Bedard: Patriots down on Winovich, Jennings

[Sciz]

The "peeking inside" issue is something that plenty of new defenders have gone through, with third year Chandler Jones and second year Jamie Collins early in the 2014 season coming to mind. The solution that season was to get Wilfork back to form and add Alan Branch so the middle was under control without outside defenders feeling like they had to go make the play themselves.

 

[Patjew]

Watching a team unable to set the edge on D is so frustrating. 2002 and 2020 .

 

[Hyped]

Jennings? The kid was a rookie in a pandemic season with no OTAs, TC, and also missed games. We brought him in to be a big linebacker....it is what it is.

Wino? I saw some good from him this year...but yeah a bit inconsistent. As for the "mouth" part....who cares? The Pats have had "out spoken" players in the past with no issues.

 

[DaBruinz]

Watching a team unable to set the edge on D is so frustrating. 2002 and 2020 .

Setting the edge wasn't the issue with the 2002 Defense. The issue was not having anyone to play NT. They had players who could set the edge just fine. Setting the edge doesn't help you if your middle collapses because the guys there can't hold up to the POA.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Setting the edge wasn't the issue with the 2002 Defense. The issue was not having anyone to play NT. They had players who could set the edge just fine. Setting the edge doesn't help you if your middle collapses because the guys there can't hold up to the POA.

Yep. Steve martin sucked and guys like Bobby Hamilton, Rick Lyle and Anthony Pleasent were playing on the inside.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Jennings? The kid was a rookie in a pandemic season with no OTAs, TC, and also missed games. We brought him in to be a big linebacker....it is what it is.

Wino? I saw some good from him this year...but yeah a bit inconsistent. As for the "mouth" part....who cares? The Pats have had "out spoken" players in the past with no issues.

Bedard has nothing better to do.

 

[DaBruinz]

Yep. Steve martin sucked and guys like Bobby Hamilton, Rick Lyle and Anthony Pleasent were playing on the inside.

They even tried Seymour on the Nose and it wasn't a pretty site. It's why they went out and got Mt. Washington in 2003, "Tractor" Traylor in 2004 and Drafted Wilfork. It's why they had Alan Branch and Danny Shelton in recent years. And it's why they signed Beau Allen this off-season and then Carl Davis mid-season when Allen was IRed indefinitely.

We can only hope that the Pats can sign/draft someone to become that NT because Cowart is clearly better as an UT.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

First of all, Greg Beddard is a clown who has no credibility so the article is already suspect. Beddard was a moron trying to claim last year Brady looking over to the sidelines in practice meant he was being muzzled from coaching receivers or giving feedback. Total BS that he made up like a gossip-monger.

In terms of Winovich, I think it's been more than a couple times that he's missed his call to get on the field for special teams or a defensive package. So for some reason his alertness during games needs to improve. I thought some data said he was good at setting the edge but with my own eyes I see big runs given up where he didn't set the edge. So who knows if he's good against the run or not.

For Jennings, Saban said he was his favorite player, so I wonder if this diminishes Saban's voice with Belichick. Jennings hasn't seemed way out of position to me, but it could be that he's a little slow in terms of game speed.

 

[Double TE]

Chase can play. Jennings...eh...slow and awkward. Uche looks like he can play too.

 

[Patjew]

Setting the edge wasn't the issue with the 2002 Defense. The issue was not having anyone to play NT. They had players who could set the edge just fine. Setting the edge doesn't help you if your middle collapses because the guys there can't hold up to the POA.

OK. I seem to remember a couple of games where guys were running crazy on the outside, like the KC and Miami games, but I knew even less about football then than I do now.

Steve Martin did suck.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

Especially the part about Jennings is ridiculous. He is a rookie who was pushed into the lineup trying to play ILB while missing guidance from any kind of vet in that group as they had moved on or opted out. The comparison to Hall is not particularly useful because Terez had imho a much easier job being mostly a run thumper (i.e. think Elandon Roberts). Those players have it easier to flash when they guess the right gap and jump in there like a guided missile.

I first saw some anti-Jennings stuff in the Breer piece from last week, where he wrote:

Harry has 397 yards over two years and doesn’t seem like a lock to make the team next year. And he’s just one example. Another is 2020 third-rounder Anfernee Jennings, a limited linebacker who Nick Saban called his “favorite player” to some teams. He, predictably, was overdrafted by Belichick.

