Jerod Mayo . . . Will He Become the Playmaker?

[BradyManny]

Without know exactly how Belichick and Patricia use each player, I don't know if you can draw too much conclusion on Mayo vs. Spikes. I think the Pats value Mayo's abilities more and they may ask him to cover up for weaknesses while Spikes has a more limited role which might allow up to make big plays.

Fair enough.

Bottom line - Belichick is plenty happy with what Mayo has given us, and they rewarded him well for his performance with his new contract.

 

[resdubwhite]

Now the question is.


did they overpay him?

:bricks:

 

[Uncle Rico]

Fair enough.

Bottom line - Belichick is plenty happy with what Mayo has given us, and they rewarded him well for his performance with his new contract.

I heard BB on the radio, I think it was before the 2010 season (during the Brady contract talks). They were talking about trade rumors and all that and BB trotted out the line about "Well, everyone's available for a price." Then he said something along the lines of "I mean, if you want to talk about a Jerod Mayo, then that's a different conversation that might not go far." (Maybe someone else remembers exactly what he said). Main thing is, I was surprised that he chose to single out Mayo there. Definitely a good sign for #51.

 

[Off The Grid]

"Will He Become the Playmaker?"

HELL, no.

And I believe that that is precisely why Mad Bill reupped'm.

***

Mind you: It's not like we don't Dial A Little Somethin' Somethin' UP, from time to time.

But Coach Bill Belichick ~ Genius and MadMan ~ has no room on his 53 for "PlayMakers."

Coach Bill Belichick ~ Genius and MadMan ~ seeks 53 talented, intelligent Warriors who he can count on ~ through Thick and Thin ~ to ignore Glory Stats and simply Do Their Jobs.

It is when all 53 Do Their Jobs consistently and well that the PlayMaking Opportunities...abound.

***

And we're nearly there.

I can taste it.

***

1 ~ Mayo's job isn't Making a Play.

2 ~ Mayo's job is to stop the Offense from Making a Play.

3 ~ Mayo has been frantically covering the @%% of much of our Defense for 4 YEARS.

4 ~ For 4 Years, he's been dealing with a Transition to a now young and improving Defense.

5 ~ But now the Defense seems to me to be on the verge of finally coming together.

6 ~ And when the entire crew is finally both talented and experienced ~ and unselfish ~ enough so that all 11 can be counted on to consistently Do Their Jobs and do them well...then we will begin to repeatedly "Force" Offenses Into Mistakes, and Mayo ~ simply by virtue of continuing to Do His Job as he has for these last 4 incredibly challenging years ~ will start to find Opportunities come his way that he has rarely seen before.

If so, he will seem, ironically, to've finally Become a PlayMaker.

But that simply isn't how we do business, hereabouts.

Mayo ~ and Vince Wilfork, of course ~ will simply have reaped the benefits of holding down the fort for 4 years while the Defense grew up around them.

That's how I see it, anyway, Brothers.

 

[Off The Grid]

He's further along than either Bruschi or Vrabel at the same stage of his career.

I don't see why we need to cap his upside already.

I think he's a lot better than people realize.

Brother EverLong's Comments

1 ~ He's further along than either Bruschi or Vrabel at the same stage of his career.

2 ~ I don't see why we need to cap his upside already.

3 ~ I think he's a lot better than people realize.

My Responses

1 ~ Excellent point, and one of my favorites!! Patience is perhaps the most difficult thing to embrace, and one must indeed constantly guard against prematurely giving up on a Player. The more one studies History, the more aware one becomes of the Ebb + Flow of things. Rome Was Not Built In A Day, and all that.

2 ~ History makes it Crystal Clear:

Greatness is far more dependent on years of Perseverance + Persistent Study than on Talent.

Considering his Character, I believe that Mayo's Best Work...is yet to come.

3 ~ Perhaps the most daunting Aspect of FootBall ~ for me, anyway ~ is that a great deal of my Assessments of Players must, ultimately, be deduced on extremely thin data:

§ ~ It is not in Mad Bill's Best Interest ~ and therefore our Best Interest ~ for him to enlighten anyone about who had which assignments on any of thousands of plays that happen each year...Nor will it ever be.

Ω ~ Coach's All 22 Tape is only about to become available, after all these years.

