Good post on the Patriots drafting. Defensive linesmen for the 3-4 seem to require very high draft picks. Offensive linesmen are there in the middle rounds. The odd thing is that to get great linebackers and defensive backs, Belichick is much more ready to go to the free agent market, and gets big names that might possibly be a bit over the hill... Seau, Harrison, and lately Thomas come to mind. This year, he did it with wide receivers too. He prefers to go with the draft, but there is enough turnover every year that you can't ignore free agency. And of course it helps your drafting immensely if you have a solid franchise quarterback. If you don't have an ace QB, you almost have to join the QB lottery. Yet, if you don't have a solid o-line, a young QB has a hard time adjusting to the NFL. They tend to flop. Thus, the rich keep getting richer.
Of those 9, only three were first day picks (Mackenzie, Brick, Mangold) and 4 were 7th round picks, I believe (Peko, Yanovits, Cavka, Bender). That is not investing in the OL, but ignoring it.
If Jones runs off tackle, inside of Baker, on either of those plays, He scores. I cannot for the life of me figure out why they had him run inside of Brandon Moore....
That's a correct analysis. The losses of Thomas and McKenzie just tipped the offensive line over a precipice it already was approaching.
I do not think it an arguable fact that the prior regime mishandled the OL bigtime. They let very good to serviceable players walk and replaced them with worse options. The current regime needed to fix the neglect bigtime. They were on their way in year 1 but took a passive route in year 2. The problem with fixing it in free agency last year is they would have been saddled with mediocre players with huge contracts. This FA period has better players so it should be interesting what type of plan they implement when it comes to improving the 3 POS's they have on the OL. If they do nothing this offseason they are jackasses.
If you want to beat us this weekend, here's what you have to do. Double team Randy Moss. That's a must. We're not going to run the ball at all. We don't need too and we don't want too. Play in your nickel and dime the whole game. Throw the ball over the middle against us. We have some aging linebackers who a bit beyond their prime. We made Jay Feely look like Johnny Unitas. Pick on Ellis Hobbs! He's definitely the weak link out there. You'll have to try and keep our offense off the field. Third down conversions are going to be huge. Go for it on 4th if you have to. Fake a punt, try an onside kick. Keep us guessing. Good luck!
Wow...I missed this thread. Great post klecko...I forgot about the great opinions and analysis possible when posters give a care. Just when I was about to praise it, here comes a pats fan doing the same thing. Good stuff! We did have some great O-linemen that we let get away and it seems we must do what we did last year by drafting two instant starters for the O line. I just don't see any justification for having kept any of our defensive linemen that we let go/traded, especially considering the switch to the 3-4.
