The Pats are built for today, tomorrow and for the next 7 years. They have taken themselves back to building the team through the draft. The defense is completely revamped with youth, especially in the secondary (Darius Butler and Devon McCourty). Look for Patrick Chung in his 2nd year to really step up with Meriweather to make a great safety tandem and now with Brandon Spikes paired up with Mayo inside and Big Vince inked up long term, the middle will be a nightmare to run against. The pass rush will be a W-I-Progress with TBC until Cunningham develops. Welker btw, didn't tear both ligs, only one and as of right now, he is expected back by week one and knowing him, at 90-95 % by 9/1. Our TE's we got in round 2 are going to be animals (Gronkowski and Hernandez) will be a nightmare to defend for many teams. The key will be Torry Holt, Brandon Tate and Price on the opposite of Moss, if they can produce, this offense will be tough. Now the great thing, with the Raiders #1 pick in 2011, look for the Pats to grab Julio Jones or the top passrushing OLB in the draft next season, pair this with the Panthers #2 next season (basically another first rounder) and this team is set for years. You guys are taking the all or nothing route and if you don't do it this year, it's time to let go some of the high priced vets and re-draft as you've all but abandoned your last 2 drafts. The Jets will be tough, I know they will be, but we aren't going anywhere, Brady back in year 2 after his injury will be motivated to the hilt and Moss is in a contract year, all good things and combine this with this great draft we had this year and those 3 top picks next year, good things lie ahead in Patriot land today, tomorrow and for the next 6-7 years.
All but abandoned our last 2 drafts ? 2010 Draft - Kyle Wilson, gonna be our #2 guy when Cro's contract runs up if we decide not to re-sign Cro. - Vladimir Ducasse, fighting to be a starter with Matt Slauson. A project but guy has all the potential to be a legit starting LG in this league and with our coaches and veteran o-lineman I have all the confidence in the world that they will make him a player. - Joe McKnight, pretty much replacing Leon Washington. Didn't really lose anything there especially with Leon coming off of a major leg injury. - John Conner, our next starting FB when Tony Richardson leaves. 2009 Draft - Mark Sanchez, do I really need to say anything ? - Shonn Greene, ditto - Matt Slauson, played some last year but not much. Still gonna be fighting with Vlad who we just drafted for some playing time but he proved last year he is a viable starter. So please tell me where we abandoned our last 2 drafts ? Not to mention we got Santonio for a 5th who is still young and Cromartie another young guy. We make the most of our picks.
They'll still be strong but for how long? Brady will be 33 when the season starts and there have been rumors that he isn't completely interested in football anymore. If you ask me, soon this division will be between us and the Dolphins until the Pats and Bills find new franchise QBs.
Did Urban Meyer suck Bill Belichick's dick this offseason so he'd draft all his players? Lets see what happens this season and not forecast talent before these guys take the field. The Patriots trade back and stockpile picks. Awesome, it gets you a lot of youth and depth. Hasn't worked out all that well the last few years though (considering the number of picks the Pats have in relation to who makes the cut/has talent). The Jets have drafted with phenomenal success the past few years, minus Gholston because the CS finds who they WANT and will sacrifice players/picks to get 'em. Examples: Sanchez Greene Harris D'Brick Ferguson Revis Mangold I'd rather draft an all pro/perennial starters every year than draft 15 training-camp fodder guys. kthxbye
Ducasse is indeed a project, and I wouldn't classify McKnight as Leon's replacement. Leon prior to his injury was a tremendous threat and Joe McKnight IMO won't be half the player Leon was. When I say abandoned, I mean you abandoned picks to deal up for what your FO feel was higher value and you sacrificied the depth picks, not to mention that mortgaged 2nd round pick for Cro which will impact you next season and beyond. 2's are tough to part with. Every year the NFL has injuries and it's the teams with great depth that overcome the injuries, believe me when I tell you, you'll have injuries and your lack of depth will show itself. Look, on paper, there's no questioning what you've added. Cro can go one of two ways and based on what we've seen from him recently, with his soft run support and mental lapses, I wouldn't bank on him regaining his old form. Kudos to your FO for prying a Santonio Holmes from an AFC contender for a measly 5, that's all upside and all stupidity from the Steelers if you ask me, why in the world would they deal a guy like that to a team they will probably have to compete with for an AFC title?, I shake my head, I give you credit for that, but even that and his off field issues, I just wonder what kind of lockerroom that might turn into. Look, it could all go you way this year, we know that in Patriot land, and if this is your year, so be it. But the Pats aren't putting all of their marbles into 2010, they'll be some defensive growing pains, but it will come together, all of this youth is going to gell and the offense is always what it was with Brady back there. Don't count us out.........
Two different strategies here. Jets believe in drafting starters or trading draft picks for other team's starters, trading up if necessary to do so if they see a surefire thing in the draft. Tanny believes depth can be achieved in free agency. Pats believe in stockpiling picks. Two ways to do it, that is all.
Everyone's fans think their team is better than it is! After this offseason, the fans on this board are doing the same. I just don't get why what Pats (or any other) fans think bothers anyone? It has no bearing on reality. BTW, you spent awhile trying to prove the Pats aren't as good as their record, so you'd have to use the same logic with the rest of the division and take wins away from all the teams. The if game is silly.
My point was that the Pats haven't beaten anyone good since before the Superbowl with the exception of the Ravens. My argument wasn't that the Jets or Dolphins are better then the Pats. The Dolphins won a division title by basically beating a bunch of bad football teams. They got stomped by the Ravens in the playoffs and clearly they were not that good and their record was better then it should have been. The Jets have also had a lot of very winnable games due to their schedule the last two seasons. The Jets are difficult team to figure out since Favre essentially ruined the 2008 season and Sanchez tried to copy Favre and ruin the 2009 season. The 2009 Jets with an elite defense and running game probably win 12 games with a veteran qb that doesn't turn the ball over. But Sanchez was the rookie qb and they had to deal with the fact that he had 5 horrible games. I don't think of any of the division teams were anything special during the regular season the last two seasons. We will find out this year what the three teams are made of since they all have tough schedules and no one has a rookie qb.
Apparently Welker is in uniform at today's OTA with a knee brace on, so it looks like it'll be their best against our best all season with no excuses.
I just hope he isn't rushing it. Despite being a bit overrated,I do like Welker and he's probably my favourite player on the pats.
