Positive Sign if we are going after Thomas

[Rob0729]

From today's Herald:

“I never really met Belichick before, and you always hear about how he’s a mean guy,” Baltimore linebacker Adalius Thomas said yesterday, prior to returned a fumble 70 yards for a score in the AFC’s 31-28 win. “But it’s real interesting to see how he reacts with different players, how he gets comfortable over here. He’s actually a really nice guy. I was surprised.”

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/otherNFL/view.bg?articleid=182310

Was Belichick recruiting Adalius Thomas at the Pro Bowl? Soounds like they got along swimmingly. Good news if we are actually going to go after the guy.

 

[patsgo]

From today's Herald:

“I never really met Belichick before, and you always hear about how he’s a mean guy,” Baltimore linebacker Adalius Thomas said yesterday, prior to returned a fumble 70 yards for a score in the AFC’s 31-28 win. “But it’s real interesting to see how he reacts with different players, how he gets comfortable over here. He’s actually a really nice guy. I was surprised.”

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/otherNFL/view.bg?articleid=182310

Was Belichick recruiting Adalius Thomas at the Pro Bowl? Soounds like they got along swimmingly. Good news if we are actually going to go after the guy.

about 50 million will make him fall in love with belicheck

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I can't believe the reports that the Packers want to pay him a full time defensive end.

 

[Rob0729]

I can't believe the reports that the Packers want to pay him a full time defensive end.

You gotta take free agency talk with a grain of salt. A lot of the talk is spread by the agent to generate interest and large offers for his client or by teams to scare people off for players they are targetting or providing misdirection on where they are going.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

You gotta take free agency talk with a grain of salt. A lot of the talk is spread by the agent to generate interest and large offers for his client or by teams to scare people off for players they are targetting or providing misdirection on where they are going.

this is true, good point

 

[ice]

I don't know about Thomas. I love the Idea of it but not on the outside
On the outside we have Vrable and Colvin. Would he be an upgrade, Probably, but How do you do this to your Guys. This isn't like replacing TBC, that's a no brainer. It'll definatly start somthing bad in the locker room.
Would he be moved inside to complement Bruschi, that could happen.
But I Don't know enough about him I've read he has played nearly every postion on the defense. with him and bruschi they could mentor and bring along a draft pick on a 1-3 year projection.

 

[zippo59]

I don't know about Thomas. I love the Idea of it but not on the outside
On the outside we have Vrable and Colvin. Would he be an upgrade, Probably, but How do you do this to your Guys. This isn't like replacing TBC, that's a no brainer. It'll definatly start somthing bad in the locker room.
Would he be moved inside to complement Bruschi, that could happen.
But I Don't know enough about him I've read he has played nearly every postion on the defense. with him and bruschi they could mentor and bring along a draft pick on a 1-3 year projection.

Before on the outside we had Vrabel, Colvin, and McGuinest and that was probably the "golden era" of our defense.

If Thomas were to come he would play in McGuinest's old position of the elephant. Colvin and Vrabel are both very good OLB but neither are ideally fit to play elephant. They are about 6-3 or 6-4, 250 pounds, which is not ideally the right size for the elephant position. Willie was 6-5, about 270 pounds, and he could still run. That's what makes him so special and hard to replace. Thomas is about 6-2, 270 pounds, and can run. He has the ideal body type to take Willie's old position.

270 pound outside linebackers who can run are hard to find, and they are especially important to defenses who run the 3-4. San Diego has theres in Shawn Merriman, we had ours in Willie, but now we need to find another one, and on paper Thomas fits it perfectly.

 

[ice]

could you explain to me what the elephant does that is diffrent from other outside linbackers?

 

[cstjohn17]

I agree, during the "golden" era we also had a rotation at ILB (Bruschi, Johnson, Phifer).

If Thomas can play some snaps at ILB we could use a bunch of players in various rotations. Even if he can't play ILB we can shift Vrabel inside every now and then to mix things up.

Rotation
ILB - Run Stuffer - Playing the role of Ted Johnson (insert joke here...) - either London-Fletcher, Seau or a rookie, finding a rookie who can play some snaps on 1st & 2nd downs at ILB is not as difficult as finding a true 3 down LB
ILB - 3rd down coverage specialists - Edwards, or Alexander if they think he can handle it...
ILB - 3rd down situational pass rusher - Vrabel, Bruschi or Thomas, players who have the ability to blitz, sending blitzes from the middle is a good way to mix things up

OLB - Rotation - Colvin, Vrabel, Thomas - maybe Woods gets some snaps...

Total guesses (and wishlist for 07 LBs)
- everytime I look at it I still think we need to bring in 2-4 new players, 2 veterans and 2 by draft
- ILB - I flip flop between Edwards, London-Fletcher and Napolean Harris at ILB
- OLB -keen on Thomas but could see TBC being brought back or a player like Antwan Peek being brought it for reasonable money
- it is all very confusing.....

ROLB - Colvin, Woods
RILB - Bruschi, ROOKIE (Willis, Harris, Siler, Warren)
LILB - FA - Edwards, Alexander, Mays
LOB - Vrabel, FA - Thomas, ROOKIE (ideally player who may be able to play OLB or ILB - Bradley, Burgess, Smith (Syracuse))

Before on the outside we had Vrabel, Colvin, and McGuinest and that was probably the "golden era" of our defense.

If Thomas were to come he would play in McGuinest's old position of the elephant. Colvin and Vrabel are both very good OLB but neither are ideally fit to play elephant. They are about 6-3 or 6-4, 250 pounds, which is not ideally the right size for the elephant position. Willie was 6-5, about 270 pounds, and he could still run. That's what makes him so special and hard to replace. Thomas is about 6-2, 270 pounds, and can run. He has the ideal body type to take Willie's old position.

