Duke Dawson

He is a forgotten man at this point but there’s a good chance that he will be one of their IR return players. He is a guy that they obviously targeted in the draft, in part due to his versatility, and they likely expected him to contribute right away.

Gilmore is obviously CB1, J McCourty surprisingly seems to be settling in as a potential answer at CB2 (the defensive version of Cassel, after looking atrocious in the preseason) and J. Jones is a solid slot CB. If D McCourty continues to struggle badly in coverage, I wonder whether they would consider Dawson as a starting option at free safety? I understand that McCourty is highly respected by both coaches and teammates and is a clubhouse leader but something has to give, unless he figures it out in coverage over the next 3 to 4 weeks.

Patsgofor4 said:

If D McCourty continues to struggle badly in coverage, I wonder whether they would consider Dawson as a starting option at free safety?

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DMac has not been playing "free safety" but all over the place for more than a season now. Maybe you should watch games. This is non sense.

Even if Dawson was ready physically to take over that role playing everywhere like DMac, he’s going to make mistakes, and probably more of them.

His upside is good in that he’s good around the ball but he’s not going to be there mentally, tackling wise, and leadership wise, not to mention Dawson has no game experience yet.

DMac made a couple mistakes last week which were driven by the coverage call, but I wouldn’t read a lot into the garbage time TD. If he continues to make those then I would worry, but Dawson probably won’t be the answer until next year at the earliest.

DMC is the captain of this D and does so many things on a consistently high level. Even if you want to put a couple of TDs on him won't change that. He's Pats Harvey Keitel - The Cleaner of others messing ups. Be glad he is on this team and never misses a snap (or a tackle). Unfortunately this year he also plays most ST snaps - plenty of snaps to make a mistake or two..

Fair to mention Dawson though. Safety is a thin position and his versatility might come handy after week 9 when he can return. Unfortunately Dawson missed a lot of time in preseason and struggled in TC so he would probably need some time to get to NFL level consistently. He would be a good addition to struggling ST unit though. It will also depend if there is space for another DB on 53 when his time comes..

(I haven't given up on David Jones as FS option eventually but hopefully is not needed in big games this year..)

luuked said:

DMac has not been playing "free safety" but all over the place for more than a season now. Maybe you should watch games. This is non sense.

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Maybe you should quit trying to defend a guy who is obviously playing poorly.

long distance said:

DMC is the captain of this D and does so many things on a consistently high level. Even if you want to put a couple of TDs on him won't change that. He's Pats Harvey Keitel - The Cleaner of others messing ups. Be glad he is on this team and never misses a snap (or a tackle). Unfortunately this year he also plays most ST snaps - plenty of snaps to make a mistake or two..

Fair to mention Dawson though. Safety is a thin position and his versatility might come handy after week 9 when he can return. Unfortunately Dawson missed a lot of time in preseason and struggled in TC so he would probably need some time to get to NFL level consistently. He would be a good addition to struggling ST unit though. It will also depend if there is space for another DB on 53 when his time comes..

(I haven't given up on David Jones as Pats FS but hopefully is not needed in big games this year..)

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The reality is if you take his pay vs. big play production, he is massively overpaid. He did strip a ball this week. Sure he gave up completions at will, but at least he did something besides touching guys when they're already down. $12 million for this guy is laughable.

The one thing about McCourty's contract is the Pats should never be accused of not paying guys again. Any time that is brought up, they should just show a picture of McCourty and say, "What are you talking about...we paid this bum $12 million a year".

When is Dawson eligible to come off IR? Is it still week 10?

iapatsfan said:

The reality is if you take his pay vs. big play production, he is massively overpaid. He did strip a ball this week. Sure he gave up completions at will, but at least he did something besides touching guys when they're already down. $12 million for this guy is laughable.

The one thing about McCourty's contract is the Pats should never be accused of not paying guys again. Any time that is brought up, they should just show a picture of McCourty and say, "What are you talking about...we paid this bum $12 million a year".

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DMC contract talk in this way makes no sense. He signed this contract in 2015 and his 2018 salary is now guaranteed. He was arguably best & most consistent Pats D player over the last 4 years. He was very good value over first 2 years of his contract (that was guaranteed) and obviously BB thinks he is worth the current part of the contract when they could move on.

It will be interesting though what they do next year when his cap goes up to 13.5M (4M dead money of the prorated signing bonus) . esp. with how the safety market plummeted and with what looks like a strong safety&hybrid draft class..

long distance said:

DMC contract talk in this way makes no sense. He signed this contract in 2015 and his 2018 salary is now guaranteed. He was arguably best & most consistent Pats D player over the last 4 years. He was very good value over first 2 years of his contract (that was guaranteed) and obviously BB thinks he is worth the current part of the contract when they could move on.

