2014 Patriots Football

[PhoSita]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

Yeah, that bums me out, too.  The team had been really exciting and fun to watch the last few years when the two elite matchup-nightmare tight ends were healthy and Tom Brady was carving up other teams with them and the assortment of nifty little slot / screen-pass receivers he had at his disposal.

When the two TEs got their extensions I was excited by the idea of getting to watch those guys dominate for the foreseeable future, even after Brady retired, perhaps.  Now one of them is definitely never playing again and the other might never be the same after so many surgeries. 

I know nobody feels sorry for the Pats or their fans, but that is a sad development for sure.

[D.o.s.]

Is what it is. I'm totally burnt out on football right now anyway, so the offseason is a welcome change.

[Neurotic Guy]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

Probably never play again? What do you know about Gronk that nobody else seems to know?

He'll probably be back and pats will probably add a TE.

[Evantime34]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

[Cman]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

ZZZZiiiiiiiiinggg!

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

[slamtheking]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

As a Skins fan looking at the Pats from the outside, I think the Pats biggest problems are
- WR (got to get at least 1 WR that can go long that can stay healthy)
- Defense -- everywhere on D.  Pats need players that can stay healthy and have an impact on the game.  The team's D when they won the superbowls was loaded with very good defenders that were able to stay on the field (for the most part).  As great as Brady was, that D was key to those titles-->if Belicheck had that D the year they were perfect going into the Superbowl they'd have finished perfect (no way Giants are even in position to win it on that wing-and-a-prayer drive) and finally shut that obnoxious bunch of ex-Dolphins up after all these years.  (sorry, seen too many stories about them celebrating every time the last undefeated team loses.)

Pats won't win another bowl until they can address those 2 areas.

[PhoSita]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

Probably never play again? What do you know about Gronk that nobody else seems to know?

He'll probably be back and pats will probably add a TE.

When's the next time Gronk plays a full season at full strength?

What is full strength for him at this point, after a major knee injury and countless surgeries, not to mention so much time away from football over the past 3 years?

Also, elite TEs don't just grow on trees.  It's not as simple as picking up the next Hernandez / Gronk in the draft.

At best I think the Pats can try to acquire a Jake Ballard / Dennis Pitta / Zach Miller type.  Somebody who makes catches and moves the chains a bit while also blocking well.

[Donoghus]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

Probably never play again? What do you know about Gronk that nobody else seems to know?

He'll probably be back and pats will probably add a TE.

When's the next time Gronk plays a full season at full strength?

What is full strength for him at this point, after a major knee injury and countless surgeries, not to mention so much time away from football over the past 3 years?

Also, elite TEs don't just grow on trees.  It's not as simple as picking up the next Hernandez / Gronk in the draft.

At best I think the Pats can try to acquire a Jake Ballard / Dennis Pitta / Zach Miller type.  Somebody who makes catches and moves the chains a bit while also blocking well.

They already had Jake Ballard once and he couldnt make the team.

[PhoSita]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

Probably never play again? What do you know about Gronk that nobody else seems to know?

He'll probably be back and pats will probably add a TE.

When's the next time Gronk plays a full season at full strength?

What is full strength for him at this point, after a major knee injury and countless surgeries, not to mention so much time away from football over the past 3 years?

Also, elite TEs don't just grow on trees.  It's not as simple as picking up the next Hernandez / Gronk in the draft.

At best I think the Pats can try to acquire a Jake Ballard / Dennis Pitta / Zach Miller type.  Somebody who makes catches and moves the chains a bit while also blocking well.

They already had Jake Ballard once and he couldnt make the team.

Yeah, I meant pre-injury Jake Ballard.

I'm talking about a guy with solid size who can give them 500-700 yards receiving (almost entirely short to medium yardage) and a handful of TDs.

[Cman]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

As a Skins fan looking at the Pats from the outside, I think the Pats biggest problems are
- WR (got to get at least 1 WR that can go long that can stay healthy)
- Defense -- everywhere on D.  Pats need players that can stay healthy and have an impact on the game.  The team's D when they won the superbowls was loaded with very good defenders that were able to stay on the field (for the most part).  As great as Brady was, that D was key to those titles-->if Belicheck had that D the year they were perfect going into the Superbowl they'd have finished perfect (no way Giants are even in position to win it on that wing-and-a-prayer drive) and finally shut that obnoxious bunch of ex-Dolphins up after all these years.  (sorry, seen too many stories about them celebrating every time the last undefeated team loses.)

Pats won't win another bowl until they can address those 2 areas.

They are not going to sign a big name WR FA. Why? Too expensive, and too many other areas to address. They will instead count on the development of the rookies, and the improved health of Vereen and Amendola.

