Rebuilding The Special Teams Units (8 of top 11 are gone)

[mgteich]

The STer are almost all gone.

11 players played in at least 35% of the ST reps. 8 are gone.
Schooler, Tavai and Mapu are left.

GONE
Board
Slater
Phillips
Wilson
P. Brown
Davis
Montgomery
Guy

 

[signbabybrady]

Marcus Jones can lock up a couple spots

 

[mgteich]

Marcus Jones can lock up a couple spots

True, but I don't want to lose one of the top PR's in the NFL to injuries again.

 

[DaBruinz]

The STer are almost all gone.

11 players played in at least 35% of the ST reps. 8 are gone.
Schooler, Tavai and Mapu are left.

GONE
Board
Slater
Phillips
Wilson
P. Brown
Davis
Montgomery
Guy

Elliss replaced Montgomery last year. Elliss played in 73% of the STs snaps after being claimed by the Pats off waivers. Elliss had played 76% of the Special Teams snaps with Philly as well.

Sione Takitaki will see time on special teams. As will Jaylinn Hawkins.

I would expect that either Pettway or whomever they bring in as the 3rd TE will see time on Special Teams. Isaiah Bolden will likely see time there as well.

Slater and Davis are the big hits. Davis because he was the personal protector on the Punt unit. If I remember correctly, Phillips took over for him in 2022 when Davis was out.

Hasty has experience on STs according to his snap counts being at 39% in his 2nd year with San Fran and 37% during his first year in Jax.

What's interesting is that Watts, Hooper, Leverett, Gibson, Okorafor, and Osborn don't have a lot of STs play of late if any at all. So the Pats will be relying on Rookies or Players currently on the Roster to step up.

 

[Zuma]

The STer are almost all gone.

11 players played in at least 35% of the ST reps. 8 are gone.
Schooler, Tavai and Mapu are left.

GONE
Board
Slater
Phillips
Wilson
P. Brown
Davis
Montgomery
Guy

Don’t expect AVP to put as much emphasis on ST only players as BB.

 

[Clonamery]

Hey, Belichick is gone, can we stop pretending that ST's are important.

 

[jmt57]

With the new kickoff rules teams will need to adapt somewhat in terms of who they use on special teams as well.
Obviously punt return and punt coverage remain the same.

 

[Scotty]

I maybe wrong but I believe there was a thread or at least some comments in the media about the Patriots having too many resources dedicated to ST compared to other teams. I honestly don't know if there is any merit in this or if there is a set amount of players that should be ST only. Maybe this will change with the new management / coaches. (I won't mention the Green Bay way.....lol)

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Hey, Belichick is gone, can we stop pretending that ST's are important.

They are important. That's never been in question.

What is up for debate is if you should dedicate as many roster spots and cap allocation to it as BB did. But however you invest in it, it's absolutely 100% important that you have a capable special teams unit.

 

[Clonamery]

They are important. That's never been in question.

What is up for debate is if you should dedicate as many roster spots and cap allocation to it as BB did. But however you invest in it, it's absolutely 100% important that you have a capable special teams unit.

You must be new here, we need to focus on what matters most, looking good and speaking nicely to the media.

 

[Vindicate]

They are important. That's never been in question.

What is up for debate is if you should dedicate as many roster spots and cap allocation to it as BB did. But however you invest in it, it's absolutely 100% important that you have a capable special teams unit.

Ask the 2009 chargers.

 

[pctronics0072]

I see the pats seeing who on the draft picks and UDFAs can do special teams on top of their regular roles. I doubt we see players drafted for ST only.

 

[captain stone]

The STer are almost all gone.

11 players played in at least 35% of the ST reps. 8 are gone.
Schooler, Tavai and Mapu are left.

GONE
Board
Slater
Phillips
Wilson
P. Brown
Davis
Montgomery
Guy

Schooled, Jalopy & McPoo are all we need.

 

[Ivan]

The league has been diminishing the role of special teams every offseason, so while they still matter they aren’t important as they used to be. And at this point I think Wolf and Mayo need to fill the roster with the best position players they can get, and not take lesser talent because they are better special team players. The emphasis should be on what they bring to their position, not how versatile they are: Really good athletes should be able to adapt to special team roles, especially when their place on the roster depends upon, as most are at the bottom of their unit depth chart.