It will be interesting though what they do next year when his cap goes up to 13.5M (4M dead money of the prorated signing bonus) . esp. with how the safety market plummeted and with what looks like a strong safety&hybrid draft class..

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Is McCourty overpaid in 2018?

iapatsfan said:

Is McCourty overpaid in 2018?

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What is he doing wrong ? Please be specific. None of this "he is getting beat" ********.

Please tell us what about his technique or positioning is wrong. And then explain what he can do better. And if you dare to throw the moronic "he lost a step" narrative against the wall because the rest of your **** doesn't stick then please provide a couple of clips where you can see him being "slow".

luuked said:

What is he doing wrong ? Please be specific. None of this "he is getting beat" ********.

Please tell us what about his technique or positioning is wrong. And then explain what he can do better. And if you dare to throw the moronic "he lost a step" narrative against the wall because the rest of your **** doesn't stick then please provide a couple of clips where you can see him being "slow".

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We already know this guy hates DMac because of his activism.

luuked said:

What is he doing wrong ? Please be specific. None of this "he is getting beat" ********.

Please tell us what about his technique or positioning is wrong. And then explain what he can do better. And if you dare to throw the moronic "he lost a step" narrative against the wall because the rest of your **** doesn't stick then please provide a couple of clips where you can see him being "slow".

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No idea what his foot speed is relative to when he was drafted. He is one of the highest paid safeties in the NFL, and I have a hard time remembering the last impactful play he's made. He did strip a ball this week, so I guess that is something. In 2017 he had a grand total of 5 passes defended, and that was his best stat line of the year. He does nothing to justify his high salary, and the guy is a douche.

Dawson is backup rookie nickel back who has been injured. He is unlikely to have much influence when and if he comes back. He would probably replace Crossen and likely would be inactive. That being said, I do want him back so that he some 2018 time with the team, with the hope that he can be a contributor in 2019.

long distance said:

Fair to mention Dawson though. Safety is a thin position and his versatility might come handy after week 9 when he can return. Unfortunately Dawson missed a lot of time in preseason and struggled in TC so he would probably need some time to get to NFL level consistently. He would be a good addition to struggling ST unit though. It will also depend if there is space for another DB on 53 when his time comes..

(I haven't given up on David Jones as FS option eventually but hopefully is not needed in big games this year..)

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Elijah said:

We already know this guy hates DMac because of his activism.

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No, I dislike him as a football player because he makes $12 million / year and does nothing. I believe he is an uninformed moron because of his activism, but if he could play I'd have no problem with it.

iapatsfan said:

No idea what his foot speed is relative to when he was drafted. He is one of the highest paid safeties in the NFL, and I have a hard time remembering the last impactful play he's made. He did strip a ball this week, so I guess that is something. In 2017 he had a grand total of 5 passes defended, and that was his best stat line of the year. He does nothing to justify his high salary, and the guy is a douche.

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So nothing except he is a douche.

luuked said:

So nothing except he is a douche.

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I'm glad we can at least agree on that truism.

luuked said:

Just stop embarrassing yourself.

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If "D Mac" doesn't...why should I?

iapatsfan said:

The reality is if you take his pay vs. big play production, he is massively overpaid. He did strip a ball this week. Sure he gave up completions at will, but at least he did something besides touching guys when they're already down. $12 million for this guy is laughable.

The one thing about McCourty's contract is the Pats should never be accused of not paying guys again. Any time that is brought up, they should just show a picture of McCourty and say, "What are you talking about...we paid this bum $12 million a year".

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Devin's APY is 9.5M, not 12M.

His original cap numbers before his 2016 restructure (converted most of his 2016 salary into a signing bonus.

6M - 2015
$8M - 2016
$10M - 2017
$11M - 2018
$12.5M - 2019

What does it ($9.5M or $12M) matter?

9.5M makes Devin the 7th highest paid safety while 12M ties him for 2nd.

Miguel said:

Devin's APY is 9.5M, not 12M.

His original cap numbers before his 2016 restructure (converted most of his 2016 salary into a signing bonus.

6M - 2015
$8M - 2016
$10M - 2017
$11M - 2018
$12.5M - 2019

What does it ($9.5M or $12M) matter?

9.5M makes Devin the 7th highest paid safety while 12M ties him for 2nd.

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That is irrelevant as he is overpaid in the 2nd spot or the 7th spot. $22 million guaranteed for this guy was, and is, a joke. Where did his total guaranteed money rank him among safeties?

iapatsfan said:

and the guy is a douche.

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What specifically makes this so?