Peter King MMQB - Fantastic Read

[chunkypony]

My favorite part of the article was the breakdown of his play against San Diego, where it showed all the positions he had played for each snap.

God I can't wait til the draft...better yet, next season...

 

[patchick]

Sammy Morris, on the other hand... We deserve better, like: Kevin Barlow, Chris Brown, TJ Duckett, Justin Griffith, Verron Haynes, Musa Smith, Anthony Thomas or LaBrandon Toefield. All are 215 lbs.+, have fewer years (and less wear), and may, for the right price, be willing to share carries.

Hmm...take a look at the career carries of your list of RBs with "less wear":

Kevan Barlow 1022
Anthony Thomas 1008
Chris Brown 541
Sammy Morris 374
Verron Haynes 174
LaBrandon Toefield 150
Justin Griffith 81
Musa Smith 57

Seems to me that Morris is right in the sweet spot where he's actually proven something on the field (unlike Griffith and Smith) but doesn't have much mileage (unlike Barlow and Thomas). And his versatility, especially on ST, means he should make an impact in every game. The key is to think of him not as a replacement for Dillon but as a serious upgrade on Patrick Pass.

 

[maverick4]

Adalius Thomas: A Great Leader, Personality, and Community Man

Tidbits from MMQB:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/03/04/thomas/index.html?cnn=yes

I got to know Thomas pretty well on a couple of trips to Baltimore last season, and he's a rare bird in the NFL. He's a team guy all the way. Every week last season he learned assignments for the defensive line, linebacker and secondary. "It's fun,'' he said. "I never get bored.'' Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan nicknamed him "The Coordinator" because he knew all the positions.

He's a Renaissance man who puts his money and his off-day activities into making the world better. He started a chess competition for inner-city kids in Baltimore. He's worked for Habitat for Humanity. He's financially adopted a Baltimore elementary school. After his second NFL season, he interned for an Illinois congressman in Washington. He thinks the troops should be out of Iraq. He's worried about global warming. "We all have brains,'' Thomas told me one night in October. "We should use them.''

"I don't expect people to understand the contract,'' Adalius Thomas said over the phone from Logan Airport in Boston on Saturday night in the hoarse, scratchy voice that is his trademark. "It doesn't matter what people think of the contract. I know what the contract is. It's a real contract, not a paper contract, and I'm going to earn all of it.''

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Adalius Thomas: A Great Leader, Personality, and Community Man

It is a great read but...it's already being read.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=51953

 

[captain stone]

Hmm...take a look at the career carries of your list of RBs with "less wear":

Kevan Barlow 1022
Anthony Thomas 1008
Chris Brown 541
Sammy Morris 374
Verron Haynes 174
LaBrandon Toefield 150
Justin Griffith 81
Musa Smith 57

Seems to me that Morris is right in the sweet spot where he's actually proven something on the field (unlike Griffith and Smith) but doesn't have much mileage (unlike Barlow and Thomas). And his versatility, especially on ST, means he should make an impact in every game. The key is to think of him not as a replacement for Dillon but as a serious upgrade on Patrick Pass.

If I think of him as you suggest, PC, then you are correct as usual. Morris is a righteous upgrade over Pass.

So who do you suggest should replace Dillon?

 

[bradmahn]

Some of Dillon's replacement will be Morris and some will be Evans. But most of it will be Maroney.

 

[captain stone]

Some of Dillon's replacement will be Morris and some will be Evans. But most of it will be Maroney.

Just as long as a first-day pick isn't wasted on a RB or a TE. Save those picks for the second day. Our first-day picks should still be: ILB, CB, FS, WR, LT, OLB, SS.

 

[Phokus]

Adalius Thomas: Great community guy

This really caught my eye... From Peter King's MMQB:

"He's a Renaissance man who puts his money and his off-day activities into making the world better. He started a chess competition for inner-city kids in Baltimore. He's worked for Habitat for Humanity. He's financially adopted a Baltimore elementary school. After his second NFL season, he interned for an Illinois congressman in Washington. He thinks the troops should be out of Iraq. He's worried about global warming. "We all have brains,'' Thomas told me one night in October. "We should use them.''"

I would say thomas is almost flawless, the guy is the most surefire guarantee as you can get... i would say almost zero risk. If Dillon had his kind of character, i bet he would've been able to get a bigger contract when we signed him.

 

[italian pat patriot]

i really loved the article and i am really impressed by A.Thomas

awesome !

i think we took a good player and a nice person too

i'm looking forward to see him in our uniform

 

[jcdavey]

My favorite part of the article was the breakdown of his play against San Diego, where it showed all the positions he had played for each snap.

God I can't wait til the draft...better yet, next season...

here's his tackles vs the chargers - http://www.dailymotion.com/jcdavey/video/x1dc61_athomas

this doesn't do justice to the overall game he played that day, it's just his tackles he was credited with (5)

the way he recovers from the dline to run down michael turner was very impressive.

great awareness.

 

[primetime]

Like this guy more and more as I read about him. Like the comparison linking Welker to Tasker, too. Steve Tasker should be in the Hall of Fame as the greatest special teams player to ever play, and while I don't think he's even close to that level, he's probably a better receiver than Tasker was.

 

[Patti37]

i really loved the article and i am really impressed by A.Thomas

awesome !

i think we took a good player and a nice person too

i'm looking forward to see him in our uniform

I bet you would love to see him in a throw back uniform one game day!

 

[hwc]

BTW, AD is right. This is a real contract and he will likely see all five years of it. The earliest the Pats could cut him would be after four years $29 million. The fifth year will cost the Pats $5.9 million in new money -- probably not a very big number with the escalation in the market and a number that would be easy to do year to year reworks like McGinnest towards the end of his career.

The cap numbers are timed to kick in two or three years behind Vrabel's. So when Thomas' cap numbers start to increase, Vrabel will be retired or seeing reduced money as a role player. One key to cap management is to stage your cap hits, i.e. take your total linebacker number and balance the contracts of your players so big numbers come off the books at the time big numbers from the next player are coming online.

 

[Patriotic]

Is this the same Peter King that just a few weeks ago said free agents would not consider Foxboro because of how BB treated Ted Johnson's concussions?

 

[italian pat patriot]

I bet you would love to see him in a throw back uniform one game day!

after A.Thomas now i would like to have another good 'new': that we will play with the throwbacks soon...

 

[shakadave]

I came here to make a thread urging everyone to read this. Peter King, you've done it again!

Not knowing much about Adalius before, and having read this article, I can't think of another NFL player I would rather have acquired. Who would be close --- Champ Bailey? LaDanian Tomlinson? [I don't even know who the best WR in the league is to name here.]