"Defense" is sort of a big area, no? I think they will be fine at the DL. They essentially lost 3 starts this year, filled in with undrafted rookies, and still made the AFC championship. They're fine at the DL for now. Mayo will be back and healthy, so they are fine at LB. If they resign Talib, which I think is likely, they are fine at CB. Safety is the biggest area of need on the defense.

[Donoghus]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

As a Skins fan looking at the Pats from the outside, I think the Pats biggest problems are
- WR (got to get at least 1 WR that can go long that can stay healthy)
- Defense -- everywhere on D.  Pats need players that can stay healthy and have an impact on the game.  The team's D when they won the superbowls was loaded with very good defenders that were able to stay on the field (for the most part).  As great as Brady was, that D was key to those titles-->if Belicheck had that D the year they were perfect going into the Superbowl they'd have finished perfect (no way Giants are even in position to win it on that wing-and-a-prayer drive) and finally shut that obnoxious bunch of ex-Dolphins up after all these years.  (sorry, seen too many stories about them celebrating every time the last undefeated team loses.)

Pats won't win another bowl until they can address those 2 areas.

They are not going to sign a big name WR FA. Why? Too expensive, and too many other areas to address. They will instead count on the development of the rookies, and the improved health of Vereen and Amendola.

"Defense" is sort of a big area, no? I think they will be fine at the DL. They essentially lost 3 starts this year, filled in with undrafted rookies, and still made the AFC championship. They're fine at the DL for now. Mayo will be back and healthy, so they are fine at LB. If they resign Talib, which I think is likely, they are fine at CB. Safety is the biggest area of need on the defense.

Wouldn't hurt for them to add depth to the LB corps.  They were fairly inconsistent this year and Spikes won't be coming back.

[D.o.s.]

I think the real bummer about this season is that we never really got to see the evolution of the twin TE offense that, on paper, was going to be the big push for the Pats this year.

And, since one of them is probably never going to play in the NFL again and the other is Aaron Hernandez, we probably won't ever see it.

Probably never play again? What do you know about Gronk that nobody else seems to know?

He'll probably be back and pats will probably add a TE.

Not breaking a story, just making an observation.

Healthy Gronk is becoming about as elusive as Peyton Manning's post-season success.

[Evantime34]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

As a Skins fan looking at the Pats from the outside, I think the Pats biggest problems are
- WR (got to get at least 1 WR that can go long that can stay healthy)
- Defense -- everywhere on D.  Pats need players that can stay healthy and have an impact on the game.  The team's D when they won the superbowls was loaded with very good defenders that were able to stay on the field (for the most part).  As great as Brady was, that D was key to those titles-->if Belicheck had that D the year they were perfect going into the Superbowl they'd have finished perfect (no way Giants are even in position to win it on that wing-and-a-prayer drive) and finally shut that obnoxious bunch of ex-Dolphins up after all these years.  (sorry, seen too many stories about them celebrating every time the last undefeated team loses.)

Pats won't win another bowl until they can address those 2 areas.

They are not going to sign a big name WR FA. Why? Too expensive, and too many other areas to address. They will instead count on the development of the rookies, and the improved health of Vereen and Amendola.

"Defense" is sort of a big area, no? I think they will be fine at the DL. They essentially lost 3 starts this year, filled in with undrafted rookies, and still made the AFC championship. They're fine at the DL for now. Mayo will be back and healthy, so they are fine at LB. If they resign Talib, which I think is likely, they are fine at CB. Safety is the biggest area of need on the defense.

Wouldn't hurt for them to add depth to the LB corps.  They were fairly inconsistent this year and Spikes won't be coming back.

I wouldn't mind them getting another rush end to further improve their pass rush. They got no pressure on Manning in the championship game.

[Cman]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

As a Skins fan looking at the Pats from the outside, I think the Pats biggest problems are
- WR (got to get at least 1 WR that can go long that can stay healthy)
- Defense -- everywhere on D.  Pats need players that can stay healthy and have an impact on the game.  The team's D when they won the superbowls was loaded with very good defenders that were able to stay on the field (for the most part).  As great as Brady was, that D was key to those titles-->if Belicheck had that D the year they were perfect going into the Superbowl they'd have finished perfect (no way Giants are even in position to win it on that wing-and-a-prayer drive) and finally shut that obnoxious bunch of ex-Dolphins up after all these years.  (sorry, seen too many stories about them celebrating every time the last undefeated team loses.)

Pats won't win another bowl until they can address those 2 areas.

