Dowling compared to McCourty

[BradyManny]

If Dowling has a rookie season which is 80% equivalent to what McCourty did bookmark one of the best defenses in the league and a 13-3 record at minimum.

This.

Our pass rush will seem A-OK when opposing QBs can't find an open receiver. With Bodden coming back, and adding Dowling, I like the chances of that coming to pass.

 

[Patriot Missile]

This.

Our pass rush will seem A-OK when opposing QBs can't find an open receiver. With Bodden coming back, and adding Dowling, I like the chances of that coming to pass.

Add in the return of a healthy Ty Warren and Mike Wright along with better coverage we should be able to throw in a lot more stunts and exotic blitzes. I'm pretty excited to see where we go from here. 14-2 in a rebuilding year is phenomenal especially considering the injuries over the coarse of the year. Add in another year of experience for Cunningham
Niko and Moore and they should be better. Don't get me started on the running game and how that will help the defense when we are holding the lead.

 

[LetsGoPats36]

Arrington a scrub? Among the ST tackle leaders 2 season running (and managed that in only a half-season in 2009); played RCB better than 2nd-rounder Butler; better than about 75% of the safeties in the league in run-support (as a CB) - THAT Arrington?

Yes, Arrington is a scrub CB. I'm fine keeping him around for emergency situations and ST work. He got picked on like a fat ginger kid with glasses at recess when he was playing CB. Better than 75% of safeties in run support? Seriously, dude?

 

[randomk1]

Yes, Arrington is a scrub CB. I'm fine keeping him around for emergency situations and ST work. He got picked on like a fat ginger kid with glasses at recess when he was playing CB. Better than 75% of safeties in run support? Seriously, dude?

lol, what's your opinion of Darius Butler then? He got abused alot more imo.

 

[Potstickas]

lol, what's your opinion of Darius Butler then? He got abused alot more imo.

Arrington came in and stabilized the secondary when Butler and Wilhite was getting abused.

 

[SeanBruschi54]

I have heard some talk that Ras-I is going to be the left-side equivilent of McCourty as if they were similar players but I don't think that is the case at all. They seem quite different. I don't think that Ras-I has the coverage skills that McCourty does but is rather a tall rangy guy for the outside. I do not think he will be effective against small quick receivers in the slot but rather his value be against tall receivers on the outside. McCourty seems to be able to cover either type but I am not sure Ras-I will be able to.

You literally just made all of this up. What shows you that he wont cover small receivers but would instead do much better at covering larger ones?

I bet all hes covered in college was smaller guys. There's very few big men that can play at an average level in college.

 

[MaineMan]

Yes, Arrington is a scrub CB. I'm fine keeping him around for emergency situations and ST work. He got picked on like a fat ginger kid with glasses at recess when he was playing CB. Better than 75% of safeties in run support? Seriously, dude?

My apologies. Apparently we've been watching two completely different guys coincidentally named Arrington. The guy I was watching was a very solid, smart young football player who improved in many ways over the course of a season in which he was suddenly thrust into a difficult and critical starting role - and OWNED it. The guy I was watching was definitely NOT a scrub.

 

[BradyManny]

My apologies. Apparently we've been watching two completely different guys coincidentally named Arrington. The guy I was watching was a very solid, smart young football player who improved in many ways over the course of a season in which he was suddenly thrust into a difficult and critical starting role - and OWNED it. The guy I was watching was definitely NOT a scrub.

I agree Arrington was solid - but to suggest he factors into the team's long-term view at CB is a stretch. The fact that he was starting over Butler does not mean a whole lot.

Belichick has at times started a player that we didn't expect to start, hung with him the entire season and quickly moved on from him the next season (Reche Caldwell is a prime example).

The Dowling pick suggests to me that Arrington was a stop-gap, and that we will not see him starting for this team again in 2011, as valuable as he was as a fill-in, particularly with Bodden coming back as it is.

 

[LetsGoPats36]

lol, what's your opinion of Darius Butler then? He got abused alot more imo.

