From rotoworld: Looks like the Pats are going to try to use him at his more natural position. Wonder why we used him outside all that time? Lack of better options, I guess. He signed for veteran minimum for one year, so it looks like they don't know if he'll work out either.
This really gets to me. I still don't know why we let him go. He signed for the minimum, why couldn't we match that? Barton is slower, weaker, and worse in coverage and we need a veteran to match with Harris (2nd year), Pace (new) and Gholston (rookie). I really think that Hobson is so much better than Barton, but at the same time one was already signed and the other was FA, so the decision was pretty much already made. As much as I like Hobson, I hope that he has the worst year of his career next year.
Of course he is going to do well behind that dominant D-line. I still don't understand why we didn't at least keep him for depth.
Good call...I believe that the original rotoworld post was pre-draft...April 7 to be exact. However this just appeared also: So who knows? They could be working Mayo in Harris style.
The Pats would be wise to phase out Bruschi, and pair Mayo with Hobson on the inside... Jet fans hate to admit it, but Hobson is a talented player, and he has a good amount of significant experience as a starter in several systems in this league. Learning from Bruschi, and then eventually taking his spot is probably the best way to assure that Mayo learns the ropes, and the defense doesn't miss a beat in the mean time...
I don't think he sucks. I don't think he was ever anything special, but he definitely doesn't suck. Schlegal sucked. My question is why was he never used inside when he was a Jet? It just seems like his natural position, and the Pats seem to agree. The only answer I can come up with is our lack of OLBs. Contrary to sucking, using him as an OLB would appear to be a compliment of his abilities, being that he's not built for it.
Regardless of what Hobson does over next year, I'm willing to bet all my vcash that he has a monster game vs the Jets week 2.
He has always been better than Barton. That's what I've said, nothing more. He has his strengths and he has his weaknesses. Barton doesn't really have strengths other than experience, which doesn't help when he's burned by every man he attempts to cover and is consistently pushed back by every blocker and he can never free up a hand to tackle, much less shed a block completely. Hobson, while slow, still didn't get beaten in coverage and held his ground in the run game. A decent bull rusher too, but he has no other pass rushing moves (doesn't know how to use his hands when pass rushing, apparently).
i always thought hobson was a solid LB. thought he was never really given the chance to excell, due to playing out of position. i can never understand why coaches try to fit square pegs in round holes. play the player at the position that best suits them.
I don't think he's awful. People misunderstood his role in our 4-3 system, and then when we moved to a 3-4 I felt he was miscast as an outside linebacker. No one ever mistook this guy for a pass rusher. He's a solid tackler who doesn't make too many mistakes and takes on blockers pretty well. I would have much rather retained Hobson than Eric Barton. -X-
Eric Barton is getting dogged on a bit too much,he has that nastiness you need for ILB and has a nose for the ball.Two things that Hobson has never shown.For all we know the reason Hobson never saw any time is because he wasn't better than Barton at 3-4 ILB.
I'll be interested to see where he fits in. Seems to me he's going to be a backup with Vrabel, Bruschi, Thomas and Mayo probably starting, no? Though as I recall NE shuffles their LB in and out a lot to keep them fresh (especially Bruschi)
I think that's exactly what it is. Farrior sucked with the Jets and everyone was happy to see him go, and then he moved on to become a pro-bowler with Pittsburgh. I absolutely can see this happening with him on the Pats. Hobson may be slow but he does have deceptive quickness and is a solid tackler. He also has the ability to generate a pass rush inside which is what he did a few times over the past few years. I bet he excels in their system.
