
BB was just on WEEI and while he did not give away the farm, he surely talked about 2001 and how the defense evolved from a primary 3-4 in games 1-10, to a 4-3 attacking defense in the last part of the season, which was basically DOMINANT. He said that change was predicated on the emergence and leadership of the middle linebacker position (at the time it was Bruschi). All preseason, we've listened to eveyrone talk about new young leadership at that position in Mayo.
Perhaps, in the off season, he had found a similar structure that will allow for a similar set-up. However, it's predicated by leadership at the MLB position and more speed up front. Burgess, Green and Wright represent that. If Brace and Pryor are farther ahead then we think, then coupled with the known Wilfork, Warren, we could be in good shape. Better then I think all of us realize.
It was illuminatiing to say the least. He made it seem that the MLB was the key to the style of D we had in the latter half of 2001, and the rest were just moving parts. That D was pretty good if I remember.
It was good stuff.
First, I loved the 2001 season. However, we had the lowest level of talent to ever win a Super Bowl. We have much, much more talent this year.
With regard to the DL, I think Wright will be at least as important as Green. In any case, we have a very reasonable six-man rotation in Warren, Wilfork, Green, Wright, Burgess and Banta-Cain. In reality, five (without Banta-Cain) would probably be sufficient (absent injury) to give us a solid defensive line.
As is normally the case, I don't expect to see much of the rookies unless there are a couple of injuries. Ninkovich is also available at DE.
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It is the linebacker situation which is still a bit bothersome. Sure, we picked up three DE's who could play OLB, but what is our situation at linebacker? We have Thomas, Woods, Mayo, Guyton and Alexander. This seems a bit thin for a 19 game season, especially inside.
To be blunt, unless we are cutting Wilfork, we have a base 3-4 2-gap defense. Wilfork is among the very best 3-4 NT's in the game, the linchpin of the defense.