Patriots sign DE/OLB Jabaal Sheard

[DarrylS]

I like this signing, the future Rob Ninkovich or future Mike Vrabel???

 

[1960Pats]

Nice.

Not as nice as your sig...

No matter how many times I see that a huge grin comes over my face. It's the greatest play in NFL history.

 

[Ring 6]

You're right absolutely but was hoping Sheard would be used as (finally) a back up/half-starter to spell Ninko and Jones so they aren't so damned gassed in the 4th. Maybe try to use Ninko as the 2 down DE and have Sheard as 3rd and 4th. But his versatility is what his true value is.

Then Ayers could rotate in the now core of Hightower/Collins/Mayo.....I count on injuries and Ayers paid BIG TIME when we needed it. The guy was just disruptive and athletic on the level Collins is....IDK the days of Monty Beisel scare me into thinking you can never have too many quality LBs on your team.

We just need the depth there now that we are so thin on the back-end.....irony and our roster go hand in hand don't they

I think you are right that Sheard will be part of the rotation with Jones and Nink. I think he will also play inside in dime.
But as far as Ayers, sure it would be nice to have a starting caliber guy sitting around in case you ever need him, but why would he come here?
We only really have 2 LBs spots and there are 3 better guys to fill them. We only use 3 LBs on 25% of the plays, so the 3 we have will be getting shorted snaps. Why in the world would Ayers sign here when if everyone is healthy he wouldn't play a down?

 

[1960Pats]

He played on a broken foot last half of the season.

Tough and a good person. He probably has a big brain too.

 

[patriot1136]

I think you are right that Sheard will be part of the rotation with Jones and Nink. I think he will also play inside in dime.
But as far as Ayers, sure it would be nice to have a starting caliber guy sitting around in case you ever need him, but why would he come here?
We only really have 2 LBs spots and there are 3 better guys to fill them. We only use 3 LBs on 25% of the plays, so the 3 we have will be getting shorted snaps. Why in the world would Ayers sign here when if everyone is healthy he wouldn't play a down?

My concern is if Hightower can't start week 1 then we really need Ayers. Not to mention if Mayo is rusty

 

[captain stone]

Sheard is more of a DE here than LB, but now we finally - finally - have a legit 3rd DE to rotate with
Ninko & Chandler J.
This signing also makes up, 4 years after the fact, for the predictably colossal failure of Glas-IR.

 

[Ring 6]

Wouldn't we be playing him at DE? How does that affect the linebacking corp? If we got 4-3 then I can see a line of Jones-Siliga-Pot Roast(I hope)-Sheard with Nink and Branch being rotational guys. Then for the LBs keep Mayo, Hightower, and Collins out there with Ayers as a rotational guy.

A 'rotational' LB would never see the field.
The 3 we have are 3 down players, but we only use 2 LBs 75% of the time.
When would Ayers play? One of the 3 would be resting on 75% of the plays.
Look at it this way.
In a game with 60 snaps there are 2 LBs on 45 of them and 3 on 15, roughly.
If they rotate evenly that means each of HT, Collins and Mayo are playing 45 snaps and sitting out 15.
There is no way you would use a 4th LB also in rotation.

 

[Ring 6]

My concern is if Hightower can't start week 1 then we really need Ayers. Not to mention if Mayo is rusty

Since we play nickle 75% of the time, we can use a reserve for the 15 or so snaps they would be needed in the base.
Look, it would be fine to have Ayers sitting there to play the 50 snaps he might get all season, but why would he stay here for that role?

 

[IllegalContact]

Sheard is more of a DE here than LB, but now we finally - finally - have a legit 3rd DE to rotate with
Ninko & Chandler J.
This signing also makes up, 4 years after the fact, for the predictably colossal failure of Glas-IR.

signing pot-roast would make up for drafting ron brace

would have been nice for the saint to dump jarius byrd......we could have then fixed the darius butler disaster

 

[Sicilian]

Since we play nickle 75% of the time, we can use a reserve for the 15 or so snaps they would be needed in the base.
Look, it would be fine to have Ayers sitting there to play the 50 snaps he might get all season, but why would he stay here for that role?

It reminds me of some arguments I had years ago about BJGE. People thought, "He didn't sign for that much, the Pats should have signed him as depth!" And my argument was always, why would a running back want to stay in a running back by committee rotation when he had the chance to be the feature back somewhere else?

 

[IllegalContact]

I think it was an outstanding value signing. While I don't see him playing LB full time, he has the ability to play standing up and force the QB to account for him in coverage. the biggest benefit is a reduced snap count for the DE's.......a guy who seemingly will fall right into the philosophy here with his best football ahead of him

Since there is no complete answer for the secondary, much can be compensated for by solidifying the front 7 and forcing opponents to focus on the 'weakness' which would be to rely on going over the front 7 and hoping that you can beat the pats by throwing to the WR's.......while it has been the direction the league goes in, the deeper game is still a relative low-percentage, and the idea would be to bullet-proof the front 7 and just have a secondary that won't kill you.....just needs to be ok

 

[Ring 6]

It reminds me of some arguments I had years ago about BJGE. People thought, "He didn't sign for that much, the Pats should have signed him as depth!" And my argument was always, why would a running back want to stay in a running back by committee rotation when he had the chance to be the feature back somewhere else?

Exactly. I'd love to sign Ayers for the minimum but he wont sign.