ψ ~ It is therefore often very difficult to argue conclusively how well a Player has played, even over a longer period of time, hampered as we are ~ as in our Interests we must be ~ by an incomplete and ultimately notional idea of what a Player's Assignment was on a given play...and, indeed, on thousands of given plays.

 

[Off The Grid]

In case anyone's wondering WTF is up with the way I formatted that last post...

It is my attempt to overcome the rather crippling constraint of not being able to carry "Quotes" for more'n one Post...This way, anyone who's inclined to "Quote" my Post will now be able to carry Brother EverLongs comments ~ the ones that inspired my Post in the first place!! ~ along for the ride, thus preserving the Context of the Conversation.

It's actually quite easy to do ~ just a matter of copying and pasting, for the most part ~ and I might start making an habit of it...and hoping others do, as well.

 

[mayoclinic]

"Will He Become the Playmaker?"

HELL, no.

And I believe that that is precisely why Mad Bill reupped'm.

***

Mind you: It's not like we don't Dial A Little Somethin' Somethin' UP, from time to time.

But Coach Bill Belichick ~ Genius and MadMan ~ has no room on his 53 for "PlayMakers."

Coach Bill Belichick ~ Genius and MadMan ~ seeks 53 talented, intelligent Warriors who he can count on ~ through Thick and Thin ~ to ignore Glory Stats and simply Do Their Jobs.

It is when all 53 Do Their Jobs consistently and well that the PlayMaking Opportunities...abound.

***

And we're nearly there.

I can taste it.

***

1 ~ Mayo's job isn't Making a Play.

2 ~ Mayo's job is to stop the Offense from Making a Play.

3 ~ Mayo has been frantically covering the @%% of much of our Defense for 4 YEARS.

4 ~ For 4 Years, he's been dealing with a Transition to a now young and improving Defense.

5 ~ But now the Defense seems to me to be on the verge of finally coming together.

6 ~ And when the entire crew is finally both talented and experienced ~ and unselfish ~ enough so that all 11 can be counted on to consistently Do Their Jobs and do them well...then we will begin to repeatedly "Force" Offenses Into Mistakes, and Mayo ~ simply by virtue of continuing to Do His Job as he has for these last 4 incredibly challenging years ~ will start to find Opportunities come his way that he has rarely seen before.

If so, he will seem, ironically, to've finally Become a PlayMaker.

But that simply isn't how we do business, hereabouts.

Mayo ~ and Vince Wilfork, of course ~ will simply have reaped the benefits of holding down the fort for 4 years while the Defense grew up around them.

That's how I see it, anyway, Brothers.

I think you make a good point, which is that BB values discipline more than "playmaking". Brandon Meriweather made la number of big plays, and gave up lots more.

At the same time, I think there is room for "playmakers" within the structure of the defense, and I agree with Brother Everlong that there is still room for Mayo to evolve. Vince Wilfork was a dominant 3-4 NT for his first 5 years in the league, but in 2009 BB started moving him to DE and taking advantage of his athleticism. Last year - his 8th in the league - Wilfork evolved into a dominant playmaker as well as an interior force. So year #4 is clearly not too late for Mayo to start adding facets to his game. As others have noted, the presence of the most talented LB collection since the 2004 team may help allow Mayo to branch out a bit - or it may not. He may just remain the "glue" that holds everything together and allows others to make plays. Either way, I'm glad he's on the team.

 

[everlong]

There's three types of play makers.

Type 1: The designed play maker who by scheme is allowed to freelance or stay on his island and do what he does best to help the team. Ed Reed, Troy Polumalu, Dwight Freeney types. Agreed Bill doesn't want freelancers.

Type 2: The stat mongers. Guys who don't honor their defensive responsibilities just to get theirs. Warren Sapp, Mark Gasteneau......tons of these guys. Bill certainly doesn't want them.

Type 3: Guys who play within the scheme and understand it so flipping well they can play with in the scheme and use it to their advantage by making instinctive plays and be play makers. The SB teams were loaded with play makers.

Rodney jumping the route on Ben at the end of the half in the 04 AFCCG. He honored his defensive responsibilities and still made a play by instincts.

