2014 Roster - Offseason needs

TriplecHamp said:

They would never carry nor would I expect all of those players to be on the gameday roster. Depending on the gameplan I think 5 would be though. Today we carried Slater, Dobson, Amendola, Collie, Edelman. Im essentially dropping Collie and saying that Slater should never see the field on offense. I think its important going foreword for this team to stop putting so many eggs in one basket. At this point I don't think we should run lots of any single set. I think its a bad idea to run with a rookie TE and Gronk and expect lots of 2-TE's sets. Having 9/46 players be WR's and TE's especially with a player like Beckham playing on st.

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My point is that you don't have enough snaps to carry that many on the 53, let alone the 46.

Except where injuries might have forced them to do so (rather than IR a player prematurely) the Pats have carried 5 WRs + Slater (e.g., this week, it was Edelman, Amendola, Collie, Dobson, Thompkins).

DL (specifically interior pass rush)
Bigger CB to back up Talib
Interior OL
TE
Physical WR

They need to address one of WR or TE in FA. I'm hoping its Scott Chandler from the Bills. BB loves signing players that have killed the Pats. With Chandler's size and skill set, he's a great redzone target, which is what this team was sorely missing with Gronk out.

ctpatsfan77 said:

My point is that you don't have enough snaps to carry that many on the 53, let alone the 46.

Except where injuries might have forced them to do so (rather than IR a player prematurely) the Pats have carried 5 WRs + Slater (e.g., this week, it was Edelman, Amendola, Collie, Dobson, Thompkins).

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Ok so were talking about dropping one wide receiver, I don't know how some would gauge the talent on at the position but I would strongly consider bringing in more talent to compete with the likes of Boyce, Thompkins and whoever else is their to battle it out for that final spot or two (assuming Edleman, Dola, Dobson are all back).

Championships are won up front gentlemen.

Interior OL, Interior DL are the most glaring needs.

1. D line
2. Back Up Tight End and outside WR
3. Guard/Centre

In no particular order. I'd like a big strong safety too.

zimmy said:

1. D line
2. Back Up Tight End and outside WR
3. Guard/Centre

In no particular order. I'd like a big strong safety too.

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I might be crazy but I'm still holding out a little hope that Adrian Wilson can contribute next season. I was one of the biggest fans of his signing last offseason. Its unlikely though.

BritPat said:

Championships are won up front gentlemen.

Interior OL, Interior DL are the most glaring needs.

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And DE, too. We were beaten on both lines yesterday, and the lack of pass rush was crippling.

mayoclinic said:

And DE, too. We were beaten on both lines yesterday, and the lack of pass rush was crippling.

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I personally think thats our number 1 need. We need a rotation with Nink and Jones. We can't expect them to play every snap again and keep up a consistent rush and if we lost one of them it would be a disaster. Buchanan is an unknown and Carter is done.

An interior pass rush would be good too but we at least have some options/bodies there with Chris Jones, Armstead, Wilfork, Siliga and possibly Kelly too.

BritPat said:

Championships are won up front gentlemen.

Interior OL, Interior DL are the most glaring needs.

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And we got manhandled at both against the Broncos of all teams.
Great point.

definitely need someone on the interior line maybe we can make a move for Alex Mack or draft someone like gabe jackson in the 3rd or weston richburg I think DT is a big need but losing wilfork, kelly and don't forget Armstead is tough those were what most people thought would be our top 3 DT's this year. I think Linale Joseph would be a good FA pickup but I like Hageman and Nix in the 1st, Donald in the 2nd and johnson from LSU and daquan jones in the 3rd. I think DE could be upgraded I love Nink and all he has done but we need another great pass rusher which could be Michael Johnson from the Bengals or drafting Trent Murphy or maybe even Jackson Jeffcoat in the 2nd round. For TE's which is probably our most glaring need I could see us going Jace Amaro or Austin Sefarian Jenkins in the 1st or troy niklaus in the 2nd as well as a vet signing like pettigrew or chandler. CB and S could also be adressed but I dont think that those are as big needs with Harmon hopefully improving on his solid rookie season as well as Logan Ryan

BlitzFritz said:

And we got manhandled at both against the Broncos of all teams.
Great point.

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As I wrote elsewhere:

mayoclinic said:

The Broncos played their best game of the year IMHO in terms of the intensity, physicality and mental toughness that they showed. That surprised me, and they deserve credit for their performance.

I did not expect us to lose both line battles. Very disappointing. Clearly there is a lot of work to be done on both fronts.

I've said all along that playing Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich for so many snaps would wear them down by the playoffs. I think Jones in particular has fallen off considerably from earlier in the season in terms of his explosiveness. Getting a quality DE rotation is to me as much a priority for next year as upgrading the DTs.

The interior OL is just not up to snuff, particularly Wendell and Connolly. I will be very disappointed if we pay to bring Wendell back.

Very disappointing.

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mayoclinic said:

That's why I didn't list WR among my priorities. As I mentioned, we got guys open, but Brady didn't hit them. He's not very accurate on the deep ball.

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I have WR rated as a pretty high need, but not as high as interior OL and DT or CB. Watching Denver you can see the difference an impact player like Thomas makes on the entire offense.

mayoclinic said:

And DE, too. We were beaten on both lines yesterday, and the lack of pass rush was crippling.