Him and Arrington are about equals to me. Whenever opposing teams faced a third down, they just found whichever of these two chumps was on the field and threw in their direction.

Arrington came in and stabilized the secondary when Butler and Wilhite was getting abused.

Stabilized is a bit of a stretch. Him and Butler each had flashes of competence towards the end of the season but remained big liabilities. Wilhite is worse than the other two.

My apologies. Apparently we've been watching two completely different guys coincidentally named Arrington. The guy I was watching was a very solid, smart young football player who improved in many ways over the course of a season in which he was suddenly thrust into a difficult and critical starting role - and OWNED it. The guy I was watching was definitely NOT a scrub.

Eh, I think you're glorifying Arrington because we've had a lot of trouble filling that second corner spot for so many years now. Hobbs got picked on as much as anyone, and he wasn't a great corner by any stretch, but he was the best #2 we've had since we let him go. That's not saying much about our corner depth. Bodden was good in 09 and McCourty was great last year, but we've lacked sufficient role players behind our #1's for at least half of a decade now. Arrington made some nice tackles, but he also blew a ton by trying to arm tackle. He didn't make much of an impact deflecting or picking off passes, other than the GB game, and teams habitually picked on him on when they needed a first down. BB clearly thinks we need to upgrade the #2 corner spot, even with Bodden coming back we took Dowling #33.

 

[randomk1]

Arrington is a UDFA and played as well as anybody could've hoped for imo. If we had actually spent a 2nd round pick on him i'd be pissed.

Bodden would've been a huge help last year.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Re: Darling compared to McCourty

I don't understand how SO many people can butcher his name. Is DOWLING really that hard to spell?

I agree that with his size, Dowling has the flexibility to switch to safety. But I'm not sure if BB has a conversion in mind right away. The WRs in the NFL are getting taller and taller on average. It might be time to have a tall corner on this team.

Darling at 33
Chung at 34

Darling has the advantage of speed and coverage ability. He could contribute in his first season at dime back or nickel. After all, to win reps at dime and nickel, he needs to beat out Butler and Arrington for reps, not a high bar.

He could be a corner, but I suspect that Darling (after a year of training like all our safeties) will be playing safety next year. After all, I don't expect us to re-sign Meriweather AND Sanders AND Page for 2012. Chung is signed through 2012.

So, for me, for 2011, Darling starts as our #4 or #5 corner and our #4 or #5 safety. He could be more, but that much is fine. There are always injuries and plenty of reps for a defensive back.
======================================

 

[randomk1]

Re: Darling compared to McCourty

I don't understand how SO many people can butcher his name. Is DOWLING really that hard to spell?

I agree that with his size, Dowling has the flexibility to switch to safety. But I'm not sure if BB has a conversion in mind right away. The WRs in the NFL are getting taller and taller on average. It might be time to have a tall corner on this team.

When you're name is Ras-I i'm guessing the expectation of correct pronunciation or spelling goes out of the window pretty fast.

He should learn from Awesomugha.

 

[Uncle Rico]

I don't think he will do well against the quick smurf slot receivers but he will do well against the tall WRs. ...

Reiss touched on this a bit today, how the Pats have been getting bigger at CB, a change in their philosophy from the Pioli days.

Changing face of Pats at corner - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

From a BB quote after Day 2:

"It seems like every week, we’re going up against big, physical receivers in this league, whether it’s Braylon Edwards or Brandon Marshall or you can go right down the line, the San Diego receivers, Pittsburgh receivers ...," Belichick said. "Everybody’s got them and being able to tackle and being physical and being able to jam guys and things like that, playing the kicking game, I think those are all good qualities for a corner to have. Certainly coverage is a big part of it as well, but having physical corners out there is … I think every defense likes that."

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

You literally just made all of this up. What shows you that he wont cover small receivers but would instead do much better at covering larger ones?

I bet all hes covered in college was smaller guys. There's very few big men that can play at an average level in college.

