dhamz said:
We've certainly invested a lot in it (2nd round on Hill, Green has a big contract for a reserve) but I'm not really sure if it is yes or no.
The starting trio is as good as it gets. Green is a solid back-up. 1-4 is very good.
After that? Who knows. Hill has done anything. He certainly has more talented guys in front of him limiting his opportunities but he also had trouble trouble making the actives when Seymour was hurt and the Dline was struggling. NT is a worry if Wilfork were to get hurt. Wright is a JAG, Sullivan who knows?
Hopefully we won't have to find out.
Its really a classic question of do you want depth that is young and talented but unproven, or old, medicore, but more reliable.
My gut instinct is reliable is better than upside as far as depth for today. (Of course looking to the future its clearly the other way)
But lets look at the Patriots history under BB.
In 2001, we mixed both. Seymour was the youth, Mitchell was the unproven, Pleasant, Hamilton were the mediocre reliable veterans. It worked, then in 2002 it failed badlyt, especially with the addition of mediocre but experienced Steve Martin.
Since then BB has tried both routes. Warren, Wilfork, Green all started as untested depth and moved into solid players, better than anyone we could have found in the veteran mediocrity category. Klecko didnt pan out. Wright and Hill are to be determined, along with potentially Thomas and Smith.
Traylor in my opinion was awful, a good example of a guy who once was good, and had very little left (plus didnt fit the system) Lyle added nothing. Rodney Bailey was brought in as an experienced reliable guy and was cut to keep an undrafted FA (Wright).
Now we have a mix of these type of guys as depth.
Green is a strong backup who emerged from being an untested youngster.
Sullivan is the veteran, although I dont know if reliable exactly fits him. But he is a 'name guy' or a 'pedigree guy'.
Wright is the faceless unknown who stepped in last year and did OK.
Hill is the young guy with potential.
I think that unless we wanted to devote a foolish amount of cap space in order to have backups who have been starters in the NFL, we couldn't really be in better shape on the DL.
I am not at all convinced that a second coming of the Baileys, Traylors, or Lyles of the world would be any better than Marquise Hill and Mike Wright.
I think BB has shown over the last 3 years that he places a MUCH higher value on DL than he ever has before. In his days with the Giants, Browns, and Jets, he typically chose to fill his 2gap DL spots with mediocre players who were solid unspectacular 2gap run defenders, and he could find them cheaply. BB prior to 2003 never did anythign to suggest he would end with an OL that was made up of 3 of his first round picks in a 4 year period.
5 years ago, I may have thought BB undervalued the DL and was less concerned about depth there than elsewhere, but it is very clear to me he has changed his thought process toward DL and sees it a very critical part of his team. That leads me to believe that if he was uncomfortable with his current DL depth he would not have hesitated to draft it on day 1, would not have hesitated to pursue it in Free Agency and would have done a lot more than taking a flyer on Sullivan.
We are so far removed from being able to assess backup players. 95% of that assessment comes from how they practice and how they approach their job----work ethic, dedication, ability to learn, etc-----that I put a lot of weight on basing my comfort level with our depth on watching BBs actions which would indicate the importance of the position as well as his comfort level with what he has. He pursues areas of great concern with urgency, and when he ignores an area that he typically has shown by actions to be important to him, we usually find the guy we dont know too much about is better than we were guessing.
Of course, all of this assumes players available and cap space there to sign them with.
Given the cap space we have and the lack of glaring draft needs, plus a FA market that had players at every position who are capable, I would say the 2005-2006 off-season is an excellent gauge of BBs actions showing what he thinks he has got. He has been able--far more than ever before--to address whatever he felt necessary. That is far different from say the LB spot a year ago, where no one was available and we didnt have the cap room if they were.
I guess its sort of an in BB we trust, but its backed up by seeing the history of how he builds a roster, and knowing that he has been making decisions from a postion of strength (cap wise) rather than a position of weakness, ie having more needs than cap space.
