What happened to Jermaine Cunningham

[condon84]

The guy was just not good enough to get major playing time over who we had last year. If you are a good player, BB will find ways for you to help the team. BB has proven than time and again. He got plenty of opportunity his rookie year, but unfortunately he wasn't good enough and him not playing much at all last year was as clear as reflection of the situation as it could be. Maybe he will surprise next year...

 

[SeymourTrophies]

I'm willing to give Cunningham another chance because of how many unusual factors which won't be in play this year led to his demise in 2011. To those saying JC hasn't shown anything, congratulations on making it through the first year of your Pats fandom. Pierre Woods and Shawn Crable never showed half of the potential JC showed in 2010. There is a cutup of Matt Flynn's first start (against us) which shows JC playing, and he sets the edge well, and when they don't run stunts and push him inside on a bull rush, he pressures the QB pretty well.

 

[BBass]

I am of the opinion that BB basically redshirt Cunningham, M Carter and Ron Brace last season because he sees them as fits in his 3-4 defense and felt between there injuries and lack of off season they would struggle and it would deeply impact there development and confidence.

I find it hard to believe he is just giving up on them after seeing solid play out of both of them in 2010.

I truly believe both Cunningham and Brace will be dynamic players for us in 2012.

Base 3-4
LDE - Deadrick
NT - Brace
RDT - Wilfolk
RE/OLB - Jones
WILB - Mayo
SILB - Spikes
LOLB - Hightower
LCB - Mccourty
RCB - Dowling
FS - Wilson
SS - Chung

Base 4-3
LDE - Bequette
DT - Love
NT - Wilfolk
RE - Jones
ROLB - Mayo
MILB - Spikes
LOLB - Hightower
LCB - Mccourty
RCB - Dowling
FS - Wilson
SS - Chung

And then you will see a lot of Fanaene, Cunningham, Ninckovich, M Carter, Pryor and Scott in different 1-5, 2-4 and 3-3 sub packages which I'd expect us to spend 60% of our time in.

 

[Hudson Pats Fan]

I am of the opinion that BB basically redshirt Cunningham, M Carter and Ron Brace last season because he sees them as fits in his 3-4 defense and felt between there injuries and lack of off season they would struggle and it would deeply impact there development and confidence.

I find it hard to believe he is just giving up on them after seeing solid play out of both of them in 2010.

I truly believe both Cunningham and Brace will be dynamic players for us in 2012.

Base 3-4
LDE - Deadrick
NT - Brace
RDT - Wilfolk
RE/OLB - Jones
WILB - Mayo
SILB - Spikes
LOLB - Hightower
LCB - Mccourty
RCB - Dowling
FS - Wilson
SS - Chung

Base 4-3
LDE - Bequette
DT - Love
NT - Wilfolk
RE - Jones
ROLB - Mayo
MILB - Spikes
LOLB - Hightower
LCB - Mccourty
RCB - Dowling
FS - Wilson
SS - Chung

And then you will see a lot of Fanaene, Cunningham, Ninckovich, M Carter, Pryor and Scott in different 1-5, 2-4 and 3-3 sub packages which I'd expect us to spend 60% of our time in.

I like your breakdown here. My only change up here would be to put Love as the NT in the 3-4 as well. I think he proved really stout last year when they would kick Vince out to end.

 

[ay-yo]

Cunningham's biggest problem is he excels at setting the edge in a league where most (all?) teams pass more than they run. After the draft it's pretty clear that Cunningham is in a battle to make the roster. I really don't see him getting PT unless injuries hit.

4-3: Nink (LB) and Jones (RDE)
3-4: Nink (OLB) and Jones (OLB)
nickle 6: Nink, Jones, Bequette, Hightower, Mayo, 1 fatty

 

[BradyFTW!]

What happened is a) he didn't really fit in the defense that we were running last season and b) he probably wasn't very good. 2nd round picks are a 50/50 proposition even for teams that draft well like the Patriots, and it looks like he may be the wrong 50%. Not a huge deal, the world will keep on turning either way. Still not ruling him out entirely, but looking at this most recent draft class, it's hard to conclude that Belichick has a lot of confidence in him.

 

[BBass]

Cunningham's biggest problem is he excels at setting the edge in a league where most (all?) teams pass more than they run. After the draft it's pretty clear that Cunningham is in a battle to make the roster. I really don't see him getting PT unless injuries hit.

4-3: Nink (LB) and Jones (RDE)
3-4: Nink (OLB) and Jones (OLB)
nickle 6: Nink, Jones, Bequette, Hightower, Mayo, 1 fatty

I get the impression your a Nink fan?! I personally see him used more in passing situation and sub packages to rush the passer. He is an excellent player but Hightower, Mayo and Spikes could be Beastly. Expecially because they can rotate and come from interchangable positions all at once.

A fresher Nink coming off the left side as a situational LE could be just as good as Mark Anderson. I also think he will sub in for Spikes a lot and have Hightower and Mayo rotate in because Spikes lacks in coverage situations.