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Lots of discussions are going on about possible “final” rosters and who is hot and who is not. I have had some ideas about what is going on this camp and thought this would be a good time to put them down on paper.
1. This is going to be perhaps, the deepest Pats team in the BB era. Maybe not the best front line talent ever, but certainly we will have more quality depth at more positions than at any time in memory.
When you look at QB, RB, OL WR, DL, and DB’s. They all run 3 deep in relative quality talent, especially given all the position flexibility we have there. Only the TE’s and LB positions are looking a bit thin, and even there, there can be arguments made that we are fine.
I don’t think that this is by accident. I think BB knows how lucky he was to have survived the injury devastation that plagued us all last season and still wind up 12-4 and in the AFCCG. So to that end he restocked the OL with young talent. Restocked the DL with a bevy of more versatile athletic guys, and packed a secondary with more talent than we’ve ever seen. Many of last year’s starters on a good team, are going to be struggling for playing time on this year’s edition. As a fan you have to LOVE it.
I think that is why we are seeing the myriad of musical chair rotations with the OL, WR’s, DL, and DB’s. BB is preparing his team for the worst by maximizing his team’s position flexibility. You’d be hard pressed to think of a player who will make this roster and be unable to play multiple positions.
2. Every year after the draft we all wring our hands complaining about the picks we made, and even more often the picks we DIDN’T make. This year we all whined about the WR we didn’t pick, the CB we didn’t take. I for one complained bitterly about that hybrid S/.LB we didn’t take. The kind of guy exemplified by Shazir, KPL and the kid from Montana that the Dolphins drafted whose name escapes me.
Well it seems that BB filled those needs in FA with Butler, Tyms, and D.Flemming all making big impressions in the first few weeks of TC. Butler and Tyms have already been widely discussed, but Flemming is also pressing for a roster spot.
I’m constantly amazed how on such a consistently successful team, BB finds one or two young FA’s EVERY year talented enough to make a difficult roster. This year looks to be no different.
3. I don’t think enough has been said about Vince Wilfolk’s remarkable return from such a devastating injury, ESPECIALLY given his size and age. I was one who felt the Pats were better off clearing the cap space, because the MOST we could reasonably expect from him this season was to be a decent run stopper on GL and SY situations.
However, by all reports, Vince is back to being an impact DLman; and is a lot closer to the guy who was a consensus ALL PRO in 2012, playing over 85% of the defensive snaps, to the limited shell of his former self, most of us expected. So while it wouldn’t be realistic to see him play at the 2012 level for so many snaps, it’s safe to say all our expectations for him have got to be raised. Medically it was a remarkable recovery IMHO.
BTW- Tommy Kelly’s, ACL recovery isn’t far behind.
4. So with the Worthy acquisition, the quick start shown by Easley, and solid improvement shown by Joe Villano, plus Chris Jones, Silga, Kelly and Vince, we are starting look like we might have an excess of quality talent at the DT position for a change. So it got me thinking that, with all the injuries around the league (D Dockett being the latest), the Pats might have a nice trade option come open before the end of the pre-season.
5. I don’t think enough has been made of the fact the Pats have, for the most part, played a pretty vanilla 3-4 for the first 2 games. Clearly the personnel is geared to the 4-3. The Worthy acquisition screams 4-3. So why haven’t we been running it? For the most part so far, our best pass rusher from last season has been dropping back in coverage. What’s up with that? I’d love to get into BB’s head to find out what the point is with all this 3-4 play….because I know there IS one.
6. Here are my positions on all the most talked about issues
a. I’m getting more and more comfortable with our situation at TE. I know it looks incredibly thin compared to recent years, but the past is the past. Between Gronk Hooman, Devlin, LaFell, and Solder, the Pats have enough talent to align in 2 TE’s and take advantage of what that alignment gives to an offense.
Among those are forcing defenses to be balanced. Forcing outside pass rushers wider. Taking advantage of smaller players in the run game, and bigger players in passing game. Better pass blocking. The disadvantage is of course not being able to spread the field as much as you can in 3 and 4 WR formations.
b. As of right now Tyms looks like he deserves a roster spot over Josh Boyce. If he keeps up his progression, he’ll get one when he comes back from suspension. The key thing is he has to keep getting better. BB has talked about players in the past who get off to fast starts in TC and for some reason just stall. I don’t think Tyms is going to be such a player, but he still has more to prove.
c. Josh Boyce is likely to keep his roster spot for at least the first 4 games. I think he’s progressed nicely this TC. I’ve seen none of the lazy attitude from him that certain haters have ascribed to him. He’s doing OK, its just Tyms is doing better….right now.
d. More and more posts have been made to show that, while we’d all like him to do it less, Steven Ridley’s so call fumbling issues are more the norm in the league than the exception. Yet somehow his name is connected to fumbling so much more than any other RB in the league, even those who fumble more than he does. He is our best RB, and we need him to be our best RB for this offense to reach its full potential. RB’s will occasionally fumble, and as long as their ball security technique is sound we should all just deal with it and stop making it seem like a capital crime when the inevitable happens .
e. I once thought I had a handle on what would be the best starting OL for this season. Now I haven't a clue. I will be very interested to see how if all finally turns out. For now BB is making it an adventure in learning with almost every series.
