Christopher Price: Fletcher looks bigger.

DW Toys said:

He is 6'2" and 248. He is the same size as TBC. He is the same height as Ninkovitch. He is taller than Harrison or Freeney or Dumerville.
I still have questions but who knows. He is not that much smaller than Reed.
I guess he is better than bringing back Burgess. I'd still be happier if we had him learn under a Kiwuneka etc. for at least another year.

I think he has more upside than TBC because he has more coverage ability.
DW Toys

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Fletcher is 1 3/8 inches shorter than Ninkovich. Harrison, Freeney, Dumervil, and Reed play in different schemes and are completely irrelevant.

Oswlek said:

Nice post, the only thing I would change is that Nink is better suited to be a starter in the 3-4. NE is in sub a lot, so TBC might get more snaps, but I'd rather they be more as a 4-3 end.

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I would fully agree with this and I even tried to make mention of it by saying "starters/highest in playtime"




Also I guess I will take a moment to look at things pessimistacly as well and in that case you would have to assume Tully doesnt have the year he had two seasons ago and Cunningham, Spikes, and Fletcher have sophmore slumps. You still Have Mayo, Guyton, and Ninkovich who I think have proven what they are capable of.

Conclusion While LB isnt top heavy there is a lot of good quality depth and a couple of young players who could continue to develope and add weight to the top. And having these guys who have all worked together should help the group mesh.

I can't see Fletcher playing a lot of OLB, I thought he did a good job last year inside in coverage. He runs pretty good and is a good open field tackler, so he fits nice as an inside guy on passing downs. I remember the big open field tackle he had on Ray Rice when he was spotting him late in the Ravens game.

I remember Belichick talking about how he felt he did a good job transitioning to ILB from playing DE in college. He was saying how that was a difficult transition, but that Harry Carson and Tedy Bruschi were other guys he coached that did it. Carson and Bruschi were both the same size as Fletcher, so it isn't a reach to project him as an ILB in their system.

I think they leave him inside.

NinjaZX6R said:

Well...he is 6'1. I think he might have bulked up to become our reserve 34SILB.

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Predraft 6'1" 5/8, 244 Lbs.

crowell33 said:

Predraft 6'1" 5/8, 244 Lbs.

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My guess he can get to 260-265.

His parents were at my hotel in Chicago. They were thrilled and they came across as a "football" family. My guess is if he has a roster spot, he'll attack any roll.

Besides, it's great that we seem to have guys that can produce so much speculation in their roll. I love having guys who have rolls we would not exactly know until after the game is done.

Sicilian said:

Yes, because one person's casual remark of a potential POSITION change on a message board means the Pats are counting on Fletcher to "save" the pass rush.

Seriously people, can we have ONE thread appreciating a surprise player without someone making a snarky comment about the lack of pass rush?

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The team's linebackers, as a group, sucked last year, and the team hasn't really done anything to address that as of now. Until people see improvement, pretty much every linebacker thread will have people pointing out the linebacking problems.

Deus Irae said:

The team's linebackers, as a group, sucked last year, and the team hasn't really done anything to address that as of now. Until people see improvement, pretty much every linebacker thread will have people pointing out the linebacking problems.

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I'd have to disagree with this a little bit. I thought the linebackers as a whole showed some promise, when you factor in ILB and OLB. Looking at just OLB, there's definitely room for improvement, you're right, and people have the right to be concerned about it.

My problem is that the point of this thread is an observation about the physical stature of an ILB and how it pertains to his ability to play OLB. But of course, that's too neutral and isn't filled with enough gripe for some people here, so they have to twist it into a thread claiming "Fletcher is being viewed as the savior of the pass rush." It's an incendiary comment that has nothing to do with the matter at hand. No one here is claiming that moving Fletcher to OLB will suddenly improve the pass rush, so I don't see the point of his statement of disbelief.

Deus Irae said:

The team's linebackers, as a group, sucked last year, and the team hasn't really done anything to address that as of now. Until people see improvement, pretty much every linebacker thread will have people pointing out the linebacking problems.

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A linebacking crew with NFL seasonal experience of

7, 2, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0

and starting seasonal experience of

4, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0

struggled? Shocker!

I liked Fletcher in pre-season and even more after the Ravens game. Sure tackler and made Guyton look slow when chasing down Rice out of the backfield.

PFW boys loved him in Training Camp as well.

Deus Irae said:

The team's linebackers, as a group, sucked last year, and the team hasn't really done anything to address that as of now. Until people see improvement, pretty much every linebacker thread will have people pointing out the linebacking problems.

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I dont agree with this at all. Linebacker as whole was pretty good last year. ILB was really good. OLB was not quite as good being overpowered in the run game at times and not providing enough of a rush but I am not sure being overpowered at times vs the run is fully thier fault as one of their best run stopping Dlinemen was hurt all year.

