PATRIOT64
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
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1) Rodney Harrison - I think Rodney will be back in charge of the secondary but think age will continue to creep up with him,I still expect him to be as a leader back there and also expect him to be his usual hard hitting self and important to the secondary ever more so,especially if the Asante situation becomes bad,If Asante does not return then we will need him to play teacher/student even more so than before,I will still worry about his speed which will likely continue to slow a bit more the longer he plays.
2) Eugene Wilson - Started his career in an outstanding way looking like a true force back there with Rodney until Rodney went down with that injury,Since then he has not been a real factor out there or is injured,I think he will be back in the starting lineup although a rookie drafted in his position may give him a run for the money if he does not recover from his injury and his 'lazy' play at times,With Rodney helping out there I think he can become a good player again back there but he will need to start becoming good again fast because Harrison will likely no probably no longer be there next year and there are some good rookies in the draft in this position,one of whom might push Wilson to the sidelines with a good solid camp if Wilson himself struggles.
3) Ellis Hobbs - This guy has some grit to him playing with a busted wrist injury and not asking to be replaced or put on the shelf like some guys do which affected his play all last year and his coverage at times suffered IMO with that injury,Even though sometimes he does some stupid things like overplay the ball or gamble at an interception and get burned,His worst games seem to come against teams like Denver for example with tall fast receivers like Walker,His pass interference issues need some work as well,I think he has been involved in more PI calls in the past 2 years than most NFL players in his position,Those mistakes aside I think he can be a very solid player in years ahead one he starts to play smart and in this system and with these coaches theres no better team to get smarter on.
4) Laurence Maroney - After suffering shoulder and rib injuries which hopefully will heal in time for camp you have to think Laurence will be back better than the latter part of last year and more experience in carrying the ball more can only help plus the rookie tag will be off,I still think he may need Morris to help out in games with the load more than some guys do but he should be the workhorse much more than he was with Corey and a 1,200 yard rushing year seems about right if he can maintain healthy all year and the OL blocks well which was not the case in the playoffs last year.
5) Richard Seymour - I think Richard just has not been the dominating force in recent years because he likely still has some nagging injuries of his leg that is not severe enough to keep him out of most games but I think has hampered him much of 2005-06 - If he can avoid any problems like that this year and his legs hold up against the constant pounding of banging up against those Offensive line guys I think he can be back in force with 8 or more sacks this year and better than ever.
6) Junior Seau - Has quietly become a spiritual team leader and the fans in New England already love this guy as a Patriot,I could imagine if he had played his whole career here you would have probably seen a Seau Jersey on every person in New England at one time or another,You gotta love how he played the game last year after his 'graduation' and I expect him to work hard in camp as he always does and get another spot on the roster and just one more year to provide what may be very important backup LB help,especially if Bruschi is left to handle the whole load there again although he will have Thomas to help along with Vrabel and depening on what rookie at the LB postion,if any we take - However if Seau is not near guaranteed he will be on the field at least a decent portion of the time,he may decide to retire,regardless of that he has quickly become a favorite here and wish him well no matter what.
7) Chad Jackson - I still have high hopes from this speedster from Florida although I think there is a chance he will not be on the active roster come september and may still sit out this season on IR,If he does recover and make the active roster I think we should see a better,more productive receiver than what we saw in 2006,It matters of how much time if any he has with Brady in camp and if he does come back earlier than expected I could see him playing well enough to keep Kelley Washington or even Troy Brown (sad to say it) off the roster.If Chad comes back and does what people think he could do can you imagine Stallworth on one side and Jackson on the other? - I don't know if any other team in the NFL would have 2 faster guys on both sides at one time. of course speed does not mean anything if you don't produce (see Bethel Johnson) but IMO there is an upside to Chad and until he has a second consecutive bad season,there is hope he recovers and has a great 2007.
8) Randall Gay - Has looked great in his early days here but is often injured,If he stays healthy for once plays as decent as he had done his early starts he may be able to make us not worry so much much about losing Samuel,but IMO Gay is still a big if,Some guys just can't stay healthy enough to become good.
9) Josh Miller - I think he comes back strong, kicks well again and we will not match the offer for Sauerbrun,Miller has always been a good kicker and don't see that injury hindering his performance in 2007.
