Keeping Score And Remaining Free Agent Needs

ashley1992 said:

I will be very disappointed if our starting guards are not Cooper and Mason. I'm also hoping we do away with all the rotating of our interior lineman.

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I'm willing to give Coop a shot in pre-season. Kline is a fallback guy.

patsfaninpa said:

I'm willing to give Coop a shot in pre-season. Kline is a fallback guy.

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Yeah, hopefully, Cooper can step up. If we have to rely on Kline, we're in trouble.

ashley1992 said:

Yeah, hopefully, Cooper can step up. If we have to rely on Kline, we're in trouble.

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I think we'll draft a T at 60 or 61. Maybe that player can play G until he replaces Sea Bass.

manxman2601 said:

Add Flowers to that list. The one thing we do lack now that Jones is gone is a DE that shifts inside on passing downs. I don't remember Sheard doing that.

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Grissom rushed from the inside at times.

My top needs in order

#1 3rd OT - We don't know how Solder will look and someone better than Cannon is obviously needed and idk if we have that yet.

#2 3rd-4th CB - I like how it looked last year but the only guy i am sure will have as good if not better a season this year is Butler. Ryan was pretty good but not consistent all year and could potentially be a 1 year wonder. Coleman had some good snaps but is young and could slump and Roberts is coming back from an injury after a promising pre-season. There are a lot of options here but after Butler it seems potentially shaky. Getting a vet CB in here in case is not a bad idea.

Those are my 2 biggest needs which might seem weird. But...

WR - honestly... we will get by fine with the pass catches we have health permitting. IT be nice to get another but it is not as high a need as one might be lead to believe.

RB - Lewis and White are where the league is going and there is no workhorse between the tackles back we need. Pick up a guy and do your best with it. Also it depends a lot more on the OL than the RB if the running game works usually.

OG - As much as this spot could use help you really need to give the young players a chance to grow. IF it looks like it is not going to work in pre-season add a vet or 2 but that is not the direction you go yet IMO

So there ya go!

AndyJohnson said:

We have sheard long and ninkovich to play de. There aren't any real snaps left to go around.

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You know, I had actually had forgotten about Chris Long when I posted.

Scratch DE as a top-3 need then.

patsfaninpa said:

I'm willing to give Coop a shot in pre-season. Kline is a fallback guy.

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Kline is more a fall-down guy.

patsfaninpa said:

I think we'll draft a T at 60 or 61. Maybe that player can play G until he replaces Sea Bass.

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That would be nice, though I was hoping that we wouldn't have to depend on another inexperienced
G/C after the disaster last season, thus my pounding the table for Bill to sign a veteran Starting LG.

captain stone said:

That would be nice, though I was hoping that we wouldn't have to depend on another inexperienced
G/C after the disaster last season, thus my pounding the table for Bill to sign a veteran Starting LG.

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My expectations are low on Cooper. But, he was a top prospect out of UNC. I believe DeCastro got
hurt and then struggled for a year in PItt. He turned it around.

captain stone said:

That would be nice, though I was hoping that we wouldn't have to depend on another inexperienced
G/C after the disaster last season, thus my pounding the table for Bill to sign a veteran Starting LG.

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It is unreasonable to compare Cooper to rookie 4th rounders.

Why? Would that be considered an insult to rookie 4th-rounders?

ashley1992 said:

I will be very disappointed if our starting guards are not Cooper and Mason. I'm also hoping we do away with all the rotating of our interior lineman.

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I doubt they get rid of the idea of rotating OL, Ashley, although I could be wrong.

It seems as though Belichick places a high priority on not only keeping the bigger guys fresh, but also puts them in position to gain precious live reps/experience, which can be valuable when the inevitable injury occurs.

As we know, this isn't necessarily the case with everyone, particularly Solder or the starting center (too often, anyways), but Vollmer and the guards are still likely to see rotational reps in my opinion. You can pretty much take that to the bank, as well as different starting 5 combos throughout the year. Hopefully, it won't be quite as often, though.

supafly said:

I doubt they get rid of the idea of rotating OL, Ashley, although I could be wrong.

It seems as though Belichick places a high priority on not only keeping the bigger guys fresh, but also puts them in position to gain precious live reps/experience, which can be valuable when the inevitable injury occurs.

As we know, this isn't necessarily the case with everyone, particularly Solder or the starting center (too often, anyways), but Vollmer and the guards are still likely to see rotational reps in my opinion. You can pretty much take that to the bank, as well as different starting 5 combos throughout the year. Hopefully, it won't be quite as often, though.

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No, you're probably right Supa. I was just hoping to get some continuity in our line play. If Cooper can step up and make a difference at one guard spot, Stork returns to his form of his rookie year and Solder at LT, those would be 3 pieces on our line that we wouldn't rotate at least. I want to keep Cannon out of the rotation at RT however and hopefully try Waddle there or a rookie.

ashley1992 said:

No, you're probably right Supa. I was just hoping to get some continuity in our line play. If Cooper can step up and make a difference at one guard spot, Stork returns to his form of his rookie year and Solder at LT, those would be 3 pieces on our line that we wouldn't rotate at least. I want to keep Cannon out of the rotation at RT however and hopefully try Waddle there or a rookie.

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I think you will see more like previous years than last year. In prior years if the starters were subbed for it was a series per game. Last year at the g spot it was often a total rotation. I don't see that continuing. I see starters established with the #3 g playing a series on each side in each game. T will depend on who we have.
I think a lot if last year was continued competition for the jobs when everyone was healthy so it was an aberration.

ashley1992 said:

No, you're probably right Supa. I was just hoping to get some continuity in our line play. If Cooper can step up and make a difference at one guard spot, Stork returns to his form of his rookie year and Solder at LT, those would be 3 pieces on our line that we wouldn't rotate at least. I want to keep Cannon out of the rotation at RT however and hopefully try Waddle there or a rookie.

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We had major rotations because we had no clear starters that we could trust with the job.

I would hope to see Solder, Cooper and Stork on the field for almost the whole game, being substituted for maybe one series each.

I would expect to see more rotation on the right side. Waddle and/or Cannon should provide sufficient rotation for Vollmer.

We have Mason, Jackson, Andrews and Kline as potentials for the other guard spot as as backups.

patsfaninpa said:

My expectations are low on Cooper. But, he was a top prospect out of UNC. I believe DeCastro got
hurt and then struggled for a year in PItt. He turned it around.

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It seems like BB is trying to collect first rounders as a message to the League or the other Owners who hate the Pats, that "We can make them better when you whiffed" even if you steal our real picks. I think Cooper was vetted pretty good by the Pats during that Draft. It seems like the Pats visit with uppper top tier Draft players eben when their is no chance they fall to us, just to have a roll-a-deck on the player in their files. What it seems like a waste of time to us Cousins, he is creating a file on the

patsfaninpa said:

My expectations are low on Cooper. But, he was a top prospect out of UNC. I believe DeCastro got
hurt and then struggled for a year in PItt. He turned it around.

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DW Toys said:

It seems like BB is trying to collect first rounders as a message to the League or the other Owners who hate the Pats, that "We can make them better when you whiffed" even if you steal our real picks. I think Cooper was vetted pretty good by the Pats during that Draft. It seems like the Pats visit with uppper top tier Draft players eben when their is no chance they fall to us, just to have a roll-a-deck on the player in their files. What it seems like a waste of time to us Cousins, he is creating a file on the

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Most folks here haven't a clue what a Rolodex is. But, yes, I suspect that Belichick has one on players that he wanted, but didn't get.

I have no question about Cooper being good enough to start, especially with Scar as his coach. My question is about how much his health issues took out of him.