Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins [Clayton: Pats offered more]

[Dagg]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

I was sort of banking on them adding taylor thought it was pretty much a done deal. This leaves us with a very uncertain situation at OLB and virtually no pass rush (see last years horrid pass rush)

I thought maybe we would have learned something from that Giants superbowl loss and its the fact you gota get after the QB in this league especially against the top teams.

 

[Disco Volante]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

in 2008, they let Samuel walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and did not make the playoffs.

Yeah, that's why we didn't make the playoffs. Some, uh Tim Brody guy, I think, was injured too. Still, Samuel was the downfall for sure.

In 2006, they let Branch walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and they lost the AFCCG;

Yeah, it's not like we had an 18 point lead at halftime and our defense totally collapsed, it was was purely an offensive struggle as we couldn't do anything without Deion Branch. I mean, 34 points just isn't enough to win a game.

 

[BradyManny]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

For a second lets forget ILB v OLB, once it gets to the passing packages, it is more of an issue of skillsets than position. I bold the guys who have demonstrated such a skillset already, the non-bolded are more hopefuls.

LBs who can rush:
AD
TBC
Crable (maybe...)
Guyton/Mayo (with some work over the offseason)
Woods*

LBs who can cover:
AD
Woods**
Guyton
Mayo
Tank Williams

*Woods did not show great pass rushing talents in his time starting last season, however, he did look solid vs. the run and surprisingly effective in coverage.

That's enough to still be very flexible and effective in coverage situations.

 

[stevedogc]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

The Patriots unloaded Vrabel and saved a whopping 3% of their payroll by doing so. Rumors were that Peppers was coming here, which explained the move as it was and still is a head scratcher.

Now that Peppers (plan A) is not coming here and neither is Taylor (plan B), the reality is there really is noone set in stone to take Vrabels place. A mix of Banta Cain, Crable, Guyton, Woods, etc, etc, does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

In 2006, they let Branch walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and they lost the AFCCG; in 2008, they let Samuel walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and did not make the playoffs.

This "In BB we trust" and "No one player is bigger than the whole team" and "It's not the players, it's the system and BB has a knack of plugging JAG's in and making it work" load of crap is getting old, five years removed from our last Super Bowl win.

Ok, now jump down my throat in 3,2,1......................

I dont think it will be to hard to replace Vrabel. Only because I feel his 2008 play was in serious decline. I remember several games where I would see Vrabel make a play in the 2nd half and wonder "oh, there's Vrabel. I thought he was hurt and not playing, haven't seen him to much today." Vrabel was a great Patriot, but I feel he was a bit overrated. Look at his one big year in 2007. He had 12.5 sacks that year. However, 8.5 sacks came in 3 games, so in the remaining 13 games he had only 4 sacks. Great season yes, but also inconsistant. I think the main thing the Pats will miss is his leadership. And being a new guy, I seriously doubt that Taylor would of replaced that.

 

[Double G]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

All excellent points and it's hard to argue, but all I guess it comes down to is numbers and maintaining a business model that has rewarded them with continued success. It's obviously easier to reflect than speculate and BB himself would probably admit to making bad calls, but I'll still put my trust in him compared to anyone else. Hopefully, he sees something in some of the young guys that no one else does and one of them has a great year.

Thanks for not raking me over the coals; I agree about sticking to a plan re running a team as there is a track record for success, couldn't agree more. I hope I am dead wrong on this one, trust me on that and perhaps BB has seen enough something from one of the group battling for the spot that leads him to believe they will be ok; that is a big hole on your defense that you can't just cover up with smoke and mirrors.

 

[signbabybrady]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

The Patriots unloaded Vrabel and saved a whopping 3% of their payroll by doing so. Rumors were that Peppers was coming here, which explained the move as it was and still is a head scratcher.

Now that Peppers (plan A) is not coming here and neither is Taylor (plan B), the reality is there really is noone set in stone to take Vrabels place. A mix of Banta Cain, Crable, Guyton, Woods, etc, etc, does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

In 2006, they let Branch walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and they lost the AFCCG; in 2008, they let Samuel walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and did not make the playoffs.

This "In BB we trust" and "No one player is bigger than the whole team" and "It's not the players, it's the system and BB has a knack of plugging JAG's in and making it work" load of crap is getting old, five years removed from our last Super Bowl win.

Ok, now jump down my throat in 3,2,1......................

You ignore a few things in your comments.

For one 2007.
For two They were a half away from the SB in 06 and the DE caved.
third You ignore the Brady injury and the fact we were 11-5 (not in the playoffs) when you blame the secondary for last year.

Building a roster is fluid and things change. It takes a whole team to win and every team in the league has some wholes at some positions.

Our hole is LB but we still have the Rookie of the year, Thomas, and tons of depth. Somone will step up.

 

[JackBauer]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

This leaves us with a very uncertain situation at OLB and virtually no pass rush (see last years horrid pass rush)

This is incredibly poor logic. There's no reason to believe this year's pass rush will resemble last year's (lack thereof).

