Patriots Rumor All quiet on Hightower front or Dont'a-do-it FA tour

[Ring 6]

If that's all he does, how did he get 11 TFLs?

In that defense with all the blitzing they do that's not a big deal. It's 11 plays. How about the 460 other running plays that they sucked on?
Are you really telling me 11 good plays makes a good LB?
Did you watch him play?

 

[Marqui]

In that defense with all the blitzing they do that's not a big deal. It's 11 plays. How about the 460 other running plays that they sucked on?
Are you really telling me 11 good plays makes a good LB?
Did you watch him play?

I don't know, I didn't watch a lot Bills games. And I'm not really convinced you watched all of his 460 plays to know either.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't know, I didn't watch a lot Bills games. And I'm not really convinced you watched all of his 460 plays to know either.

No I didn't watch all 460 but you don't need to in order to see a guy who can't get off blocks, is awful at the point of attack and can only make plays when the scheme frees him up.

 

[Marqui]

No I didn't watch all 460 but you don't need to in order to see a guy who can't get off blocks, is awful at the point of attack and can only make plays when the scheme frees him up.

So scheme for Brown's strengh then, that's the point of having a great coach. They schemed for Hightower, he didn't play a traditional ILB role here. You're not going to have perfect players at every position.

 

[Ring 6]

So scheme for Brown's strengh then, that's the point of having a great coach. They schemed for Hightower, he didn't play a traditional cover LB role here.

No you don't go get crappy players so you can hide them with a scheme.
Beingvyhe guy who gets free up by the scheme isn't a strength. Having your run d suck when you are the guy freed up by the scheme says you suck.
Hightower did everything a LB does here. He was never schemed around. Not even close.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

You cannot judge lbers by tackle statistics.

Yes you can but that tells me that high wasn't as quick to the ball. High wants to earn kuechly money but i feel he's not worth that.

 

[Gronkowski123]

just sign him already Bill!!!!

 

[Ring 6]

Yes you can but that tells me that high wasn't as quick to the ball. High wants to earn kuechly money but i feel he's not worth that.

Nah. It doesn't say that.
First of all these days lbers make a lot of tackles by allowing pass completions. Secondly the guy you choose to run at is the guy who makes the most tackles. Third all LBers do not have the same role.
Fourth total tackle numbers don't tell you if they are made after a 1 yard gain or a 12 yard gain.
The fact that the patriots were about the best run d in the NFL and the bills about the worst says ten times more than who got credited with how many tackles.

 

[supafly]

How can the Steelers still be the wildcard? I read earlier that they were pulling their offer off the table if Hightower left without signing.

The offer wasn't going to be taken away if he left their South Side facility, it was going to be taken away if he left town.

Until we get confirmation that HT has left Pittsburgh, I'm going to assume that he's watching TV at the hotel. All we've gotten so far is confirmation that he left the facility today around dinner time.

 

[Tunescribe]

Reiss is a saint for responding to these clowns. He must have better things to do.

It's part of his job.

 

[Uptown]

If you like LBers who get run at and make tackles 5-7 yards doemfid he is your man.

I get your point, however, "sucking" usually means "not being capable of playing in the NFL." Those stats tell me otherwise. Now if you want to say "overrated" cool, but 150 tackles, 4 sacks & 1 INT doesn't reside in the "sucking" part of the dictionary.

 

[pdangle]

At this point you have to believe it's not about AAV. My guess, is NE doesn't want to get stuck with another Mayo situation and HT is hoping NE or another team gives him that extra year or similar guaranteed money. I think this is why Bennett signed with GB too, the third year. 3 guaranteed yrs at 7 much better than 2yr at 8M or even 9M, and maybe 1 more but doubtful. if your gonna just get cut.

 

[luuked]

if its 2 Million, give it to him. The guys worth it, its only 2 million its hardly like 16 mil a year etc.. so if its only 2 mill lets just go and sort the deal. Guy is worth it. HE IS THE CORE of the defence like Brady is our core of the Offensive

Guess you were not here for the big Brady contract cluster**** in 2005 when there was open fighting for a while about 4m. For Brady.

 

[BradyFTW!]

So scheme for Brown's strengh then, that's the point of having a great coach. They schemed for Hightower, he didn't play a traditional ILB role here. You're not going to have perfect players at every position.

Nobody claimed Hightower is perfect. What he is is a whole hell of a lot better than Zach Brown.

 

[luuked]

Did you stop to think that the Patriots are FINE with waiting however long it takes because they plan on adding a LB in the draft?

No player the Patriots can draft this year even if they get #32 back will be ready to play even close to HT. Except for the rare blue chip player, it takes 1-2 years for most college LB to get competent in coverage. So, while drafting a LB is a good idea I don't think HT and the draft are as close connected as you think.

 

[slash83]

Damn Jones, Collins, Butler and HT all going to be gone lol. Who would of thought...

 

[JetFan79]

No I didn't watch all 460 but you don't need to in order to see a guy who can't get off blocks, is awful at the point of attack and can only make plays when the scheme frees him up.

If the Jets sign Hightower and in turn release Harris, that might be NE's best option to fill a bridge leadership/bruiser role until something longer-term can be figured out.

Though seeing Harris in NE would really sting. Much more than Revis did.

 

[Huckleberry1]

If the jets were serious about wanting Hightower they would have announced it during the playoffs and offered him a deal Super Bowl Week. That's always when they have the most free time.

 

[supafly]

No player the Patriots can draft this year even if they get #32 back will be ready to play even close to HT. Except for the rare blue chip player, it takes 1-2 years for most college LB to get competent in coverage. So, while drafting a LB is a good idea I don't think HT and the draft are as close connected as you think.

As a matter of fact, IIRC, Hightower himself didn't exactly get off to the hottest start, and there was genuine concern about him being overhyped and playing poorly. I could be wrong, but I think it may have taken him awhile to get acclimated, maybe right around your 1-2 yr timeframe.

 

[supafly]

Damn Jones, Collins, Butler and HT all going to be gone lol. Who would of thought...

I don't think any of us could've predicted that, although in hindsight, the odds of having all 4 leave would have been much better than the odds of having all 4 stay, like some of our more optimistic posters had predicted.

Personally, I had hoped to keep 2/4. I felt as though that was reasonable with the amount of cap space available this year.