Jamie Collins!!

DarrylS said:

Since he was drafted we heard how this was an overreach, but a freakish athlete.... it took a while for him to develop into his current role.

Compare to many teams who draft guys and they have to adapt to a role which they are not ready for and subsequently struggle... his snaps have increased and the results are positive.

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Totally agree on your main point, but a minor quibble. Collins was a surprise pick because of the team's depth at LB, but he wasn't a "reach" at all at the end of round 2. He was a consensus 2nd/3rd guy and rising fast, even considered a possibility to slip into round 1.

Go to 1:55 in this clip to hear Mayock rave about him:

Mayock's top five outside linebackers - NFL Videos

patchick said:

Totally agree on your main point, but a minor quibble. Collins was a surprise pick because of the team's depth at LB, but he wasn't a "reach" at all at the end of round 2. He was a consensus 2nd/3rd guy and rising fast, even considered a possibility to slip into round 1.

Go to 1:55 in this clip to hear Mayock rave about him:

Mayock's top five outside linebackers - NFL Videos

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Buchanan is on that list too!

patchick said:

Totally agree on your main point, but a minor quibble. Collins was a surprise pick because of the team's depth at LB, but he wasn't a "reach" at all at the end of round 2. He was a consensus 2nd/3rd guy and rising fast, even considered a possibility to slip into round 1.

Go to 1:55 in this clip to hear Mayock rave about him:

Mayock's top five outside linebackers - NFL Videos

Click to expand...

Pete Prisco had Collins going to the Pats in the first with his final mock too.

Why hasn't Bill lined him up at tight end in the redzone yet?!

I think with another year this kid could be up there with Von Miller for best 4-3 LB

Collins is the REAL DEAL.

He can play the run and pass. Good coverage and also good at the line of scrimmage. He can also rush the passer very well.

He is developing much faster than anyone expected. I don't think last week was just a flukey game, but rather a sign of things to come. Last week will increase his confidence even more.

Collins can be an elite OLB in this league.

ripatsfan91 said:

I think with another year this kid could be up there with Von Miller for best 4-3 LB

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Miller's role is a little unique in that he becomes a DE on 3rd down passing situations.

That's one reason he is able to rack up big sack numbers.



Now the Pats could use Collins in a similar role, but his coverage ability is also valuable so I don't think he will ever put up huge sack numbers like Von Miller has.

The improvement for coverage LBs is a must, and has been for awhile. I am fine with Collins being chosen, especially if Belichick wanted to address this issue while also (possibly) preparing for the Spikes departure in the process.

The end result is the same, and that's the fact that we added youth, new talent, and cheaper contracts to the team; just the same as will be done in May. These moves have gone a LONG way towards keeping this team relevant, as they basically rebuilt on the fly.

Let's just hope that Collins is able to keep improving, and I'd also like to see Fletcher kept in the offseason too. If Belichick selects another player in FA or the draft, so be it. It can't hurt, that's for sure.

supafly said:

The improvement for coverage LBs is a must, and has been for awhile. I am fine with Collins being chosen, especially if Belichick wanted to address this issue while also (possibly) preparing for the Spikes departure in the process.

The end result is the same, and that's the fact that we added youth, new talent, and cheaper contracts to the team; just the same as will be done in May. These moves have gone a LONG way towards keeping this team relevant, as they basically rebuilt on the fly.

Let's just hope that Collins is able to keep improving, and I'd also like to see Fletcher kept in the offseason too. If Belichick selects another player in FA or the draft, so be it. It can't hurt, that's for sure.

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I may be completely out of line and over optimistic but for the first time in a long time, I can see the Patriots becoming an elite defense in the coming years. If the Patriots can add a few more impact players and (perish the thought) retain healthy players for the duration of the season, then they're on their way to building some sort of team.

