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Not sure I follow but if you are making an attempt to state that Mayo and Bruschi are on the same play-making level, I disagree. From 2001-2004 (the years people remember and Bru's prime, he had 10 INTs, 12 sacks, 4 TDs, 30 passes defensed and 9 forced fumbles. I think you would agree that those numbers are Ray Lewis numbers.
If we're going to start evaluating every player based upon 3 year stretches from other players, and consider that to be the "floor" for the discussions, there are going to be about 10 players in the entire league worthy of being considered good.
The reality of the situation is that Mayo's numbers are comparing acceptably with Bruschi's numbers to this point in their respective careers, except when it comes to sacks, as two of Bruschi's three best sack years were his first two years in the league (4 sacks in each of his first two years). One could argue that Mayo's numbers should be better than Bruschi's to this point, but that would require a balancing of draft position/defensive style and schemes/etc..., and it would really just delve into unprovable areas.
I agree. It's expectations. I don't think we've seen Mayo's prime yet but to assume he'll reach the same level of production as Bru in his prime years is unrealistic. I'll take 1/2 that and be pretty satisfied.
If Mayo was playing with the same level of players that Bruschi had around him from 2001-2004, I think Mayo's "playmaker" numbers would be fine. I think people really overlook just how much more talent those teams had on defense than the recent and current squads, and how that allowed Romeo to use those players much differently than the recent DCs have been forced to use their players (this is something that Rodney Harrison has touched upon).
Mayo (perhaps) and Wilfork aside, there's probably not a single player on the current Patriots defense who'd be a starter for the 2001-2004 teams.
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