Rent a Defensive Back???

[mgteich]

We seem to have accepted extreme instability in the defensive backfield. If two of Wheatley, Wilhite and Richardson look good and James Sanders is re-signed, we have a dine basis for the future, but those are pretty big if's.

Samuel, Wilson and Gay are all gone from last year.

SAFETY
Sanders, Harrison, Williams and Ventrone are signed only through this season. Meriweather has a contract past this season.

CORNER
Hobbs, Wheatley, Wilhite and Richardson are signed past this season. The following are signed through this season only: Bryant, Webster, L. Sanders and Spann.


A POSSIBLE FUTURE
CORNER: Hobbs, Wheatley, Wilhite/Richardson
SAFETY: Meriweather, James Sanders

 

[Jimke]

We seem to have accepted extreme instability in the defensive backfield. If two of Wheatley, Wilhite and Richardson look good and James Sanders is re-signed, we have a dine basis for the future, but those are pretty big if's.

Samuel, Wilson and Gay are all gone from last year.

SAFETY
Sanders, Harrison, Williams and Ventrone are signed only through this season. Meriweather has a contract past this season.

CORNER
Hobbs, Wheatley, Wilhite and Richardson are signed past this season. The following are signed through this season only: Bryant, Webster, L. Sanders and Spann.


A POSSIBLE FUTURE
CORNER: Hobbs, Wheatley, Wilhite/Richardson
SAFETY: Meriweather, James Sanders

I hope that the Patriots make an attempt to re-sign Fernando

Bryant and James Sanders before they reach free agency. Neither

player should command an outrageous salary.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

why so worried? I imagine this upcoming draft they will address another piece of the defense whether lb or cb.

they'll be fine.

 

[Patslifer]

why so worried? I imagine this upcoming draft they will address another piece of the defense whether lb or cb.

they'll be fine.

Because if there are injuries to the lb's, and we lost speed upfront, the secondary is going to be exposed badly.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Every team has several "ifs" to consider every season.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Because if there are injuries to the lb's, and we lost speed upfront, the secondary is going to be exposed badly.

you think the secondary is that bad? if the lb'ers did get injured i'd expect the safeties to fall back more.

 

[mgteich]

Yes, indeed! And great teams address this ifs as best they can before the season begins, sometimes two or three years before the season begins. The patriots have paid severely for risks they have knowlingly taken with regard to risks at depth at LB and RB. Were we unlucky?

Stability requires planning. It is not good to replace half your unit each year, unless they were horrible.

The defensive backfield with which we won the AFC last year may be all gone by the end of this year with the exception of Hobbs and Meriweather. And yes, I would feel differently if Bryant, Williams and Webster were signed to 2-year contracts and James Sanders was extended.

Every team has several "ifs" to consider every season.

 

[spacecrime]

The patriots have paid severely for risks they have knowlingly taken with regard to risks at depth at LB and RB. Were we unlucky?

The Pats "paid" by winning three superbowls. There are a lot of other teams who would have liked to have had the consequences the Pats have had due to their personnel decisions. Like 31 of them.

 

[Patslifer]

Because if there are injuries to the lb's, and we lost speed upfront, the secondary is going to be exposed badly.

No, I think they will be good. I just think the rooks are going to need time to develope, and might be exposed ( if the lb core is thinned out slightly).

Nitpicking really.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Yes, indeed! And great teams address this ifs as best they can before the season begins, sometimes two or three years before the season begins. The patriots have paid severely for risks they have knowlingly taken with regard to risks at depth at LB and RB. Were we unlucky?

Stability requires planning. It is not good to replace half your unit each year, unless they were horrible.

The defensive backfield with which we won the AFC last year may be all gone by the end of this year with the exception of Hobbs and Meriweather. And yes, I would feel differently if Bryant, Williams and Webster were signed to 2-year contracts and James Sanders was extended.

just worry about this year. they had plenty of bodies in the secondary. we'll see if any of them can play soon.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

No, I think they will be good. I just think the rooks are going to need time to develope, and might be exposed ( if the lb core is thinned out slightly).

Nitpicking really.

how come you are quoting yourself?

 

[mgteich]

The way not to get better is look at the successes of the past, rather than the challenges. In the past, BEFORE the season has started we have discussed the risks has taken with regard to LB and RB. I have almost always supported the team's personnel decisions.

