Brandon Spikes........TRANSFORMATION?

[fnordcircle]

He knows what "voluntary" means.

Holy Christ, thank you.

It's not like the guy is holding out.

Spikes strikes me as his own type of guy. I really like him but he's not a company man from my observations so why would he go to voluntary workouts.

 

[patfanken]

God, what tripe. This off season CAN NOT end too fast for me. One horrible thread after another.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

God, what tripe. This off season CAN NOT end too fast for me. One horrible thread after another.

Well, I'm releived because I 1st read the title as Transgendered

 

[supafly]

Spikes is one of my favorite players on the Pats. But he seems to be a bit of a headcase/diva.

Spikes strikes me as his own type of guy. I really like him but he's not a company man from my observations so why would he go to voluntary workouts.

Exactly what I have been thinking about this issue.

"Transformation????"

What transformation? This seems to be the typical Brandon Spikes type move that we've all grown used to.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Okay then ... how long until the:

"There's No Way Brandon Spikes Makes This Team"

thread begins .....

 

[Joker]

I'll get right on it, boss!!!!

 

[YearbookCurfew]

New Fullback anyone?

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

He knows what "voluntary" means.

i ran this through the Patriot Translator (hidden place on google) and this is what Voluntary means:

Adjective
1. Required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory.
2. So customary or routine as to be expected of everyone or on every occasion unless otherwise excused by the coach.

I'm going with definition #2

 

[Uncle Rico]

Well, I'm releived because I 1st read the title as Transgendered

Ahem ...

 

[RobAllan]

Well it's either:

or

or

or

or

 

[patsfaninpa]

Spikes quit tweeting Feb 28th. He was a tweeting machine prior to that. Probably just wants a low-key off-season. It's the biggest one of his career. He needs to get in the best shape of his life. And, get a new contract. Doubt he gets it here. I think he's a perfect thumper for a 3-4 team. I'd guess Miami next year.

 

[Nunchucks]

Him not being at otas is writing on the wall, we wont see him bere next year

 

[Froob]

since when did having too many talented lbs become a bad thing? why anyone is in a hurry to get rid of him I'll never know.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Spikes is a Dog-Faker ......

 

[supafly]

Okay then ... how long until the:

"There's No Way Brandon Spikes Makes This Team"

thread begins .....

No one is suggesting anything close to that kind of extreme, although I do question how the trade talk started. Belichick isn't trading Spikes. He has great value as a physical presence and run stopper on a cheap rookie pact. I couldn't imagine any scenario that Spikes wouldn't have a place in this year's defense with the kind of rookie pact money that he's making. Thinking anything less would be foolish in my opinion.

That said--there are certainly on the field issues regarding his insane slowness, his inability to be a 3 down player, his general overall consistency, and the fact that he's been a jeckyl/hyde player pre and post 2011 playoff run.

On top of that there are a ton of off the field issues, mostly regarding attitude, intelligence, decision making, misuse of social media (twitter, chat roulette, homemade porno tape), comments regarding his disgust with Belichick himself, and finally....a PED suspension where another bust would equate to missing an entire year. Now we have evidence that he doesn't deem himself as worthy of the other 88 players who are here participating in OTA's too. He hasn't shown anything close to being a leader in the locker room either, which is often a staple for that all-important second pact here in N.England.

If you want to take it one step further, we all make fun of Rolando McClain here for being a bust on the field, and yet McClain's statistics blow Spikes' out of the water in every single category. I'm not comparing the two players anywhere outside of the field, but he is a decent comparitive player for on the field production and all of the important numbers favor McClain, who isn't even thought of that highly talent-wise.

So..I think it's kind of difficult to look the other way as far as assessing his chances of Belichick offering him a deal to return next season, let alone for the kind of money someone of Spikes' intelligence (or lack thereof) will almost certainly be looking for, but you may feel differently. In my opinion there are a ton of reasons to think that this will surely be his last year.

 

[supafly]

since when did having too many talented lbs become a bad thing? why anyone is in a hurry to get rid of him I'll never know.

I think that Spikes offers a ton of value for the 2013 season. He is on a cheap rookie pact and obviously brings a physical presence to the run stopping game. Other than injury or a ridiculously idiotic decision to hold out in a contract year, I couldn't imagine any scenario where Brandon Spikes isn't out there making run stopping tackles for the Patriots this season.

People generally overvalue NFL trade compensation as a whole in the first place, not to mention 2x as much here on this forum; so I'm not even sure how/why anyone would consider Brandon Spikes as a player who could potentially net us a high draft pick in the first place? I would see his compensation being somewhere in the 4th round range at the moment, and I would doubt that would light up Belichick's eyes enough to even consider it--especially going back to working with a full deck of draft picks again next year.

Of course the possibility always exists IF Spikes' attitude is so insanely poor that Belichick would feel he were a flat out locker room cancer, but there isn't enough evidence of anything like that yet to this point.

