http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aWuTmFCF4I
Patriots acquire Albert Haynesworth
This was the last and possibly only time Patriots fans have cared about Albert Haynesworth. Well, now it looks like pending a physical he’s coming to the Pats for a 5th rounder.
I said earlier this week that I’d be shocked if I wasn’t shocked by a move the Pats made and this one fits the bill. Of course it’s a classic BB move, low risk, potentially high reward.
I know there’s talk of Haynesworth not wanting to play in a 3-4 and he’s got a bunch of issues off the field, and there’s probably the little issue of working out some kind of contract tweak but… if he comes in and is in shape, says the right things and is ready to be in a place where it’s solely about winning football games this could be a huge move.
I know there are some out there saying the Patriots like to run some 4-3 looks as well but in reality they barely ran any 4-3 at all in 2010 and I doubt that the addition of Haynesworth would signal any kind of schematic shift. But what I will say is that I expect Belichick to play to his strengths and put him in a position where he can dominate in both the run game and passing game.
It’s not a sexy OLB, but Haynesworth can be a huge factor in both the running and passing games and be every bit as much the match-up nightmare that Seymour was. Most likely he’d they’d want him at RDE, which should make for an interesting competition with Marcus Stroud.
I’m not holding my breath that this is all going to work out just like Corey Dillon and Randy Moss. Haynesworth has been even more of a lightning rod than either of them. But it’s impossible not to get excited about the prospect of having a dominant defensive line again. For now we wait until he passes his physical and see what he has to say about coming to the Pats…