It’s totally different,” Revis said. “There’s things that you didn’t expect with how this organization is ran from top to bottom. You’ve got to crown your hat off to Mr. Kraft for how this organization operates.
Taking a closer look at Patriots’ backup linebackers
One area of the New England Patriots’ roster that looks frighteningly thin is at linebacker. Starters Jerod Mayo, Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins are all very versatile and solid, but after them the dropoff is precipitous.
While the squad of back-up linebackers won’t have much effect on the odds on the first Patriots game of the season, an injury to one of the starters could be disastrous to a Super Bowl run.
There’s a very good chance that as many as three of these players could make the team, and while a couple of them will likely stick as special teamers-only, could any of them actually see significant time on defense?
The Pats lost middle linebackers Brandon Spikes and Dane Fletcher, both who played significant snaps. Here are the candidates to replace them:
Beauharnais looks the most intriguing on paper. He played a lot in the 2013 preseason and could have the most defensive upside of anyone.
White and Hull look primarily like special teamers and should have the inside track on a roster spot for that very reason being the most experienced veterans on this list.
Davis and Fleming projected to be primarily pass rushers when they were coming out of college. Fleming has had back-to-back seasons of tearing the same ACL, but if he can avoid tearing it again he could be a potential designated pass rusher option. He has solid size for that spot.
The rookies Gordon, Skinner and McCuller are all intriguing for their own reasons. McCuller is making the jump from division 2, where he was all-everything.
Gordon and Skinner come from good college programs and have special teams potential. But neither were blue chip prospects.
My projection? Beauharnais wins the fourth linebacker spot and sees time both on special teams and on defense. White should also make it, while Gordon makes it for special teams as well.
The wild card? Fleming. He might not see much time at linebacker but could end up being a surprise pass rusher who sees time in sub-packages.
Patriots OTA Practice Report Linkage
Here are some reports from the reporters who were there today. Some nuggets that stood out to me:
Jamie Collins looked bigger and rarely left the field despite a lot of rotation going on.
Jemea Thomas seeing time at Free Safety with the second team.
Roy Finch and James White standing out, those two will push not only for roster spots but playing time it seems. Though we’ll wait until the contact starts before saying anything definitive.
Starting nickel was what I expected outside of Hightower being in there instead of Collins. Though other reports said Collins was in there a ton, not sure what that means.
Mark Harrison is actually on the field, but Armond Armstead continues to rehab whatever.
Boston.com: 10 Missing from Patriots OTA
BostonHerald.com: Mayo Participates Fully
NESN.com: Edelman, Justin Jones Stand Out
ESPNBoston.com: What Stood Out
Patriots.com: PFW’s Blogservations
Updated depth chart, with injuries in italics:
Patriots Friday OTA Roster Report
The media is getting a glimpse at practice, here are some nuggets on who was there and who wasn’t to digest…
Rehab Group: Wilfork, Gronk, Tommy Kelly, Will Smith, Nate Solder, Brandon Bolden, Armond Armstead, Justin Green & Deontae Skinner.
Excused Absence: Jimmy Garoppolo/Asa Watson (NFLPA Rookie Premiere in LA), Cameron Fleming (still at Stanford).
MIA: Dobson, Slater, LaFell, Dennard, Mankins, Easley, Tuipulotu.
Disappointing to see Armstead still isn’t a full-go, and I’m not sure what’s going on with Solder. No reports of offseason surgery for him. Obviously the Wilfork/Gronk/Kelly/Smith group were all expected to likely be rehabbing.
The MIA group is full of surprises outside of Easley, though I was hopeful he’d at least be in the rehab group. LaFell was practicing earlier this week, maybe he just tweaked something. Dobson not a surprise though, he’s recovering from surgery.
Mankins/Dennard/Slater are all big question marks.
From my point of view, and I think from our organization, we believe that Tom has a lot of play left,” Kraft said. “The way he takes care of his body, the way he eats, the way he plays, the way he trains, people look up to him.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/from-my-point-of-view-and-i-think-from-our/
Questions, Comments, Complaints, Compliments, Whatever
Questions, Comments, Complaints, Compliments, Whatever
Should be a somewhat active day here on the blog with media access at OTAs. Mini-camp is next month and then we’ll start the long dark portion of the offseason when the NFL all takes their vacations and ramp up for the final push to the start of training camp.
Any and all questions are welcome today. I’ve got a few to kick things off…
What do you think the strength of the 2014 Pats will be?
What could the fatal flaw of the 2014 Pats be?
Who are your breakout players on both sides of the ball? And you can’t say Jamie Collins!
Can this Patriots team win the Super Bowl? I.E. beat Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and whoever else?
I’ll tally up all the answers I get and put them in one post to get the general feeling about this edition of the Pats from you the fans.
Who do you think is more worthly keeping Vereen or Ridley? I think Vereen is more valuable
Yeah, I’d tend to agree, but I think both of them have their work cut out for them this season. Vereen needs to stay healthy, Ridley needs to prove he’s reliable. There are plenty of running backs, including James White, Stephen Houston and Roy Finch, who will be pushing them.
And let’s face it, running back has slowly become an afterthought position. I could see a scenario where Houston and White are the lead backs in 2015 and the beat will go on uninterrupted.
I like Ridley, but I’m sick of seeing run hard because he just fumbled. As Bruschi/Reiss say, he’s been an “error repeater” so far and those kind of guys don’t fly with BB, whether you agree or not.
As for Vereen, he’s shown incredible flashes, but last year’s wrist injury was a problem even after he came back. I just hope his performance at the end of 2012, his “coming out party”, won’t be the thing he’s remembered for. Stay healthy, catch the ball and I think Vereen could elevate to the lead back.