BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD, WOODS)
 

read from Reiss's pieces. do not read transcript from patriots .com as the question is written inaccurately

Bill Belichick Q&A - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com

"I think that there were more shorter players, maybe a little less speed than what we’ve seen, maybe a little more power with good production. There weren’t a lot of 4.6, 4.65 [40 time] guys. There weren’t a lot of 6-[foot]-4, 6-[foot]-5 guys. I’d say it was a much smaller pool of those types of players."


he likes tall olb's and fast...traits this years draft class was lackiing. all 6'1 to 6'2. woods, redd and crable all 6'5 or over, with at least 4.65 speed. seems like this is a major reason why he passed over all the olbs and de's. only barwin was even close at 6'3 5/8 and fast. he already has 2 better physical specimens though in Redd and Crable, who have been in the system for 1 year already. and they were chosen in the the 3rd and i think redd was a FA.
now why would he use a 1st or 2nd round pick on Barwin or cushing? crable ran 4'64 at the combine and redd 4'56 at his pro day.

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

I agree. Unless you get a top 5 OLB type none of them are going to be ready to play anyway. Redd and Crable have the physicality and the 'upside' that was spoken of with Barwin so lets see which, if any, of these guys really comes on this year and challenges Woods who I think will start opposite AD

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

Football fans are sometimes like Generals. Always fighting the LAST war.

BB underrtook to rebuild his LBs corps, starting in 2007 and was full tilt about it in 2008. But the multi-year conversion is tough and takes time that fans are too impatient to see.

Look at Matt Cassel. He was groomed for four years and revealed a lot when called on. Fans were callingfor his scalp in pre-season.

Pierre Woods is ready to graduate and started to do so last season. Unfortunately, he got hit in the mouth after only 3 games and was lost for the year. Crabel needed a year in the weight room and went on IR, Redd went to the PS, did well and was called up. But he has far to go, so its still a few years wait for him.

Inside Mayo was a revelation. Guyton was a pure find in the UDFA pool. He played extensively at ILB which is no where as difficult a transition from college. Judging by the selections that BB made, and did not make, passing over Mauluga, Lauranitis and Sintim, Guyton is viewed as a long range answer. Tyrone Mackenzie's draft is for a quality substitute, not a starter, to provide depth behind Mayo and Guyton.

Mayo and Guldens appear on many sandwiches. The "Sandwich Twins", Mayo & Guyton will sandwich runners, for a long time.

I expect AD and Woods will start and Crabel will backup and learn, along with Redd. They might bring in JT for spot duty, with AD. Perhaps surprisingly, Woods is a strong side OLB, and would not likely share in that rotation, on the pass-rushing or weakside.

If JT's arrival came to pass, I could see JT at WOLB, AD shifted to ILB blitzer, and Woods/Crabel rushing from the strongside, on obvious passing downs...;)

This year he addressed the DBs, and started to develop the next generation of O-Linemen; and finished his construction of his D-line, finally.:)

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

Personally I never liked Barwin that high in the draft: he looks like he could need 2+ years to adapt to the Pats' system. If he had been around in the 3rd that would have been fine. The Texans have a very different system so he could be a great pick for them. I think the other LBs looked like bad value to Bill at that point in the draft.

We fans do tend to underestimate how long it takes to adapt to the system. Mayo is a freak, Merriweather is the other extreme. If Bill really thinks one of the three young guys or (God forbid) Tully Banta-Cain can do the job then IBWT. Personally I'd love to see a free agent signing, though.

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

The infatuation with most of these LB's are the creation of the media and BB seems to think that instead of paying these big number guys and tying up his capital there, it is better to invest in guys who he can develop and slowly wean them into the Pats system. Mayo was the exception.. but it seems none of these guys fit.

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

That gets the "inventing a headline from nowhere" award.

Unbelievable.:rolleyes:

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

Our new OLB?

http://www.isteve.com/manutebol.jpg

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

The way I look at it, with A. Thomas coming back, and with talented athletes like Redd, Crable, Woods, Guyton already in the mix, I think the Patriots are very young and talented in the LB corp. By the way, I've always loved the tackling machine types, so this kid McKenzie intriques me big time. They LOVED him on Sirius NFL Radio yesterday - especially Gil Brandt. They said he averaged 10 tackles a game in college, and were wetting themselves over what the Patriots might be getting with him.

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

Don't confuse ILB play with OLB play. Inside LB play is not all that different from college ILB play. They can start as rooks. Two did. OTOH, I don't know of a single OLB that did.

Re: BB praises his OLB'S (CRABLE, REDD,WOODS)
 

The more I hear about McKenzie the more I like him. McKenzie playted at three different colleges due to family reasons and was productive in each system (michigan Stae, Iowa State, South Florida) he could be the find of the draft.