My thoughts are:
DL- No changes needed
Seymour, Wilfork, Warren, Green, Wright, whoever
OLB-
I would like to see Thomas and Vrabel and I think that has been the plan all along, with Woods backing up, and a couple of other jags to fill out the roster.
ILB-
Overhaul. I would like Bruschi back and hope it happens. Seau may return but he will need to be part of the rotation, not a starter. We need to add a player here, possibly 2. Historically that 2nd ILB sees maybe 50% of the snaps.
While run D is the primary function of our ILBs (I truly expect that 2 ILB is going to be a guy in the mold of past BB 3-4 ILBs like Reasons, DeOssie, Johnson, who are not spectacular LBs but are good run defenders that play in the base and no more) I would like to see a LB on the roster who can be a good pass defender for the 2 minute D.
I think we fill this spot with role players surrounding Bruschi (or a higher profile replacement) and Seau.
CB- We need to sign a starter in FA, and it doesnt look like that will be Asante. I would like to draft a corner in round 1. But I would like that corner to play the nickel. We can go with Scott, Richardson, or a pick up at the 4th corner.
S- I want Rodney back, but I do not want him playing S in 2 minute or on 3rd down. He could be part of those packages, but as a LB. I am fine with him playing a lot on 1st and 2nd down. I want Meriwhether playing all the time on 3rd down and 2 minute, at least. I would be fine with him playing more in the base also. I'm good with Sanders being the 3rd of that mix. So we have 3 safeties, splitting time, at what would probably end up as equal pt for each. We will need a 4th player here for depth since the top 3 will all be relied upon like starters.
The issues I saw with our defense, particularly in the SB was that in obvious passing situations, we had players in the secondary (Harrison and Gay) that were marked men, and feebly covered their players. Additionally, our LB coverage in those situations was not awful, but can improve.
Eliminate those issues, and we would have been 19-0 and have one of the top couple of defenses in the NFL.
The priorities to me are:
1) Starting corner
2) Nickel corner with top skills who will start in the near future (i.e. #1 pick)
3) Restock the ILB positon. Not a huge issue, IMO, because if Bruschi returns and Seau we are part of the way there. I'd like to see one run stopping specialist and one guy who is effective in pass D. There is no reason we cannot find one of these later in the draft, but FA seems a better path.
4) Bring in a 4th safety either through FA or the draft. I'd prefer him to be more like Meriwhether in skillset than Harrison, so we do not sacrifice 2 minute D if someone goes down.
5) Fill in the rest of the depth spots.
