New England Patriots Discussion

[Nalej]

Not all models make good football players lol

[Jvig43]

Especially when they are made out of glass.

[Matthew Jones]

Chandler Jones has signed his rookie contract!

[Matthew Jones]

Recently I was able to find a copy of Alabama's defensive playbook from 2008. It's a very interesting read if you're interested in taking a look at what Nick Saban tries to do defensively; many of the concepts are identical to what Bill Belichick coaches. It also gives some insight into which responsibilities Dont'a Hightower assumed with the Crimson Tide. Check it out here:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...thkey=CPjr_eMH

[descendency]

Originally Posted by Matthew Jones

I still haven't figured out how Ihedigbo isn't good at football:

He may suck at football, but damn that is a nice body. I'd love to be in that kind of shape. :/

[Jvig43]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...headline_stack

Isn't the first report that has stated Lloyd is looking very sharp so far, while apparently Ocho isn't getting the hang of it still. Idk how these issues continue to plague now with a full year of our system under his belt.

[AntoinCD]

Good to see but I think we all expected a pretty quick transition from Lloyd who has been in the offense for a while.

What is the realistic projections for receiving options next year? I'm thinking Welker's catches and yards go down a bit but outside WRs will more than pick up for the slack

Welker, 100 catches, 1200 yards, 5 TDs
Lloyd, 70 catches, 1100 yards, 7 TDs
Gronkowski, 85 catches, 1100 yards, 15 TDs
Hernandez, 60 catches, 750 yards, 6 TDs
Gaffney, 45 catches, 700 yards, 2 TDs

For a top 5 that seems pretty good without taking into account reserves and RBs

[Jvig43]

I think Gronk's numbers will go down a bit due to coming off an injury and teams will be making him the main focus point of our offense. Due to this, I would say Hernandez's numbers go up (and hopefully his drops go down).

[SuperMcGee]

Trevor Scott is going to be amazing for you guys and you will all laugh at us for having Mark Anderson. Just letting you guys know that, and that I hate you for it.

[Matthew Jones]

Originally Posted by SuperMcgee

Trevor Scott is going to be amazing for you guys and you will all laugh at us for having Mark Anderson. Just letting you guys know that, and that I hate you for it.

What makes you think Scott will be so effective? I know he had some impressive pre-draft workouts and was developing well earlier in his career, but he hasn't been able to make any sort of impact for the Raiders lately.

P.S. on an unrelated note, I'm going to be posting some clips of Steve Gregory online soon for anyone who's interested.

[Matthew Jones]

Despite being listed as a strong safety (replacing the injured Bob Sanders) Gregory appeared to play a lot of deep zone coverage, with Eric Weddle being used in the slot fairly often. Gregory appears to have strong instincts and is a reliable tackler in the run game who diagnoses quickly and aggressively pursues the ball. The Raiders seemed to be targeting other matchups in the passing game (Antoine Cason saw a lot of targets), while Gregory was the single high safety for the most part. Gregory knocks out Kevin Boss in the end zone on a touchdown throw late in the game. The Chargers also used him on some kick coverage teams, although I didn't include those in the video (nothing really notable there.)

Overall I'd say he looks like a pretty reliable if unspectacular option who has a lot to offer in run support and can assume deep zone responsibilities, although I would have liked to see San Diego play him near the line of scrimmage/in the slot to get a feel for his skills in that regard. I'd be surprised if any of New England's safety options from last year were able to beat him out for a starting role opposite Patrick Chung. Check out the clips of Gregory for yourself and let me know what you think:

[Matthew Jones]

The Patriots signed former Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman Jamey Richard today. Richard, 27, has made 11 starts over his four seasons in the league (48 appearances.) He is extremely tall for a center (6'5", 295 pounds) but rarely saw the field last year (active for 57 snaps at left guard in week eight and one snap as a tight end in a jumbo package in week nine.) Here are PFF's grades for Richard by season:

2011 - 58 snaps (57 LG, 1 TE), +0.9
2010 - 329 snaps (329 LG), -10.1
2009 - 36 snaps (31 C, 5 TE), +0.4
2008 - 592 snaps (256 C, 198 LG, 38 RG), -10.5

The versatility between LG, C, RG, and jumbo TE seems appealing, although unfortunately he seems to have played poorly whenever he saw the field and was subsequently glued to the bench. It looks doubtful he'll make the roster.

[Vaylor]

Originally Posted by Matthew Jones

What makes you think Scott will be so effective? I know he had some impressive pre-draft workouts and was developing well earlier in his career, but he hasn't been able to make any sort of impact for the Raiders lately.

P.S. on an unrelated note, I'm going to be posting some clips of Steve Gregory online soon for anyone who's interested.

To be fair he did tear his ACL late in the 2010 season and it affected his play last season.

[Matthew Jones]

Originally Posted by Vaylor

To be fair he did tear his ACL late in the 2010 season and it affected his play last season.

I'm not saying he has no chance to make the roster but according to Pro Football Focus he rushed the passer on 156 of his 251 snaps and ended up with no sacks, no hits, and five pressures. I didn't really look out for him when I was making that Steve Gregory clip because he only played six snaps against the Chargers.

[Matthew Jones]

Today I'll take a look at the Bengals/Rams game from last season to try and get some insight into Brandon Lloyd and Jonathan Fanene.

[Matthew Jones]

I just got done watching Jonathan Fanene play against St. Louis last year in order to write a little summary of the signing for NEPatriotsDraft (hopefully the Steve Gregory writeup will be up soon), but here are the clips of Fanene against the Rams in case anyone's interested:

[descendency]

After watching it the first time, I could have sworn Fanene looked terrible, but after watching it again, there are a lot of guys to his left or right that simply are not filling their gaps correctly.

Gregory looked much better, though. Gregory could easily be the starting FS on this team week 1.

[Jvig43]

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2fb...ent?rel=player

lol

[descendency]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...hony-gonzalez/

Patriots released Anthony Gonzalez.

I heard he shaked Bill Belichick's hand and his shoulder shattered.

[Nalej]

Originally Posted by Jvig43

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2fb...ent?rel=player

lol

Hilarious.

[descendency]

Kind of interesting seeing how long it is taking to sign Jake Bequette and Dont'a Hightower.

[Nalej]

I was kind of thinking the same thing. What's the hold up? C. Jones should have been the most difficult and he was signed a good while ago now.

[Razor]

Markell Carter released. Da ****?

[Matthew Jones]

My article on Barrett Jones has been posted on NEPatriotsDraft:

http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2012/...nfl-draft.html

On another note, I understand Razor's surprise that Markell Carter was released, at least that he was released this early in the offseason. Carter always seemed like an interesting developmental pass rusher.

[Matthew Jones]

I've seen some reports recently which suggest Andre Carter will be back with the team soon, or is at least negotiating a new contract! Hopefully the Patriots can finalize a deal with him soon.

In other news, TE Bo Scaife signed today, although he sat out last season on injured reserve and was in sharp decline before that. He appears to be a long-shot for the final roster.

WR Chad Ochocinco is also expected to be released within the next day or two:

WEEI Sports Radio's Christopher Price reports Chad Ochocinco left Gillette Stadium before Thursday's OTA session and subsequently removed any Patriots affiliation from his Twitter bio.