Very good thoughts. I still believe that this defense is only a player or two from really turning the unit around. Of course I also thought this in the beginning of the season too (August), but just did not expect such horrid play/so many changes in the secondary. On top of that, we've had a bad spell of injuries, and I obviously did not see the multiple steps back factor in McCourty either.
I think that there are a couple/few positions that will benefit from having a key free agent signing or mid-level cut added to the mix, and once again we will go back to the draft to try and find those one or two players that can make a difference. A serious positive is that once again, we hold 4 pretty high picks with two 1st's and two 2nd's, and that is good ammunition to try and develop different options.
Obviously I am still looking forward to truly seeing if/what Dowling can offer too, as he should not be forgotten about. While we're at it, neither should Jermaine Cunningham, who is still an unknown wildcard factor in my eyes. I think the addition of Carter this yr, + the change in scheme really put Cunningham's growth in a bad place, but I also don't think that we should be giving up on him yet either.
It's a mixture of the fact we have had a very banged up unit and we got rid of veterans who, in this situation, would have helped us get over it...I think the Pats got it right on Sanders however, had they foreseen Bodden and Dowling getting hurt and cutting/IR-ing the other, along with McCourty's slump, Barrett going down and Chung missing considerable time, of course they wouldn't have ditched him. He has lost a step though...he has done very little in Atlanta...and Page did even less at the Eagles before they let him go. Merriweather doesn't even need reminding people of.
You look at the secondary and if McCourty comes back from his slump, I think he'll become our second guy behind Dowling..and we'll have two excellent corners at the #1 and #2 spots. I think Dowling when healthy will be the better guy...he'll play man superbly...he did in college and he showed signs of it when he got on the field early on. Arrington has been a terrific fill-in but he's your 3rd guy...in the slot. I think they will need to aquire one more corner whether it be in the draft or FA (I won't suggest a rnames as I don't really think about free agents and potential draftees until the Superbowl is over).
The take a look at the Linebacker corps which we've discussed...I feel our top 3 are Mayo, Spikes and Fletcher. If that's the case, none of them have been fit for one game at all this year together...we may get lucky and see Spikes this week...but who knows. If they are all healthy at once wit Ninko there too that's an excellent defence.
At safety I will take Chung and Ihedigbo as our strong safeties, Barrett in there with a veteran at Free until next year when the safety class is a lot better...and the guy I LOVE, Vaccaro, should be declaring
I have a man crush on this guy..he's the next big thing imo and would be a beast with Chung. I'd keep Sterling Moore well in the rotation...I think he has a lot of upside and potential to develop...and use Ventrone as we have done all year
haha
D Line...we need a quicker end. Anderson could give us another good couple of years as a situational rusher, but Carter may not return with his quad injury (although he's a workout warrior so I'm optimistic we will get him for one more year and get some production)...I want s=to see us draft a speed end and maybe even two, with a lightly heavier anchor to counter against the run.
So yes, we really are a couple of draft picks away from a very good defence. The injuries and constant turnaround on defence have killed us as a unit...no one has gelled well enough because of it. I expect the Pats will make a couple of FA pick-ups and a trade or two as well...so this could be dealt with quite easily this off season.
I think people underrate the potential of this defence once all the pieces are together at once and I think people may eat their words about Belichick's drafting strategies in two eyars time, when we have one of the better young defences in the league and we have one of the more promising offenses too...on that, I feel what Belichick is doing there is great...offensive line should be shored up for years, with Mallett in succession, some young running backs...all we need is a receiver! How Belichick is rebuilding this team is genius, and setting us up to be competitive for more years to come...rather than falling off into nothing which so many dominant teams do.
But hey, we're Pats fans, and too irrational when things aren't going 100% perfectly to think straight
That comes with years of dominance unfortunately.