Guyton played well enough to remain a starter. He could probably play either inside or outside as he has decent speed and height. Got a lot of good experience starting 6 games in Mayo's absence.
Exactly, to my eye he actually outplayed Mayo a bit, though it seems people need their whipping boys.
Mayo didn't play well enough or fast enough as too often a guard would engage him 3 yards downfield and he couldn't shed. Noticed this more in games that Wilfork missed at the end of the year. I am chalking this up to his playing hurt.
That and I think he was thinking too hard about trying to get the defense aligned, I suspect Bill's time with the defense is as much for grooming Mayo, Guyton, Meriweather, Chung, Butler, Wilhite, and Wheatley as it is a DC.
We'll learn a lot about what Belichick will do by the players he retains and signs prior to the draft (e.g. if he goes after Aaron Kampman, expect more 4-3). Retaining Wilfork and signing Jason Taylor, expect the same basic scheme but hopefully with better talent and more pressure.
I wouldn't see signing Kampman as a 4-3 emphasis, it's a lot like trading for Burgess last season, getting the last mileage out of a top notch veteran.
Burgess and Thomas should both be gone, neither is what I would describe as a physical player. Thomas could be, but he refuses to play physical and mopes unless he is allowed to chase the QB. Some leader. Burgess can't contain against the run and wasn't all that effective rushing the passer. Both are over 30 and should be replaced with younger faster players.
Burgess I have no issue with, he was learning a new and complex system as well as a new role - and it's not as if he was ever a top run stuffer anyway, that was a known quantity. Should he be re-signed I expect some improvement. If he's not it's not a great loss. Bill can get a bag of donuts for Thomas, give him a new home in the NFC.
I hope he wants the defense to be more physical and aggressive. You sit back and play contain to avoid giving up the big play, but the Patriots gave up more big plays than I can remember last season so .... that didn't work. Even when they called a blitz, they couldn't get to the QB and they got picked apart by Brees, Manning, and even Henne to a degree.
I attribute much of that to youth.
Wilfork, Warren, Wright, Green, and Pryor might all be nice players but aside from Wilfork the rest of them rarely got double teamed and couldn't win their one-on-one battles to get to the QB. Wright was probably the best of the bunch. Banta-Cain was better than any of the bigger linemen at generating pressure.
Warren came off a couple surgeries to start the season, he was playing catch-up all year, he's still a monster at the point of attack and assuming he's healthy through the offseason I expect him to have a better year.
Wright did an excellent job at collapsing the pocket, I would rate him as better than TBC at creating pressure. Pryor also was quite good at this, I'm looking for a second year leap from him.
Wilfork and Green are UFAs, I want both back, but won't be surprised if one is tagged and traded and the other is picked up by another team.
The front-7 needs an overhaul whether they are successful keeping Vince or not. I'd say that Green, Thomas, and Burgess are definitely gone. They need to resign Banta-Cain. Ninkovich, Woods, and Alexander aren't world beaters and could be replaced but only if they can get better players. Brace, Crable, and McKenzie need to prove they belong in the NFL.
The infusion of youth into the front seven is well underway, I'd just like to see more of it at OLB.
The Patriots substitute a lot and play a chess game, especially on third down. This hasn't worked out so well as their 3rd down efficiency on defense has been consistently poor. I can see running guys on and off the field to keep them fresh, but when you collect a group of specialists and 2-down players it makes your defense easier to read based on who is on the field. It also exposes match-ups that the opponent quickly exploits by isolating an inferior player and picking up an easy first down. It would be nice if the Patriots could have more 3-down players and have flexibility without massive substitutions.
Bill seems to have emphasized his offense to adapt to the pass happy NFL rulebook, this left aging players on the roster a bit too long and the youth movement of the past couple drafts is still developing - which is why Corwin Brown and Bill Belichick default DC has me thinking about player development.