Some Obvious Camp Battles

mgteich · May 11, 2014

Obviously, we hope for a couple of veteran free agent upgrades. And a couple of UDFA's always seem to make the team. Barring injuries or trades, this is the way I see the status quo.

WIDE RECEIVER (pick 2) Edelman, Amendola, Dobson and Slater are locks
LeFell, Boyce, Harrison, Thompkins, Gallon

INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN (pick 2-3) Mankins and Stork are locks
Connolly, Wendell, Kline, Halapio

LONG SNAPPER (pick 1)
Aiken, Hughlett

TIGHT END (pick 2)
Hooman, Williams, Harrison, free agent

DEFENSIVE END (pick 1)
Moore, Bequette, free agent

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (pick 2)
Siliga, Jones, Armstead

LINEBACKER (pick 2)
Buauharnais, White, Hull, Davis, free agent, free agent

SAFETY (pick 3)
Ebner, Wilson, Chung, Thomas

patsfaninpa · May 11, 2014

WR - Lafell and Boyce. Watch out for Gallon.

OL - Connolly, Halapio and Kline. Going with 9

DE - Armstead. Not sure if he's a strongside de or dt yet. I'll plug him at de.

DT - Siliga and Jones

LB - Buaharnais though not a lock. Next guy not on the roster right now. We need 3 not 2.

S - Chung, Ebner and Thomas. Bye-bye to Tavon. Lord what horrible picks him and Bequette were.

Still baffled we took Garropolo Islands instead of moving up a tad for Carlos Hyde or Allen Robinson. Wouldn't have taken much at all. A 4th at best.

mgteich · May 11, 2014

I'm fine with 6 LB's (4 real and 2 STers).

HOWEVER, this means that we would likely lose one an additional defensive lineman. So, given that we can't find 4 LB's, I don't that we'll carry 6. I suppose The 6th ( a LB/Ster) could be kept at the expense of a safety/STer if we really had an additional player we wanted to keep.

DEFENSE - 25
DE - 5
DT - 5
LB - 5
CB - 5
S - 5

patsfaninpa said:
LB - Buaharnais though not a lock. Next guy not on the roster right now. We need 3 not 2.

Leemo · May 11, 2014

I think Cameron Fleming will battle for the starting RG spot

resdubwhite · May 11, 2014

listening to Flemings CC here. Sounds a very level headed guy.

Leemo said:
I think Cameron Fleming will battle for the starting RG spot

mgteich · May 11, 2014

Leemo said:
I think Cameron Fleming will battle for the starting RG spot

While I'm fine with this speculation, Fleming has never played RG. The stories are similar to what we have heard for three years about Cannon. And yes, we STILL hear that Cannon WILL be our starting RG for 2014 and beyond.

I think that it is more likely that Fleming will be our future starting RT.

Leemo · May 11, 2014

mgteich said:
While I'm fine with this speculation, Fleming has never played RG. The stories are similar to what we have heard for three years about Cannon. And yes, we STILL hear that Cannon WILL be our starting RG for 2014 and beyond.

I think that it is more likely that Fleming will be our future starting RT.

Pretty sure David Shaw suggested or spoke about him potentially kicking inside to guard. He was on the NFL Network coverage at the time we picked Fleming.

mgteich · May 11, 2014

And the same story has been repeated for three years about Cannon.

Leemo said:
Pretty sure David Shaw suggested or spoke about him potentially kicking inside to guard. He was on the NFL Network coverage at the time we picked Fleming.

ATippett56 · May 12, 2014

[url=http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4762817/cleaning-out-the-patriots-notebook-38]Cleaning out the New England Patriots notebook - espnBoston[/URL]

Harrison likely staying at WR. With the Patriots not drafting a tight end, one media-based thought was that first-year receiver Mark Harrison might get a look at the position. When Harrison was coming out of Rutgers, one team viewed him more as a "move" tight end based on his size (6-foot-3, 230 pounds), but Belichick said there are no plans to move Harrison to the position. "I’d say we’re probably looking at Harrison as a receiver. He missed almost all of the last year or so. To try to take a guy and move him away from a position before we’ve actually seen the position he actually played -- I’m not saying it won’t happen [but] I don’t think it’s going to happen for a while," Belichick said. "We’ll try to get him ready to play receiver and see how he plays there, how he competes with other players at the position, his primary position."

Big-T · May 12, 2014

mgteich said:
And the same story has been repeated for three years about Cannon.

He played Guard in relief of Connolly early last season and IIRC, was there for training camp too.

Boyce, LaFell, Siliga, Hooman & Halapio are all locks IMO.

Harrison is a WR, not TE - like Belichick said (he also said Fleming is a tackle, not guard. He was asked that very question).

