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Bill Belichick, Vince Wilfork, and the New England Patriots defense – Grantland

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Bill Belichick, Vince Wilfork, and the New England Patriots defense – Grantland

In case you missed this article from Chris Brown it’s a dandy. The scary thing to think about though is how reliant the Patriots seem on Wilfork to give them their scheme versatility. I don’t want to ever have to see what they’d do without him anchoring the middle, but it certainly makes you wonder what they’d have to throw together. Hopefully that’s a question for after his retirement.

By combining these techniques into one defense, Belichick achieves what seems most important to him these days — versatility. He’s able to plug different guys into different spots while knowing he has Wilfork anchoring the middle. As NFL offenses have become more and more spread, Belichick’s defenses have become more versatile. With one or two players 2-gapping on a given play, the outside linebackers in particular are free to blitz, drop into coverage, and attack running backs all over the field. Belichick rarely lets his scheme turn into a true 4-3; more often, he’ll use the same assignments for each defender but use 3-4 personnel. The variations are endless. And it all works because Wilfork is in the middle, dominating his gaps and putting his blocker on skates.

20 things we learned from Patriots OTAs & Mini-Camp

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After pouring over all the reports from mini-camp and OTAs we’ve compiled a list of the things we know now that we didn’t know just a couple months ago. All of this sets us up as we head into the void with a little more Patriots knowledge to chew on for the next six weeks.

  1. Brandon Lloyd is as advertised and should have be an excellent addition to the offense.
  2. Ochocinco was never going to get it.
  3. Tom Brady is just as hungry now, if not moreso than he was earlier in his career.
  4. No one knows for sure what to expect out of Ras-I Dowling.
  5. Alfonzo Dennard is “stumpy” but surprisingly effective and often making plays on the ball.
  6. Sterling Moore continues to show he’s a versatile asset.
  7. There’s a good chance Logan Mankins will be ready to go at the start of the season.
  8. Sebastian Vollmer is still not healthy.
  9. Has anyone seen Ron Brace?
  10. Myron Pryor is still not healthy either.
  11. Jonathan Fanene could play a big role in the heart of the defense next to Vince Wilfork.
  12. It looks like the Pats might go even lighter in their nickel package this year with someone like Ninkovich replacing someone like Shaun Ellis.
  13. Jermain Cunningham had a good off-season, but he got hurt again.
  14. Bobby Carpenter is surprisingly playing a large part in the defense early on.
  15. Stevan Ridley knows he has to work on the fumbles.
  16. Shane Vereen is getting a lot of  passing situation reps and looks fast.
  17. Tavon Wilson can play some nickel linebacker.
  18. Aaron Hernandez is likely the only healthy tight end who will still be on the roster come opening day.
  19. Markell Carter wasn’t as good as we hoped he might be.
  20. Marcus Cannon might be more valuable that anyone realizes.

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It’s just sometimes a matter of, it doesn’t really look like he’s open then – boom – he springs open on you,” Brady explained. “Sometimes you think he’s covered and you get off him and then you watch the film and you’re like, ‘How did he get open?’ He knows what he’s doing to set the guy up and he makes the move and you gotta trust that he’s gonna beat the guy and he does. It’s just a matter of, ‘Don’t let your eyes take away from what he’s doing in his route’ because you know he’s gonna get open at some point.

Brady adjusting to Lloyd’s unique skills

https://www.patspropaganda.com/its-just-sometimes-a-matter-of-it-doesnt/

Top 3 improvements of the Patriots off-season

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It’s hard to believe that training camp for the 2012 season opens in just six weeks. I haven’t even taken a voluntary look at any of the Super Bowl yet! Through free agency, the draft and now OTA’s the Patriots have made some positive moves that should pay dividends in the fall and winter.

As we close the book on another Pats off-season and enter the longest and worst football void of the year let’s take a look at the top 3 improvements the Patriots have made since the disappointment in Indy.

1. Defensive Versatility and Depth: By the end of last season injuries began to catch up with the Pats. That’s not something you can plan for but this year the Patriots re-stocked their defense with a number of versatile defenders who can do multiple things.

Free agents like Will Allen, Steve Gregory and Trevor Scott all have experience in multiple roles, as do rookies Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower and Tavon Wilson. What we’re left with is a defense that should be more “amoeba”-like than ever. This should give the Patriots the ability to keep offenses guessing, and constantly shift players into spots where they can be successful. The defense had to improve this off-season and there’s little doubt that they should be better despite losing 10-sack guy Mark Anderson.

2. Outside Wide Receiver Threats: Brandon Lloyd was the slam dunk move everyone expected the Pats to make, but what they didn’t expect was a 2007 receiver reunion outside of Randy Moss. Along with Lloyd the Patriots added Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth, all of whom are well-versed in Josh McDaniels offensive system. With Deion Branch and Wes Welker also back, the Patriots should have a fierce competition at the position in training camp. Ultimately New England will challenge defenses outside the numbers in a way they were unable to in 2011. This should not only open things up for Wes Welker, but also make the match-up nightmares with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez even harder to deal with.

3. Shifting Offensive Backfield: While Joseph Addai could be a significant contributor the opportunity is there for second-year running backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen to become important parts of the offense. Danny Woodhead also should be a significant part. The Pats were content to let solid, if unspectacular Benjarvus Green-Ellis leave for the Bengals, replacing him with the lower priced Addai.

One of the less heralded moves of the off-season was the focus on finding fullbacks. Both Tony Fiametta and Spencer Larson were acquired, giving the Pats their first true fullbacks since Heath Evans in 2008. Just what the Pats are thinking with these fullbacks remains to be seen, but it’s another new twist on an offense that was already incredibly versatile.

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https://www.patspropaganda.com/17685/