Jamie Collins!!

[JMC00]

heard rodney harrison on the radio today. He was saying the usual media narrative that pats have big match problems on defense especially with julius thomas who cant be covered by LBs as they are all slow on the pats or safeties as he is too big for them.

I guess the 4th fastest 40 time and 2nd fastest 60 yard shuttle for a LB at the combine last year is slow.


His 40 time was faster than Lavonte David's and all I've heard for the last two years is how the Pats should have taken Lavonte David and his speed was one of the biggest reasons.

 

[supafly]

I guess the 4th fastest 40 time and 2nd fastest 60 yard shuttle for a LB at the combine last year is slow.


His 40 time was faster than Lavonte David's and all I've heard for the last two years is how the Pats should have taken Lavonte David and his speed was one of the biggest reasons.

I agree with you that Rodney may be undervaluing Jamie Collins a bit, but I'd also agree with Rodney in the sense that DEN has a big advantage in their matchup with Julius Thomas.

We'll have to see if we can slow him down and manage to handle the LB/S coverage assignment, which have been a glaring weakness in the past, aside from some nice plays recently. It will be an important aspect to keep an eye on tomorrow, and I would expect DEN to try and take advantage.

 

[supafly]

collins ability to cover and blitz makes it easy to disguise blitzes. I have a feeling Bill will send collins on a blitz up the middle.

against the colts, in the 3rd quarter, when it was 2nd and 8, collins got a sack on luck in 2 seconds, 2 seconds! and collins was 10 yards away from luck before he made contact and gotten the sack, what made it even more nice was luck was in shot gun, and shot gun is known to prevent blitzes.

We will need our LBs to play tough in coverage tomorrow. Hopefully Collins continues on his good game from last week.

 

[ausbacker]

I agree with you that Rodney may be undervaluing Jamie Collins a bit, but I'd also agree with Rodney in the sense that DEN has a big advantage in their matchup with Julius Thomas.

We'll have to see if we can slow him down and manage to handle the LB/S coverage assignment, which have been a glaring weakness in the past, aside from some nice plays recently. It will be an important aspect to keep an eye on tomorrow, and I would expect DEN to try and take advantage.

Julius Thomas isn't Gronk, Jimmy Graham, Vernan Davis or Tony Gonzalez. He's a hell of a nice player but I don't see him as an all world Tight End just yet.

 

[VrabelJr]

I guess the 4th fastest 40 time and 2nd fastest 60 yard shuttle for a LB at the combine last year is slow.


His 40 time was faster than Lavonte David's and all I've heard for the last two years is how the Pats should have taken Lavonte David and his speed was one of the biggest reasons.

Lavonte David is probably my favorite non Patriot player in the NFL. He's an absolute joy to watch play and in my opinion he's already a top 5 LB in the entire game. If Collins is half as good as David we are very lucky.

 

[supafly]

Julius Thomas isn't Gronk, Jimmy Graham, Vernan Davis or Tony Gonzalez. He's a hell of a nice player but I don't see him as an all world Tight End just yet.

I don't see him as an all world TE either, but he's been one hell of a challenge for his opposition this season just the same.

Probably much more importantly, he seems to be Manning's security blanket just the same as Welker--if not even more. That aspect alone should create a heck of a challenge for us, not to mention just the sheer volume of weapons that they have at any given time, which is likely their biggest overall strength.

My concern is just the fact that we've struggled so badly in many of these matchups in the past regarding coverage LBs. Let's hope that Collins and company play lights out this afternoon.

 

[manxman2601]

I may be completely out of line and over optimistic but for the first time in a long time, I can see the Patriots becoming an elite defense in the coming years. If the Patriots can add a few more impact players and (perish the thought) retain healthy players for the duration of the season, then they're on their way to building some sort of team.

I kept thinking 40 would be a good age for Brady to retire. Now, if he's up to it and the Patriots continue to be in win every year mode, he retires when he's ready (and his play is to a high level). The emergence of the power run game could be Brady's best friend.

I can definitely see them becoming an elite defense again. They may have done it this season had it not been for the injuries.

