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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.We're are into Day 7.
We've re-signed 5 players (including Love) and signed 10 free agents from other teams.
It seems that we done well with our cap space. It seems likely that some move may need to be made soon.
Wes Welker for Jared Allen,
Wes Welker for Tim Tebow,
Wes Welker for current and or future draft picks.
Right now we have little to no holes going into the draft.
Something has to occur to stir us up cutting or trading Wes would do just that,
Gonzalez and Stallworth who can both do some damage in the slot.
Softens the blow.
As for holes and the draft -- think defense -- plenty of holes there.
The holes in the defense may not be as many as you think though.
They are potentially one or two players away from being a lot better, most likely coming in the front seven. One playmaker at DE/OLB + one solid big guy with youth and muscle on the line, and things are a lot better than you think.
I am still hoping for a guy like Castillo at DE, that would really lessen the needs on the line in my opinion. I think there will be a low level FA signing or two at some point, like last yr if Castillo doesn't come here. Carter will almost certainly be back. Pryor is returning from injury, and has the potential to be a strong presence as an interior rusher. Fanene and Scott are also here for competition and depth. Wilfork, Deaderick, and Love are all here. The D line will be addressed still, but it should be a lot closer to being just as good as last yr, if not improved altogether.
LB is pretty set, with the addition of a 1st/2nd round pick. They have Mayo, Spikes, Fletcher, Ninkovich, Cunningham, White, Tarpinian, and maybe even M.Carter. One more big, young, playmaker here--and we're instantly in good shape.
CB/S are also in a lot better shape than you are thinking, at least in my opinion. We saw great strides down the stretch of the season last yr, and IIRC they only allowed one 300+ passer in the last 1/2 of the season, including playoffs. That's over the last 11 games. A lot of the earlier problems were due to scheme change, injuries, and the struggles of DMcC and the safeties. As long as the safety position is improved, we have McCourty, Dowling, Arrington, Moore, and a few ST'er as CB's.
Safety is probably the biggest problem/weakness on this team. A positive aspect of this is that many of the CB's can likely also back up or even take over one of the safety positions in a worst case scenario; although that is not what we necessarily want to have to rely on.
I am seeing a total of maybe 4-5 possible improvements out of the 25 (approx.) players on defense. A couple of those will be addressed via the draft. A couple of those will still be addessed via free agency, or team cuts later on in the spring/summer. When you think about it, that isn't as many "holes" as you'd think. The positions of front seven (3-4 improvements/additional depth), and backline secondary (maybe 2 improvements/additional depth) are not that bad of a situation to be in.
So, in order to have a reasonable defense, we need to sign Carter, have Pryo come back strong, add a playmaker on the DL, at DE/OLB and 1-2 playmakers at safety. You seem to think that being 4-5 players away is "not a bad situation to be in". Is that your position?
So, in order to have a reasonable defense
W-T-F? that could be the stupidest thing i've ever read here, and I read the jets fans posts too!Wes Welker for Tim Tebow
I'm almost certain we trade 2 or 3 picks into 2013
The odds of adding a player to the defense that will make a significant difference in this upcoming year are less than 50% even if we use three picks in the first two rounds.
While I would expect you to be somewhat close to the truth, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that we can add a younger, faster, stronger big body on the defensive line that may tie up a couple of guys at times; maybe even have the potential to rush the QB.
We saw a halfway decent rookie season from Cunningham, and a pro-bowl rookie season from McCourty. Dowling started day one, for the first 2 games and looked impressive while doing so.
If anything, I wouldn't expect too much contribution from a potential draft pick in the safety position, but it's still needed nonetheless.
Regardless, I still see no reason why we can't build on our additions from last yr's team. That would include Pryor, Dowling, Fanane/Scott, Gregory, and maybe even Moore--considering that he only started in 3 regular season games. Another aspect is the fact that we should hopefully see a lot more playing time from Spikes and Chung, who each missed 1/2 the yr.
Adding in a draft pick/two + a vet/two isn't anything out of the ordinary, and the defense should be able to build on some of the potential from last yr.
That would leave us with what, two or three picks in the entire 2012 draft? I don't think that will be their choice.