He must the strong silent type, ok lets take him instead of Mills.
There has been a silent battle for the leadership of the rebuilt STs, that few have followed. Neither looks to play much on regular Defense. The Safety situation is deep and if Andrews is kept (another potential ST captain candidate), it gets complicated. The question is does keeping one or the other jeopardize a keeper and useful player on their own nominal position or the other nominal position?
I think the Pats have found three future regulat players at LB beyond the big 5. Woods, Rodgers and Alexander. And possibly Lua, #4, someday. It is true by experience that Woods and Alexander are a very good ST; Rodgers has more ST tackles this preseason than Izzo, and regular starting possibilities as well; and Lua is a question mark. Lua might be a contributor on both ST and regular LB but it is not clear, and he might better be seasoned on PS.
OTOH Hawkins has been cut already at Safety. Did the Pats do that to hold a position for Andrews or Mitchell ? Of for both? If Izzo loses out would he be available on the Shadow roster, more likely than Andrews or Mitchell?. Or would he get snapped up more likely than either alternative?. I think its possible that many teams would evaluate his recent work, and pass on him than they would on the other two alternatives. (If Belichick, like George Allen, says you're done, who are we to argue?)
I add it up as 8 LBs; Lua to PS; and both Andrews and Mitchell are targeted for ST duties and an extra DB position. Izzo goes to the Shadow and Rodgers, Woods and Alexander join the big 5 on the 8 man LB corps.
Don't forget this gets easier and safer, since Chad Brown is already targeted, (by me), to Shadow and callable in an emergency if you only carry 8 LBs, as well as Lua on PS, and Izzo on the Shadow. With injuries common to both LB and STs, it easy to envison Larry rejoining the team later.
Such pleasant problems to have.
