The most impressive player in blue last night?...Darius Butler

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I thought the most impressive player in blue on the field last night was our rookie Butler.

He played a good part of the game and when he was on the field he was all over making plays like a Mayo Jr

He almost made a big play on the Bengals deep in our red zone when he nearly created a turnover from a bad short pass from Palmer, He flew from nowhere to make a tackle on the Cincy RB who was on his way to scoring a TD before Butler came out of nowhere to tackle him in the legs (reminded me a little of Watson's tackle of Champ in the 2005 Denver NE game) and he was right up there in the front when it came to making a play on STs

This was one game and it was mainly against Cincy scrubs,nonetheless it was the best performance of any player last night and I think if he does something similar again next week,we could be looking at Butler stealing the starting job from Springs and Wilhite on the one side of the CB position.

 

[jbb9s]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

wouldnt be surprised if Butler will be higher on the CB depth chart than Wheatley. Actually i get the impression Wilhite, a later round pick than Wheatley of the same year, has already done this.

 

[Sicilian]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

He had a great breakup against someone early in the game too, showed great closing speed. In game one, I thought Chung was excellent and Butler was up and down. In game two, it was the opposite. I guess that's to be expected with rookies, but good to see both have the goods in them.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

wouldnt be surprised if Butler will be higher on the CB depth chart than Wheatley. Actually i get the impression Wilhite, a later round pick than Wheatley of the same year, has already done this.

I'm pretty sure he will be higher than Wheatley. In fact, Wheatley looks Duane Starks bad. He can't tackle, and can't guard anybody. Also, him getting toasted on 4th and 16 really pissed me off. However, this really does count as his rookie year because he barely played last season.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

If Butler can play CB wearing #28 like Curtis Martin did at RB who wore the same number,We will be in GREAT shape

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

wouldnt be surprised if Butler will be higher on the CB depth chart than Wheatley. Actually i get the impression Wilhite, a later round pick than Wheatley of the same year, has already done this.

I don't even mention Wheately when it comes to anywhere nearing a starting CB on this team,From the little I have seen of him I think he simply is not very good and if he is cut I will hardly be shocked,Wilhite IS better.

 

[Bertil]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

I couldn't understand why Wheatley at 5'9"(?) was left on an island covering the 6'4" Henry. It reminded me of Hobbs on Plaxico, with predictably similar results.

 

[patchick]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

It looks like the current pecking order (and presumed roster) is currently:

Bodden
Wilhite
Butler
Springs
Wheatley

Disagreements?

 

[fester]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

It looks like the current pecking order (and presumed roster) is currently:

Bodden
Wilhite
Butler
Springs
Wheatley

Disagreements?

At most, a mild one, as I might flip Butler/Springs depending on match-ups, but that sounds about right.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

It looks like the current pecking order (and presumed roster) is currently:

Bodden
Wilhite
Butler
Springs
Wheatley

Disagreements?

I think Springs is getting paid a bit too much to be down that low - probably a #3 CB,I say its a battle between Butler and Wilhite to who will be starter opposite Hobbs and who will then drop into the 4th spot - Wheatley is in fifth and hoping the roster has enough room

 

[JackBauer]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

Given that Springs is a huge injury risk, yeah, I'd say the roster has enough room.

 

[jbb9s]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

Given that Springs is a huge injury risk, yeah, I'd say the roster has enough room.

That was before Springs joined the Pats though. The Pats never have injury problems at CB.

 

[TheComeback]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

Butler made some plays last night but I saw him get burned a few times too, particularly against the Bengals' starters. He has a long way to go to beat out Springs or Wilhite for a starting job.

 

[Mogamedogz]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

The Most impressive player in blue last night was....















Wes Welker!

 

[mgcolby]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

Butler made some plays last night but I saw him get burned a few times too, particularly against the Bengals' starters. He has a long way to go to beat out Springs or Wilhite for a starting job.

Wow, I was starting to think that I was the only one that saw him miss several tackles and get beat real bad several times.

And Wheatley had major struggles last night. Maybe that made Butler's mistakes less obvious.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

I thought the most impressive player in blue on the field last night was our rookie Butler.

He played a good part of the game and when he was on the field he was all over making plays like a Mayo Jr

He almost made a big play on the Bengals deep in our red zone when he nearly created a turnover from a bad short pass from Palmer, He flew from nowhere to make a tackle on the Cincy RB who was on his way to scoring a TD before Butler came out of nowhere to tackle him in the legs (reminded me a little of Watson's tackle of Champ in the 2005 Denver NE game) and he was right up there in the front when it came to making a play on STs

This was one game and it was mainly against Cincy scrubs,nonetheless it was the best performance of any player last night and I think if he does something similar again next week,we could be looking at Butler stealing the starting job from Springs and Wilhite on the one side of the CB position.

I've always thought that Bodden and Butler are our long-term solution at starting CB (assuming we can sign Bodden to a long-term deal), and that they will eventually form one of the better starting CB tandems in the NFL. Butler seems to be coming along fine - some rookie mistakes to be sure, but a lot of athleticism, speed and aggressiveness, and good tackling to boot. I would be quite happy to see him find his way to the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

It looks like the current pecking order (and presumed roster) is currently:

Bodden
Wilhite
Butler
Springs
Wheatley

Disagreements?

I think that's about right for right now, but Butler is coming on strong and has superior athleticism, speed and skills to Wilhite and I wouldn't be surprised to see him crack the starter roster sooner rather than later. Wheatley is clearly #5 right now, and has a way to go to make up ground on the other 4. Springs is a bit of a wild card, since he brings size, versatility and experience, but is still finding his way.

 

[reflexblue]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

I didn't see the whole game but i would go with Butler too, i heard his name a lot in a positive way.

 

[reflexblue]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

If Bodden pans out he would want a lot of $$$$ to sign a new contract.

 

[upstater1]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

I watched a lot of Butler in college and was always mystified at the scouts saying he was a weak tackler. He's not, that's a strength in his game. Sometimes I wonder why the scouts are getting paid at all.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: The most impressive player in blue last night?..Darius Butler

If Bodden pans out he would want a lot of $$$$

I'm not sure what that means. I don't think he would come for free, but I don't think he would cost any more than what it would have cost to keep Ellis Hobbs. Probably $6-7M/year would do it. We're going to have to spend a bit of money on the CB position if we want long term stability. We have some nice young talent developing with Butler having the potential to be our best CB since Samuel and possibly Law, but I think the FO realizes that it was an error not to sign Asante long term when they could have done it for an affordable (not cheap, but affordable) amount. If Bodden looks good I look for the FO to extend him to a long term deal fairly early, which seems to be what he wants.