And I can easily see OLB being better this year in both areas without any new OLBs. Tully should bounce back and be closer to 2 years ago, Cunningham should improve, adding Warren back should make the OLBs look better vs the run.

I, like anyone with half a brain, would love to have LT rushing from the OLB spot but aside from not finding that guy I feel like the LB group has been rebuilt in front of our eyes and has more talent than people would like to admit because it is just easier to complain about Pass Rush then recognize the 7-8 LBs we have with various skill sets and various skill levels.

Sicilian said:

I'd have to disagree with this a little bit. I thought the linebackers as a whole showed some promise, when you factor in ILB and OLB. Looking at just OLB, there's definitely room for improvement, you're right, and people have the right to be concerned about it.

My problem is that the point of this thread is an observation about the physical stature of an ILB and how it pertains to his ability to play OLB. But of course, that's too neutral and isn't filled with enough gripe for some people here, so they have to twist it into a thread claiming "Fletcher is being viewed as the savior of the pass rush." It's an incendiary comment that has nothing to do with the matter at hand. No one here is claiming that moving Fletcher to OLB will suddenly improve the pass rush, so I don't see the point of his statement of disbelief.

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It's not that I didn't agree with your sentiment, because I did. On both sides of issues, there's a tendency on message boards to broaden threads into more than is being talked about. Talking about size increase of an ILB obviously doesn't need discussion about how the OLBs played. However, there was a poster that went the way of asking if this meant Fletcher would be going to OLB, which was pretty much an unintentional invitation to the OLB/pass rush posts.

And I'm just saying that you're going to see that sort of thing happen on pretty much every LB thread because of the struggles there last year and the offseason not really having addressed it so far.

Anyone thought Price might have shared a shower.......

Poor joke I know

signbabybrady said:

I dont agree with this at all.

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I don't want to hijack the thread, so I'm not going to comment on this. Please don't take offense, but my post was just pointing out to Sicilian that he was engaging in wishful thinking because of the position being discussed. I disagree with your post, and would be more than willing to talk about it on another LB thread if you wish, but that wasn't where I was going here.

As I said in the twitter debate last night I think it's a stretch to think Fletch is going to be a base 3-4 OLB. I view his strengths as speed and sure tackling, and these make him a great fit as a sub defense linebacker. We saw a lot of him as a spy early on, with occasional blitzing, and he was pretty solid at that. Even in the playoff game he had a great tackle to stop the jets short of a first down and force a punt.

He did see some time as a base OLB against the Jets in the 45-3 game, but that might have just been a little experimenting once the game was out of reach.

I think his ideal fit might probably be at the Will, but he should push Guyton for the top sub-package LB spot next to Mayo. But anytime an undrafted rookie sees time at basically every LB spot you have to feel good about his future wherever it may be.

Deus Irae said:

It's not that I didn't agree with your sentiment, because I did. On both sides of issues, there's a tendency on message boards to broaden threads into more than is being talked about. Talking about size increase of an ILB obviously doesn't need discussion about how the OLBs played. However, there was a poster that went the way of asking if this meant Fletcher would be going to OLB, which was pretty much an unintentional invitation to the OLB/pass rush posts.

And I'm just saying that you're going to see that sort of thing happen on pretty much every LB thread because of the struggles there last year and the offseason not really having addressed it so far.

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You make a fair point, and I usually can refrain from commenting on these types of things (it's not like I expect anyone to really change their opinion or posting habits due to my retorts). Today was just one of those days when I don't feel like taking it. Happens every offseason, but especially this one where there's even less on-the-field subject matter to discuss.

After looking at Dane's latest picture this offseason...



Chris Price might be right on this

PATRIOTSFANINPA said:

After looking at Dane's latest picture this offseason...

Chris Price might be right on this

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I don't know why, but I think he might have been using drugs...

Calciumee said:

I don't know why, but I think he might have been using drugs...

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Yeah...When your arms resemble 2 huge loaves of Challah Bread,you have gone too far

PATRIOTSFANINPA said:

After looking at Dane's latest picture this offseason...

Chris Price might be right on this

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No....I think that's Arnold's mistress:bricks:

Deus Irae said:

It's not that I didn't agree with your sentiment, because I did. On both sides of issues, there's a tendency on message boards to broaden threads into more than is being talked about. Talking about size increase of an ILB obviously doesn't need discussion about how the OLBs played. However, there was a poster that went the way of asking if this meant Fletcher would be going to OLB, which was pretty much an unintentional invitation to the OLB/pass rush posts.

And I'm just saying that you're going to see that sort of thing happen on pretty much every LB thread because of the struggles there last year and the offseason not really having addressed it so far.

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Ahhh

The only one hijacking the thread with irrevalent commentary is you.

What a shocker.

The topic is Dane Fletcher and where he fits. Bigger and OLB is entirely appropriate because it's like Dane Fletcher.

Naturally, you have to show up with "commentary" about all the LB's.