Ken, I always enjoy your post draft rants...er...random thought analyses.
I think that you are quite correct in saying that BB has given himself a survival of the fittest camp, which coincidentally or not comes after a weird pre/post draft labor situation where many rookies did not benefit at all.
I agree that he gave us added depth/experience/competition--ALL of them very instrumental to making a deep run. That is brilliant in my opinion. I also believe that he is indeed giving the defense variability and versatility by being able to dictate multiple fronts/sets/packages. Therefore, a good amt of quality depth and physical bodies are needed.
I also agree with the secondary overhaul, although as you said--that's almost common sense in a pass happy league. It's a shame when Mark Sanchez picks you apart for 3 TD's and 0 INT's, and all you can do is watch...let alone when you consistently face the Mannings, Roethlisbergers, and Rivers' of the world every season. The team has adhered to the Belichickian philosophy of 'doing your job' in the secondary, and added talent, youth, and speed have been brought in. Couple that with a coaching change at the position, and (finally) a good pair of outside CB's after several misses in the draft, and you see why the great secondary play is so important. I will admit that I am somewhat miffed by seeing BOTH McGowan and Page leave in the safety position, not to mention the (hopefully unsubstantiated rumors) of Meriweather's departure also. That was what many of us viewed as one of the strongest overall positions on the team. It certainly won't be if Meriweather leaves, although again--they are rumors at best.
---------------THIS IS WHERE I DISAGREE---------------
I do not believe your theory of all of these DL guys playing 35 snaps a game, as opposed to 4 or 5 main guys getting the majority of the snaps. I believe that would be hard to develop cohesiveness, and consistency. I believe "it is what it is..." meaning that these moves were brought in to add versatility to our looks and sets, and to also add a survival of the fittest philosophy at the position. In other words, when the competition is better, the remaining players who make it to the 53 man roster are better too. But the main reason why I believe it was done is for DEPTH. As we all saw last yr, it was likely the Achilles heel of our playoff loss, possibly even a SB birth. We embarrassingly had to search the streets for a viable candidate at the DL position due to too many injuries, and it hurt tremendously. The run game was mud, there was zero pressure, and therefore it added to the passing game woes too. I think that these moves were brought it for depth and versatility...nothing more.
Other than that, I think that I agree with just about everything else, and enjoy your thoughts very much.