Assessing the Subtractions

[BradyManny]

Where do you get that Samuel insisted on not switching sides? When on a BB team could a player insist on something like that, and if it wasn't best for the team, get away with it?

Samuel is hard to replace, because he is a starter at a very important position. Law is something like 8-10 years older, at a young players position. I'm not real excited about starting a rookie corner. I want one drafted early, but in my plan, he would be replacing Gay in 08, and Samuel by 09.

Change the word "insist" to "preference".

It was best for the team b/c obviously Samuel is better on one side than the other and for the fact that the difference in talent between Samuel and Hobbs is hugely overstated - something BB recognizes, but fans don't. Thus the reason why Samuel leaving isn't as huge a deal. Hobbs was already getting a fair share of the work against the #1 wideout.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I didnt see any of "Vrabels corresponding troubles" I thought our D was basically as good after Colivn went down as before, with a small dropoff for having one less player for depth.

His sacks dropped exponentially as he was getting doubled while AD struggled to adjust back to the outside.

Where do you get that Samuel insisted on not switching sides? When on a BB team could a player insist on something like that, and if it wasn't best for the team, get away with it?

From his position coach and the DC, not to mention his own admissions when he was moved to the right side in camp in 2006 and Ellis was the LCB until he broke his wrist. Asante is not comfortable playing on the right side, period. Most elite corners live to cover the opposing #1.

 

[Ring 6]

He may not have been worth the money he got, but this is overblown. "Awful" cornerbacks don't usually give up 5.8 YPA and zero completions on seven vertical attempts.

Being that I specifically said I AM NOT CALLING HIM AWFUL, I wonder if you read what you responded to?
Statistics are a wonderful thing, that can tell many different stories. Watching football players play football usually only tells the story one way.

As a nickel corner, playing inside, getting beaten deep isnt typical one of the concerns, or what you need to excel at.
All you need to do is go back and watch the SB, and watch Gay on every play he is on the field for.
What you will see is that 80-90% of the time the Giants threw the ball, Manning dropped back and looked ONLY at the guy Gay or Harrison was covering. (Many times they were right in the same area) Gays man got open all day long.

If part of the formula for beating us in a SB is finding #21 and never looking at any receiver but the one he is supposed to be covering, I can do without #21 next year.
Harrison brings other things to the table, but I would also like his role limited, especially to only having him on the sidelines or as a LB on 3rd down and 2 minute D.

 

[Sicilian]

I would note that in 2005 we did NOT do well at filling our critical ILB need
I would note that in 2006 we did NOT do well in filling our critical WR need
I would also note that we went to the SB in 2003, 2004 & 2007 (and not in 2005 and 2006)
This is not a coincidence.

Though that may be true, we were 10-6 and won a playoff game, then 12-4 and came within a minute or two of returning to the Super Bowl.

I think we may all be a bit spoiled if we think that every season, with every team trying to get better, and every team looking to sign free agents, that we're going to be able fill every hole with the best possible scenario.

The Patriots don't knee-jerk. If they feel someone is worth the money they pay it, if they don't they dont. If that means spending a year playing with a hole, so be it. They have faith that better deals will come, and they'll be able to maintain competitiveness throughout.

They've done that, haven't they?

 

[Ring 6]

Though that may be true, we were 10-6 and won a playoff game, then 12-4 and came within a minute or two of returning to the Super Bowl.

I think we may all be a bit spoiled if we think that every season, with every team trying to get better, and every team looking to sign free agents, that we're going to be able fill every hole with the best possible scenario.

The Patriots don't knee-jerk. If they feel someone is worth the money they pay it, if they don't they dont. If that means spending a year playing with a hole, so be it. They have faith that better deals will come, and they'll be able to maintain competitiveness throughout.

They've done that, haven't they?

I think it is also overlooked that there were needs we DID fill in 05-06, and needs we didnt fill in 03, 04, 07.
This is the kind of argument that says, we must only win when we fill the important needs, and do not when we dont fill the important ones. So our what we acquired in the years we won must have filled the important ones, and what we didnt in the other years must have been important.

In 2003, we did not address the critical need at RB. We did not address the critical need at safety (after cutting Milloy we started Antwain Harris, then shifted a rookie corner to safety) we did not address the OL, getting a starting C in the 5th round, and using a castoff at RT.
In 2004, we did not address corner, ending up with Earthwind Moreland and Troy Brown playing there. We did not address the need at safety, making the SB very close when our backups got torched after the starters were injured, and so on.
We have 'holes' every year. We address all of them, some well, some not so well, and in the end I don't think our seasons have been very much decided by the quality of our off-seasons, because I think they are consistently similar. It would be great if every move we made worked out, but that is a fantasy world. In the end, when you have won more games, more playoff games, as many conference championships, and one less than the most SBs that any team ever has in any 7 years, you are making mostly right decisions, and you hope that the additions that work out overcome the ones that dont quite work out.

 

[BRiZ]

Stallworth <> Chad Jackson

Gay <> Ty Law

Wilson <> Meriweather

Colvin <> Adalius Thomas

Samuel <> Cromartie, Sheppard ??