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Brandon Spikes

Patriots Wednesday OTA Observation Huddle Up

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You had to be excited for media access day at OTAs today, but no one could’ve predicted that Wes Welker would be on the field. Of course Michael Silver had plans of his own today, deciding to turn “talks between Pats and Brady are going slowly” into “this might possibly lead to something but it probably won’t” article that of course every member of the Boston media had to hop on.

We stick to the positive propaganda here, we’ve read the recaps, and here are the non-Welker tidbits that we’ve found most interesting:

From PFW Blog:

The linebackers split up during one segment that included seven-on-seven work. Crable, Mayo, Guyton, Eric Alexander, Pierre Woods, Williams, Banta-Cain and Spikes remained on the field with the defensive backs and worked on coverage. Burgess, Cunningham and Ninkovich went to work with the defensive linemen.

On the outside I saw many different guys get reps on both sides with a variety of groupings in different drills. I saw some with Tully Banta-Cain on the left and Derrick Burgess on the right. I saw Jermaine Cunningham on the left with Burgess on the right. I saw Burgess on the left. I saw guys like Shawn Crable, Rob Ninkovich and everyone else on the depth chart rotate through.

Maybe it’s reading into it, but I think this is very significant. Why? Because it says to me that Burgess, Cunningham, and Ninkovich are considered primarily pass rushers, while Crable, Woods, Williams, and Banta-Cain are those we could be seeing on early downs as run stoppers (i.e. “starting”).

Of course the Patriots linebackers are versatile, you’ll see all of them all over the place. But I’m surprised to see Ninkovich with the lineman. And I’m happy to see my boy Crable with the defensive backs.

From Mike Reiss:

With two-time Pro Bowler Logan Mankins not present for the voluntary session, veteran tackle Nick Kaczur was inserted at his spot at left guard. Second-year man Sebastian Vollmer took reps at right tackle, with Matt Light remaining at left tackle.

Ultimately when Mankins comes back we’ll be back to Kaczur and Vollmer battling it out at RT, but knowing now that Kaczur has the confidence and ability to play guard, we should have a better sense of why the Patriots gave him a contract extension. He’s versatile and could be the new Russ Hochstein.

From Albert Breer:

TE Aaron Hernandez looks like he’s ticketed for a significant role as a rookie. We all know why he fell to the fourth round, and if the kid has his act together – as I’ve said in the past – he could be a big-time steal. The offense rotated a bunch too, but Hernandez was with Brady’s group a lot, and seems to be getting a lot of personal attention from the coaches. His fellow rookie TE, Rob Gronkowski, is working behind Alge Crumpler as the in-line tight end for now. Hernandez looks aware in recognizing coverage, sitting down in zones, and smooth running routes and catching the ball.

From PFW Weekly:

Aaron Hernandez once again looked very good. He has very good hands, moves well and shows pretty good route versatility. He was part of a five-wide set in group work that also included Moss, Julian Edelman, Kevin Faulk and Alge Crumpler.

Hernandez could be the offensive steal of the draft. If he can progress he’s going to be an excellent safety valve for Brady, especially against attacking defenses like the Jets.

From Albert Breer:

LB Brandon Spikes is being coached pretty hard too, and with a purpose. Coaches seemed to be working on him as a signal caller. Told you back at the rookie minicamp that this guy’s ability to diagnose plays and react was uncanny. Well, this is another encouraging piece to the puzzle – The coaches feel comfortable enough with him, and his progress, to drill him on setting the defensive front. Not earth-shattering or anything. But worth mentioning, at least.

I would’ve like to heard something about Tyron McKenzie but he got no mentions on any of the blogs. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Regardless it’s full steam ahead for Spikes. Someone needs to emerge from the group as a playmaker, and it seems Spikes has as good of a shot as anyone. Especially after the reports last week that his hands are excellent, picking an interception out of the air effortlessly like he did many times at Florida.

