Huge offseason ahead...

[BradyManny]

RB is not totally set, we need another solid back up...

We could start looking for Faulk replacements down the road, but Maroney is our feature back now, Dillon is our bruiser, and Faulk the 3rd down back. The running game was amiss at the end of last season, but I doubt it was for lack of talent at the position. The OL, passing game, coaches and talent of the opposing Ds all played a part in that.

WR - please we need at least 2 more for Brady

Caldwell proved his worth - Gaffney has been a solid player his whole career. Jackson is the wild card, if he reaches his potential, this group is scary good. Personally, I'd rather go cheap with this unit again, keep these 3 guys as the core and spend the money elsewhere. You got Brown, Kight & Childress as backups, and we probably draft a wideout day 2.

S- Again Never have enough

Don't forget that Tebucky is signed for next season, I guess for special teams purposes, but it's still something to consider. Again, I think we use one of those first two round picks at Safety. But maybe Sanders-Harrison is good enough. I'm pretty sure Wilson will be moved to CB.

LB- If we dont get LB help this off season, I dont know when we will..

Colvin-Vrabel-Bruschi-Seau-TBC. If we had those five guys again next season, I'd be more than happy. BB likes his LBs to be vets, he's made that much clear.

 

[LloydBraun]

For next year, we will have Gay, harrison and Wilson to add to the secondary.

To the receiving corps we have a 2nd yr Thomas and Mills to add, as well as Jackson. Mills and Thomas were big pass catchers in college and will prove to be this way in the NFL over the next couple of years.

There is a lot to add to this team for next year from within, not to mention what we will add thru FA and the draft.

 

[ATippett56]

Call me crazy, but I don't see a lot of holes on this team.

Defense:
DB is better off than most assume. Let Asante go, move Wilson to CB, Draft a S 1st round, plant him next to Rodney, have Sanders as backup, Hobbs is your #1 CB.

That's a huge leap of faith moving Eugene Wilson to cornerback to replace the New England Patriots number one cornerback.

 

[BradyManny]

That's a huge leap of faith moving Eugene Wilson to cornerback to replace the New England Patriots number one cornerback.

Well, Hobbs will in a sense be an upgrade over himself. The cast really had an impact on his ability to make plays on the bal and he was still good. I think Box O Rocks would tell you Hobbs was the #1 anyway.

 

[ATippett56]

I think Box O Rocks would tell you Hobbs was the #1 anyway.

I respectfully disagree on that point. Asante Samuel played like a number one cornerback this past season not Ellis Hobbs. Besides, Ellis Hobbs was benched at one point during the past season.

 

[ATippett56]

Well, Hobbs will in a sense be an upgrade over himself. The cast really had an impact on his ability to make plays on the bal and he was still good. I think Box O Rocks would tell you Hobbs was the #1 anyway.

Eugene Wilson has not proven that he can play cornerback at a respectable level in the NFL.

 

[everlong]

DB move Wilson to CB

I keep reading this in different posts and I just do not see where the confidence in Wilson moving to CB is coming from. He wasn't a good safety in 05 or his limited duty in 06 and every time he was matched up in single coverage on a TE he was getting smoked so I don't see how he could cover wide outs.

I hope he can come back and get to the 03-04 level at safety but I have my doubts.

 

[BradyManny]

Eugene Wilson has not proven that he can play cornerback at a respectable level in the NFL.

No argument there - but when they moved him from CB to S, it was done out of necessity, not necessarily b/c he couldn't play the position.

I can't remember how he played before getting injured this season to be honest.

 

[BradyManny]

I keep reading this in different posts and I just do not see where the confidence in Wilson moving to CB is coming from. He wasn't a good safety in 05 or his limited duty in 06 and every time he was matched up in single coverage on a TE he was getting smoked so I don't see how he could cover wide outs.

I hope he can come back and get to the 03-04 level at safety but I have my doubts.

Again, I hear what you are saying, but I think it's a risk they are willing to take. He was the 4th pick in round 2 as a CB, and like I said in the above post, he was moved to Safety out of necessity. Since he seems to have struggled at Safety in his limited time recently, I think moving him back to CB makes some sense - they definitely prepared for that possibility last season.

 

[ATippett56]

I hope he can come back and get to the 03-04 level at safety but I have my doubts.

I have the same prospective. I certainly hope the New England Patriots select Michael Griffin, safety from Texas with the 28th pick overall. Thus, the New England Patriots could be set for the next five years with a playmaking free safety with outstanding special teams ability.

 

[Jimke]

I'm amazed that some forum members don't see the deficiencies

on the Pats.

At cornerback, if Asante Samuel leaves, we have Ellis Hobbs, Chad

Scott, Antwain Spann, Gemara Williams, and the oft injured Randall

Gay to compete for roster spots.

At linebacker, our situation becomes dire if Tedy Bruschi decides to retire.

We would be left with Rosevelt Colvin, Mike Vrabel, Pierre Woods, Eric

Alexander, and Corey Mays as our linebacking corps.

We are a little better at safety; however, Rodney Harrison and Eugene

Wilson are coming back from injury plagued seasons.

At wide receiver, Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney may be O.K. but

their contracts are up after 2007. Chad Jackson will hopefully show

some progress. The other wide receivers are Bam Childress, Kelvin

Kight, Zuriel Smith, and Jonathan Smith.

 

[ATippett56]

At cornerback, if Asante Samuel leaves .....

