What you fail to realize is you're also quickly becoming the less talented team.
For one, you don't know that. We have a ton of rookies and young guys starting at key positions. From what I can see, the Pats problems last year are as follows...
1. WR outside of Moss and Welker.
2. Health issues on the interior O-Line.
3. TE.
4. RDE.
5. ILB and OLB.
6. CB.
7. Issues in the locker room.
WR we drafted for with Hernandez (he'll be lining up in the slot more than on the LOS) and Price. Also Tate, who showed tremendous ability to get behind defenses in what little playing time he got last year before he went to IR, is coming back and Brady has been very vocal about how much he likes him. Much more than most. Time will tell but at the very least, we should have a slight improvement at that position. O-Line worries me still. Stephen Neal is back but he was the reason for those health issues. However, Vollmer is in his second year and if his health holds up (no reason to believe it won't as of right now), he should show a marked improvement. Of course there is the Mankins situation, and I'm hoping Kaczur can step in without a significant drop-off. TE was addressed to a "T" in the offseason. We have one of the league's best blocking TE's in Crumpler, Gronk looks like a beast, and (as a Gator fan) I'm high on Hernandez whether he lines up in the slot or on the LOS. We have a slew of bodies at RDE. God only knows how they will do. It isn't a far cry to expect an improvement over Jarvis Green from last season, but how much of an improvement that is remains to be seen. Seymour's loss really hurt us in 2009. We have very capable bodies at ILB, but two of them are unproven. One came with a lot of hype but spent '09 on IR and the other is a mean, menacing rookie. Personally, I think the latter will be the starter on the opening day roster. But that's only my guess. OLB depends on the ability of Shawn Crable to stay on the field and Jermaine Cunningham's ability to pick up the defense quickly as well as TBC's continued presence in the pass rush. I'm not holding my breath for a significant improvement in that area. CB we addressed by bringing back Bodden, Butler looked improved at the end of 2009 (compared to the beginning) and should take another step, and we addressed another question mark in that area by drafting McCourty. As for the issues in the locker room, Mr. Springs and Mr. Thomas are still looking for work as we speak.
That's my assessment of where we're at right now. Even with all of these young bodies, there are still the pieces in place that should ensure that we're competitive in the AFC. Any contributions those young bodies give us right off the bat are extra positives.
At the very least, I expect the WR and TE positions to be improved from last year on the offense and the ILB and secondary to be improved on the defense. The issues in the locker room should be taken care of as well with some underproducing bad apples being expelled and some guys on both sides of the ball ready to take up leadership positions (Spikes already looks like he's ready, heh). Those same locker room issues that plagued us last year look to be ready to plague you should you guys open up the season on a losing skid. Like I said before, it's not out of the realm of possibility that you open up the season 1-2 in your division with the best run blocking O-Lineman gone and your new toy in the receiving corps being suspended. It all hangs on Sanchez. In that light, you Jets fans had better hope that you're right and he does play better than in 2009. If he doesn't, you'll be in trouble right out of the gates.
