Wow!!! Great great great info Don Kipines, Box_O_Rocks, and patchick!! Mocking the Pats draft will be difficult. A lot of stuff to take into account, that makes it more fun though!!
I saw Box_O_Rocks say you guys could used depth at QB. Do you think Bill will be using Brian Hoyer as trade bait pretty soon?
And what kind of RB's do Bilichick like? (Scat back, Down hill runner, etc) Also, Is Faulk coming back or do you think his days are numbered in NE?
Hoyer is likely available, but his price would probably be steeper than most teams would consider reasonable at this point in his career. Depth serves multiple functions, "camp arm" to help pace Brady and Hoyer, competition to prevent Hoyer from complacency, finding that diamond in the rough (Cassel) and seeing how he handles the greater complexity of an NFL offense and reading NFL defenses, finally, grooming late round QBs into viable NFL journeymen and starters is a Belichick goal he learned from Coach Walsh and his coaching tree.
Belichick likes RBs who make yards, he likes to have some variety in his backs, and he wants them to learn to excel at running, receiving, blitz pick-up, lead blocking, and Special Teams as returner/coverage/blocker (the more the merrier). If a RB can split wide and create a mismatch against a LB, if they can pick-up short yardage first downs (and will go for the first down instead of scrambling around trying to break a big play), if the play is designed to go inside you look to run inside first and only bounce it outside when there's no room to run, if there's only two yards available, get those two yards. Vision, he wants great field vision. Fumbles - DON'T! Kevin Faulk struggled early in his career, but he was a holdover from the previous GM who worked hard at getting better. BenJarvus Green-Ellis is not a fumbler. Danny Woodhead had one fumble last season when he took a shot to the head from a DL. This is the Belichick standard.
I'd love to see Kevin Faulk coming back, but at this point in his rehab it's uncertain. Don't rule it out, but draft as if he might not be back.
As to the downhill/scatback runner question: NE uses a blend of man and zone blocking. They want a one cut and go runner who can see the backside lane or a zone crease open and be gone, they want a very disciplined runner who understands down & distance and runs accordingly. The runner needs to know his blockers like the back of his hand and time himself to their efforts.
Remember, NE morphs their game to create mismatches with their opponent. If Pittsburgh's defense is strong against the run, NE will create a mismatch in the passing game to move the ball and soften them up for the run game. If Green Bay is a demon in passing defense, NE will try to run them out of it. A RB who can do it all (Kevin Faulk) will have a long career with NE.
