All I have to say is WOW...I can't believe this..but hey he was great for us for 10 years but man..for this to just come out of nowhere...has to be a shock to Belichick....I'm very curious to see who mans the middle for the Pats now...Its looking more and more like Vrabel will be moved inside or maybe they will make a late signing of a guy like Ronald McKinnon...he is basically the same style LB as Ted and would be able to fill his role nicely...either way I trust all options will get their due dilligence. http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=...d=12227&pcid=47
it's another sad day in which we lose a great player to health issues. i wish him well and i am interested to see what they do with the position. is't a good thing we loaded up on linebackers this offseason, we are going to need them.
thats gonna be a huge blow to your LB core. You guys only have 1/4 left cuz didnt Phifer leave also. The only good LB i think you guys got is Chad Brown out of free agency. I dont think the guy from KC is any good
yea big lost to the team. kind out of the blue as well. NE has had deph though so I think they can find a replacement but loosing your 2 men in the middle can't be a good sign.
Monty Beisal was highly coveted by several teams before the pats signed him, The Packer, Falcons, Panthers, Browns all tried to bring him in. If nothing he'll be a special teams star, oh by the way do the Pats still have Larry Izzo?
Probably not. Jason Glenn probably isn't much of an upgrade at that posistion. If I were him I would be mad for not taken Channing Crowder or Odell Thurman in the draft.
First..rookie LB's don't play for Belichick...its not his MO since he came to New England. He loves Vets. Also Phifer is gone..but may return...eitherway he was a bit player at best last year...and didn't start at all. Vrabel may be forced to move inside and start Colvin and Willie on the outside...while rotating Brown and biesel through the middle....and from what I have heard this kid Beisel might be a player and Vermeil was pissed they let him go. He said all that work he put in conveting from DE to LB was just about to pay off and now he's gone...with a teaching from a staff full of LB coaches I think this kid could be solid...with that being said I believe we will miss Ted Johnson's touhgness and run stuffin ability but with the talent we have on the D-line we could just as easily play more of a 4-3 defense and with Seymore and Wilfork on the inside and Green and Warren on the outside while rotating Bailey, Hill, and McGinest through... I still would like them to take a look at a vet like Mckinnon but it would be a tough position to throw him in having missed alot of time to learn this defense...camp should be interesting.
Belichek should switch to the 4-3 this season. He has personnel for the 4-3. He has 2 good LBs and he needs 4 for the 3-4, so he should consider more 4-3 looks for personnel.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (panthersare#1)</div><div class='quotemain'>Belichek should switch to the 4-3 this season. He has personnel for the 4-3. He has 2 good LBs and he needs 4 for the 3-4, so he should consider more 4-3 looks for personnel.</div> First they have 3 very good LB's (Colvin,McGinest,Vrabel,) 1 good LB (Chad Brown)with health issues the last 3 years but if healthy can be dominant and one relative unknown (Biesel)...whether they fit the 3-4 or not thats what he will find out..though they do have the D-Line depth to play the 4-3...I'm sure he'll play both like he always does...it all depends on whether he has a combination to play the middle of the 3-4...but even if it really is a 4-3..he could still stand up Vrable or McGinest as the 4th lineman and give it a 3-4 look...thats whats great about having versitale LB's...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pats37)</div><div class='quotemain'>First..rookie LB's don't play for Belichick...its not his MO since he came to New England. He loves Vets. Also Phifer is gone..but may return...eitherway he was a bit player at best last year...and didn't start at all. Vrabel may be forced to move inside and start Colvin and Willie on the outside...while rotating Brown and biesel through the middle....and from what I have heard this kid Beisel might be a player and Vermeil was pissed they let him go. He said all that work he put in conveting from DE to LB was just about to pay off and now he's gone...with a teaching from a staff full of LB coaches I think this kid could be solid...with that being said I believe we will miss Ted Johnson's touhgness and run stuffin ability but with the talent we have on the D-line we could just as easily play more of a 4-3 defense and with Seymore and Wilfork on the inside and Green and Warren on the outside while rotating Bailey, Hill, and McGinest through... I still would like them to take a look at a vet like Mckinnon but it would be a tough position to throw him in having missed alot of time to learn this defense...camp should be interesting.</div> He could still use the deph be drafting those 2. You lost 3 guys and you need to find deph. I am not saying they could come in and start but backup role players would be fine.
We also needed someone to replace Andruzzi....so Mankins is a solid pick and We also have some good veteran back ups like Matt Chatam who is nothing spectacular but in 2003 he started for Vrabel when he went down with a broken arm and we didn't miss a beat nevermind he had a fumble return for a TD that beat the Giants...he is a solid back up as is Don Davis who plays anywhere from satey to LB...also a kid we signed off the street last year Eric Alexander..out of LSU I believe...has been leaving good impressions on belichick...Thurman never would have made it on our team since he is dum as a rock and just not a belichick guy and obviously neither crowder or thurman were his type of players since he met with them multiple times...and even went to florida to work out crowder...obvisouly to fake interest and try and jack their draft status up...
