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Patriots release Mark Harrison, Sign LB James Anderson

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Pats added some much-needed linebacker depth today signing former Bear James Anderson. To make room they released WR Mark Harrison. Disappointed to see Harrison go, he had some great measurables but it once again proves that great size and speed don’t make for a great football player.

Anderson started all 16 games for the Bears last season, with four sacks and 85 tackles. At 6’3", 220 pounds he’s a little smaller than the Pats traditionally go at linebacker, but he has solid numbers in coverage and that’s likely where he’ll contribute most. 

He and Steve Beauharnais should go head-to-head to be the fourth linebacker on the field, with Anderson being a slight favorite unless it’s at mike. Anderson played some strong-side linebacker as well, but he’s probably too small for that in the Pats’ system.

Between Mark Anderson and James Harrison, this move is really quite confusing at the moment.

Here’s your updated depth chart:

For a team that has played with the lead for the past few years, why has the pass rush been so average (at best)

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It’s a good question because you could say that “well, they had 48 sacks in 2013, the most in five years and 11 more than they had in 2012.”

But if you’ve watched the games you know the pressure has not been good enough, especially in the biggest moments. Of course the AFCCG stands out, but given Peyton’s release, the air in Mile High and the depleted defensive line rotation for the Pats, it’s easy to see why the Pats might’ve struggled in that one.

I come back to one of the recurring themes here on the blog since it started in 2010 – the lack of interior rush. In 2011 and 2013, the pass rush from the defensive ends was good. In ‘11, we had Nink and Andre Carter with Mark Anderson coming in as the DPR. For most of the season, it was as good a pass rush as we’ve seen since 2007.

Last year, they were forced to use more 1-gap principals with their defensive tackles because they just weren’t big or strong enough to consistently 2-gap. So we saw some better interior rush from Chris Jones and sometime Chandler when he slid inside.

But overall in 2013 it was a mish mosh and nowhere near consistent enough. Chandler could be a super star if teams can’t pay so much attention to him.

Enter Dominique Easley, i.e. everything I’ve been clamoring for since 2010. He’s a disruptive interior force who explodes off of the ball. In theory, that kind of player will not only bring pass rush himself, but take attention away from the other pass rushers.

I really think that with Easley in the fold, along with a hopefully healthy Will Smith, a progressed Michael Buchanan and Nink/Chandler that we’ll finally have the consistent pass rush we need.