They are not going to sign a big name WR FA. Why? Too expensive, and too many other areas to address. They will instead count on the development of the rookies, and the improved health of Vereen and Amendola.

"Defense" is sort of a big area, no? I think they will be fine at the DL. They essentially lost 3 starts this year, filled in with undrafted rookies, and still made the AFC championship. They're fine at the DL for now. Mayo will be back and healthy, so they are fine at LB. If they resign Talib, which I think is likely, they are fine at CB. Safety is the biggest area of need on the defense.

Wouldn't hurt for them to add depth to the LB corps.  They were fairly inconsistent this year and Spikes won't be coming back.

I wouldn't mind them getting another rush end to further improve their pass rush. They got no pressure on Manning in the championship game.

I think LB is more important than DE, but I rank both below TE, S, O line in importance.

Part of the issue with the pass rush is that (a) it wasn't a huge part of the game plan against the Broncos and (b) the current DEs (Jones and Ninkovich) were called on to do different things once Wilfork and Kelly were out. So, I think this area will improve with the return of Wilfork and Kelly.

[Jon]

Although the receivers weren't good this year, we lost in the playoffs because Denver scored every time they had the ball.

Getting Mayo, and Wilfork back will certainly help that but they need to add solid playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as some pass catchers and o lineman.

Assuming the Pats resign Talib, and assuming Wilfork, Kelly, Armstead and Mayo seem to be getting healthy, then the needs are:
TE
S
OLine
in that order.

It would be nice to have Edelman back, but I think it is about 50-50. There aren't that many high quality WRs on the market this year, meaning that teams will overpay at that position.

As a Skins fan looking at the Pats from the outside, I think the Pats biggest problems are
- WR (got to get at least 1 WR that can go long that can stay healthy)
- Defense -- everywhere on D.  Pats need players that can stay healthy and have an impact on the game.  The team's D when they won the superbowls was loaded with very good defenders that were able to stay on the field (for the most part).  As great as Brady was, that D was key to those titles-->if Belicheck had that D the year they were perfect going into the Superbowl they'd have finished perfect (no way Giants are even in position to win it on that wing-and-a-prayer drive) and finally shut that obnoxious bunch of ex-Dolphins up after all these years.  (sorry, seen too many stories about them celebrating every time the last undefeated team loses.)

Pats won't win another bowl until they can address those 2 areas.

They are not going to sign a big name WR FA. Why? Too expensive, and too many other areas to address. They will instead count on the development of the rookies, and the improved health of Vereen and Amendola.

"Defense" is sort of a big area, no? I think they will be fine at the DL. They essentially lost 3 starts this year, filled in with undrafted rookies, and still made the AFC championship. They're fine at the DL for now. Mayo will be back and healthy, so they are fine at LB. If they resign Talib, which I think is likely, they are fine at CB. Safety is the biggest area of need on the defense.

Wouldn't hurt for them to add depth to the LB corps.  They were fairly inconsistent this year and Spikes won't be coming back.

I don't agree about the LB position.  With Collins, Mayo, and Hightower, they're pretty darn good.  Then factor in the fact that the Pats play in a sub defense about 2/3 of the time (where one LB comes off the field), and the need for anything more than some FA vet depth at the LB position is pretty small. 

I'd rank the Pats needs as follows:

-DT: With Wilfork and Kelly both coming off injuries and both aging, they need a big stopper in the middle to ensure teams can't run on them like they did in the second half (which will help all other areas of the defense, since they won't have to over compensate). 

-TE with Gronk up in the air, they really need some more depth here. 

-SS: As Rodney Harrison pointed out the other day, there is no enforcer on the defense like when he was here (or Milloy before him).  Though I will say that Jamie Collins may be able to somewhat compensate for this with his versatility (even if from the LB spot). 

-OG/C: Mankins and Connolly are both getting older and Wendell is a free agent at center.  They potentially need a replacement for Wendell (though Connolly has played center for them) and they need depth regardless. 

-WR: one could argue this should be a higher priority, but I'd argue they have plenty of decent WR, they just don't have any elite ones.  So unless BB plans on trading up to draft a stud or putting together a package for someone like Larry Fitzgerald, I'd rather just sign another vet or two, maybe draft another youngster, and then hope Amendola stays healthy and Dobson emerges as a go to WR (he's shown flashes). 

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with everything else.  Ridley/Vereen (and maybe Blount) are a dynamic backfield.  Solder/Vollmer are great tackles.  Jones and Ninkovich are great ends.  And the CB situation is pretty good if Talib returns.  Dennard and Ryan are very promising young CBs and while I'm not the biggest Kyle Arrington fan, you could do worse than him as your third or fourth CB.