After this draft... Who loses their starting job? Who gets cut?

[MrNathanDrake]

Goodbye Sergio Brown (Cut)

Tavon Wilson is the new special teams gunner. He also plays Safety, and CB. Cant see Sergio keeping a roster spot when our 2nd rounder does basically the same things, plus more.



Goodbye Jermaine Cunningham (Cut)

We drafted THREE guys who can jump him on the depth chart. His time here is up. BB basically ate the Cunningham pick and accepted it as a bust. Unless he comes into camp and absolutely tears up the competition, he is a goner. Realistically if he hasn't shown anything yet, I doubt he shows up and all of a sudden transforms into a beast.


Goodbye Branch/Ocho/Gonzalez/Stallworth/Edelman (Cut)

One of those guys won't be on our roster when the season starts. Not sure who it will be. The camp competition should be great. I just can't see us carrying so many WR's.



I'd like to re-introduce you to the bench, Mr. Ninkovich (Passed on Depth Chart)

Belichick didn't trade up for Dont'a Hightower to have him riding the pine. He will fit perfectly in Ninkos spot. OLB in both the 34 and 43, with a little bit of DE. The question isn't IF it will happen, the question is "How long does it take for it to happen?". Sometime before Week 8 is my guess. Maybe even Week 1.

 

[rsd]

Basically agree, but I think people still way underrate Ninkovich. He'll get a significant amount of playing time this year still.

 

[JackBauer]

Ninkovich won't be riding the bench.

 

[Sicilian]

I think the term starter on this defense is kind of blurred right now. Outside of Mayo, McCourty, and Chung (who should all play around 90% of the snaps), and Wilfork who may play less but is clearly of starter quality, I see a lot of mixing and matching. Ninkovich may only play 50-60% of the snaps now with all the new bodies, but I wouldn't say he's being reintroduced to the bench. He brings too many aspects to the defense (solidly) to not work into the mix, especially with three rookies in that front 7 for him to set an example for.

I think Trevor Scott, Jermaine Cunningham, and the three rookies are all competing for some of the same roles. One of those is OLB opposite Ninkovich on early downs.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Ninkovich is a very good LB. He won't be on the bench. Hightower will either play across from him in a 3-4 or in situations early on.

 

[Ring 6]

Goodbye Sergio Brown (Cut)

Tavon Wilson is the new special teams gunner. He also plays Safety, and CB. Cant see Sergio keeping a roster spot when our 2nd rounder does basically the same things, plus more.



Goodbye Jermaine Cunningham (Cut)

We drafted THREE guys who can jump him on the depth chart. His time here is up. BB basically ate the Cunningham pick and accepted it as a bust. Unless he comes into camp and absolutely tears up the competition, he is a goner. Realistically if he hasn't shown anything yet, I doubt he shows up and all of a sudden transforms into a beast.


Goodbye Branch/Ocho/Gonzalez/Stallworth/Edelman (Cut)

One of those guys won't be on our roster when the season starts. Not sure who it will be. The camp competition should be great. I just can't see us carrying so many WR's.



I'd like to re-introduce you to the bench, Mr. Ninkovich (Passed on Depth Chart)

Belichick didn't trade up for Dont'a Hightower to have him riding the pine. He will fit perfectly in Ninkos spot. OLB in both the 34 and 43, with a little bit of DE. The question isn't IF it will happen, the question is "How long does it take for it to happen?". Sometime before Week 8 is my guess. Maybe even Week 1.

I think we should let these guys attend a practice before we give them a prominent role.
Seems to me these type of 'X is here, Y is gone' kneejerk reactions are wrong more than right historically.

 

[Ring 6]

I think the term starter on this defense is kind of blurred right now. Outside of Mayo, McCourty, and Chung (who should all play around 90% of the snaps), and Wilfork who may play less but is clearly of starter quality, I see a lot of mixing and matching. Ninkovich may only play 50-60% of the snaps now with all the new bodies, but I wouldn't say he's being reintroduced to the bench. He brings too many aspects to the defense (solidly) to not work into the mix, especially with three rookies in that front 7 for him to set an example for.

I think Trevor Scott, Jermaine Cunningham, and the three rookies are all competing for some of the same roles. One of those is OLB opposite Ninkovich on early downs.

Ninkovich is part of that competition, not immune from it,

 

[Sicilian]

Ninkovich is part of that competition, not immune from it,

Fair enough, but given he has the most experience and is a known (and solid) quantity, he definitely has the inside track on day 1.

 

[Ring 6]

Fair enough, but given he has the most experience and is a known (and solid) quantity, he definitely has the inside track on day 1.

I don't know, I think Hightower best spot is Ninkos.
I do not like Ninko in the rush most of the time, play DE in the sub package role, especially with all of the additions we have made who specialize in that.
Nink is solid, Hightower can be special.

 

[Sicilian]

I don't know, I think Hightower best spot is Ninkos.
I do not like Ninko in the rush most of the time, play DE in the sub package role, especially with all of the additions we have made who specialize in that.
Nink is solid, Hightower can be special.

I have high hopes for Hightower as well. But your wordage is exactly my point: Nink IS solid, Hightower CAN BE special. I think at least at the beginning of the year it's up to Hightower to force BB's hand if he's going to play over Ninko. Otherwise it is Ninko's job to lose.

I still think it's a moot point overall though, as I fully expect anyone with talent and value to find a role and get decent playing time in the LB/DE rotation. They'll mix and match based on situation.