In my opinion, the New England Patriots defense would suffer if Asante Samuel departs via free agency. However, if Asante Samuel would be willing to play under the franchise tag, that would alleviate concerns at the cornerback position for at least one year while finding value at that position in the 2007 NFL draft.

 

[GoWhalers]

The defense will be fine, pending the effective resolution of the situation for a few critical players (Samuel, Bruschi, Seau). Don't forget that we did have one of the top ranked defense in points allowed this year -- and that was in spite of all of the injury turmoil!

The offense needs major help, in the form of playmaking WRs and run-blocking offensive linemen. Our consistent inability to move the ball on offense was absoutely lethal to the Patriots in the playoffs. It almost got them knocked out against San Diego (Pats defense saved them), and ultimately cost them the AFC championship game (a few Patriot first downs changes the entire game).

I like Caldwell and Gaffney, and there's not a Pats fan alive who doesn't love Troy Brown. However, the Chargers and Colts game proved that they cannot consistently make plays against playoff-caliber defenses, even when Brady has all day to throw. I like our O-line too, especially roughnecks like Light, Mankins, and Koppen. But the two playoff games again proved that they cannot consistently open holes in the run game for Dillon and Maroney against playoff-caliber defenses.

Do we need Steve Smith and Walter Jones? Obviously not -- Brady and the defense are good enough to get this team all the way to the end of the AFC championship game. But there's a big difference between beating the Jaguars/Bills/Bengals/Titans/etc. and beating playoff teams. Our defense, as good at it is, has got to have an effective offensive complement come playoff time. I hope it comes through in this draft!

 

[spacecrime]

Eugene Wilson has not proven that he can play cornerback at a respectable level in the NFL.

What he has proven or not proven has no bearing on whether he can or cannot.

 

[ATippett56]

What he has proven or not proven has no bearing on whether he can or cannot.

Are you willing to allow Asante Samuel to depart via free agency?

 

[skri65]

Or DB's under 6 feet.

Samuel is the exception to the rule.

With all due respect, I choose BB's method. He's got 3 superbowls with sub-six-footers...don't really see how I could be that pissed off if we got another short one.

 

[Seymour93]

Are you willing to allow Asante Samuel to depart via free agency?

If he demands a contract which would cripple the cap situation, then yes. The problem is finding the replacement. We cannot rely solely on a rookie to fill the void. I've been looking at the FA's at CB and its an unimpressive lot to say the least. A guy that would fit in nice here is Clements from Buffalo. He said in a recent interview that he's tired of losing and wants to play for a team who's close to the SB. The problem is, he's looking for just as much money as Asante is.

Clements interview: http://www.wgr550.com/fullstory.php?id=2132

The more I see it on here the more it makes sense - moving Wilson to corner is looking better by the day. We already have three starting calibre safeties in Harrison, Hawkins, and Sanders. We draft a safety in round one to groom for the future and play lead backup because the three names above won't all stay healthy for an entire season. I'd use the other 1st on LB or even OL. Browse the 2nd and 3rd rounds for CB's.

 

[BradyManny]

The more I see it on here the more it makes sense - moving Wilson to corner is looking better by the day. We already have three starting calibre safeties in Harrison, Hawkins, and Sanders. We draft a safety in round one to groom for the future and play lead backup because the three names above won't all stay healthy for an entire season. I'd use the other 1st on LB or even OL. Browse the 2nd and 3rd rounds for CB's.

What'dya know, we actually agree on a bunch of things as long as we aren't talking about Chad Jackson. I agree with every word you said here.

 

[Seymour93]

What'dya know, we actually agree on a bunch of things as long as we aren't talking about Chad Jackson. I agree with every word you said here.

Yeah man, everyone has their players they like and don't like. Something about Jackson bugs me. We've been over this though. Hopefully we'll always have in common our diehard support for the Patriots.

Ultimately I think we need another young WR via the draft. Grab one in the mid rounds, a senior preferably. I'm hesitant to say it's a need position over the likes of S, CB, and LB. Keep in mind the FA market for WR's is deeper than the DB market.

 

[upstater1]

Assuming Samuel comes back, I see the team's needs as being, pick by pick, in this order...

#1 WR
#2 ILB
#3 S
#4 ILB
#5 WR
#6 RB
#7 CB
#8 OLB
#9 WR
#10 S

After watching the whole season, I came to regret the botched Deion Branch negotiations. I thought Deion handled everything badly. I was on his case as much as the next guy. I thought the Patriots also botched it with the phone call they made to him. Clearly the Patriots would have paid Deion and they thought he was worth the dough.

I'm not blaming the patriots. Sometimes things just go haywire. But I'm convinced we lost the Super Bowl campaign in preseason.

So much of our trouble against Indy was the fact that their defense had absolutely NO respect for our wide receivers. They crowded the line on Brady. Same thing in the San Diego game.

We need a receiver that will put some fear in the defense, because we won't win much against 8 or 9 man lines. It's just a sign of disrespect for our offense.

I'm also not a fan of the shotgun short passing game. I like to dink and dunk as much as the next guy, but I don't like to see our running game abandoned in order to accomplish that.

That's why WR is our #1 priority. I know we have a huge huge exploitable hole at ILB, but with Rodney back next year, and a healthy defense, they may patch it up a tad. It will still be a big weakness, but not nearly as much as we're hurting at WR.

If I had to do it all over again, no way I trade Deion for a #1 draft pick.