Being the OP of this thread, I can tell you that you misunderstood the purpose of this thread from the get go. This thread was NOT about what the Pats needed. It was about how the Pats figured out the NEED portion of their Best Value Available equation.
All I want to do is discuss what the Pats need. All year there were two constants, the inability to stop the seam route and the inability of the defensive secondary to make a big play. If you had watched the games, instead of breaking down film, you would have noticed these short comings. The thing is, it is your opinions that are questionable here. All I did was lay out some stats.
You didn't lay out anything for stats. Nothing. As for your insinuation that the Pats couldn't stop the seam route or that the Secondary couldn't make a big play, again, your wrong. There were plenty of times they did both.
As for watching the game vs. "breaking down film" are you purposely being obtuse? Seriously. I've watched every game at least twice straight through and then spent time re-watching plays.
The two biggest issues was consistent pressure on the QB and coverage by the LBers.
1) That Ellis has started for two seasons points to a failure in talent evaluation on the Patriots part. They tried to replace him, and they tried to draft his replacements and neither approach has worked. He just isn't that good. Tough kid, big head, not talented enough to be a #1.
HUH? A failure in talent evaluation? Weren't you the one claiming you don't evaluate talent. If you don't evaluate talent, then how can you claim that the Pats failed in evaluating Hobbs? You can't even keep your story straight.
2) Crable was inactive for the first half of the season, no mention of injury. Even when he had an opportunity, Eric Alexander got playing time over him. I like Shawn Crable, but the fact remains that he is a first round talent who didn't always show up on game day in college. That was the scouting report and that was what happened here. The shin injury happened in practice because he has never been active on gameday. A third rounder should be contributing on Sunday, even in his rookie year.
You really should go and check your facts before running your mouth and proving to EVERYONE you don't know what you are talking about. First of all, Eric Alexander is an ILB while Crable is an OLB. Secondly, Alexander played all of ONE game before landing on the IR. Third, there are only so many players who can dress each week. The Pats had 3 OLBs ahead of Crable who were suiting up each week. Fourth, Crable doesn't play on special teams, so others were put ahead of him. Fifth, I don't know what "scouting report" you looked at, but that wasn't what was in his draft profile. There was nothing about him not always showing up for games. Personally, with all the other BS you've spouted, this one seems to fall in there with it.
3) Matthew Slater didn't show up on the stat sheet, unless it was for fumbling a kickoff or a punt. He seems like a nice kid, and i hope he makes it, but his season was disappointing.
The stats sheet doesn't show everything. As I mentioned. Shutting down your lane so that another player gets there is just as important as making the tackle yourself. OH, and Slater had 12 tackles this year. Also, according to NFL.com, Slater never returned a punt. He fumbled a kick and that was it. Yes, he had the normal ups and downs of a rookie, but he definitely wasn't a failure like you make him out to be.
Seems the fantacy geeks feel the same way about Ellis as I do. I not a fantacy guy, but since money is usually on the line their research is usually pretty good. You can push that self-important quasi-expert attitude all you want, when game day doesn't prove your point telling people how much smarter you are then they are doesn't make your opinions any more believable.
Game day DOES prove my point. It doesn't prove yours, though. All you've done is throw up BS and basically LIE the entire time. You've made claims that are patently false. If anyone isn't believable here, its your sorry arse.
This team should still be playing this Sunday. The reason they aren't is because their secondary was horrible. Belichick tried to draft Ellis out of the starting lineup buut the rookies didn't step up and take the jobs. Belichick will try to draft him out of the starting lineup again this year. He plays hard, but eventually will spontaniously combust.
Wrong. The reason they aren't playing is because they lost a couple of games they shouldn't have. Because their 3rd down defense, as a whole, was poor all year. Its pure ignorance for you to think that BB tried to draft Hobbs out of the starting line-up. Especially considering that the Patriots just lost 2 CBs this past off-season. If they'd been trying to "draft" Hobbs out of the starting line-up, they wouldn't have drafted O'Connell. They'd have gone with another CB.