Archives for June 18, 2012

Interesting stuff here, but the one I’m most excited about:

Dont’a Hightower will be the first rookie to make a real impact. This is not to say there weren’t positive moments for the rest of the rookie class, particularly Jake Bequette and Chandler Jones. But Hightower flashed fairly consistently over the course of the spring, working at multiple positions and looking very secure while doing so. It’s early, but our bet is that the linebacker out of Alabama will be the most impactful Patriots rookie in 2012.

The defensive rebuild has been one of the biggest motivating factors for this blog, and one of the most surprising observations since 2007 has been how few picks have gone to linebackers compared to how many have gone to DBs. It looks like the tide finally turned in 2012’s draft with the addition of three potential linebacker-types in Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower and Jake Bequette.

Of course comparing defensive personnel is a little different these days than it was back in the Super Bol dynasty years. But the most important thing is those teams feature a core of defenders who played together for many years.

“Hightower, you don’t know yet what he is, or how they’re going to use him,” Millen said in a recent phone interview with the Herald. “It’s still Christmas (morning) up there for them. They’re still unwrapping the package to see what their new toy does. They’ll figure that out and Bill will figure that out as it goes. And you also have Chandler Jones, and seeing how to use him, and that kind of figures into it, too.”