I'm not quite sure that we'll ever be on the level of a SEA/SF, but I think we could be top 5 no problem.

As far as TFB retiring at 40, I think we've seen tons of QBs play into their early 40's such as Montana, Warner, Elway, Marino, Favre, etc; and that wasn't even during an era where the rules were designed to help protect the QBs a bit more either. Another thing to consider is that I would have to imagine that Brady may keep himself in better shape than those guys. It's obviously anyone's guess, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him here for another 4-5 yrs.

I do want to see a couple more OL players drafted this May though. May as well keep the cupboard stocked while Scarnecchia's still around. It's not like you can ever have enough OL talent. That would certainly help the cause.

I was watching Marcus Smith of Louisville yesterday and he so much reminded me of Jamie Collins. I must admit I got excited at the implications of having two Jamie Collins' on the team and how BB and Patricia could scheme around them.

 

[mayoclinic]

I was watching Marcus Smith of Louisville yesterday and he so much reminded me of Jamie Collins. I must admit I got excited at the implications of having two Jamie Collins' on the team and how BB and Patricia could scheme around them.

Assuming Talib can be re-signed, with the return of Mayo, hopefully a contribution from Armstead, and once the DT situation gets sorted out, I think we're 2 front 7 players and 1 back end player away from being a top 5 defense. And this is a loaded draft, tons of talent and tons of depth. Pick some of the following:

- Day 1 and 2: 1-2 out of Trent Murphy, Ra'Shede Hageman, Stephon Tuitt, Kyle Van Noy, Marcus Smith, Ryan Shazier, Lamarcus Joyner, Kyle Fuller, Calvin Pryor
- Day 3: 1-2 out of Aaron Lynch, Taylor Hart, DeAndre Coleman, Brent Urban, Will Clarke, Ronald Powell, Jonathan Dowling, Vinny Sunseri

We could potentially have the best secondary and best defense in the AFC, and be in the mix along with Seattle, San Francisco, Carolina, Kansas City and Arizona.

Of course, if Talib walks and we muck up the DT situation and the draft picks then we will be respectable, but not close to elite. Nothing's a given

 

[reflexblue]

meet-the-new-england-patriots-biggest-x-factor-jamie-collins

Sorry if this has already been posted. I know its from the Bleacher Report but its not written by some shmuck fan. But i'm sure some people think is a shmuck reporter I don't have any opinion on whether he is or not. Anyways I thought it was a pretty good article on Collins recent rise. But maybe i'm just a shmuck. :bricks:

Meet the New England Patriots' Biggest X-Factor: Jamie Collins | Bleacher Report

Not often does a team's first pick in the draft go unnoticed for almost the entire season, but when the New England Patriots drafted linebacker Jamie Collins in the second round in the 2013 draft, it wasn't so that he could come in and contribute immediately.

seems one of these types of players emerges for the Patriots every year in the playoffs. In 2011, it was cornerback Sterling Moore with his famous pass breakup in the end zone against the Baltimore Ravens. In 2012, it was running back Shane Vereen with a sudden outburst as a pass-catcher against the Houston Texans. This year, it's Collins.

Who is Collins, and what has led to this emergence?

 

[Betterthanmost]

Re: meet-the-new-england-patriots-biggest-x-factor-jamie-collins

He is a rookie and I hope people don't forget that today. I hope he has a good game.

 

[reflexblue]

I have plenty of patience when it comes to rookies.

However, if second day draft pick (rounds 2-3) does not make that second year leap, then I lose patience with such players as Tavon Wilson (at least he participates on special teams so it's not a total loss) and Joke Bequette.

I was in no way implying that you lacked patience. His first couple of games he was over pursuing, and theB word popped up. I give players Three years, because many times a player will suffer a sophmore jinx. Now when it comes to Bequette i keep forgetting hes even on the team. Hes not done a thing right from the get go

 

[RayClay]

heard rodney harrison on the radio today. He was saying the usual media narrative that pats have big match problems on defense especially with julius thomas who cant be covered by LBs as they are all slow on the pats or safeties as he is too big for them.
I wont be surprised if BB puts talib on J thomas and logan ryan on D thomas,forces manning to throw outside consistently to beat them and if he does it then congratulations to them.

