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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Kenny Phillips, for one. Moore and Byrd, though I'm fairly certain they'll be priced out of the Patriots' range. Also plenty of quality prospects in the draft.
Kenny Phillips intrigues. Any guess what he'll go for?
Considering they've enjoyed sustained success and been to two Super Bowls since that time...kind of a dumb thing to say.
That's not to say they haven't made their fair share of FA/draft blunders, but I still trust this FO and their methodology over any other in the league.
Considering their defense has been in the bottom 5 the last 5 years....
Honestly I haven't a clue...
Kenny Phillips intrigues. Any guess what he'll go for?
Finally something we can agree on.
No to Kenny Phillips. We already have a very good coverage safety back there. Let's get a hard hitter than isn't a liability in coverage.
Two words: Will, Moore.
Disagree, Kontra. We have one of the biggest & toughest front 7's in the league and we beat the hell out of people in the run game. We don't need a guy in the box.
I'd take two Devin McCourtys back there should they exist (okay...so this statement is muddled by the fact that he has a twin brother in the NFL, but you get the point...)
And even better, Phillips is long enough to cover TEs - and TE coverage has been a real issue for us, and will continue to be as long as we have the 3 big, punishing LBs we have.
Besides, how many hard hitters who aren't liabilities in coverage are out there? Two cover safeties is easier to acquire.
Disagree, Kontra. We have one of the biggest & toughest front 7's in the league and we beat the hell out of people in the run game. We don't need a guy in the box.
I'd take two Devin McCourtys back there should they exist (okay...so this statement is muddled by the fact that he has a twin brother in the NFL, but you get the point...)
And even better, Phillips is long enough to cover TEs - and TE coverage has been a real issue for us, and will continue to be as long as we have the 3 big, punishing LBs we have.
Besides, how many hard hitters who aren't liabilities in coverage are out there? Two cover safeties is easier to acquire.
The coverage issues with TE's are mostly the fault of the LB's. There are prospects in the draft who were hitters in college and weren't liabilities in coverage like Chung. Give me guys like Elam or Swearinger over Phillips, who is McCourty 2.0. Their skills would not complement one another very well. Putting together a Reed/Pollard type of safety tandem would be ideal. Go familiarize yourself with the safety prospects in the draft and I guarantee you that your opinion changes.
I agree with this. Phillips would be an excellent addition at (I gather) a reasonable cost.
I wouldn't mind if they choose the draft route, either.
I don't think that necessarily obviates the point that they already have physicality in the front seven, and that adding a safety like Phillips would help in TE coverage even if they stand pat at LB.
I'd much rather draft a WR in the first and sign Phillips than expend a first on Elam and...?
The coverage issues with TE's are mostly the fault of the LB's.
There are prospects in the draft who were hitters in college and weren't liabilities in coverage like Chung. Give me guys like Elam or Swearinger over Phillips, who is McCourty 2.0. Their skills would not complement one another very well. Putting together a Reed/Pollard type of safety tandem would be ideal. Go familiarize yourself with the safety prospects in the draft and I guarantee you that your opinion changes.
I would agree with this up until the move of McCourty to safety and the increase in playing time for Dennard (and/or the acquisition of Talib, depending on your POV).
I believe there was a change in our coverages from that point forward, and we saw Gregory either roaming the middle of the field in zone or covering the TE in man. In both playoff games he played man against a TE a lot. He was great against Houston, then exposed vs. Baltimore.
When we play cover-2 - which it seemed like we were in a lot to start the year, then we see Mayo or Spikes or Hightower trailing a TE and getting burnt. But the boost of talent in our back end - and I would argue most notably the move of McCourty to safety - allowed us to play more aggressive coverages and get a safety on a TE, instead of dropping two safeties deep.
It depends on what the personnel packages were. I'm not going to go bat for Gregory because he was absolutely terrible when covering the TE's. But against the Ravens, Flacco first started finding his groove by hitting his TE's and RB's over the middle of the field, who were matched up against our LB's. Then he found Boldin and it was all over from there.