Abraham to Arizona

[mgteich]

It is not true that defense has no holes. The truth is that we hope that candidates that we have will fill the holes that existed.

DT: We hope that Kelly and Armstead can succeed better than Love and Deaderick.

DE/OLB: We hope that Ninkovich is a solid DE and that we get a pass rush from some backup. As you say there are lots of candidates. Why not add Benard and Buchanan?

coverage LB: We hope that someone will step forward: Fletcher, Collins and/or Wilson.

S: We hope that someone steps up to be a starting safety upgrade over Gregory.

CB: We hope that the corners stay healthy and out of jail.

Please remember that we are not looking for a DE starter, anymore. We finally have a pair in Jones and Ninkovitch. We were looking for the 3rd and 4th startable pass rushers. Jamie Collins, Jake Bequette, or Cunningham et al, are in that contest.

In fact there is only one defensive position, or hole, for which the Pats are/were seeking a starter, and that is coverage OLB. Hence it is not surprising that the first draft pick was for such a talent. They even imported a Big Nickle SS to cover the TEs in Adrian Wilson to allow time to break in, and have a reserve too.

For the first time in the four year rebuilding since 2009, the Defense has no holes, and at least one "startable" reserve everywhere. The rest of the League had best beware.

Turning to the Offense, there is only one remaining job to do. Now to find a talented rook WR to replace the average "X" receiver Michael Jenkins, and the entire rebuilding is complete. Even if the interior DL is still a patchwork of very talented but aging vets.

 

[Brady6]

No disrespect to your opinion Brady6 but do you seriously believe that a team Quarterbacked by the Carception is going to be a productive Playoff team? Sure, he'll put up some gaudy numbers and probably rejuvenate Larry Fitzgerald (the clear standout receiver in the league behind Megatron) but Palmer finds a way to turn the football over at the most inopportune times.

To me, Palmer is a name Quarterback not a substance Quarterback.

AB my brother I said competitive not a playoff team. I agree in that division they are unlikely to make the playoffs, but I could see them going 8-8 and be a tough matchup for a lot of teams, mainly because of their defense.


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[supafly]

Please remember that we are not looking for a DE starter, anymore. We finally have a pair in Jones and Ninkovitch. We were looking for the 3rd and 4th startable pass rushers. Jamie Collins, Jake Bequette, or Cunningham et al, are in that contest.

In fact there is only one defensive position, or hole, for which the Pats are/were seeking a starter, and that is coverage OLB. Hence it is not surprising that the first draft pick was for such a talent. They even imported a Big Nickle SS to cover the TEs in Adrian Wilson to allow time to break in, and have a reserve too.

For the first time in the four year rebuilding since 2009, the Defense has no holes, and at least one "startable" reserve everywhere. The rest of the League had best beware.

Turning to the Offense, there is only one remaining job to do. Now to find a talented rook WR to replace the average "X" receiver Michael Jenkins, and the entire rebuilding is complete. Even if the interior DL is still a patchwork of very talented but aging vets.

I think the hope was that we could fully take advantage of Ninkovich as more of a rotational player who wouldn't have to start full time at DE, where he could excel at his specialty even more without being exposed to any of his weaknesses.

The DL has been a concern of mine for a long while now, and for me that is one of our bigger team weaknesses behind only the position of WR.

That said, if Belichick didn't want to budge on the compensation then I'd have to guess that he knows what he's talking about--or at least we'll hope like hell that he got this one right, but there certainly could've been and still can be, an improvement on the defensive line in one/two players; at least in a position of depth at the very least.

Other than that, I agree with your optimism for the defense this year. I think that between any/all of Collins, Fletcher, and A.Wilson we should be able to improve upon the role of coverage LB. I also think the secondary is in a better place starting from day one if we can avoid injuries and as mgteich said--keep our players out of jail.

 

[supafly]

AB my brother I said competitive not a playoff team. I agree in that division they are unlikely to make the playoffs, but I could see them going 8-8 and be a tough matchup for a lot of teams, mainly because of their defense.


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I think it's fairly reasonable to assume an improvement in record and play out in ARZ. As you said, we aren't talking playoffs but reasonable improvement.

KC is another team that I'd think some realistic improvement can be expected with.

 

[ATippett56]

The DL has been a concern of mine for a long while now, and for me that is one of our bigger team weaknesses behind only the position of WR.

From the start of the 2012-13 NFL Season, the following defensive tackles were under contract by the New England Patriots:

Ron Brace
Brandon Deaderick
Kyle Love
Myron Pryor

The four aforementioned defensive tackles have been subsequently cut.

Meanwhile, Steve Gregory and Marquice Cole, defensive flops in the AFC Championship Game, are still under contract. :confused3:

 

[Salva135]

This always looked like the Brian Winters situation from last year. I never saw a quote from him about wanting to get anything done, and the longer time went, the more unlikely it seemed. He probably just wanted to hit the golf courses in Arizona more than sit through a New England winter. He obviously doesn't care about rings, he never did. Not surprised, though if he had succumbed and bought in to play here, I'd have been ecstatic.

 

[Se7eN]

To me, Palmer is a name Quarterback not a substance Quarterback.

He's pretty much the definition of washed up

 

[Kontradiction]

Winning the Division shouldn't be the concern, it should be the Playoffs. At least the team has the opportunity to see out the development of its players and the team. We really need key rostered players to improve significantly in 2013.

I was actually talking about the 3453 season.

 

[Deus Irae]

...Meanwhile, Steve Gregory and Marquice Cole, defensive flops in the AFC Championship Game, are still under contract. :confused3:

Cole's a bottom of the roster, ST-except for emergencies, type of player, so I'm not sure why you'd care about him being on the roster.

As for Gregory, take a look at his contract and you'll find a reason for his still being on the team.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

palmer is going to destroy that team..no playoffs

 

[VJCPatriot]

probably wanted to coast into retirement with no expectations on him and no worries that he would be on a team competing for a league title with the spotlight shining brightly down upon him

$$ talks man.

Besides its not like a guy like Abraham 'puts you over the top'. At this stage of his career he would have been a depth player. Possibly even only a 3rd down pass rush specialist.