So, there's a bit of stuff coming out about him now. I'll happily reserve judgment, but this makes me feel like it's better to be cautious about his potential rather than optimistic.

 

[holyredeemer]

If true about Wino, trade him this offseason. Having him not be a full 3 down player on our defense is a let down, but not a big deal. Having great sub rushers is important. If his mouth is a problem though, and he isn’t doing great things for the locker room, trade him. He would have to net us at least a low 2nd, definitely a 3rd. Would be a lot better for everyone involved if he left vs riding bench.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Bedards been wrong before

 

[luuked]

I first saw some anti-Jennings stuff in the Breer piece from last week, where he wrote:




So, there's a bit of stuff coming out about him now. I'll happily reserve judgment, but this makes me feel like it's better to be cautious about his potential rather than optimistic.

And yet BB goes back to the Saban well regularly. If anything the close relationship with him gave BB a true evaluation of Jennings' skillset and deficiencies.

But obviously you are right that there is nothing wrong with being cautious about it all. It is just the jaded "overdrafted", "bust", "seems clueless" conversation that doesn't seem to make much sense to when talking about a rookie ILB who had no offseason and only a limited preseason to help with his transition into a pro defense and then got pushed into a unit where the most veteran player was Bentley.

I imagine if it wasn't for COVID he would have spend countless hours learning on the field and film room from Hightower. Instead he might have gotten a couple zoom calls..

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Bedards been wrong before

That's his standard state. He is a straight up clown and has zero credibility. A slightly less worse version of the gossip-mongering hacks over at 98.5.

.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Chase can play. Jennings...eh...slow and awkward. Uche looks like he can play too.

What if Jennings can play edge? Saban is usually decent on player evals. What if we played Jennings wrong in space. He seems strong and should take over whatever John Simon used to do. This could be like when Dean Pees misplayed Patrick Chung as a free safety instead of as an elite strong safety. I haven't seen anything to tell me Jennings couldn't be a decent edge player right on the line of scrimmage.

 

[Nikolai]

What if Jennings can play edge? Saban is usually decent on player evals. What if we played Jennings wrong in space. He seems strong and should take over whatever John Simon used to do. This could be like when Dean Pees misplayed Patrick Chung as a free safety instead of as an elite strong safety. I haven't seen anything to tell me Jennings couldn't be a decent edge player right on the line of scrimmage.

This is actually where I thought Jennings could be best suited. Seems to have the tools and skillset for it.

As for Chase, if he can clear up some of the mental mistakes and set the edge better, he's got a future. Bedard is just more noise...hard to believe him.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

What if Jennings can play edge? Saban is usually decent on player evals. What if we played Jennings wrong in space. He seems strong and should take over whatever John Simon used to do. This could be like when Dean Pees misplayed Patrick Chung as a free safety instead of as an elite strong safety. I haven't seen anything to tell me Jennings couldn't be a decent edge player right on the line of scrimmage.

That's interesting - Jennings and Simon are both allegedly the same size - 6'2" and 260 lb.

 

[JMC00]

And yet BB goes back to the Saban well regularly. If anything the close relationship with him gave BB a true evaluation of Jennings' skillset and deficiencies.

But obviously you are right that there is nothing wrong with being cautious about it all. It is just the jaded "overdrafted", "bust", "seems clueless" conversation that doesn't seem to make much sense to when talking about a rookie ILB who had no offseason and only a limited preseason to help with his transition into a pro defense and then got pushed into a unit where the most veteran player was Bentley.

I imagine if it wasn't for COVID he would have spend countless hours learning on the field and film room from Hightower. Instead he might have gotten a couple zoom calls..

Reminder there was people in the media that were calling Hightower a bust during his first 2 years and took the same potshots about the Belichick/Saban thing.

Then there was Jamie Collins who saw almost no playing time until after the mid-point of his first season and people were taking shots about how Bill moved out of the first and the guy they traded down and got couldn't even get on the field. Even though it was pretty clear Belichick only traded out of the 1st because Hopkins went off the board and Vikings overpaid to move up to get Patterson.

Not saying Jennings will ever be on their level of play but this media taking shots at Bill over first year LBs is not new.

 

[DaBruinz]

OK. I seem to remember a couple of games where guys were running crazy on the outside, like the KC and Miami games, but I knew even less about football then than I do now.

Steve Martin did suck.

You know you have to SUCK when you get mentioned in a book as being more politician than Football player and cut during mid-season after being a highly touted Free Agent signing.