PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Dowling key to Pats Defense?

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Interesting tweet from Greg Bedard today:

There’s no doubt Ras-I Dowling has become one of the most talked about players on the Patriots. He was the first player selected on day two of the 2011 draft when many thought the Pats would go with the proverbial pass rusher. It looked like the Pats justified his selection when he started the first two games of the season despite missing significant time in training camp, but he was again hit with the injury bug and missed the rest of the season.

Dowling has the kind of size that the Pats lack in their secondary, and his presence on the outside would certainly open up a number of options for how they use their players. However if Dowling misses time or can’t produce it forces their hand a bit more. Kyle Arrington could not play in the slot where he seems to fit best, and they’d have even less flexibility with Devin McCourty.

Ultimately Dowling’s size, length and skill playing man-to-man make him a uniquely talented player on the Pats roster, one who would really open up a wide array of defensive possibilities in both scheme and personnel. From that perspective I agree with Bedard, he’s a big key to the defensive improvement this year. If he falters guys like Will Allen, Tavon Wilson, and Steve Gregory will really come to the forefront.

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https://www.patspropaganda.com/17653/

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A few of you have asked why the Patriots would even want Ballard, seeing that they already have two excellent tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Well, the Patriots play two tight ends on nearly every offensive snap; last year, Gronkowski and Hernandez each played more than 1,000 offensive plays. You can’t count on them to stay healthy, and New England needs a solid third tight end (and maybe a fourth) to play all the schemes in its playbook. And if New England signs Ballard for the third-year tender price of $640,000, that means it will have paid $1.17 million, total, for 2012 and 2013 to employ a good tight end in the hope he can help next season. Maybe he can’t. But the gamble seems worth it for a guy who made so many big catches for the Giants in the last two months of the season last year.

LaDainian Tomlinson second only to Marshall Faulk among modern-era RBs – Peter King – SI.com

https://www.patspropaganda.com/a-few-of-you-have-asked-why-the-patriots-would/

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Since everyone is sharing their favorite LaDanian Tomlinson memories today…

https://www.patspropaganda.com/since-everyone-is-sharing-their-favorite-ladanian/

What we learned this spring: 2012 Patriots starting to come into focus – WEEI | Christopher Price

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What we learned this spring: 2012 Patriots starting to come into focus – WEEI | Christopher Price

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.

It’s ‘backers to the future – BostonHerald.com

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It’s ‘backers to the future – BostonHerald.com

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.”