Hopefully, we have solved the problem at RB with a decision to keep five RB's so that we have a short yardage RB, and so that we don't need to depend on street RB's late in the season.

I also think we have successfully addressed the LB problem by bringing in Thomas, Hobson, Mayo and Crable (and Seau last year).

I understand that we probably did all we could at corner and safety, but the strategy of bring in several vets and hope that someone steps up won't necessarily work. I think the last time we tried this none of the three veteran corners even made the team.

The Pats "paid" by winning three superbowls. There are a lot of other teams who would have liked to have had the consequences the Pats have had due to their personnel decisions. Like 31 of them.

 

[cstjohn17]

I am likely in the minority but I see Sanders as a player who has gotten better every year and has become a steady young presence in the secondary. He is not Ed Reed but can play either Safety position and special teams. These are the kind of players you want on your roster, I hope the Patriots extend him.

 

[mgteich]

I agree 100%. James Sanders has done all that has been asked of him, and more.

I am likely in the minority but I see Sanders as a player who has gotten better every year and has become a steady young presence in the secondary. He is not Ed Reed but can play either Safety position and special teams. These are the kind of players you want on your roster, I hope the Patriots extend him.

 

[jeffbiologist]

I think we have safety in numbers at the CB positions right now. Let them learn the system and guage competancy by who makes the team and how well they do in this system. I would not be surprised to see the top veteran CB extended before the end of the season.
I also think the "rental" is Sanders. With Merriweather coming on, Harrison and now Williams there Sanders needs to be more of a playmaker to make it on the field. Safeties under BB either lay the lumber or play center field(making PICKS). As much as some guys like him here I have seen him miss more tackles than Rodney...and dont recall him running anyone down from behind.

 

[Patslifer]

how come you are quoting yourself?

I made a mistake.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I made a mistake.

which one of your personalities made the mistake?

 

[patsox23]

We seem to have accepted extreme instability in the defensive backfield. If two of Wheatley, Wilhite and Richardson look good and James Sanders is re-signed, we have a dine basis for the future, but those are pretty big if's.

Samuel, Wilson and Gay are all gone from last year.

Can we please stop pretending that Wilson and Gay are significant losses? Asante, I'll give you - he's an all-pro corner, a HUGE loss, IMO (though not insurmountable one, especially with this staff). I'll even say Gay is MAYBE a quasi-loss, but even that's a stretch. Geno Wilson hasn't been a significant contributor to this secondary in YEARS. He is NO loss.

I'm not disagreeing with the overall premise here. We have a lot of young players in the secondary, and will be depending on some rookies for significant minutes. I'll put in my two cents that James Sanders is a good, solid serviceable safety, he's young and has improved every season. If the secondary DOES become a problem, I'm sure BB will notice it way before we do, and address it as best he can.

If we were to rent a DB, I'd love to see them go after Ty Law, but I don't expect that to happen. He's looking for starter money, and will likely get it - just as soon as someone, hopefully not the Pats, loses a top corner to a knee injury.

 

[Zeke_Mowatt]

I heard Lito left Iggles practice today...not sure if either he or AS are serious, but it would be pretty sad if Philly had to go out and grab Law too.

If we were to rent a DB, I'd love to see them go after Ty Law, but I don't expect that to happen. He's looking for starter money, and will likely get it - just as soon as someone, hopefully not the Pats, loses a top corner to a knee injury.

 

[cstjohn17]

I think we have safety in numbers at the CB positions right now. Let them learn the system and guage competancy by who makes the team and how well they do in this system. I would not be surprised to see the top veteran CB extended before the end of the season.
I also think the "rental" is Sanders. With Merriweather coming on, Harrison and now Williams there Sanders needs to be more of a playmaker to make it on the field. Safeties under BB either lay the lumber or play center field(making PICKS). As much as some guys like him here I have seen him miss more tackles than Rodney...and dont recall him running anyone down from behind.

No way any of this happens, why would they extend Byrant or Webster? These are basically scrap heap guys that can be replaced in 10 minutes next year. There is no such thing as safety by numbers if everyone is average.

At Safety Harrison is near the end, he has 1-2 more good years left and is a free agent after this season. Williams has been cut by plenty of bad defenses, despite the hype he is clearly the 4th option at safety and maybe even behind Spann at this point. Signing Sanders provides a youthful base at Safety (Merriweather, Sanders), can the base be improved? Yes, of course but at least two players are in the mix. Right now Merriweather is the only Safety signed beyond this season.