ripatsfan91
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So having two top flight safeties, one with range and one an enforcer type, along with the best press corner in the league and another banger on the outside with a physical scrapper at nickel CB wouldn't fit what BB is trying to do? Do tell.
Actually, you'll probably see the team play more single high safety/Cover-1 and maybe even Cover-0 in spurts than we have in a long time. Think back to the last time Bill had a secondary like this. The Pats, in the dynasty years, actually played more Cover-0 than anyone in the league back then because they could afford to and not worry about the opposition burning them deep. Primarily I think we'll see McCourty aligned as the single high safety with another in-the-box safety playing closer to the LOS to account for TE's, RB's, etc. The only exceptions to this are when we play teams like the Packers where you'll probably see the team employ more Cover-2 than anything else.
I'd keep Collins and Browner where they are. I said before Browner even came here and have been backed up by reports out of Seattle that Browner is better at CB than he is playing safety. Now, a hybrid I can dig. That's why I mentioned them in the post you quoted.
I would be absolutely ecstatic if the team exercised their first two picks at a combination of either 5-tech DE, DT, 3-tech DT, or SS. They're all needs and their worth can all be argued. In the case of a true SS, that's been the one thing that the team has been missing since Rodney departed and it's resulted in opposing slot receivers and TE's having no issue or fear just taking a casual stroll across the middle of the field to convert third downs in situations when the Pats can least afford it. Rodney has even commented on the need himself, so it's not just some guy out of Florida on a message board.
I really don't care what pick they need to use to fill the position. Whether it's a first or a seventh. I just want the team to fill the need. I have my binkies, of course. And, of course, two of them are Pryor and Bucannon. But I have other binkies at that position later on in the draft as well.
If the team stopped drafting a position because of too many consecutive "failures" in previous drafts, we would not have Dennard or Gronk.
Well Dennard's not behind bars anymore, thank God. Let's hope he stays out of trouble from here on out.Some could say Dennard is behind bars and Gronk is hurt anyway - But you still got a point
Chung could hit. Merriweather could hit. So what. We need another S who can cover in space, not another mini-LB. If I want a mini-LB, I'd add KPL much later on. People are way too enamored about "big hits". Its like the WR mania all over again.
Yes, I would like the safety to be a better player than either Chung or Merriweather. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting your favorite teams defense to be able to show a little muscle and perhaps even intimidate the opposing WR core. Ideally, they'll be able to cover, too.Chung could hit. Merriweather could hit. So what. We need another S who can cover in space, not another mini-LB. If I want a mini-LB, I'd add KPL much later on. People are way too enamored about "big hits". Its like the WR mania all over again.
I think you are too invested in stereotypes from a decade ago, K. I would agree that we aren't necessarily a prototypical 2 deep team any more, but while our "other S will rotate into the box a lot, he STILL will be needed to be able to cover as his first priority.
We pretty much agree here. The only thing I would add would be my thinking we are going to see more combo coverages than ever. Those are the coverages that look like one thing and trap QB's and WR's into bad decisions
Again we basically agree. I've said from the moment people started thinking about Browner as "our big S" they were misusing him. He doesn't do well in space. HOWEVER that being said. I can see him being lined up back there looking like a S, when in reality he's there to jump on some advantageous match up the Pats have planned.
Well I on board for the DE/DT in the first. But now you are back on that SS kick, and I have to say no. At least not that early. In my ideal world, we go DL in the first, TE in the second, OL in the third, and then LB and Hybrid in the 4th. After that I want the last 3 picks to be total high risk reward shots in the dark. For example Antone Exum (injury) Logan Thomas (position change, and there's a DL from South FL with great talent and a bad attitude who'd I take a shot at.
I like them both as players but that high. (BTW-there a highlight clip someone posted where a WR just runs right by Bucannon for a TD that just horrifying. Just one play understand, but not good.
Chung can't cover a paper bag floating in the wind on a breezy day and his good hits are usually followed by a few instances where he takes horrible angles and misses a tackle. Meriweather was a good hitter. His problem was that most of those hits were of the helmet to helmet variety which would usually draw a 15 yard flag. That's one of the things I like the most about Pryor. He can cover (FS in college) and he can hit. But his hits are all him measuring the receiver with his shoulder pad and not his helmet. So he'll blow some people up and dish out some punishment to the Wes Welker's of the world who any other time aren't afraid to run those crossing patterns and quick slants over the middle and not get flagged for it. That's exactly the type of safety we need playing next to McCourty. Not a guy who's going to get dragged into the end zone by the likes of Anquan Boldin while he flexes his bicep to our home crowd. We've done too much on defense this offseason to put another soft cornerback type back there at SS. Let McCourty handle centerfield. He has the ideal range for that. Bring me a destroyer that can hold his own in coverage and can set the tone, then sit back and enjoy the show.Chung could hit. Merriweather could hit. So what. We need another S who can cover in space, not another mini-LB. If I want a mini-LB, I'd add KPL much later on. People are way too enamored about "big hits". Its like the WR mania all over again.
This isn't a stereotype from a decade ago, Ken. Look at the last two Super Bowl winners. Both of those guys had physical tone setters at safety playing across from a solid coverage guy with range. For the Seahawks, that was Chancellor. For the Ravens, that was Pollard. Remember him? The guy that pretty much ended our season two weeks before winning the Lombardi because he decapitated and knocked out Ridley?
I'm actually not disagreeing with this. I've always made it a priority for the enforcer type of safety that I want the team to pick up to also be able to cover.
I would contend that the time is here where we absolutely need that second SS type. Whether it's a guy like Pryor or a hybrid like Shazier or KPL, a guy like that who can set the tone back there along with the CB's we now have at our disposal and another 5-tech and 3-tech pass rusher makes this defense elite.
A guy like Pryor has positional flexibility. He's easily capable of coming down and playing LB in the big nickel. Re: disguising, I actually think you'll see the Pats do less of that this season than they have in previous seasons. They have the personnel now where disguising isn't as important. That's not to say they won't do it, because they will. But they were disguising so much before because of weaknesses in the back end that they simply won't have this season. Look at the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. They could not have possibly cared less about disguising their coverages. They knew they had a superior unit and just lined up and absolutely put the tires to the Broncos.
Probably. But that would be game plan specific where the defense rolls out more zone coverages. I think the team to do that against would be the Packers or Lions, for example.
It's possible. It depends on what the Pats do in the draft. If they pull the trigger on a guy like Shazier or KPL, Browner won't have to do that and can instead focus on beating the **** out of WR's like Decker on the outside.
I wouldn't mind Tuitt, Nix, Ealy, Ford, etc. in the first (not high on Hageman) either and then a TE in the second. I would actually be pretty happy with that, to be perfectly honest, because it's a big need. You can argue from multiple positions on that one, be it a need for a starter to safeguard against injury returns from Wilfork and Kelly, or from a depth perspective. But you can also argue just as much for a need at safety across from McCourty. For starters, you can point to Harmon's largely up and down season on top of the fact that if it's not him that's starting, then Chung is back there. I, for one, would love to see the position addressed, as would Rodney.
Chung could hit. Merriweather could hit. So what. We need another S who can cover in space, not another mini-LB. If I want a mini-LB, I'd add KPL much later on. People are way too enamored about "big hits". Its like the WR mania all over again.
He is an OLB and to assume that he could play safety at the NFL level is ambitious to say the least.
