Re: Larry Ridley: Zach Thomas visiting Pats on Sunday
Again, when evaluating personnel choices, consistently performing at a high level is worth quite a bit. 16-0, with a good defensive performance, is worth quite a bit. The Pats have one of the top 5 defenses in the league -- and if you want to argue the contrary, have at it, but I'll bet they still end up in the top, say, 8 defenses when you're done.
What's that mean? 3 out of 4 defenses are worse (more likely 5 out of 6.)
When you overhaul wholesale -- the approach suggested by the "Ring or Nothing" paradigm -- you take that top 1/4 defense and look at it as a bottom 31/32 defense, all of them being essentially equal.
So, the "16-0 regular season ain't worth a bucket of warm spit" comment, while fairly appropriate if we are, say, comparing dynasties, becomes utterly silly if we are evaluating consistent performance on the part of the team.
This was a good team that lost. We are trying to get better. ILB isn't a bad place to do it. It is not, however, necessary to embrace one poster's preference for this year's wonder-draftee, in order to support the notion that ILB should be addressed.
It is also not a logical conclusion that the Pats' LB corps lost them the Super Bowl, nor that the Pats' LB corps is horrible and must be radically rejiggered.
Upgrades are welcome. And if BB says Gholston is our man, then by God, Gholston is our man. I do believe, however, that Belichick's preferences in terms of addressing the LB position via free agency, will end up carrying the day in that regard.
We do not know how the draft wonders will transition. We simply do not. Nobody does. And the transition from college to pro is a good deal more important than different uses of a proven pro talent, even one who apparently is a "bad fit" like Zach Thomas. At least with ZT, you know he has certain skills and abilities proven at a pro level. Nobody in the NFL features spotty talent on a par with even the best college team (even the Falcons or the Jets.) Almost every pro looked great in college. Think about that.
Pinning hopes to the draft may make more sense at the OL positions than the LB position... or maybe the Pats just never saw the LB they wanted when it would be a value to take him. Either way, a bunch of fans' hard-ons for Gholston won't make a damn bit of difference, and it's a good thing it won't.
PFnV