Bruschi doing the same thing vs the Dolphins in the 12-0 game where he had the pick 6 deep in their territory. Ditto same deal.

How many big sacks did Willie have at the perfect time and with in the scheme? Knocking Manning out of range in the 04 opener. Coming off the edge in 03 on Edge.

I'm pretty sure Bill would take as many of these play makers as he could.

So the question is will Mayo develop the instincts and be allowed more opportunity now that the rest of the cast is better?

 

[DaBruinz]

Fair point. I think it's possible we're being impatient because Mayo was a top 10 pick and now has 4 seasons under his belt combined with the fact that we're in win now mode. That said, it's amplified by the play in the Superbowl, the defense was perfectly called, all he had to do was be in the right position and he would have had an INT. He was so badly positioned he couldnt even knock the pass down. Another terrible play in that god awful first quarter.

The FANS might be in a "win now" mode but the Patriots certainly aren't.

As for the play in the SB. Ihedigbo whiffs on the JAM at the line allowing Cruz to get by him. Mayo, seeing the whiff, doesn't pay attention to when Manning is throwing the ball and ends up over-running the play with the ball going behind his head for the catch. It was clearly a case of Mayo trying to cover for Ihedigbo and, in turn, not being in the correct place. That comes with experience and I'm sure Mayo won't let it happen again. If you are going to fault Mayo for that then you need to go back to 2000 and start faulting Bruschi for those sorts of plays that he allowed as well.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Mayo is a top 10 linebacker in this league - that's pretty special.
However, he will never be Patrick Willis. But we've won super bowls in the past without elite top 3 players on defense.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

The FANS might be in a "win now" mode but the Patriots certainly aren't.

As for the play in the SB. Ihedigbo whiffs on the JAM at the line allowing Cruz to get by him. Mayo, seeing the whiff, doesn't pay attention to when Manning is throwing the ball and ends up over-running the play with the ball going behind his head for the catch. It was clearly a case of Mayo trying to cover for Ihedigbo and, in turn, not being in the correct place. That comes with experience and I'm sure Mayo won't let it happen again. If you are going to fault Mayo for that then you need to go back to 2000 and start faulting Bruschi for those sorts of plays that he allowed as well.

that play should never have happened. it should have been a patriots fumble recovery going the other way. did we ever find out who was the 13th man on the field?

 

[mayoclinic]

There's three types of play makers.

Type 1: The designed play maker who by scheme is allowed to freelance or stay on his island and do what he does best to help the team. Ed Reed, Troy Polumalu, Dwight Freeney types. Agreed Bill doesn't want freelancers.

Type 2: The stat mongers. Guys who don't honor their defensive responsibilities just to get theirs. Warren Sapp, Mark Gasteneau......tons of these guys. Bill certainly doesn't want them.

Type 3: Guys who play within the scheme and understand it so flipping well they can play with in the scheme and use it to their advantage by making instinctive plays and be play makers. The SB teams were loaded with play makers.

Rodney jumping the route on Ben at the end of the half in the 04 AFCCG. He honored his defensive responsibilities and still made a play by instincts.

Bruschi doing the same thing vs the Dolphins in the 12-0 game where he had the pick 6 deep in their territory. Ditto same deal.

How many big sacks did Willie have at the perfect time and with in the scheme? Knocking Manning out of range in the 04 opener. Coming off the edge in 03 on Edge.

I'm pretty sure Bill would take as many of these play makers as he could.

:youtheman: Really nice break down. Fine work. I think the current team has half a dozen or so guys who have the potential of becoming playmakers. Hopefully at least a couple will actually take that next step this season or next.

So the question is will Mayo develop the instincts and be allowed more opportunity now that the rest of the cast is better?

If Mayo does take his game to that next level, it will be a huge plus. If all he does is anchor the defense and allow other guys to evolve to become playmakers of that type, it will still be good.

 

[Gronkandez]

People should try and read a couple of books about Belichick as a coach and what he looks for in his players - LBers included.

In 'Education Of A Coach' - he talks about his All-World LBer corps assembled when he was D-coach for the Giants - he had alot....ALOT of respect for a couple of the guys in that corps who did alot of the grunt work that allowed guys like LT to make the highlight reel plays.