And if you're really banking on a guy who had 3.5 sacks last year to single-handedly provide a rush, well, you might want to give that one some more thought.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

BTW, it's synergistic: a good secondary makes the pass rush better, a good pass rush makes the secondary better, and having both of them good makes both of them even better.

 

[SteveBsFan]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

In 2006, they let Branch walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and they lost the AFCCG; in 2008, they let Samuel walk and replaced him with a bunch of nobodies and did not make the playoffs.

It's extremely hard to win the Superbowl, and the Pats are going to not win more than they win. Are you going to sit back every year they don't win and blame it on a certain player they lost?

It's like the time they lost Milloy and everyone blamed that on losing the Superbowl that year.. or when they lost Washington and everyone blamed that on losing.

Oh wait...

Seriously though, quotes like that are why I rarely visit team forums any more. I always thought NE fans were better than NY fans, but really there are so many who are no different.

 

[JoeShmoe]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins.

Pats better make a serious run at Peppers

I think that door is open a little again

 

[condon84]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

The Pierre Woods era has officially begun. Bill must see something in him that we haven't. I know I didn't see much of him as a starter. He seemed like a capable backup, but now he's thrust into the limelight.

It's hard to imagine Crable being the starter, with no experience at all. And I don't think Banta-Cain was brought in to become a starter. This is going to be interesting.

 

[Jimke]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

The Pierre Woods era has officially begun. Bill must see something in him that we haven't. I know I didn't see much of him as a starter. He seemed like a capable backup, but now he's thrust into the limelight.

It's hard to imagine Crable being the starter, with no experience at all. And I don't think Banta-Cain was brought in to become a starter. This is going to be interesting.

My sleeper pick is Redd. He is 6:6 260 lbs. and fast. True he was

a UDFA but so was Harrison at Pittsburgh.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins.

That's interesting.

I think the topline talent is fine. Woods-Mayo-Guyton-AD seems pretty good to me.

If Mayo ever gets injured, though, we're up **** creek with no paddle. Depth, especially inside, is of much greater concern IMO.

Woods has 5 starts and only one sack to his name. I'm not convinced that he will beat out TBC as a starter. He may emerge as a more than adequet starter, but I ain't sold on him yet. Obviously, Belichick isn't 100% either or he wouldn't have gone after Taylor in the first place.

As for Guyton, he had his moments, but he also had his share of bad moments. The guy has 34 tackles, 3 pass defenses, no sacks, and no INTs in 14 games last year. Great for an undrafted free agent rookie, but pretty mediocre for a guy who you expect to be your starter. He also could emerge, but I wouldn't consider him starting quality based on his 2008 season.

 

[juxtapoz15]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins.

Hopefully we made it expensive for Miami to sign JT

According to the article it was for 1 year 1.5 million. A pretty bargain basement deal....

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins.

Woods has 5 starts and only one sack to his name. I'm not convinced that he will beat out TBC as a starter. He may emerge as a more than adequet starter, but I ain't sold on him yet. Obviously, Belichick isn't 100% either or he wouldn't have gone after Taylor in the first place.

As for Guyton, he had his moments, but he also had his share of bad moments. The guy has 34 tackles, 3 pass defenses, no sacks, and no INTs in 14 games last year. Great for an undrafted free agent rookie, but pretty mediocre for a guy who you expect to be your starter. He also could emerge, but I wouldn't consider him starting quality based on his 2008 season.

Meriweather didn't exactly put up impressive stats in 2007. . . . and now he's already 10% of the way to joining Rodney in the 30-30 club.

 

[pats1]

According to Clayton, the Pats offered more than the Dolphins:

Jason Taylor agrees to one-year, $1.1 million deal with Miami Dolphins - ESPN

 

[JSn]

Re: Official: Jason Taylor signs with the Dolphins

My sleeper pick is Redd. He is 6:6 260 lbs. and fast. True he was

a UDFA but so was Harrison at Pittsburgh.

Agreed. I think he'll be a beast in camp, anyway.

 

[slash83]

Guy didn't wanna play hear there was nothing the pats could do. I hope the pass rush isnt a major flaw that holds a stacked team back. The thought of woods and tbc makes me laugh, hopefully flamingo crable put some weight on.

 

[Urgent]

That's a shame.
Especially at that price. Wow. That's a great deal for Miami.

Well, at some point maybe the Pats will decide to draft a top young OLB.
Right now, the pass rush is clearly a weakness.
Hopefully Crable and Redd can come in behind Woods to provide some pressure. Crable had 7.5 and Redd had 6.5 in college in 2007. Not elite numbers, but some ability.

Taylor at $1.5 mm would have been tremendous for this team.
Miami got a bit stronger at New England's expense.

 

[JSn]

I hope you guys can see this objectively: I still think Richard Seymour is a chip that makes Peppers a possibility if Bill wants him.

I'm not lobbying for the idea, but the news that it was a real effort to go after Taylor says they're not ready to commit to the OLB's currently on tap.