Quicks Hits From PatsCast Eps. 1 & 2

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This past weekend I finally got to listen to the first two episodes of the Patscast Podcast (available on Itunes). I was impressed with their guest Jay (forgive me for blanking on his last name), who sounds like he really knows his stuff. For most of us fans interest in the Xs and Os come later in life. While I played some high school football (worst tackle ever) I still had no big picture understanding of how the game is played. I just tried to block the guy in front of me, and usually failed.

When a fan like Jay comes along, who played football at the college level, and considered a career in coaching, he’s able to descibe exactly what is going on on the field. It’s easy to say a player would be a good “fit” for the Patriots, but how many fans really truly know exactly what that player would be asked to do in Belichick’s system.

I’ve educated myself just about as much as one can via the internet, but that is no substitute for someone like Jay who knows what he’s talking about, can directly relate it to the Patriots players and schemes, and go into depth with terminology you might not quite understand at first.

I’ve listened to both Patscasts a couple times, and here are some interesting tidbits that stood out to me:

– The DEs in the Pats 3-4 actually play head up on the offensive tackles so for those who were saying “we need a 5 technique like Odrick” like me, we were wrong. The Pats’ DEs line up mostly as 4-techniques.

– Height really isn’t the most important trait for a DE in this two-gap system. It’s length and “sand in the pants” (aka ability to stand your ground against the double team). While Richard Seymour had both those, he was also 6’ 6" which is the exception, not necessarily the rule. So someone like Ron Brace, despite only being 6’ 2" could make an effective DE, but technique is the most important thing to develop. This gives me hope Brace could still contribute.

– Brandon Spikes should be a great fit for this defense and has the opportunity to contribute immediately.

– Jay thinks that the Pats are returning to the tough, physical types that won them Super Bowls and that this signifies a change, more appropriately a return to a different philosophy.

Personally I don’t think it was necessarily that they ever really wanted to get away from that. Yes, the years of Asante (good player but not physical), Ellis Hobbs,  Randall Gay and the drafting of Wheatley and Wilhite, point to small, quick corners. But there were also misses on bigger, more physical CBs like Fernando Bryant, Lewis Sanders and Deltha O’Neal.

So yes, I agree that it’s a concerted effort to bring in more big, physical players, but I don’t think there was ever an effort to get away from them. Their smaller guys were just better and/or more productive.

If you’re interested in knowing more about the finer points of Patriots Xs and Os I highly recommend the Patscast. There are more little nuggets of information contained in them that would make a full transcription desireable. I will try to get up quick hits after each episode to help the non-podcasting portion of Patriots Nation.

Making Sense of the Patriots Linebacker Corps

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Bill Belichick loves him some linebackers, but without a single high priced free agent among them, this is largely an unproven group, drafted by Belichick or pulled from the NFL free agency scrap heap.

I am excited about this young group, because there will be a lot of opportunities. The group:

Tully Banta-Cain: Now the eldest statesmen of the Patriots linebacking corps after spending 2007 and 2008 in San Francisco. TBC had 10 sacks last year, and was generally the Patriots best player on defense, along with Vince Wilfork. Expect him to continue as a 3-down contributor, who would benefit from additional pressure across from him.

Jerod Mayo: The young captain of the defense whose play was limited my a sprained MCL in the first game of 2009. Look for Mayo to play the Will (Weak Inside Linebacker) where he should continue to use his speed and instincts to only get better.

Gary Guyton: Guyton got a lot of experience in many different positions in 2009, and along with Brandon Meriweather played the highest number of snaps of anyone on the Pats defense. He looks to be his best in coverage, but still has some versatility to play OLB when the Pats go to their 4-3 defense.

Rob Ninkovich: Ninkovich has kicked around the league for a few years, but did enough in 2009 to earn him a contract extension. The Pats must like him, and he does look somewhat like a Vrabel clone (#50 aside). If he can prove sturdy against the run he could be the starting LOLB against Cincinnati.

Pierre Woods: Woods got some time in the base defense in 2009, and was largely invisible. Looks like Pierre is what he is, a solid special teams player. And that’s fine.