 

[Marqui]

I don't know, I think Hightower best spot is Ninkos.
I do not like Ninko in the rush most of the time, play DE in the sub package role, especially with all of the additions we have made who specialize in that.
Nink is solid, Hightower can be special.

I'm with you. Ninkovich backing up Hightower seems like the perfect role for him to me.

 

[Ring 6]

I have high hopes for Hightower as well. But your wordage is exactly my point: Nink IS solid, Hightower CAN BE special. I think at least at the beginning of the year it's up to Hightower to force BB's hand if he's going to play over Ninko. Otherwise it is Ninko's job to lose.

I still think it's a moot point overall though, as I fully expect anyone with talent and value to find a role and get decent playing time in the LB/DE rotation. They'll mix and match based on situation.

It will take Hightower about a week IMO to show that he has a signifcantly higher skill level than Nink. The speed of the changeover will only depend on Hightower understanding the defense.

 

[Deus Irae]

I'd like to re-introduce you to the bench, Mr. Ninkovich (Passed on Depth Chart)

Belichick didn't trade up for Dont'a Hightower to have him riding the pine. He will fit perfectly in Ninkos spot. OLB in both the 34 and 43, with a little bit of DE. The question isn't IF it will happen, the question is "How long does it take for it to happen?". Sometime before Week 8 is my guess. Maybe even Week 1.

I don't see how Ninkovich goes to the bench just because of Hightower:
3-4 defense

Spikes
Mayo
Hightower
Ninkovich

 

[DarrylS]

Aside from the numbers gamne, these guys give us a lot of versatility and lots of combinations... big front, big and fast front, fast front etc.

Right now it is a lot of conjecture to guess what will happen by September, also injuries or healing from injuries can impact on what willl happen..

Defensive starter becomes something used for introduction purposes, and there are a lot of defensive snaps to go around... imagine if things go as planned, preparing for this defense??? There are so many interchangable parts..

 

[patsfanboy]

I read in a few places that Hightower is a better inside LB than an outside LB. Of course he is versatile enough to play both position, but if that the case, we would be switching between Spike (specially 3rd downs) and Ninko.

Ps. Stop hatting on Ninko, he proved last season that he belongs here.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

I'm not really concerned about who starts at LB.....I'm just very happy to have quality depth....not only for injuries but for playing fresher in the 4th quarter and not wearing down. I trust the coaching staff to adjust playing time as works best on multiple levels.

BTW.....full agreement on Sergio and Cunningham.

Edelman isn't going anywhere though....too much value in his solid versatility.

 

[VrabelJr]

LOL @ Ninkovich hate. Take a look around the NFL. Ninkovich is one of THE BEST 4-3 SLB and Nickel DEs in the NFL. His versatility and skill is very important to this team. Here's how our alignments in LB and 4-3 DE will shake out in my opinion:

3-4 base
Jack-Mike-Will-Sam
Jones-Mayo-Hightower-Ninkovich

4-3 under
Will-Mike-Sam
Mayo-Hightower-Ninkovich

4-3 Nickel
Will-Mike-Sam
Mayo-Spikes-Hightower
Jones (RDE) and Ninkovich(LDE)

 

[rookBoston]

Really, the guys that really need to worry are Koutouvides and Tarpinian. Maybe Fletcher. Cunningham will have his shot. Ninkovich is safe.

 

[DW Toys]

Goodbye Sergio Brown (Cut)

Tavon Wilson is the new special teams gunner. He also plays Safety, and CB. Cant see Sergio keeping a roster spot when our 2nd rounder does basically the same things, plus more.



Goodbye Jermaine Cunningham (Cut)

We drafted THREE guys who can jump him on the depth chart. His time here is up. BB basically ate the Cunningham pick and accepted it as a bust. Unless he comes into camp and absolutely tears up the competition, he is a goner. Realistically if he hasn't shown anything yet, I doubt he shows up and all of a sudden transforms into a beast.


Goodbye Branch/Ocho/Gonzalez/Stallworth/Edelman (Cut)

One of those guys won't be on our roster when the season starts. Not sure who it will be. The camp competition should be great. I just can't see us carrying so many WR's.



I'd like to re-introduce you to the bench, Mr. Ninkovich (Passed on Depth Chart)

Belichick didn't trade up for Dont'a Hightower to have him riding the pine. He will fit perfectly in Ninkos spot. OLB in both the 34 and 43, with a little bit of DE. The question isn't IF it will happen, the question is "How long does it take for it to happen?". Sometime before Week 8 is my guess. Maybe even Week 1.

UDFA Tavon Wilson!,,,,,,ahh....wait! Second Round. Someone picked up the wrong card. He should be #248 not #48.
DW Toys

 

[rookBoston]

We do seem overloaded with DE-LB hybrid types, and that needs to get sorted out with Scott, Carpenter, Bequette, Hightower, Jones, Cunningham, Ninkovich all in play. But they are all different, in terms of potential, age and experience in the scheme. And, collectively, there is so much versatility. Most of them can all play from a 3-pt stance and many of them could probably shift inside, too; Hightower for certain. Given that this has been a position of weakness over the last few years, suddenly being flush with options is a bit of a shock.

Perhaps the player most significantly impacted is Andre Carter, who isn't even under contract. Even if he comes back healthy, will BB sign him for another 1 year stint, only to cut one of these younger guys? My guess is the preference would be to give the snaps to one of the kids, and go with a little trial by fire.