roguepatriot
On the Game Day Roster
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2005
- Messages
- 361
- Reaction score
- 46
One thing I have noticed over the last few years is the Patriots coaching staff like to pick a project to remake a player. Aside from the obvious 4-3 linemen to 3-4 OLB, the following are some examples of this -
Neal - This is probably the best example of taking a wrestler from a college that did not even play football and making him into an OG. This was not done overnight, but produced a lineman who could eventually go to the Pro-Ball.
Wilson - Maybe not a big one, but they converted a college CB to start palying safety because they lost both their starting safeties from the previous year.
Brown - Early on in training camp, they tried making Troy a nickel defensive back for extra flexability. Later on that year they needed him when they had to many cornerback injuries and he even managed an interception. If they should ever be short on CBs again (God forbid), Troy is still available.
Cassel - Here they took a guy who had hardly played at college as a backup to Heismann trophy winners and made him into a passable NFL backup.
Andrews - This year they seem to be trying an anti-Brown experiment by trying out a DB as a wideout. Outcome TBD.
It seems like the coaching staff get a kick from the challenge of being able to get players on the field in a way nobody else would have thought off and being able to find a diamond in the rough (other than Wilson these examples are all late-round picks/rookie free agents). The only thing we have not seen is converting a QB to a receiver (a Pittsburgh speciality that the Jaguars are now trying).
Anybody know of other examples?
Neal - This is probably the best example of taking a wrestler from a college that did not even play football and making him into an OG. This was not done overnight, but produced a lineman who could eventually go to the Pro-Ball.
Wilson - Maybe not a big one, but they converted a college CB to start palying safety because they lost both their starting safeties from the previous year.
Brown - Early on in training camp, they tried making Troy a nickel defensive back for extra flexability. Later on that year they needed him when they had to many cornerback injuries and he even managed an interception. If they should ever be short on CBs again (God forbid), Troy is still available.
Cassel - Here they took a guy who had hardly played at college as a backup to Heismann trophy winners and made him into a passable NFL backup.
Andrews - This year they seem to be trying an anti-Brown experiment by trying out a DB as a wideout. Outcome TBD.
It seems like the coaching staff get a kick from the challenge of being able to get players on the field in a way nobody else would have thought off and being able to find a diamond in the rough (other than Wilson these examples are all late-round picks/rookie free agents). The only thing we have not seen is converting a QB to a receiver (a Pittsburgh speciality that the Jaguars are now trying).
Anybody know of other examples?