Shawn Crable: Year three of crazy legs is about to begin. I have to say, I’m a big “look” guy and based on Crable’s look I really want him to be good. He’s got a lot of length and speed, here’s hoping it will finally translate to a unique OLB.

Tyrone McKenzie: McKenzie gets a lot of love for the dude that he is, and how hard he works. He was productive in every defense he’s ever played in. But figuring out the Mayo-Guyton-Spikes-McKenzie rotation seems impossible at this point. But he’s played lot of LB positions in lots of defenses so who knows what BB could come up with.

Brandon Spikes: Seems like everyone in Patriots Nation loved the Spikes pick and he should really bring a Ted Johnson-esque presence, along with leadership, that has been missing. Spikes can relieve Guyton from heavy run stopping responsibility at SILB (Mike), and allow Mayo to WILB (Will).

Jermaine Cunningham: Hard to expect much out of a rookie DE-OLB conversion project, but if Cunningham can just start as a sub-package rusher he should be able to contribute right away. And if he gets snaps at OLB on early downs it’s icing on the cake.

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Patriots Rookie Eyeball Test #4: Brandon Spikes

Now this is what I’m talking about. Look at Spikes! Flashing his 5.09 40 speed, hair flying… I love it. Great look top to bottom. Doesn’t look like your usual ILB, he’s got the same facemask style that Gronk was rocking and I am a fan. It’s pretty clear this guy is going to be a fan favorite. Order your #55 jerseys now, folks.

By all accounts by the media, there was something special about Spikes today when he spoke. I think we’re going to see another Patriots Dynasty Defense built around Brandon and Mayo. We’re one ferocious pass rushing OLB away right now.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-rookie-eyeball-test-4-brandon-spikes/

Patriots Rookie Number Projections

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Spikes

I’m going to admit that I am huge geek for how football players put together their “look”. There are three categories I like to look at 1) Number 2)Facemask/Helmet 3)Overall.

After the draft my favorite day (coming this Friday) is getting the first glimpse of the new guys in the uniforms. I think you can tell a lot about a player just from their “look” and pretty much project exactly what kind of career they will have, unless it’s Chad Jackson who’s look had him in the Hall of Fame.

With numbers to be announced in the next day or so we’re taking a crack at matching the top rookies with numbers that we like for them.

Devin McCourty

Not too many options for a cornerback right now, but of course some real estate should open up once the axe begins to fall on those who haven’t been hacking it. We’re gonna start McCourty off with 26, but project a move by opening day to: 22. Sorry Wheatley, but if you can’t beat out Wilhite you’re probably getting cut.

Rob Gronkowski

Definitely the easiest projection to make since he was 48 in college and 84 is available. Mark it down for Gronk: 84.

Jermain Cunningham

Hmm, this one seems pretty easy and I am excited to see a Patriot named “Cunningham” again. This is a good opportunity to get a bad taste out of your mouth: 96.

Brandon Spikes

Something tells me Jerod Mayo isn’t giving up 51 for Spikes. It’s still too soon to give out 54 with respect to Tedy. That doesn’t leave too many options, but there’s one that I think would fit nicely: 55.

Aaron Hernandez

Not a lot of options at the moment for Hernandez though 80 and 85 could open up. For now he’ll need to stick with something that’s not really that exciting to me: 87. And that’s assuming Tory Holt doesn’t take it. Otherwise I think Hernandez will be doubling up with someone.

Taylor Price

This is a good example of the perfect number being available for a fast, tough receiver like Price. Mark him down as a permanent 17. Though I really wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him with 80, with all due respect to Troy.

Zoltan Mesko

Punters don’t usually have a lot of choices to make them look good, I think 2 is probably what Zoltan will end up with. But personally I think a far better choice would be: 7.

We’ll hold off on the rest of the draft picks because they’ll all probably be doubled up anyways, and it’s really impossible for a lineman to have an elite look unless you’re Sebastian Vollmer.

On Friday we’ll have a full breakdown of all the rookie looks with analysis and grades.