Just to nitpick too: it's LAfell, not LEfell, just like VEreen, not VAreen (which is still one people get wrong, 3 years later)

DarrylS · May 12, 2014

An interesting related aside, watching NFL live on ESPN and for some reason they have been referring to Pete Carroll as the inventor of "competition" for roster spots in the NFL.... strange but true.

VrabelJr · May 12, 2014

I could see Kline and Halapio grabbing both the interior spots. Connolly and Wendell (I really like Connolly) might be casualties of being barely better than them (for now) at a much higher cost.

At LB, I see Beauharnais as the backup run stuffer/overall solid and still playing a lot of ST. White probably gets the other spot due to ST edge.

I don't think Boyce can be cut yet and I don't think he should. He's my "binkie" year two break out player.

Big-T · May 12, 2014

Here's how I see the OL:
Solder, Vollmer & Mankins are going to be the starters. The other 2 spots are:

Wendell vs Stork vs Cave
Connolly vs Cannon vs Halapio

Even if Connolly loses out his battle, he's probably going to stick ahead of Wendell because he covers both RG & OC.

So the potential depth chart on the line could be:
OT: Solder, Vollmer, Fleming
OT/OG: Cannon
OG/OC: Connolly
OC: Stork
OG: Mankins, Halapio

Kline may get in too if they opt to go with 9 OL.

mgteich · May 12, 2014

Harrison is indeed a WR. However, his only realistic chance of making the team is as a TE. BTW, I also listed him under the wide receivers.

I expect all your "locks" to make the team.

Big-T said:
He played Guard in relief of Connolly early last season and IIRC, was there for training camp too.

Boyce, LaFell, Siliga, Hooman & Halapio are all locks IMO.

Harrison is a WR, not TE - like Belichick said (he also said Fleming is a tackle, not guard. He was asked that very question).

Just to nitpick too: it's LAfell, not LEfell, just like VEreen, not VAreen (which is still one people get wrong, 3 years later)

p8ryts · May 13, 2014

Interesting discussion. Why is Stork a lock?

DT and OL will be very interesting camp battles.

I liked Buchanan and he is very fast but a one trick pony benched at the end of the year. Bequette an enigma at best. LB depth still a mystery. Beauharnais didn't play at all and we were short linebackers.

I am a Boyce guy, he looked very fast and seemed to be improving before he got hurt. I have high hopes for him and Dobson. I think Thompkins peeked in training camp. Gallon could be a surprise. I really liked Siliga at the end of the year but someone I like will be cut.

SalemPats · May 13, 2014

Great thread, I'm interested in the WR battle and also how each WR is utilized.

BB won't show anything in pre-season games, but it will be interesting to see how our LBs are utilized especially with Mayo back. Primarily Collins and Hightower

Brady6 · May 13, 2014

mgteich said:
WIDE RECEIVER (pick 2) Edelman, Amendola, Dobson and Slater are locks
LeFell, Boyce, Harrison, Thompkins, Gallon

You really think LaFell is in competition but Amendola is not, are you OK? LaFell has better production and is a more talented player. No special teams player is ever a lock, so I would not put Slater on that list.

INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN (pick 2-3) Mankins and Stork are locks
Connolly, Wendell, Kline, Halapio

Stork is not a lock, you scouted him very little if you actually believe he is. In addition, Cannon who played extremely well at RT the final 8 games of last season will have a chance to compete for the starting RG spot, and I anticipate that he will win out.

LONG SNAPPER (pick 1)
Aiken, Hughlett

You left out Tyler Ott.

TIGHT END (pick 2)
Hooman, Williams, Harrison, free agent

Harrison is not in the mix right now at TE according to Belichick.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (pick 2)
Siliga, Jones, Armstead

I do not think any of these players are likely to be cut. Jones had 7 sacks as a rookie in 15 game it is comical to even suggest he would be released.

Brady6 · May 13, 2014

These are players I am comfortable saying are near locks to make the 53 man roster.

QB-Brady-Garopollo
RB-Ridley-Vereen-White
WR-Dobson-Edelman-LaFell-Boyce
TE-Gronkowski-Hoomanawanui
OL-Solder-Vollmer-Mankins-Cannon-Fleming
DL-Jones (95)-Ninkovich-Wilfork-Easley-Armstead-Jones (94)-Siliga -Buchanan
LB-Mayo-Hightower-Collins
DB-Revis-McCourty-Dennard-Browner-Ryan-Harmon
ST-Gostkowski-Allen-Slater

BlueThunder · May 13, 2014

Brady,

Who's your Center...IMHO Stork will make the squad barring injury.

varjao · May 13, 2014

I like Slater and I know he's a locker room guy, etc etc but I'm tired of this Special Teams Ace talking, he can't catch a cold. So please do not count him on the WR corps and if the competition develops well I really hope that BB prioritize players who can actually contribute on offensive or defensive teams.

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