The Practice Squad And Further Transactions

Chiuba E. Obele said:

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What? Now cut down to 9 safeties between the 53 and the PS? Say it ain't so BB!

3 RBs (Blount, White, and Bolden) is a little light, but as long as they are all healthy, we usually only have 3 RBs as gameday active.

Given the injuries at tackle, they will probably promote an offensive lineman for this week. They may start cycling through RBs for tryouts as the only RB on the practice squad, Iosefa, looks like a fullback.

RayClay said:

Interesting that one has great LT size [6'8"] but was mostly a tight end, one played a fair amount of LT, but seems undersized 6' 2-3 and mid level school while the other was also a tight end, but seemed to impress at OL.

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Keavon Milton tested at the Combine at 6-4.0 and 280 pounds, not 6-8. So not really the length of most NFL OT's.

If they need a tackle off the practice squad, the lead candidate has to be Blaine Clausell. He's 6-6 329, typical size of a tackle, and was on the Labor Day practice squad -- he has the most experience in the Pats system. Picking up another college TE and hoping he can pick up the Pats offensive line system in a couple days is pretty risky. In fact, I think he's one of three guys who have been with the practice squad the entire season (Asante Cleveland, Darius Fleming the others). That must count for something.

VrabelJr said:

Golf cart is an odd choice of transportation to use to go home.

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He grew up on a movie lot. It's sort of his thing.

VrabelJr said:

Golf cart is an odd choice of transportation to use to go home.

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A shot to the noggin will do that. You should have seen his Escalade on the fairway.

Urgent said:

Keavon Milton tested at the Combine at 6-4.0 and 280 pounds, not 6-8. So not really the length of most NFL OT's.

If they need a tackle off the practice squad, the lead candidate has to be Blaine Clausell. He's 6-6 329, typical size of a tackle, and was on the Labor Day practice squad -- he has the most experience in the Pats system. Picking up another college TE and hoping he can pick up the Pats offensive line system in a couple days is pretty risky. In fact, I think he's one of three guys who have been with the practice squad the entire season (Asante Cleveland, Darius Fleming the others). That must count for something.

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Though Milton is 6'4 1/8, his 82" wingspan is pretty damn good.. And Milton is actually only 3/4 of an inch shorter than Fleming 6'4 7/8. Fleming's wing span is 81 1/8". So, while Milton may not have the "prototypical height", neither does Fleming. Milton's Wing span and technique (i'm assuming his technique is pretty decent otherwise we wouldn't have signed him) could make up for the discrepancy in the short-term.

I'd like to bring in Dri Archer to replace Lewis. I'd like to get rid of 2 safeties and bring in an OT and activate Fletch. If Chris Jones can contribute, one of the DL gets an illness

patsfaninpa said:

I'd like to bring in Dri Archer to replace Lewis. I'd like to get rid of 2 safeties and bring in an OT and activate Fletch. If Chris Jones can contribute, one of the DL gets an illness

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Which of the safeties do you want to get rid of??
Brandon King - He's been playing pretty well on Special Teams?
Tavon Wilson - He's been a healthy scratch a couple times..
McDonald - He took some special teams snaps this past Sunday..

You want to activate Fletcher, but what if he's not ready? We don't know where he is, exactly in terms of football readiness..

DaBruinz said:

Which of the safeties do you want to get rid of??
Brandon King - He's been playing pretty well on Special Teams?
Tavon Wilson - He's been a healthy scratch a couple times..
McDonald - He took some special teams snaps this past Sunday..

You want to activate Fletcher, but what if he's not ready? We don't know where he is, exactly in terms of football readiness..

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I think that you have the values correct, with King the most valuable of the "excess" safeties (those beyond our four positional safeties plus Ebner).

DaBruinz said:

Which of the safeties do you want to get rid of??
Brandon King - He's been playing pretty well on Special Teams?
Tavon Wilson - He's been a healthy scratch a couple times..
McDonald - He took some special teams snaps this past Sunday..

