Fencer
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
- Messages
- 14,293
- Reaction score
- 3,986
Tired of cameragate subjects I am.
1. This offense has few known weaknesses. The QB is an all-time great. So is the #1 WR. The rest of the WRs seem above average or better for their spots in the food chain -- much better in the case of the slot receiver. The running back duo is getting the job done. The shotgun RB is exemplary. The OL play is more than adequate, and it's NOT just a matter of Brady's quick release and elusiveness. There's nothing wrong with Watson (except the sense that with his gifts he should be yet better). The multi-TE sets seem to do perfectly well with JAG or unconventional TEs.
2. However, this OL has looked great before, only to look quite mediocre a couple of games later.
3. I'm worried about Cassell. He's not proven under fire. Indeed, I regard him as one of the few known offensive weaknesses.
4. Mike Vrabel is as underrated a pass rusher as I've ever heard of. His personality, versatility, and TE moonlighting probably mean he gets the credit he deserves as an overall player. But except for the time he won DPotM with a broken arm (or hand), I've never felt he's gotten the credit he deserves for his OLB play. What does Colvin do that Vrabel doesn't?
5. Right now, five of the defensive front seven are playing like major stars -- Thomas, Colvin, Vrabel, Warren, and Wilfork. The other positions are also manned by very good players too. And in saying that, I may be underrating Green.
6. There are no weaknesses in the defensive backfield right now ...
7. ... except CB depth.
8. Fortunately, Meriweather seems like the kind of kid who'll be able to play at least at the JAG level at any position they need him at, by the middle of his rookie season or so. And it should get better fast from there.
9. How good a receiver is Sammy Morris? How good a receiver is Maroney right now? This matters because the Jumbo-plus-Moss package is going to keep working long term if and only if it contains enough viable receiving threats other than Moss. Watson is one. Thomas will be one when he's back. But probably the RB should be one too.
10. In a definitely related question, how good a rusher is Heath Evans? I see him as decidedly mediocre. So I don't want him as the RB in any package, except as the backup. I do think he's an adequate backup.
11. I loved Norv Turner's comment that you couldn't practice adequately to prepare for the Pats' spread/hurry-up offense, apparently because the scout team couldn't match the Pats' tempo.
12. Damon Huard once got a game ball from BB for his scout team work. Faulk was once inactive for a game because he'd been too busy on scout team to actually practice his position. (Simulating Peyton Manning and Kordell Stewart respectively, for those who've forgotten.) Scout team matters a lot on the Pats. The Bam Childress praise made me think of this.
13. What is Childress missing as a player? I assume it's that he has neither the speed nor the quickness to create a lot of separation. Yet he has the change of direction ability to do a passable imitation of a CB. I'm perplexed. I have trouble imagining it to be an above-the-neck problem, given what else we know about him. Maybe it isn't much, and we'll see him hang on next year when one or two of the high-talent vets are gone for financial reasons.
14. Moss is staying, IMO. Welker is staying. I'm not so sure about the other WRs, however, even if they perform well. It would seem they might be more valuable elsewhere than on a team that already has Moss, Welker, and other WR talent.
15. In particular, I think Stallworth is one-and-done with the Pats. That's even though I think he will click just fine with his pal Brady, and have a handful of big games for us.
1. This offense has few known weaknesses. The QB is an all-time great. So is the #1 WR. The rest of the WRs seem above average or better for their spots in the food chain -- much better in the case of the slot receiver. The running back duo is getting the job done. The shotgun RB is exemplary. The OL play is more than adequate, and it's NOT just a matter of Brady's quick release and elusiveness. There's nothing wrong with Watson (except the sense that with his gifts he should be yet better). The multi-TE sets seem to do perfectly well with JAG or unconventional TEs.
2. However, this OL has looked great before, only to look quite mediocre a couple of games later.
3. I'm worried about Cassell. He's not proven under fire. Indeed, I regard him as one of the few known offensive weaknesses.
4. Mike Vrabel is as underrated a pass rusher as I've ever heard of. His personality, versatility, and TE moonlighting probably mean he gets the credit he deserves as an overall player. But except for the time he won DPotM with a broken arm (or hand), I've never felt he's gotten the credit he deserves for his OLB play. What does Colvin do that Vrabel doesn't?
5. Right now, five of the defensive front seven are playing like major stars -- Thomas, Colvin, Vrabel, Warren, and Wilfork. The other positions are also manned by very good players too. And in saying that, I may be underrating Green.
6. There are no weaknesses in the defensive backfield right now ...
7. ... except CB depth.
8. Fortunately, Meriweather seems like the kind of kid who'll be able to play at least at the JAG level at any position they need him at, by the middle of his rookie season or so. And it should get better fast from there.
9. How good a receiver is Sammy Morris? How good a receiver is Maroney right now? This matters because the Jumbo-plus-Moss package is going to keep working long term if and only if it contains enough viable receiving threats other than Moss. Watson is one. Thomas will be one when he's back. But probably the RB should be one too.
10. In a definitely related question, how good a rusher is Heath Evans? I see him as decidedly mediocre. So I don't want him as the RB in any package, except as the backup. I do think he's an adequate backup.
11. I loved Norv Turner's comment that you couldn't practice adequately to prepare for the Pats' spread/hurry-up offense, apparently because the scout team couldn't match the Pats' tempo.
12. Damon Huard once got a game ball from BB for his scout team work. Faulk was once inactive for a game because he'd been too busy on scout team to actually practice his position. (Simulating Peyton Manning and Kordell Stewart respectively, for those who've forgotten.) Scout team matters a lot on the Pats. The Bam Childress praise made me think of this.
13. What is Childress missing as a player? I assume it's that he has neither the speed nor the quickness to create a lot of separation. Yet he has the change of direction ability to do a passable imitation of a CB. I'm perplexed. I have trouble imagining it to be an above-the-neck problem, given what else we know about him. Maybe it isn't much, and we'll see him hang on next year when one or two of the high-talent vets are gone for financial reasons.
14. Moss is staying, IMO. Welker is staying. I'm not so sure about the other WRs, however, even if they perform well. It would seem they might be more valuable elsewhere than on a team that already has Moss, Welker, and other WR talent.
15. In particular, I think Stallworth is one-and-done with the Pats. That's even though I think he will click just fine with his pal Brady, and have a handful of big games for us.