I love Rodney, but the fact is Collins at LB has a much faster 40 time than Rodney did and by my brief observation, has pretty good coverage technique.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Collins is going to be a fantastic player here...can't wait to see him next year

 

[supafly]

Julius Thomas isn't Gronk, Jimmy Graham, Vernan Davis or Tony Gonzalez. He's a hell of a nice player but I don't see him as an all world Tight End just yet.

I think that you made a great point with this comment, Aus, but I also think that some underestimated how dangerous the matchup was. I agree that Collins is an up and comer without doubt, so he should be a major cog in the machine next season.

Julius Thomas seemed to be Manning's security blanket this season, and my concern was that he would eat us alive. Of course, once Talib went out, they all seemed to eat us alive at turns anyway. Logan Ryan and Alfonzo Dennard looked like crap today. McCourty didn't exactly set the world on fire, and Gregory continued his mediocre at best play too.

 

[Joey007]

Collins is going to be a fantastic player here...can't wait to see him next year

We finally got our LB that can do it all, and boy does he look good. I haven't been this estatic about a player on our defense in a verry long time. Well, me being the OP of this thread and all.

 

[supafly]

We finally got our LB that can do it all, and boy does he look good. I haven't been this estatic about a player on our defense in a verry long time. Well, me being the OP of this thread and all.

With health and a couple of basic moves, this defense can be very good.

The problem is that we say the same thing every year, and it seems that we continue to have injury problems, along with losing our top CB in the season's biggest game.

As a whole, I am impressed with the overall sense of rebuilding the defense on the fly since 2009 or so, and I think that continues in the draft/free agency.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

With health and a couple of basic moves, this defense can be very good.

The problem is that we say the same thing every year, and it seems that we continue to have injury problems, along with losing our top CB in the season's biggest game.

As a whole, I am impressed with the overall sense of rebuilding the defense on the fly since 2009 or so, and I think that continues in the draft/free agency.

Fix the secondary by getting a #1 Cb that can stay healthy...talib isn't the answer

 

[Joey007]

With health and a couple of basic moves, this defense can be very good.

The problem is that we say the same thing every year, and it seems that we continue to have injury problems, along with losing our top CB in the season's biggest game.

As a whole, I am impressed with the overall sense of rebuilding the defense on the fly since 2009 or so, and I think that continues in the draft/free agency.

Depth is very key. You look at Seattle's defense. I mean they have so much depth their 2nd team defense could probably be a top 10 defense. It's a big reason why they're in the Super Bowl.

 

[supafly]

Fix the secondary by getting a #1 Cb that can stay healthy...talib isn't the answer

You won't find too much debate from me...however, I still think that Talib should be retained if possible. I would not pay him more than what he made this year on a 3-4 year deal though, so if that's not good enough than the world can keep turning and we'll continue to keep trying with other options.

Some of these posters both this year and last who throw out these ridiculous 9 and 10 million dollar figures tend to scare me a bit. I know I've pounded the point home way too much, but I keep going back to the 09 deal with Bodden as what I deem as a very reasonable deal under the current CB market. That would allow us to retain him, hope for the best, and still limit us a bit in terms of gambling if he doesn't work out and stay healthy. The wildcard of course would be his opinion and how much money he's looking for.

 

[supafly]

Depth is very key. You look at Seattle's defense. I mean they have so much depth their 2nd team defense could probably be a top 10 defense. It's a big reason why they're in the Super Bowl.

They have the luxury of being able to pay their starting franchise QB and CB cheap rookie pacts at the moment. That is going to change very soon, if not this offseason.

That will bring them back down a bit in terms of how much they are able to continue going out and spending on FAs.

In the meantime, their ability to have success in the draft helps them tremendously, but I don't think they make it in 2 weeks from today vs Manning and all of those weapons. We'll see soon enough.