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I hate to harp on it Mayo. But, our failure to get impact players in our front 7 out of the 2011 NFL Draft is why we have a mediocre defense. It's not second guessing. We posted about it the whole draft process. It was just a matter of which player you liked and pick one. Ryan Kerrigan goes one spot before we pick Solder, and we could have had Muhammed Wilkerson. Could have traded up a little for JJ Watt whom many of us like. Or, up from 1b to get Cam Jordan. All elite players and would have helped us immensely. We had 2 firsts, first pick in 2nd round and our own 2nd rounder and 2 thirds. We got; Solder, Vereen, Dowling, Mallett and Ridley. Plus a first in 2012. Just wasn't good enough. Given what we needed.


We still could have traded up for Chandler Jones the next year too.

patsfaninpa said:

I hate to harp on it Mayo. But, our failure to get impact players in our front 7 out of the 2011 NFL Draft is why we have a mediocre defense. It's not second guessing. We posted about it the whole draft process. It was just a matter of which player you liked and pick one. Ryan Kerrigan goes one spot before we pick Solder, and we could have had Muhammed Wilkerson. Could have traded up a little for JJ Watt whom many of us like. Or, up from 1b to get Cam Jordan. All elite players and would have helped us immensely. We had 2 firsts, first pick in 2nd round and our own 2nd rounder and 2 thirds. We got; Solder, Vereen, Dowling, Mallett and Ridley. Plus a first in 2012. Just wasn't good enough. Given what we needed.


We still could have traded up for Chandler Jones the next year too.

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I wanted Cam Jordan badly in that draft. But I can't really argue with Nate Solder at 17, or with trading #28 for what we did and getting Chandler Jones the next year. I liked Muhammad Wilkerson a lot in that draft too, and he would have been perfect, but he was gone at before 33. FWIW, I think that DeAndre Coleman from Cal could be another Wilkerson. He's one of my top day 3 binkies in this draft.

It's not worth dwelling on what "could have been". The question is how to move forward and remedy it. I'm sure BB is eagerly waiting for us to make up our minds and give him the plan.

mayoclinic said:

I wanted Cam Jordan badly in that draft. But I can't really argue with Nate Solder at 17, or with trading #28 for what we did and getting Chandler Jones the next year. I liked Muhammad Wilkerson a lot in that draft too, and he would have been perfect, but he was gone at before 33. FWIW, I think that DeAndre Coleman from Cal could be another Wilkerson. He's one of my top day 3 binkies in this draft.

It's not worth dwelling on what "could have been". The question is how to move forward and remedy it. I'm sure BB is eagerly waiting for us to make up our minds and give him the plan.

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I'll get to work on that

-Pass rush..Amazing that now we have something that resembles with a secondary we have no pass rush.
Not sure this can be adressed in the draft as its one of the worst classes this year. I want Arthur Jones inside and what we really need is another DE.. not sure what to do here.

-Interior O-line

-Big targets..2 TE please.

mayoclinic said:

And DE, too. We were beaten on both lines yesterday, and the lack of pass rush was crippling.

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Glad to see you posting again

I think it's fair to say Nink and Jones have played too many snaps this year. What we did have in reserve wasn't much, and that's always going to hurt you. Carter is done, Bequette's never on the field, Buchanan has flashed and looks a keeper, but is still raw. We have nothing in reserve.

I wouldn't even blink if we went Lineman - Lineman - Lineman.

Just seen a couple of the posts above....

Mayo, I wouldn't mind Connolly or Wendell back, but they would have to be happy with roles as back ups, and back ups only. The failure of those two has put a huge amount of pressure on the rest of the line and has unsettled Mankins, Cannon and more importantly, Brady.

It's in my signature below - sign Alex Mack. I loved him coming out of Cal, I said on here he was the best centre to come out in several years, even ahead of Mangold. He's athletic, he's as good run blocking as he is pass blocking, he's incredibly smart and I think I'm right in saying he hasn't missed a snap since he came to the NFL. Consistency and excellence.

After that, to sort out the RG position I'd try and sign Jon Asmoah away from KC, or if you really wanted some sparks - Richie Incognito. He's a complete scumbag, but he's a damn fine guard. Only 31 too.....

We have to sort out the O-line in FA or via trade, I don't see the bodies in the Draft, other than Zack Martin.

That would leave us free to go defense after that.....

PatsfaninPA - I can't agree with the second guess about the 2011 Draft. It's always a case of coulda, woulda, shoulda, but in reality the Pats came out of that with a deep pool of talent and starters. A franchise LT, two very good RB's, a starting DE (who has flashed brilliance at times but has played too many snaps) and we have an unknown, who should at least bring back what we spent on him. Hopefully a lot more.

When people start saying "we should have picked this guy", they should also look round at the busts and say "thank God we didn't pick that guy". There is not an exact science in drafting. No-one drafts well every year. Some teams hit more often than not though, and we're one of them.

BritPat said:

If you really wanted some sparks - Richie Incognito. He's a complete scumbag, but he's a damn fine guard. Only 31 too.....

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I wouldn't want Richie Incognito on my team if we were the only people marooned on an island together.

OTOH, I'd love to get hold of Jonathan Martin and convert him to LG. Martin didn't have the lateral movement skills to excel at tackle, but he'd be a terrific guard conversion. He needs to be in an environment which isn't toxic, but once he gets his confidence back I think he'd be not much different than David Yankey. There's no chance the Dolphins would let us get our hands on him, however.

patsderoer said:

This is obvious. TE is the biggest need. Need a proven vet like Chandler and a draft pick. Too bad that they got rid of Ballard and Sudfeld too early.

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What was too bad about TE wasn't so much Ballard & Dudfeld, it was not making a better effort to sign
Joseph Fauria as a UDFA & Dallas Clark after The Prisoner was arrested.