Ha. Not. The evidence is that the taller CBs have trouble the small fast guys. Rod Woodson was one exception but in general the gazelles do best on the outside.

Another line of evidence is Dowling's coach whom Gresh / Zo (?) recently interviewed; they asked him if Dowling could play the slot and the coach said Ras-I was better suited to the outside.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Add in the return of a healthy Ty Warren and Mike Wright along with better coverage we should be able to throw in a lot more stunts and exotic blitzes. I'm pretty excited to see where we go from here. 14-2 in a rebuilding year is phenomenal especially considering the injuries over the coarse of the year. Add in another year of experience for Cunningham
Niko and Moore and they should be better. Don't get me started on the running game and how that will help the defense when we are holding the lead.

All true of course but alas it is never so simple. Someone else will get injured...it is the nature of football especially on a plastic field.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Dowolig compares to Cromartie IMO. I think his technique is a little raw but he has the speed to run with just about any receiver his size in the league.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Dowolig compares to Cromartie IMO. I think his technique is a little raw but he has the speed to run with just about any receiver his size in the league.

But (I am going out on a limb here) I suspect that he will be able to remember the names of his children.

 

[randomk1]

Dowolig compares to Cromartie IMO. I think his technique is a little raw but he has the speed to run with just about any receiver his size in the league.

No way man. Dowling seems way more physical in his play and i doubt his short area quickness is as bad as Cromartie's. He looks alot like Asomugha to me. Tall and lanky,physical,high character.

And their combine numbers are almost identical.

If he stays healthy he will be a good player for us.

 

[supafly]

Arrington is a UDFA and played as well as anybody could've hoped for imo. If we had actually spent a 2nd round pick on him i'd be pissed.

Bodden would've been a huge help last year.

As much as I do agree with Maine Man in regards to Arrington's play last year, he is, and should be--a good backup, replacement player IMO. He outplayed any expectations that we had for him, but is much better suited to be either a dime back or a viable backup CB, I think we'd all feel better that way.

Now, if he goes to TC and actually beats out his competition, then I will give him major props of course, but in the meantime I'm not too sure that we'd want him being the future of our team at the CB position.

In the end, the Dowling pick all comes down to improving our competition at BOTH the CB and S positions with his versatility, adding more special teams presence with youth and skill, and also improving our backups and guys off the bench-- aka Arrington next yr.

 

[MaineMan]

As much as I do agree with Maine Man in regards to Arrington's play last year, he is, and should be--a good backup, replacement player IMO. He outplayed any expectations that we had for him, but is much better suited to be either a dime back or a viable backup CB, I think we'd all feel better that way.

Now, if he goes to TC and actually beats out his competition, then I will give him major props of course, but in the meantime I'm not too sure that we'd want him being the future of our team at the CB position.

In the end, the Dowling pick all comes down to improving our competition at BOTH the CB and S positions with his versatility, adding more special teams presence with youth and skill, and also improving our backups and guys off the bench-- aka Arrington next yr.

I'm not really claiming any more than this wrt Arrington, just defending him against the charge that he's "a scrub".

It's all too common among supposed "fans" of football that a guy is either "elite" or he's a piece of crap who should be immediately replaced with someone vastly superior. And there's no in between. A guy either "has it" from the get-go or he doesn't; there's no room for development/improvement, especially for a guy who wasn't drafted early. Once a JAG, always a JAG. That just seems superficial and juvenile to me.

In 2009, Bodden was clearly better at RCB than Arrington was in 2010, and, if he returns from his injury as capable as he was in 2009, Bodden should be ahead of Arrington for the starting RCB role. But Arrington also clearly out-performed, for instance, the guys the Eagles plugged in to try to replace Hobbs, so we should consider ourselves very lucky to have him.

I don't know that Arrington would be as capable at LCB or covering the slot (both distinctly different positions from RCB, IMO), but I'd bet he'll do whatever he can to own either role if that's where circumstances put him.