TE's next
Maybe I am waaaaay off base here, but I have the feeling that Belichek is applying his evil genious to the TE position now.
First, LB/DL then DB's and now the offensive side of the ball, logical starting point.. TE. Much like LB they have the potential to keep the other team guessing. Never know where they might line up or how many and lets put 'em in motion for the hell of it... then which ones are blocking and which ones are running routes.. and what kind of routes.. flairs, screens, posts, flys. We are stock piling TE's that can do all these things at least pretty well.. Apply the concept to team approach and you need to carry less WR's and can support the OL more and have specialized players on the OL ( O'Callaghan = Traylor) and open up the running game all at the same time.
For this exercise I really believe BB is also combining FB/TE into one position for depth purposes and maybe even RB/FB/TE to take the guessing game a step further.. where will Dillon/Maroney/Faulk/Thomas/Mills/Watson/Graham all line up.. then who goes in motion and to where and who is covering who, and oh by the way don't screw up and let Branch/Jackson or even Watson (still can't believe his speed) blow by you down the sideline while you try and figure it out.
Think about having a depth chart for a position that reads like this:
Dillon - Watson - Graham - Maroney - Thomas - Faulk - Mills
The Patriots have been perfecting the screen pass in all it's forms year after year... in this concept the screen pass is equivalent to a toss running play. Yeah, it messes up the stats, but it accomplishes the same thing, with potential for a bigger payoff when you have "WR's" like watson/graham/caldwell (who we may have picked up for his blocking skill?)blocking for you. Oh, and all those "flexible"(read as somewhat undersized) OL guys we have been stockpiling all have a field day pulling and getting out in space to level DB's. While we now have the ability to pick up some specialists like O'callaghan for Roadgrader duty.
Okay, now tell me how crazy am I?