Patriots resign Marquis Flowers

[Ring 6]

Nice. Add two talented LBers from the deepest LB draft in years & all of a sudden looking solid:

Hightower
Van Noy
High draft pick
Flowers
Mid draft pick

We only use 2 LBs

 

[Tony2046]

We only use 2 LBs

Question for you Andy. Is that by design or necessity? If they had a faster LB on the roster would they prefer that.

 

[Kontradiction]

Probably was overwhelmed in the Super Bowl because the line was weak but played way beyond my expectations last year.

Not sure if he's 90% of the snaps guy but we'll see how much more upside he has.

If he’s playing 90% of the snaps, we can expect the defense to be a major weakness again.

 

[PatsFan2]

Kinda mixed on the signing hoping he's only for Dept...anything more and we're in trouble.

 

[BlueThunder]

One of the higher picks in draft could replace him by game 8 or so......if he really sucks that badly

 

[Joey007]

High draft pick on LB, and then maybe still add a vet here.

 

[BlueThunder]

High draft pick on LB, and then maybe still add a vet here.

Guess it's all a matter of $$ adding a vet

 

[mgteich]

All the special teamers are now re-signed: King, Ebner, Slater and now Flowers. Gribsby had a contract through 2018.

 

[long distance]

I don't get Kyed saying that Brandon King is on the LB depth chart. King hasn't ever lined up at LB to my knowledge. I only remember his defensive snaps being at safety. Unless he's referring to the Hybrid role that Chung plays..

He is training with LBs most of the time. He said so repeateadly. Looks like its academic though since he doesn't enter the conversation on D even when everyone is injured.. (Grigsby f.e. played over him a couple of weeks after he joined mid-season..)

 

[RobertWeathers]

If he’s playing 90% of the snaps, we can expect the defense to be a major weakness again.

I would tend to agree but the dude is incredibly athletic. I don't know what he ceiling his so I'm leaving it open.

 

[Ross12]

Very pleased to keep him in the fold. Really good depth... As @signbabybrady said, Hightower-Van Noy-Flowers as the top three would be pretty good but due to Hightower's injury history, getting another guy via a high draft pick is probably wise.

Not sleeping on Langi, though. In my ideal world, Langi would emerge this season so they can roll with HT-Van Noy-Langi-(draft pick) as their top 4 next year and would be free to let Flowers go if he commands big money.

 

[long distance]

Great news . one of the roster surprises of the year . also at the star position BB is looking to find a solution for at least 2 yrs now. Pity its not a longer term deal but Marquiz obviously betting on himself (and BB possibly still betting on Langi) . hopefully he can build on what he established last season..

Good deal as well . Mingo who didn't break the D here was signed for this money last year w Colts and is on 2y/7-10M with SEA now..

Also walks the talk of his strong Patriotic messages last month or so

 

[patfanken]

We only use 2 LBs

That may have been the case the last few years, as our base D seemed to be a 4-2, but I'm getting the feeling that they are going to play more 3-4 this year which will put more LB's on the field more often.

As to the OP. I LOVE this signing. He has the speed and length at LB the Pats look for. IIRC he was the fast LB at his year's combine. He came here as strictly a ST's player, but his development as an OLB/edge rusher seemed to go well. Hopefully, he will continue his improvement in that area.

Other LB thoughts:

I wonder why Keyed didn't put Rivers in his LB list? I'm thinking he's going to end up being more of a LB than DE on this level (unless he's added 20lbs of muscle this offseason).

We have 2 picks (31 and 43 IIRC) that fall in a talent pool that will bring us a player with about the same rating. I'm hoping for some combination of DE and LB from that spot. I don't care who comes first.

Right now the player I think that would be ideal is that of the mega fast LB/S hybrid, who can play in the middle of the field. To that end, I would LOVE to see the Pats pick up Shaqueem Griffin. Great story, but this kid is as good a football player as the story. I'd love him to be a Patriot.

 

[Jimke]

All the special teamers are now re-signed: King, Ebner, Slater and now Flowers. Gribsby had a contract through 2018.

The only one they missed out on was Bademosi.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Wont pass Steelers

Then dial-up their buddies the Saints at 27 in advance of the draft. See if they would be amenable to dropping down to 31 and sending us their 4th (127) in exchange for the Pats 3rd (95). That's how they got Hightower to begin with; jumping ahead of Houston, Green Bay, and Baltimore who all played a 3-4 and could have been potential landing spots.

 

[Ring 6]

Question for you Andy. Is that by design or necessity? If they had a faster LB on the roster would they prefer that.

We are a nickel base. We have built the team that way.

 

[Ring 6]

That may have been the case the last few years, as our base D seemed to be a 4-2, but I'm getting the feeling that they are going to play more 3-4 this year which will put more LB's on the field more often.

As to the OP. I LOVE this signing. He has the speed and length at LB the Pats look for. IIRC he was the fast LB at his year's combine. He came here as strictly a ST's player, but his development as an OLB/edge rusher seemed to go well. Hopefully, he will continue his improvement in that area.


.

I disagree. We have moved to nickel base more heavily each year and the amount of passing isn’t decreasing.
I can’t see how it why we would revert to a 34, and we haven’t been bringing in personell for that.

 

[DW Toys]

Nice. They have been quietly shoring up their weaknesses while maintaining cap discipline. Good re-sign.

They are still very slim at LB with Hightower, and Langi injuries and King and Grigsby as "who are they" type ST guys. Roberts regressing in 2017.

Two LB players to watch:
Chickillo of the Steelers RFA for a 6th rounder. Back to the Steeler/NE/ RFA game.

Ramik Wilson ILB FA (Chiefs) 6'2" 237.
A productive, flashy three-year starter at linebacker, Ramik Wilson was the leader of the Georgia defense. He’s an in-the-box linebacker with the speed to run downhill and close down rushing lanes, and he’ll give some power to his tackles too. He was highly productive and highly consistent as a tackler over the last three years and is one of the best, more accurate hitters in the entire draft class.

Something happened in K.C. Wrong fit? In 2016 had 75 Tackles.
Both under the Radar
DW Toys

 

[patsfaninpa]

Question for you Andy. Is that by design or necessity? If they had a faster LB on the roster would they prefer that.

Zackly. Instead of that junk defense we threw out there against KC and Philly. How bout a front of; Guy/Shelton,M. Brown, T. Flowers with 4 lb's? Hightower, Van Noy, M. Flowers and our 1st rounder. LB's could blow up those shallow crossings by leveling the receivers. Like Hightower does. And, would be stouter vs run than 6 db's.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I heard he and Lewis were the only ones to ever catch the laser. True?

Coach Bill tells me to keep the results of my training "in house". It is a "coaches' decision". As you know he “ don’t Twitter, don’t MyFace, don’t Yearbook.”
He partially gave it away when he said “Well, umm…he’s a good player. We have a lot of good players.” I called him back and he told me “You Sure That’s the Question You Want to Ask?” Just for you Tony2046 I asked him a third time and he said “Do your job.” Sorry I cannot be more help.