I kept thinking 40 would be a good age for Brady to retire. Now, if he's up to it and the Patriots continue to be in win every year mode, he retires when he's ready (and his play is to a high level). The emergence of the power run game could be Brady's best friend.

ausbacker said:

I may be completely out of line and over optimistic but for the first time in a long time, I can see the Patriots becoming an elite defense in the coming years. If the Patriots can add a few more impact players and (perish the thought) retain healthy players for the duration of the season, then they're on their way to building some sort of team.

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I can definitely see them becoming an elite defense again. They may have done it this season had it not been for the injuries.

I'm not quite sure that we'll ever be on the level of a SEA/SF, but I think we could be top 5 no problem.

As far as TFB retiring at 40, I think we've seen tons of QBs play into their early 40's such as Montana, Warner, Elway, Marino, Favre, etc; and that wasn't even during an era where the rules were designed to help protect the QBs a bit more either. Another thing to consider is that I would have to imagine that Brady may keep himself in better shape than those guys. It's obviously anyone's guess, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him here for another 4-5 yrs.

I do want to see a couple more OL players drafted this May though. May as well keep the cupboard stocked while Scarnecchia's still around. It's not like you can ever have enough OL talent. That would certainly help the cause.

DarrylS said:

Since he was drafted we heard how this was an overreach, but a freakish athlete.... it took a while for him to develop into his current role.

Compare to many teams who draft guys and they have to adapt to a role which they are not ready for and subsequently struggle... his snaps have increased and the results are positive.

This is one of the few times that I feel that the Pats have matched up favorably with a Peyton team, with all the moving parts away from the trenches we may be able to slow him down...

I am more concerned about the offense...

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I wish posters on this message board would stop with this nonsense.

Jamie Collins | Southern Miss, OLB : 2013 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile

Jamie Collins was rated the 60th overall prospect in the 2013 NFL Draft.

ATippett56 said:

I wish posters on this message board would stop with this nonsense.

Jamie Collins*|*Southern Miss,*OLB*:*2013 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile

Jamie Collins was rated the 60th overall prospect in the 2013 NFL Draft.

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If you go back and look at the comments in the games threads early on he was a bust also. People have no patience

reflexblue said:

If you go back and look at the comments in the games threads early on he was a bust also. People have no patience

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I have plenty of patience when it comes to rookies.

However, if second day draft pick (rounds 2-3) does not make that second year leap, then I lose patience with such players as Tavon Wilson (at least he participates on special teams so it's not a total loss) and Joke Bequette.

Collins seems to be really good at making a tackle after having his legs taken out from a blocker.

He did it twice last week.


and his speed will be crucial if the Pats make it to the SB against SF/SEA with their mobile QBs.

MrNathanDrake said:

and his speed will be crucial if the Pats make it to the SB against SF/SEA with their mobile QBs.

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His speed will be crucial tomorrow in coverage

heard rodney harrison on the radio today. He was saying the usual media narrative that pats have big match problems on defense especially with julius thomas who cant be covered by LBs as they are all slow on the pats or safeties as he is too big for them.
I wont be surprised if BB puts talib on J thomas and logan ryan on D thomas,forces manning to throw outside consistently to beat them and if he does it then congratulations to them.

SVN said:

heard rodney harrison on the radio today. He was saying the usual media narrative that pats have big match problems on defense especially with julius thomas who cant be covered by LBs as they are all slow on the pats or safeties as he is too big for them.
I wont be surprised if BB puts talib on J thomas and logan ryan on D thomas,forces manning to throw outside consistently to beat them and if he does it then congratulations to them.

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thomas is good for a drop here...fumble there

ATippett56 said:

Joke Bequette.

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Registering half a tackle would be exciting news for Jake.

collins ability to cover and blitz makes it easy to disguise blitzes. I have a feeling Bill will send collins on a blitz up the middle.

against the colts, in the 3rd quarter, when it was 2nd and 8, collins got a sack on luck in 2 seconds, 2 seconds! and collins was 10 yards away from luck before he made contact and gotten the sack, what made it even more nice was luck was in shot gun, and shot gun is known to prevent blitzes.

Sticky Caulk said:

Registering half a tackle would be exciting news for Jake.

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lol getting on the active roster would be exciting news for jake