LB worries...

[patsox23]

Bearing in mind, that I know it's only August 2, and that I am as far from the "chicken little" crowd as anyone here, I will say this...

The Patriots LB situation grows more dire by the day.

Claridge - cut

Banta-Cain - apparently just not good enough, possible cut

Beisel - better than last year, but nowhere in sight the last couple days. Working his ass off, but tackling technique remains a question

Vrabel & Colvin - terrific, hope to hell they stay healthy

Bruschi - likely out with a wrist injury for awhile

Barry Gardner - Eh. JAG

Chad Brown - could be okay as a sub pass-rushing OLB

Woods, Mincey, Roach - rookies, won't do much for at LEAST a year


BOTTOM LINE: I remain convinced that the biggest loss of the off-season rhymes neither with Trinitary or Smivens. Willie McGinest needed to be re-upped. Bad move.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Harumph, Tedy gets a cast - Vrabes did it in 2003, Willie did it last year - big woof, as my mommy's Shih Tzu would say.

 

[NEDAL]

I also think letting willie get away was a bad decision. He was a player i was hoping would remain in NE for the rest of his career

 

[belichickaholic]

I share your concern, but he let Willie go for a reason. He must have confidence in the younger players. I don't know much about Gardner, but he seemed to be working with him a lot this week and today he said some positive things about him. maybe he'll be able to contribute.

In Bill We Trust!

 

[flutie2phelan]

I don't know much about Gardner, but he seemed to be working with him a lot this week and today he said some positive things about him. maybe he'll be able to contribute.

Hope you're right.
But BB sounding good about someone ... too often has come just before their forced departure.
I was first fooled by this when he talked up J.J. Stokes a few years ago ... and have noticed it several times since.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Why are you saying Tully is not good enough and might get cut? Are you basing that on something that is going on in camp, or more on his past inability to get into the defensive rotation?

 

[mgteich]

I am much more concerned with corner, returner and wide receiver that with linebackers. We have Beisel and Gardner as weakside linebackers. Bruschi is the captain, the playcaller. We also have Alexander who may or may not be able to step up (same as Tully). Outside we have Colvin and Vrabel, with Chad Brown and Tully as backups. That is not a major weakness. It may not be a strength (it could be), but it IMHO is not a major weakness. We even have hopes (not much) that one of the kids might make the squad and contribute: Mincey, Roach, Woods.

And what happens if Bruschi hurt for half a season. Then Vrabel moves to mike and Brown and Tully share the OLB position (with Green much more active on passing downs).

This is not a terrible situation.

Alternatively consider what happens if Branch or Harrison or even Wilson doesn't play. These are REAL nightmares. IMHO, we are much more vulnerability in the secondary (nothing new) and at wide receiver (nothing new) than at linebacker where we are at least average (usually we are even stronger).

 

[Kdo5]

I also think letting willie get away was a bad decision. He was a player i was hoping would remain in NE for the rest of his career

Well...we couldnt pay everybody millions and million and millons of dollars can we?

 

[patsox23]

Why are you saying Tully is not good enough and might get cut? Are you basing that on something that is going on in camp, or more on his past inability to get into the defensive rotation?

I am basing this solely on reports that I've read and the unanimous appraisal offered up by the guys on PFW radio today. I've heard literally NOTHING good about TBC's performance thus far. But, like I said, it's early so we'll see. But that's what I'm basing my opinion on.

 

[spacecrime]

Bearing in mind, that I know it's only August 2, and that I am as far from the "chicken little" crowd as anyone here, I will say this...

The Patriots LB situation grows more dire by the day.

Claridge - cut

Banta-Cain - apparently just not good enough, possible cut

Beisel - better than last year, but nowhere in sight the last couple days. Working his ass off, but tackling technique remains a question

Vrabel & Colvin - terrific, hope to hell they stay healthy

Bruschi - likely out with a wrist injury for awhile

Barry Gardner - Eh. JAG

Chad Brown - could be okay as a sub pass-rushing OLB

Woods, Mincey, Roach - rookies, won't do much for at LEAST a year


BOTTOM LINE: I remain convinced that the biggest loss of the off-season rhymes neither with Trinitary or Smivens. Willie McGinest needed to be re-upped. Bad move.

Trust me, you are NOT as far from "Chicken Little" as anyone here. Read what you wrote above, then get indoors before something lands on your head.

Sheesh. We kept 10 of 11 defensive starters. What NFL team makes that boast?

 

[RayClay]

Bearing in mind, that I know it's only August 2, and that I am as far from the "chicken little" crowd as anyone here, I will say this...

The Patriots LB situation grows more dire by the day.

