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I’m always a fan of the fewer divisional games in September the better. We see it every year, they’re never at their best in those first few games and they usually drop one of the first three.
As always, the road to the playoffs go through the division, so give me an NFC team for the opener.
Yeah I agree on the Shaun Ellis vibe, and that’s at best.
I think it definitely puts a bigger focus on Michael Buchanan’s development, at least at this point. They could draft a defensive end near the top of the draft and he’d immediately be at least equal to Buchanan on the depth chart as the designated pass rusher.
They definitely could use a 3-4 style defensive end, i.e. a 6’5”, 310ish big body to round out the DL rotation, but I don’t think that is vital.
Who knows, maybe things suddenly click for Jake Bequette though I’m certainly not counting on it and am probably the only person who would even mention that as a possibility. But stranger things have happened and he did show some pop in the last year’s preseason finale.
As has been my mantra this offseason, if they’re not helping the pass defense, they’re not helping, so give me at least a couple more speed, pass rush guys and I think they’ll be okay.
And if it ends up being Will Smith and Michael Buchanan just hold your breath that Nink and Chandler don’t get hurt.
The creativity can really come from the defensive ends and linebackers. Chandler and Nink are comfortable dropping in coverage and can essentially play like linebackers at times, so using them outside of their normal edge setting/edge rushing responsibilities is where they can play around a bit.
I think Jamie Collins is a great piece because he has great size and athleticism to be a factor in a number of ways. Is he in coverage? Is he blitzing? It will be tough for quarterbacks to discern that pre-snap. And Mayo/Hightower are no slouches when it comes to blitzing as well.
So it comes down to, on passing downs, mixing up which of that group is coming or covering. Really “blitzing” could be defined as when someone from the secondary is sent and I think Arrington and Ryan are both really good at that. They’ll come flying in a couple times each game, with Nink/Chandler dropping to cover the short zone for them.
But without blitzing (in the sending more than four sense of it) you can do some creative stuff with sending linebackers and dropping defensive ends, especially given how versatile the Pats’ players at those positions are.
New England Patriots Mock Draft: Projecting All 7 Rounds | Bleacher Report
Good mock from James Christensen that is certainly drawing out some grrrreat comments with him taking Bridgewater in the first round. Look, if the Pats have a high first-round grade on any player at any position and he’s available at 29 I have little doubt they would take him.
Good question and I think the answers are somewhat visible given what the defense evolved to with Aqib Talib in 2012. To really get a sense of the shift we need to go back to the late 2000’s.
Here’s the Pats D vs. Colts 2009.
At the snap, the undersized corners (Wilhite and Bodden) will turn and run. The Pats have a third safety on the field to cover Dallas Clark.
Here’s the Pats D vs. Broncos in 2013 AFCCG.
Now the corners attempt to jam and disrupt the timing right at the line of scrimmage. You can just tell by the difference in the corners presnap stances that they’re playing a different technique now – they’re lower, ready for contact, whereas before they’re getting ready to turn and run.
So that, in essence, is really what it is all about. The late-2000’s Pats were content to play more zone coverage and to use what they perceived as athletic and smart corners who could pattern-read and jump routes.
Asante Samuel was the perfect example of that kind of corner.
Whether it was quarterbacks getting too good or the rules allowing no contact downfield (or a little of both), zone coverage became easier and easier to pick apart. There’s still a place for zone coverage, you have to mix-and-match, but to play mostly zone will result in giving up more passing yardage than anyone else (like they did from 2010-2013).
Now you must take your chance to be physical with the wide receivers when you can be – within five yards of the line of scrimmage. That disrupts the timing of the offense and buys that extra second for the pass rush.
That also doesn’t mean that just because you’re pressing you have to play man. The Seahawks will press and then drop their corners into cover three.
What Revis and Browner (and Dennard and Arrington and Ryan to other extents) allow the Pats to do is to win at the line of scrimmage.
If only we could stand Revis/Browner side-by-side to Samuel/Hobbs. That picture would be worth a thousand words.
Probably not, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out like I would offensive tackle or cornerback. The NFL is a quarterback league. You not only need an “elite” starter, but developing quarterbacks, like the Pats have done with Matt Cassell, Brian Hoyer and now Ryan Mallett, is also great business.
So if that one guy the Pats love and think really fits their system is there in the first round for the taking, I don’t think it’s impossible that they take him. They are about long-term winning, never about “going all in”.
I don’t know who that prospect might be of this year’s quarterbacks and I won’t speculate based on who I like. But if they have a high first round grade on a guy and he’s available I don’t think they would pass on him given the great value.
Here’s my thing about “needs”… every position is a need sooner or later, so if there’s a player you think will make an impact for your team, you have to take them.
The only two positions I would completely rule out in the first round are offensive tackle and cornerback. Every other position is theoretically on the table if the right player was there.
However, when you stack needs, value and the depth at various positions in this draft against each other, you get a bit of a clearer picture of what might the best options will be at the bottom of the first round.
As always, I’m a defensive front seven guy. I’ll take a DT, DE, or LB in the first round no problem. There could be a number of guys in those positions that fall and could represent good value.
I think the slightly outside the box pick is at guard, depending on the right guy falling. We’ve seen them take Solder and Mankins in the first round.
I firmly believe games are won or lost in the trenches and spending a first-round pick on a trenches player is a-okay with me.
So, in short, I think that this year’s draft matches up well with what the Pats need and they should have some options at 29, but also deeper in the draft, especially at center and more specialized pass rushing defensive ends who might not be fully developed yet, like Michael Buchanan was last year.