1. This is going to be perhaps, the deepest Pats team in the BB era. Maybe not the best front line talent ever, but certainly we will have more quality depth at more positions than at any time in memory.
When you look at QB, RB, OL WR, DL, and DB’s. They all run 3 deep in relative quality talent, especially given all the position flexibility we have there. Only the TE’s and LB positions are looking a bit thin, and even there, there can be arguments made that we are fine.
I don’t think that this is by accident. I think BB knows how lucky he was to have survived the injury devastation that plagued us all last season and still wind up 12-4 and in the AFCCG. So to that end he restocked the OL with young talent. Restocked the DL with a bevy of more versatile athletic guys, and packed a secondary with more talent than we’ve ever seen. Many of last year’s starters on a good team, are going to be struggling for playing time on this year’s edition. As a fan you have to LOVE it.
I think that is why we are seeing the myriad of musical chair rotations with the OL, WR’s, DL, and DB’s. BB is preparing his team for the worst by maximizing his team’s position flexibility. You’d be hard pressed to think of a player who will make this roster and be unable to play multiple positions.
2. Every year after the draft we all wring our hands complaining about the picks we made, and even more often the picks we DIDN’T make. This year we all whined about the WR we didn’t pick, the CB we didn’t take. I for one complained bitterly about that hybrid S/.LB we didn’t take. The kind of guy exemplified by Shazir, KPL and the kid from Montana that the Dolphins drafted whose name escapes me.
Well it seems that BB filled those needs in FA with Butler, Tyms, and D.Flemming all making big impressions in the first few weeks of TC. Butler and Tyms have already been widely discussed, but Flemming is also pressing for a roster spot.
I’m constantly amazed how on such a consistently successful team, BB finds one or two young FA’s EVERY year talented enough to make a difficult roster. This year looks to be no different.
3. I don’t think enough has been said about Vince Wilfolk’s remarkable return from such a devastating injury, ESPECIALLY given his size and age. I was one who felt the Pats were better off clearing the cap space, because the MOST we could reasonably expect from him this season was to be a decent run stopper on GL and SY situations.
However, by all reports, Vince is back to being an impact DLman; and is a lot closer to the guy who was a consensus ALL PRO in 2012, playing over 85% of the defensive snaps, to the limited shell of his former self, most of us expected. So while it wouldn’t be realistic to see him play at the 2012 level for so many snaps, it’s safe to say all our expectations for him have got to be raised. Medically it was a remarkable recovery IMHO.
BTW- Tommy Kelly’s, ACL recovery isn’t far behind.
4. So with the Worthy acquisition, the quick start shown by Easley, and solid improvement shown by Joe Villano, plus Chris Jones, Silga, Kelly and Vince, we are starting look like we might have an excess of quality talent at the DT position for a change. So it got me thinking that, with all the injuries around the league (D Dockett being the latest), the Pats might have a nice trade option come open before the end of the pre-season.
5. I don’t think enough has been made of the fact the Pats have, for the most part, played a pretty vanilla 3-4 for the first 2 games. Clearly the personnel is geared to the 4-3. The Worthy acquisition screams 4-3. So why haven’t we been running it? For the most part so far, our best pass rusher from last season has been dropping back in coverage. What’s up with that? I’d love to get into BB’s head to find out what the point is with all this 3-4 play….because I know there IS one.
6. Here are my positions on all the most talked about issues
a. I’m getting more and more comfortable with our situation at TE. I know it looks incredibly thin compared to recent years, but the past is the past. Between Gronk Hooman, Devlin, LaFell, and Solder, the Pats have enough talent to align in 2 TE’s and take advantage of what that alignment gives to an offense.
Among those are forcing defenses to be balanced. Forcing outside pass rushers wider. Taking advantage of smaller players in the run game, and bigger players in passing game. Better pass blocking. The disadvantage is of course not being able to spread the field as much as you can in 3 and 4 WR formations.
b. As of right now Tyms looks like he deserves a roster spot over Josh Boyce. If he keeps up his progression, he’ll get one when he comes back from suspension. The key thing is he has to keep getting better. BB has talked about players in the past who get off to fast starts in TC and for some reason just stall. I don’t think Tyms is going to be such a player, but he still has more to prove.
c. Josh Boyce is likely to keep his roster spot for at least the first 4 games. I think he’s progressed nicely this TC. I’ve seen none of the lazy attitude from him that certain haters have ascribed to him. He’s doing OK, its just Tyms is doing better….right now.
d. More and more posts have been made to show that, while we’d all like him to do it less, Steven Ridley’s so call fumbling issues are more the norm in the league than the exception. Yet somehow his name is connected to fumbling so much more than any other RB in the league, even those who fumble more than he does. He is our best RB, and we need him to be our best RB for this offense to reach its full potential. RB’s will occasionally fumble, and as long as their ball security technique is sound we should all just deal with it and stop making it seem like a capital crime when the inevitable happens .
e. I once thought I had a handle on what would be the best starting OL for this season. Now I haven't a clue. I will be very interested to see how if all finally turns out. For now BB is making it an adventure in learning with almost every series.
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