The whole debate is really how high the odds are that he'll resign here in the offseason to avoid free agency, and in most opinions the odds are not very high at all, but that shouldn't have webbed off to a seperate opinion that he could somehow be traded for a "high" draft pick this year, which is silly in my opinion (unless there is more behind the scenes stuff attitude-wise than anyone knows, which is true with every player).

 

[Tyler.Durden]

Everyone knows he had been training with the TEs in vegas all offseason.

Welcome our new TE people

 

[Avenger]

No one is suggesting anything close to that kind of extreme, although I do question how the trade talk started. Belichick isn't trading Spikes. He has great value as a physical presence and run stopper on a cheap rookie pact. I couldn't imagine any scenario that Spikes wouldn't have a place in this year's defense with the kind of rookie pact money that he's making. Thinking anything less would be foolish in my opinion.

That said--there are certainly on the field issues regarding his insane slowness, his inability to be a 3 down player, his general overall consistency, and the fact that he's been a jeckyl/hyde player pre and post 2011 playoff run.

On top of that there are a ton of off the field issues, mostly regarding attitude, intelligence, decision making, misuse of social media (twitter, chat roulette, homemade porno tape), comments regarding his disgust with Belichick himself, and finally....a PED suspension where another bust would equate to missing an entire year. He hasn't shown anything close to being a leader in the locker room either, which is often a staple for that all-important second pact here in N.England.

If you want to take it one step further, we all make fun of Rolando McClain here for being a bust on the field, and yet McClain's statistics blow Spikes' out of the water in every single category. I'm not comparing the two players anywhere outside of the field, but he is a decent comparitive player for on the field production and all of the important numbers favor McClain, who isn't even thought of that highly talent-wise.

So..I think it's kind of difficult to look the other way as far as assessing his chances of Belichick offering him a deal to return next season, let alone for the kind of money someone of Spikes' intelligence (or lack thereof) will almost certainly be looking for, but you may feel differently. In my opinion there are a ton of reasons to think that this will surely be his last year.

lol wut

only stat mcclain is noticeably better is sacks. spikes has 5 times as many forced fumbles, same interceptions similar tackle numbers and thats even before you count draft position into the bust equation

 

[supafly]

lol wut

only stat mcclain is noticeably better is sacks. spikes has 5 times as many forced fumbles, same interceptions similar tackle numbers and thats even before you count draft position into the bust equation

I just posted about 4-5 different categories that McClain was better at in the other thread a couple of weeks ago, but I suppose you're going to make me do it again...by the way, how is comparing 175 tackles to 125 "similar?" That's an enormous difference.

Keep in mind they were drafted the same year, and play the same position, which is why the comparison was started in the first place. One was drafted in the first round, the other in the second round, so their draft placement really shouldn't be that much of a factor. The bottom line is that there are plenty of other reasons that I listed in the post above yours, but if you want a clear cut comparison in some key statistics, here it is. As you said, the one category that Spikes is ahead is forced fumbles where he leads by three :

1. Games played

McClain (41) started (38)--------- Spikes (35) started (28) McClain has started 10 more games when drafted in the same year than Spikes which shows a tendency to be much less injury prone


2. Sacks


McClain (6.5) Spikes (1) McClain has 6.5x as many sacks, unless you figure that having one sack as a 2nd round draft choice is some great accomplishment

3. Tackles


McClain (175) Spikes (125) This one was the most glaring for me...a huge difference

4. Passes defended


McClain (17) Spikes (12) For playing the same position, we clearly have seen Spikes' lack of speed and tendency to be only a 2 down player in this stat too




You may not find games played/started, sacks, passes defended, or actual enormous difference in number of tackles as "important" stats, but I sure do....

Again, I'm not saying that Spikes won't be here due to not living up to the great bar set by jack *** McClain, but I am including the comparison as one more on the field aspect for comparitive measures only. Spikes has given the team plenty of other reasons off the field. As I said, I chose McClain due to their same drafting class, their ILB designation, their similarity in draft round position, and most importantly....the fact that so many here feel McClain sucks.

I think he's rather overrated on this forum by many fans due to a ton of reasons, but we'll have to see how Belichick feels in the offseason. Until then, we can enjoy what Spikes brings to the field as far as being a great run stopper, and a physical presence for our defense (although hitting the opposing player "hard" is kind of something that you're supposed to do when playing defense, Spikes seems to do it better than most)

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

I'm with Supafly and others - this is a misguided 'holdout'. Spikes doesn't have to be here and I bet he thinks skipping OTA's will make a statement to BB that will lead to Spikes getting a new contract. Good luck with that Brandon. Keep this up and soon there will be a ticket to the bus station in Oakland waiting for you in your cleaned out locker. Sadly, this would probably make you happy. If so, then you can't look in the mirror and say would Tedy said today - I make my statements on the field because it's all about winning, nothing else. Call Richard Seymour and ask him.

It could be Spikes just wants out and is trying force BB's hand. I consider this less likely but with Spikes you never know.