270 pound outside linebackers who can run are hard to find, and they are especially important to defenses who run the 3-4. San Diego has theres in Shawn Merriman, we had ours in Willie, but now we need to find another one, and on paper Thomas fits it perfectly.

 

[Remix 6]

he can play inside easily in 3-4

STRONGSIDE. where Bruschi cant hold it

 

[Seymour93]

It looks like we have some competition.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

PACK ANGLING FOR ADALIUS

Regardless of whether the Green Bay Packers eventually make an effort to trade for Raiders receiver Randy Moss, the more immediate objective for the Favre Franchise is to land Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas.

Thomas, a sixth-round pick in 2000, will hit the open market unless the Ravens slap the franchise tag on him. And, as we're told, one of the first teams to ring his phone will be the Packers. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Thomas is the clear-cut top target for the Packers in free agency.

The Pack plan to make Thomas, a hybrid linebacker/defensive end in the Baltimore defense, into a full-time defensive end. And that could be very bad news for current Packers defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, whose star has faded in the years since he was regarded as an up-and-coming sack master. KGB fell behind Cullen Jenkins on the depth chart in 2006, and Gbaja-Biamila's $5 million salary for 2007 could cause him to fall off of the roster entirely.

If the Ravens plan to use the franchise tag on Thomas, they'll need to have the cap room to do it. And that could ensure the release of running back Jamal Lewis, who re-signed with the team as an unrestricted free agent in 2006 and who is owed a $5 million roster bonus next month, and a $5 million salary in 2007.

Green Bay are currently $29.5 million under the cap according to this site,

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/26/Bucs/For_Bucs__it_s_buyer_.shtml

 

[Rob0729]

It looks like we have some competition.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm



Green Bay are currently $29.5 million under the cap according to this site,

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/26/Bucs/For_Bucs__it_s_buyer_.shtml

I think between now and the beginning of March that every team with cap space and a need for a LB will be rumored to make Thomas a top priority. I don't buy any rumors at this point. There is almost a month until free agency and most strong interest is just talk at this point.

 

[carolinatony]

I believe we will make a run at LB Adalius Thomas
He seems to be a Patriots type player

 

[ice]

again, would some explain the role of the Elephant.
Is he a bigger pass rusher or run stuffer, I would think pass rusher due to our experince with wille, but he was also all over the place.

 

[salty]

again, would some explain the role of the Elephant.
Is he a bigger pass rusher or run stuffer, I would think pass rusher due to our experince with wille, but he was also all over the place.

Willie's Elephant position essentially meant that he was an OLB who could move around and do it all. On certain downs he was brought up to the line and played a 4-3 DE instead of OLB. On other downs he was a pass-rusher, and he could also drop in to coverage as well.

Essentially, versatility is the key to the Elephant position. None of the Patriots' current linebackers have the size or athleticism necessary to provide that versatility, but Adalius Thomas sure does.

 

[ice]

Willie's Elephant position essentially meant that he was an OLB who could move around and do it all. On certain downs he was brought up to the line and played a 4-3 DE instead of OLB. On other downs he was a pass-rusher, and he could also drop in to coverage as well.

Essentially, versatility is the key to the Elephant position. None of the Patriots' current linebackers have the size or athleticism necessary to provide that versatility, but Adalius Thomas sure does.

thank you for the infomation

 

[ATippett56]

Adalius Thomas would be a perfect fit for the New England Patriots. The key question is will the New England Patriots organization partake in a bidding war for his services?

 

[salty]

My guess is that they will be willing to pay him big money (like they were with Colvin), but will expect him to take perhaps a little less than he would elsewhere for an opportunity to win the championship. He did win the title with the Ravens in 2000, but he was a rookie who barely played. He might be willing to take less $$$ to win as a key contributor.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Thomas fits the mold so many ways, I could see the Pats placing a high enough value on him to make it interesting.

In Management Secrets of the New England Patriots, they talk about how the Pats don't think about need at positions - they think about players being bundles of skills that can be utilized. This has its most obvious exemplar in Troy Brown. He's still a receiver, but he's crossed over into being the true example of a "football player." Thomas is another extremely versatile player, from what I have been reading. One poster here said, basically, we'd have the Elephant position correctly staffed again. I think this makes sense... the elephant is the "versatility-king" linebacker. This certainly fits Thomas.

But again, what will he cost? How about some of the other "skill bundles" floating around in free agency, who can do 1 or 2 things pretty well, and are savvy enough to learn more? March 2 is right around the corner...

Last thought... if you're looking for the Pats to draft a linebacker, keep your eye on the D-linemen you can't understand them picking. That might be what they're for.

PFnV

 

[VJCPatriot]

Thomas as a replacement for Mcginest. I'm buying that. If he is as versatile as people claim he would be an invaluable addition to our defense. Strong play from that "elephant backer" is a factor that has been missing this year. Pats have the bucks so if he is worth the money, pay the man. I'd also like to see us resign Asante, but that's nother issue entirely.

I agree that it is quite possible the Pats draft a defensive end and try to convert him into a linebacker. They've done it in the past. I think the rough rule of thumb is that the Pats look to draft athletic college OLB to plug in as ILB in their system and they look to draft DE to plug in as OLB in their system.

But again, what will he cost? How about some of the other "skill bundles" floating around in free agency, who can do 1 or 2 things pretty well, and are savvy enough to learn more? March 2 is right around the corner...

Last thought... if you're looking for the Pats to draft a linebacker, keep your eye on the D-linemen you can't understand them picking. That might be what they're for.

PFnV