Claridge - cut

Banta-Cain - apparently just not good enough, possible cut

Beisel - better than last year, but nowhere in sight the last couple days. Working his ass off, but tackling technique remains a question

Vrabel & Colvin - terrific, hope to hell they stay healthy

Bruschi - likely out with a wrist injury for awhile



Barry Gardner - Eh. JAG

Chad Brown - could be okay as a sub pass-rushing OLB

Woods, Mincey, Roach - rookies, won't do much for at LEAST a year


BOTTOM LINE: I remain convinced that the biggest loss of the off-season rhymes neither with Trinitary or Smivens. Willie McGinest needed to be re-upped. Bad move.

Haven't you heard? We don't need linebackers.:bricks:

 

[DaBruinz]

Bearing in mind, that I know it's only August 2, and that I am as far from the "chicken little" crowd as anyone here, I will say this...

The Patriots LB situation grows more dire by the day.

Claridge - cut

Banta-Cain - apparently just not good enough, possible cut

Beisel - better than last year, but nowhere in sight the last couple days. Working his ass off, but tackling technique remains a question

Vrabel & Colvin - terrific, hope to hell they stay healthy

Bruschi - likely out with a wrist injury for awhile

Barry Gardner - Eh. JAG

Chad Brown - could be okay as a sub pass-rushing OLB

Woods, Mincey, Roach - rookies, won't do much for at LEAST a year


BOTTOM LINE: I remain convinced that the biggest loss of the off-season rhymes neither with Trinitary or Smivens. Willie McGinest needed to be re-upped. Bad move.

You do realize that McGinest is the one who chose to leave, right? The Patriots offered him a contract extension right after the play-offs and he turned it down.

Why do you say that TBC isn't good enough? The Patriots have two damn good OLBs in Vrabel and Colvin and they are the starters, not TBC. As others have mentioned, Bruschi will wear a cast and play. Its just unlikely that he'll have any interceptions.

What about Alexander? There is a good chance that he could do something on this team. Be it special teams or more.

Also, Mincey, Woods, and Roach could make an impact on special teams and add depth. Why are you so down on them? Yes, the likelihood is that they won't do anything, but many people thought that Kaczur wouldn't do anything last year and he ended up starting like 10 or 11 games for the Pats at LT of all positions.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Trust me, you are NOT as far from "Chicken Little" as anyone here. Read what you wrote above, then get indoors before something lands on your head.

Sheesh. We kept 10 of 11 defensive starters. What NFL team makes that boast?

There was a piece that turned up in my google search that reported Duh Bears brought back all 22 starters (plus those that started first and were injured). You do make a good point, not to mention we could make a killing selling surplus helmets and hard hats on this forum. Time to invent that concrete umbrella for the fashionable portable bunker look. :singing:

 

[RoughingthePasser]

I also think letting willie get away was a bad decision. He was a player i was hoping would remain in NE for the rest of his career

we all feel that way too....
he'll always be a pat to us.

 

[RoughingthePasser]

and adam too....

they love us too-
wish them luck
they'll need it

 

[Nyjetsin06]

Linebacker is just a small part of the Pats worries!

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Linebacker is just a small part of the Pats worries!

*sniff* *sniff*

What's that smell? Vaguely familiar. Something green and squishy.... can't quite put my finger on it. Somebody help me out here.

 

[RayClay]

Linebacker is just a small part of the Pats worries!

I know, you mean lack of competition in our division.

Don't worry, It looks like the Dolphins won't totally suck this year.

 

[patsox23]

Why do you say that TBC isn't good enough? The Patriots have two damn good OLBs in Vrabel and Colvin and they are the starters, not TBC.

First of all, I say TBC isn't good enough based on literally every single thing I've read and heard of his TC performance thus far. Hope he turns it around. Secondly, I don't think any of us is ragging on the starters. This is about LB DEPTH, and that's a scary spot for us.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

With Bruschi and Beisel out, it becomes an area of concern, for sure. But I don't think that keeping Willie was in the cards because he lost a step, he didn't want to switch sides with Colvin, and he wanted more money than we offered. Looking back, we might decide it was a mistake, just like I personally think it was a mistake to release Ty Law. But that ends up being hindsight. At the time, the Pats didn't think they needed Willie, for the money it would cost to sign him.

I happen to agree that Tully has not impressed anyone as a run stopper or every down player, but I was curious what you knew about him.

Bottom line is that the Pats need to develop players for the future at LB, and if they have all their D-Linemen healthy, they can run a 4-3 temporarily if the LB depth ends up being more dire than the D-Line depth during the season.

A lot of our current starting LBs are converted from other positions at college, so we are going to have to pray that they can convert a couple more players quickly, and also get somebody like Gardner up to speed in the two gap system. Drafting high picks at LB might not be a good choice, because they also come out of college playing in a one gap system, and might not convert any easier than Beisel or Chad Brown had to the two gap.

I didn't take it as lightly as a lot of people around here about the possibility of Bruschi having a broken wrist. The wrist does not heal nearly as easily as a lot of other parts of the body. I had a wrist sprain that lasted like six months, and I always recover quickly from injury, and I don't mind pain. But that injury refused to go away.