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All in all I could see our injured players coming back and playing just as well as they did before their injury,My biggest concern might be the play of Harrison,Not because of his talent because we all know he is still a force to reckon with but the age factor which usually includes losing some speed out there,other than that we should look good come september...But thats IF we have a healthy camp at last,We always seem to lose 2 or 3 DBs for the season during the summer and early fall.
2) Eugene Wilson - Started his career in an outstanding way looking like a true force back there with Rodney until Rodney went down with that injury,Since then he has not been a real factor out there or is injured,I think he will be back in the starting lineup although a rookie drafted in his position may give him a run for the money if he does not recover from his injury and his 'lazy' play at times,With Rodney helping out there I think he can become a good player again back there but he will need to start becoming good again fast because Harrison will likely no probably no longer be there next year and there are some good rookies in the draft in this position,one of whom might push Wilson to the sidelines with a good solid camp if Wilson himself struggles.
3) Ellis Hobbs - This guy has some grit to him playing with a busted wrist injury and not asking to be replaced or put on the shelf like some guys do which affected his play all last year and his coverage at times suffered IMO with that injury,Even though sometimes he does some stupid things like overplay the ball or gamble at an interception and get burned,His worst games seem to come against teams like Denver for example with tall fast receivers like Walker,His pass interference issues need some work as well,I think he has been involved in more PI calls in the past 2 years than most NFL players in his position,Those mistakes aside I think he can be a very solid player in years ahead one he starts to play smart and in this system and with these coaches theres no better team to get smarter on.
4) Laurence Maroney - After suffering shoulder and rib injuries which hopefully will heal in time for camp you have to think Laurence will be back better than the latter part of last year and more experience in carrying the ball more can only help plus the rookie tag will be off,I still think he may need Morris to help out in games with the load more than some guys do but he should be the workhorse much more than he was with Corey and a 1,200 yard rushing year seems about right if he can maintain healthy all year and the OL blocks well which was not the case in the playoffs last year.
5) Richard Seymour - I think Richard just has not been the dominating force in recent years because he likely still has some nagging injuries of his leg that is not severe enough to keep him out of most games but I think has hampered him much of 2005-06 - If he can avoid any problems like that this year and his legs hold up against the constant pounding of banging up against those Offensive line guys I think he can be back in force with 8 or more sacks this year and better than ever.
6) Junior Seau - Has quietly become a spiritual team leader and the fans in New England already love this guy as a Patriot,I could imagine if he had played his whole career here you would have probably seen a Seau Jersey on every person in New England at one time or another,You gotta love how he played the game last year after his 'graduation' and I expect him to work hard in camp as he always does and get another spot on the roster and just one more year to provide what may be very important backup LB help,especially if Bruschi is left to handle the whole load there again although he will have Thomas to help along with Vrabel and depening on what rookie at the LB postion,if any we take - However if Seau is not near guaranteed he will be on the field at least a decent portion of the time,he may decide to retire,regardless of that he has quickly become a favorite here and wish him well no matter what.
7) Chad Jackson - I still have high hopes from this speedster from Florida although I think there is a chance he will not be on the active roster come september and may still sit out this season on IR,If he does recover and make the active roster I think we should see a better,more productive receiver than what we saw in 2006,It matters of how much time if any he has with Brady in camp and if he does come back earlier than expected I could see him playing well enough to keep Kelley Washington or even Troy Brown (sad to say it) off the roster.If Chad comes back and does what people think he could do can you imagine Stallworth on one side and Jackson on the other? - I don't know if any other team in the NFL would have 2 faster guys on both sides at one time. of course speed does not mean anything if you don't produce (see Bethel Johnson) but IMO there is an upside to Chad and until he has a second consecutive bad season,there is hope he recovers and has a great 2007.
8) Randall Gay - Has looked great in his early days here but is often injured,If he stays healthy for once plays as decent as he had done his early starts he may be able to make us not worry so much much about losing Samuel,but IMO Gay is still a big if,Some guys just can't stay healthy enough to become good.
9) Josh Miller - I think he comes back strong, kicks well again and we will not match the offer for Sauerbrun,Miller has always been a good kicker and don't see that injury hindering his performance in 2007.
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All in all I could see our injured players coming back and playing just as well as they did before their injury,My biggest concern might be the play of Harrison,Not because of his talent because we all know he is still a force to reckon with but the age factor which usually includes losing some speed out there,other than that we should look good come september...But thats IF we have a healthy camp at last,We always seem to lose 2 or 3 DBs for the season during the summer and early fall.
