You make a statement like that without seeing what castoffs like Fernando Bryant,Tank Williams,Victor Hobson will do in this system - obviously they were not that great on thier previous teams or they would still be there and especially since none of those guys were big money contracts, so if you are so certain these guys will become MUCH better players than I want to know how - just because the team has shown it can do well with SOME castoffs does not mean it will do just as good with these guys - you remember Dwayne Starks,Monty Beisel,Chad Brown ect? - What makes you think these new guys from previous teams (who were not that good to let players go if they were solid contributors) are going to resurrect thier careers here?
This teams FO has shown it can screw up with FA and off the street JAG signings just as much as it can pick up a useful player -its 50-50 chance right now that they turn out to be better than advertized.
Have you seen these guys in pads to say the defense will be better?
Have you seen ANY rookies in pads to say they will become immediate contributors and if they do contribute, will they be good and will they fit in this complicated defensive system?
Stop living in the past - this is the 2008 Patriots who have not even started training camp yet and here you are stating the defense is improved? - how do you know this O' Swami?
How about waiting till we see some action from the new defensive guys before we make such stupid statements like you have above that the defense is going to be better than last year - Unless you are God you have not a clue - By week 1 we should have a LITTLE better idea if this team's defense will have improved or regressed. - Other then that, right now you are dreaming up some BS without anything to base it on.
OH By the way - Chad Jackson's career is still being decided by jury,so the offense should be pretty good this year, but Chad needs to get some balls which is what it takes to be a good pro.
Fernando Bryant, Victor Hobson & Tank Williams have all - when healthy - been career starters. Monty Beisel was a ST demon, Chad Brown as asked to play out of position. Duane Starks is the only failure which can really be blamed on the FO, and he was playing through injuries, which was part of the problem.
Basically, you're looking at two holes right now: ILB and CB. The Patriots have Hobson, Mayo, potentially Junior Seau, Adalius Thomas or Vrabel [moving inside and Crable/Woods moving outside] as potential options at ILB. They have Bryant, L. Sanders, Webster, Meriweather [moving to CB], Wheatley & Wilhite as potential options on CB.
Multiple scenarios within those options present clear upgrades over last season (ie, Hobson playing well at SILB, Mayo playing well at WILB, allowing AD to stay outside, Bryant doing what he's done throughout his career [starting and playing fairly well], Meriweather playing more at FS), etc. The only scenario in which this team's defense does not at least match its performance of last year is if NONE of those scenarios pan out. Which could happen, but I'd rather bank on the side of not being a negative nancy and assume that the chips will fall in such a way that the Patriots' moves this offseason will achieve a faster, deeper, and more productive defense than in 07.
There's a lot more ifs in your scenario than in mine. I'm just banking on 2 of the new players playing well enough to allow the rest of the playmakers on this defense to play in the positions which they will achieve the most success in. You're banking on literally every player we acquired this offseason sucking.
That said, we almost lost several games last year and probably will lose one or two this year (that's if we stay healthy; a real bad injury or two to a key player could, of course, make us lose more).