 

[mgteich]

The league has been diminishing the role of special teams every offseason, so while they still matter they aren’t important as they used to be. And at this point I think Wolf and Mayo need to fill the roster with the best position players they can get, and not take lesser talent because they are better special team players. The emphasis should be on what they bring to their position, not how versatile they are: Really good athletes should be able to adapt to special team roles, especially when their place on the roster depends upon, as most are at the bottom of their unit depth chart.

So, we should stop hiring starting STer's and just consider ST's as a bonus skill for #5 CB's?

So, it is waste to have a protector to replace Slater, and to have a couple of gunners? IMOO, these are starting positions. If a starting gunner is an emergency #6 CB, that is a bonus.
==========
So, yes, we should have 3 starting Sters.

ADDITIONAL special teamers have to be backups at other roles. The #5 CB, #4 RB, #8 LB, #5 CB, #10 DB and #11 DB all should have skills in other roles, including returner, protector and gunner.

 

[DaBruinz]

Don’t expect AVP to put as much emphasis on ST only players as BB.

AVP is only the OC.. He's not the Coach. And I believe that MAYO believes as Belichick does about Special Teams being an integral part of the team.

 

[Ivan]

So, we should stop hiring starting STer's and just consider ST's as a bonus skill for #5 CB's?

So, it is waste to have a protector to replace Slater, and to have a couple of gunners? IMOO, these are starting positions. If a starting gunner is an emergency #6 CB, that is a bonus.
==========
So, yes, we should have 3 starting Sters.

ADDITIONAL special teamers have to be backups at other roles. The #5 CB, #4 RB, #8 LB, #5 CB, #10 DB and #11 DB all should have skills in other roles, including returner, protector and gunner.

I see no problem in having a couple of ST dedicated players, but I don’t want them bypassing much better players because they aren’t great ST players, as Belichick so often did. ST’s are not as important as they once were.

 

[mgteich]

Elliss replaced Montgomery last year. Elliss played in 73% of the STs snaps after being claimed by the Pats off waivers. Elliss had played 76% of the Special Teams snaps with Philly as well.

Sione Takitaki will see time on special teams. As will Jaylinn Hawkins.

I would expect that either Pettway or whomever they bring in as the 3rd TE will see time on Special Teams. Isaiah Bolden will likely see time there as well.

Slater and Davis are the big hits. Davis because he was the personal protector on the Punt unit. If I remember correctly, Phillips took over for him in 2022 when Davis was out.

Hasty has experience on STs according to his snap counts being at 39% in his 2nd year with San Fran and 37% during his first year in Jax.

What's interesting is that Watts, Hooper, Leverett, Gibson, Okorafor, and Osborn don't have a lot of STs play of late if any at all. So the Pats will be relying on Rookies or Players currently on the Roster to step up.

So, we should expect Ellis and Schooler to make the team as STers. Takitaki and Hawkins should play a lot, as you say, with little play on Defense.

Clearly, we don't know how much Bolden or the 3rd TE will contribute.

I expect that we will sign a protector and another gunner, and we will need to find someone else who can backup as protector.

BOTTOM LINE
We value our punt game and have one of the top returners in the game. We should value those who protect him and help open his awesome runs.

 

[Zuma]

AVP is only the OC.. He's not the Coach. And I believe that MAYO believes as Belichick does about Special Teams being an integral part of the team.

Yeah not sure why I said AVP. Thanks

 

[mgteich]

I see no problem in having a couple of ST dedicated players, but I don’t want them bypassing much better players because they aren’t great ST players, as Belichick so often did. ST’s are not as important as they once were.

fair enough

The Belichick argument is that starters on ST's are better players (and more valuable) than #6 CB's, #8 LB's and others.

As DaBruinz point out above, we have covered almost all of the losses, with two big losses (Slater and Davis/Phillips) still not replaced.
===========
So, the issue becomes whether the replacement for 2 of our 3 top ST players should be filled by top Sters or by a #6 corner and a #8 LB.