AndyJohnson said:
BBs approach to FA is even harder to figure out that his draft strategy.
Aside from filling in the needed holes, which as it stands today (before resigning anyone seem to be one starting OL, 3 WRs, a new set of FA corners to compete with or replace last years that all ended up injured)
my question is what does he want to upgrade?
I see a few areas Id be considering upgrades to.
1) OL. I think this was the worst year for our OL since 2002. Now with everyone healthy and the rookies a year older doing nothing could equal an upgrade. But I felt there were numerous times this year our offense needed to dig out of a hole, or tried to establish the run-or control the clock, and the OL didn't hold up its end. I'm very confident BB will make sure he has quality and depth at WR, and Im fine with Dillon, so the OL may need an upgrade for the O to really take the next step.
2) Pass rushers. We came on better at the end, but that may have been more due to increased blitzing, but early in the season we struggled to rush the passer. Using our OLBs as 3rd down DEs is tougher with Vrabel at ILB and all 3 playing every down. Aside from Seymour, I wasnt impressed with any of our inside rushers on 3rd down. I would not be surprised to see BB look at situational pass rush types.
3) The secondary. We simply cannot have a 3rd straight year of a decimated secondary and playing guys off the street. I think BB invests heavily in either top line younger players (moving some of the guys we have to 'depth') or at least in more reliable depth. Its hard on one hand to say he didnt work hard to build depth this year, but the depth was a combination of aged vets (some with injury hisotries) and guys who have never really played much in the league. I think BB is going to look at the 'middle class' here, of youngish vets who have experience and have stayed healthy rather than the older guys who keep getting hurt on him.
Thoughts?
1) O-line - I expect the Patriots to draft a young C/G to groom behind Koppen and Hochstein. I also would like to see them grab an OT as well. Gorin just doesn't impress except as a back-up and the Pats need a 4th OT. That is unless they bring back Wesley Britt.
2) I think they do need to draft an OLB/DE tweener to mold behind Willie. TBC just doesn't do it for me and last year was his year to take a step up and he really didn't. Another guy at ILB would also be nice, though not imperative since they already have Claridge there and Beisel. I don't want to move Vrabel back to the OLB position. Colvin is more able to handle the pass-rushing stuff there. And he's solidified his game as a run stopper as well.
3) Secondary - AJ, how can you plan for the catastrophic injuries that hit? You can't. The Patriots did their best to do so, but having 6 of 10 DBs end up on the IR 6 weeks into the season had been unheard of (to my knowledge) until it happened to the Pats. Does that mean they don't need to upgrade? No. They do. But they have several decisions to make 1st. The biggest is how many DBs will they carry next year.
CBs: Hobbs, Samuel, Starks, Poole
CB/S: Gay*, Wilson
S: Harrison, Sanders, G. Scott *
* = ERFA
A) Ty Poole - Most of us think he is gone. He'd save the Pats 1.5 million on the cap by cutting him
B) Duane Starks - I think he gets brought back with a restructured deal. Others think he gets cut. Either way, he supposedly played with a bum shoulder until he got IRed. Reports say that his shoulder was a massive mess. This probably influenced how well he played.
C) Guss Scott - 2 years and 2 straight times onto the IR. If BB doesn't tender him, then that opens up a developmental slot.
D) Michael Stone- He was, by far, the best special teamer we had. Better than Izzo. And that is saying something. He also played decently enough during regular snaps not to be a total liability on the field. He needs to be re-signed
E) Artrell Hawkins - His veteran presences and almost seemless transistion into being a Safety for the Pats should earn him a contract.
F) Randall Gay - Didn't beat out Ty Poole as the starter coming out of camp and was playing injured until finally landing on the IR. He's an ERFA that should be tendered.
G) Chad Scott - He's a Safety/Corner tweener. He played well when he wasn't injured. It will be interesting to see if the Pats sign him to another 1 year deal.
