Seau never, ever, played like a hall of famer for the New England Patriots. He was a serviceable player who made a few damn fine plays.
Two of the starters from last year return at their respective positions (Bruschi and Vrabel) and the talent has been upgraded at the remaining two (AD > Colvin, Mayo is far and away more physically gifted than Seau). Crable and Woods look to be actual backups who can find a way on the field. There's more talent and depth in the linebacking corps than there was last season. Absolutely.
Areas that have better odds to be improved: DL, TE, LB, RB, Depth at QB, and S.
Areas that look to have regressed: OL (until Neal's return), WR depth (Stallworth finished the year at 4, who's at four now? Ventrone? Jones? Washington?), CB (eh, I don't think Samuel is irreplaceable, but there are a few unkowns at the position) and...
That still looks like more positions of improvement.
Don't insult the collective intelligence of this board by saying last year "worked" because they "kept vets." :banned:
