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With Will Smith looking well on the road to full health, I’m not as panicked about the defensive end spot as I was a month ago. So I’m not sure they really need Babin, especially if it were to come at the expense of Michael Buchanan’s snaps. I think Buchanan needs some snaps to develop and is probably not that far behind Babin at this point in their respective careers.

I think Flowers is more just due diligence. It’s just what the Pats do. How could they pay Flowers and where would fit? Doesn’t seem like good value for the cap space and cornerback depth they have.

Unless you’re drafting in the top 10 it’s unlikely that any player is fully ready to make the jump to the NFL. And potential is a tough term to quantify – some guys have the perfect size and speed but never amount to anything. Others are small and slow and become the greatest slot receivers in NFL history.

So I think you just have to find guys who fit the program. Specifically for the Patriots you need guys who are essentially football nerds.

But there’s also an element of it that is just the great unknown. Imagine if you were to look at all the college accounting majors across the country and asked to project who would be at the top of their field in five years. Sounds kind of ridiculous and impossible, doesn’t it? Well, I don’t think the NFL is all that different, we just have more information to analyze, but at the end of the day, projecting which guys will understand what being a professional means is very tough.

When I look at guys with Pats potential I ask myself is this the kind of player who could play at Navy? Not talent-wise obviously, but that’s where Bill Belichick was raised and I think those kind of players – disciplined, tough, able to push through adversity –  are usually the kind that together can form a great TEAM.

That’s what it’s all about ultimately. Making a great team. So whether you’re ready for the NFL right now or just seem to have a bunch of potential, you need to be the kind of teammate that everyone wants to play with, and one who will embrace their role, whatever it may be, and give everything they have.

It can really be anything. Sometimes they’ll go to the line with a “check with me” call. Other times he might audible out of a run because the line is stacked or vice versa. Or sometimes you’ll just see him nod to a certain receiver to adjust that one route.

The days of offenses just coming to the line and running whatever play was called in the huddle are over. If you think about it, what makes the most sense is having an offense that can adjust instantaneously to what the defense is doing. While it’s hard to find a quarterback and set of weapons who can all get on the same page to execute this kind of offense, once you can do it there’s no going back.