What Mayo brings to the table as the QB of that defense is not easily definable, especially to those who are only able to value work based upon statistical output (which, to be fair, is a great deal of us).

I really couldn't care less if Mayo fails to get the INTs and the FF's - as long as Belichick is pleased with his output - thats all that really matters at the end of the day.

To me, Mayo personifies the Belichick mantra "Do your job".

What's with the animosity? No one is saying he's a bum. I think everyone here agrees that Mayo 'does his job', ie. he knows the playbook, he's dependable, usually positions himself well etc.

The question posed by the OP is will he become a playmaker? Many of us do care if he makes big plays, such as turnovers. That's an integral part of a defense.

ps. If Mayo is the one doing the grunt work, what is Wilfork and the D-Line doing? Who is Mayo setting up for the highlight reel plays?

 

[PatsBoy12]

that play should never have happened. it should have been a patriots fumble recovery going the other way. did we ever find out who was the 13th man on the field?

I think someone said it was Silvestro, but I'm not sure how accurate that is at this point. I refuse to watch that game again.

 

[BBass]

seen a few articles suggesting Mayo would see more time on the outside this season allowing him to play in space more and be freed up to make plays.

I think he could have a Clay Matthews type impact on the game in the LOLB role of a 3-4 hybrid defense. Not saying the sack numbers but I could see 4-6 sacks and 2-4 picks from him in this role.

I don't see him playing hand down or a end I simply stating I could see him playing that role in a base and dropping back to the middle in sub.

 

[patsfan-1982]

i have not been on in a long time but i see i am back just in time for the Yearly why is Mayo not puting up Patrick Willis numbers yet Thread lol all jokes aside the guy has been puting up top five numbers on a below average defense when the talent around him steps up im sure he's sack and INT numbers will go up to

 

[woolster22]

And Hightower is the kid to drive Mayo and certaintly provides leverage against Spike's upcoming contract talks...The idea if seemingly doubling up on many roles within the front seven with a few picks seems genius if they pay out, if two of the three top picks find one role to fulfill the this year, we are in very good shape, if one finds three downs we are even better. If Hightower can continue to compete at the next level...well I simply hope this kid is the next great since Lewis, hopefully challenging Willis. He certainly has that potential in this system. He played all over the field, communicating consistently. That dline was also impressive during his tenure, but he managed to get the call for a strong side rush on the qb in many passing situations... Most interesting pick to me ceiling wise, throw in bequette Jones and the odds work out well for a decent defense.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[MrNathanDrake]

However, that SB play was so atrocious and plays like that I feel are why he won't become the playmaker, stud LB. He had a endzone INT right in front of him....

Exactly.

People try to use the excuse that Mayo isn't a playmaker due to our scheme... but there are times when he's put in PERFECT position to make a play, and he still misses it.

That touchdown pass that whizzed on right by his head in the Superbowl is a perfect example. He could've made a James Harisson-like end zone TD, but instead he didn't even deflect the pass.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I'm putting Jerod Mayo in this category, but not because of his play. Sure, he was solid as usual. The thing that got my attention, though, was how vocal he was. You could hear Mayo guiding the defense on every snap he played.

Postcards from Patriots Camp: Day 18

 

[celticboy04]

People should try and read a couple of books about Belichick as a coach and what he looks for in his players - LBers included.

In 'Education Of A Coach' - he talks about his All-World LBer corps assembled when he was D-coach for the Giants - he had alot....ALOT of respect for a couple of the guys in that corps who did alot of the grunt work that allowed guys like LT to make the highlight reel plays.

What Mayo brings to the table as the QB of that defense is not easily definable, especially to those who are only able to value work based upon statistical output (which, to be fair, is a great deal of us).

I really couldn't care less if Mayo fails to get the INTs and the FF's - as long as Belichick is pleased with his output - thats all that really matters at the end of the day.

To me, Mayo personifies the Belichick mantra "Do your job".

Greetings,
I think many times we as fans get SO caught up in the stats and highlight reel's that we forget many of these things. As a defender you have to be where you are supposed to be on the given play. I remember hearing Belichick giving Carl Banks praise one time, saying he was a way better player than people gave him credit for because he did what he asked him to do. And he also said the stats do not tell how truly important he was to that D.

Celticboy04