You want to activate Fletcher, but what if he's not ready? We don't know where he is, exactly in terms of football readiness..

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Fletcher can play ST too. I'd get rid of Ebner and McDonald. BB will keep Ebner and prob drop King and McDonald.

patsfaninpa said:

Fletcher can play ST too. I'd get rid of Ebner and McDonald. BB will keep Ebner and prob drop King and McDonald.

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King and McDonald each saw more snaps than Wilson Sunday. All got more than Dobson.

Mack Herron said:

King and McDonald each saw more snaps than Wilson Sunday. All got more than Dobson.

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I've seen Dobson make plays that matter. And, Wilson make a few on defense. Can't say the same about the other 3 safeties.

patsfaninpa said:

Fletcher can play ST too. I'd get rid of Ebner and McDonald. BB will keep Ebner and prob drop King and McDonald.

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Fletcher is good special teamer, but, as you say, Belichick's judgement is that Ebner is better.

As we have all demonstrated, there are several potential spots to create space without great harm to the team. For example, Fletcher replacing King and McDonald is probably a step forward.

patsfaninpa said:

Fletcher can play ST too. I'd get rid of Ebner and McDonald. BB will keep Ebner and prob drop King and McDonald.

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It seems fairly obvious at this point that Bill Belichick has a deeper appreciation for Nate Ebner on this team than us fans do.

I don't expect him to go anywhere, and I actually think he'll be extended.

supafly said:

It seems fairly obvious at this point that Bill Belichick has a deeper appreciation for Nate Ebner on this team than us fans do.

I don't expect him to go anywhere, and I actually think he'll be extended.

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I would guess that Ebner, Hicks and Coleman are on the short list for extensions at this point. Siliga could be on the list also.

patsfaninpa said:

I've seen Dobson make plays that matter. And, Wilson make a few on defense. Can't say the same about the other 3 safeties.

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patsfaninpa said:

Fletcher can play ST too. I'd get rid of Ebner and McDonald. BB will keep Ebner and prob drop King and McDonald.

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I guess you skip special teams plays.. Ebner is the Personal Protector on Punt plays. He also has made line calls and shifts. He was the first to recognize that the opposing team was going to try that on-side kick against the Pats and called out the change..

So, yeah, let's get rid of a leader on the Special Teams unit because you haven't seen him make a play that matters..

DaBruinz said:

I guess you skip special teams plays.. Ebner is the Personal Protector on Punt plays. He also has made line calls and shifts. He was the first to recognize that the opposing team was going to try that on-side kick against the Pats and called out the change..

So, yeah, let's get rid of a leader on the Special Teams unit because you haven't seen him make a play that matters..

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I value a back-up OT who would have played and depth at lb more than punt protectors. Especially, since Fletcher is a good special teams player too. I don't care if we cut Ebner or not. But, I'd cut King and McDonald then. 8 safeties is ridiculous.

patsfaninpa said:

I value a back-up OT who would have played and depth at lb more than punt protectors. Especially, since Fletcher is a good special teams player too. I don't care if we cut Ebner or not. But, I'd cut King and McDonald then. 8 safeties is ridiculous.

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So you value some unknown scrub backup who may never see the field but is there for insurance in case the OL gets another injury over keeping the punter healthy and not having punts blocked?

Easy to see why you're not a threat to Belichick's job.

n6249c said:

So you value some unknown scrub backup who may never see the field but is there for insurance in case the OL gets another injury over keeping the punter healthy and not having punts blocked?

Easy to see why you're not a threat to Belichick's job.

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Yup, 31 other teams manage to protect their punter without Ebner. I guess you value an 8th safety more than a 3rd tackle??

patsfaninpa said:

Yup, 31 other teams manage to protect their punter without Ebner. I guess you value an 8th safety more than a 3rd tackle??

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Six teams have had punts blocked this year. If that's your idea of protection you're just reconfirming my point.