Time to get back in the blogging saddle with some Best of 2011 Tom Brady highlights. (by SuperNHLVideo)
Patriots get an A from CHFF.
Clearly, they can afford to suffer a little offensively if it leads to grand improvements defensively.
I’m excited to get my Patriots paws on Chris Brown’s new book The Essential Smart Football. I’ve linked many times to Chris’ site in the past, it’s one of the few places on the internet that really dives into football x and o strategy, and he’s always posting great Patriots/Belichick stuff. As you can see below it looks like the book will feature the same.
The Essential Smart Football features analysis of football’s top strategists and their schemes, including:
- Urban Meyer’s spread offense
- Tom Brady’s no-huddle attack
- Bill Belichick’s hybrid defense
- Mike Leach’s pass-happy “Airraid” offense
- The most popular scheme for running the ball in the NFL
- Nick Saban’s school of defense.
Here’s the big question, and why I stupidly left Hightower off my Big Board. I’d probably throw Ninkovich in to this competition mix as I think Hightower could be an intriguing SLB option in either a 3-4 or 4-3.
But again, I don’t think base defense fit is really a big deal. It’s about sub-defense now and in a 4-2-5 or 3-3-5 there are a number of spots that Hightower could potentially fit that Spikes doesn’t necessarily fit. However Spikes was coming off the field less and less in sub-defense, and his improvement in that area was demonstrated by his interception in the AFCCG. He might be a little slow, but Spikes has great instincts and has repeatedly shown that not only in college but now he’s starting to in the pros as well.
If the Jets knew what was good for them, they’d shut up and never say anything about the Patriots until they, you know, win the division. Darrelle Revis thinks Bill Belichick and Tom Brady don’t show them enough respect. Boo hoo. Respect isn’t given, it’s earned. Try that step first.
Marcus Forston NFL Draft Analysis - 2010 Season (by TMBDraft)
Interesting analysis of Patriots rookie free agent Marcus Forston. We’ve talked about it ad nauseum but the need for true interior rushers is one of the most under-mentioned needs for the Pats.
Forston clearly has the ability to get off the snap quickly. He should give Myron Pryor and Jonathan Fanene some competition.
I have been impressed with how articulate and poised Patriots first-round picks Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower have been over the last few weeks, and most recently on Friday. Bill Belichick will take his chances on certain prospects, but the first round is for the “sure thing”, and it’s easy to see why these two fall into that category from a complete package standpoint.
The Patriots are the Kingdom of Misfit Toys. When you arrive at the Super Bowl, as they did in February, with 18 undrafted players on the roster, that opens the eyes of a lot of agents looking for a landing spot for their players. They know their undrafted free agents will get a fair shot from Bill Belichick.
