In fairness, his coming busthood is based more on my gut feeling than anything, but frankly I think the objective evidence is all on my side.
People were already saying he’d lost a step when the Seahawks let him go to Washington 4 (5?) years ago.
On the one hand, they were clearly wrong, since he held his starting job without much difficulty. On the other hand, 34 is pretty damn old for a corner. Ty Law has been a shadow of himself for at least three years and just turned 35. Ronde Barber will turn 34 in April and has clearly lost a step of his own. Add that to the fact that Springs has been more or less permanently injured since 1999, and it doesn’t look good.
Well, I hope you’re wrong Normally, I would have a ton of confidence in the Pats front office, but with Pioli gone and the Cassel trade, I’m not nearly so sanguine as I’ve been in the past few years.
Meh. People said Rodney Harrison was done; nobody thought Troy Brown could be even a marginally effective NFL nickelback; they’ve made solid starters out of mid-to-late round picks like Asante Samuel, Randall Gay, Eugene Wilson, Ellis Hobbs, and castoffs like Tyrone Poole and Hank Poteat. I wouldn’t worry about it.
I don’t necessarily think Pete was doing it to kowtow to alumni pressure or media pressure, I would speculate that he simply was in the majority who expected Booty to eventually live up to his own hype and giving him opportunities was the way to do that.
Panthers cut Ken Lucas. I’m kinda surprised; he’s a very solid starting corner. He’ll probably end up in Detroit, although the Bucs could use another veteran d-back.
In similar news, the Bears finally made a move to address their secondary issues and signed FS Josh Bullocks to a cheap 1-year deal. Bullocks is young and athletic, but he was benched on a poor defensive squad in New Orleans. Rumor has it his issues were mental, and I desperately hope that quality coaching and a simpler Tampa-2 scheme will make him serviceable.
The Eagles lost Tra Thomas to the Jaguars. I suppose I’m too sentimental to ever run a successful franchise, but I think if you have a left tackle who allowed only 2 sacks in 2008 (tied for second best in the league), has missed only eight games in an eleven year career, and been to three Pro Bowls, you sign the guy until he retires, stops playing at a Pro Bowl level, or dies. This is a team with a rapidly closing window, now is the time to rebuild at the second most important offensive position?
The current backup to Thomas, Winston Justice, has been absolutely abysmal so far in his limited pro experience. Osi Umenyiora will be delighted if Justice sniffs a starting spot. So what’s the rumored answer? 33 year old Orlando Pace. Why? What could he possibly bring that Tra Thomas wouldn’t?
At least they signed one of the better Safeties available in free agency in Sean Jones. I don’t know anything about him, but he isn’t rated very highly on the Scouts Inc. list. Is being second on a shallow list a good thing?
I just don’t understand what the direction here could be. You make the NFC title game, your team is competitive, what’s going on here?
Sean Jones has some physical skills and makes plays. He’ll play better opposite a veteran that might cover his blown assignments - he played better when he was the gambling youngster of the backfield when he played alongside savvy vet Brian Russell, but when put alongside inexperienced physical freak Brodney Poole he regressed.
I’m not happy that we lost him given the very cheap contract he decided to sign with Philly.
This pretty much covers it- he’s an excellent athlete and was supposed to be an instant Pro Bowler coming out (he was a first team All-SEC and All-America selection in '03), but he’s been very inconsistent.
In college (UGA) he played next to a guy who fits SB’s description exactly- boring but super-solid Jermaine Phillips, who never misses an assignment but is also never going to astonish anyone with his speed/size/hands/hitting.
A big contract? Not much else. I love Pace and he is one of the best in the business when he is healthy. Unfortunately, that has not been since 2005. Even last year, after two previous years that were almost non-existant due to injury he was the most consistant part of an otherwise weak Rams O-line. He has a good 1-2 years left in him as a solid, but not great LT, IF you can keep him on the field. So you would not have gained, but you would not lost much (did I mention the ‘stays healthy’ caveat?), just be sure you have a good prospect backing him up.
On the plus side, at least he has been showing up to training camps recently!
Patriots sign former Lion and Brown Leigh Bodden. Belichick is clearly focused on the secondary in free agency. Bodden only had 1 INT last year, but that was on the Lions, so I don’t give that a ton of weight. I seem to recall him being fairly servicable in Cleveland. And he’s only 27 which is a spring chicken on the Pats
Also, the Pats lost special teams ace Larry Izzo. I’m disappointed in that, as he has been a very valuable ST player for years and years.
The Pats always seem to get the best guys available in FA. First Fred Taylor then Chris Baker and now Leigh Bodden. Bodden wasn’t terrible in Detroit, just invisible and he was a guy on the upswing in Cleveland. I bet he turns into a Pro Bowl alternate in New England. Fred Taylor is going to be sick in that offense.
Bleh. I don’t think Fragile [del]Fearsome[/del] Fred has much left in the tank at this point. He may have been relatively healthy for the last few years, but all those knee injuries earlier in his career must have taken their toll.
That said, my grandmother could probably post 100 yards in that offense.
Well, he did manage 2900 yards in 3 seasons after those knee injuries. Not sure why it’s now that they’ll show up. You could make the case that those injuries and games missed make him a young 33 years old in NFL years. In any case, what free agent RBs would you think would have been better than Taylor for the Pats? He’s a perfect fit.
I would have said they were pretty well served by Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan and Laurence Maroney. I certainly think Jordan is a more effective back than Fred at this point in their careers. Instead, they let him go.
I don’t quite understand the logic there. Jordan is almost as old as Taylor, has never been as productive and has been less healthy. He had exactly zero receptions for the Pats last year, and the Pats love to throw to RBs. Taylor is a pretty solid receiver and will be the fastest player in their backfield. The words productive and LaMont Jordan have only collided once in his 9 year career.
I agree with you that Taylor is a good fit for the Pats and I like him better then Jordan, who never impressed me. NE likes to use several backs throughout the year, keeping legs fresh for December/January games when they have to grind it out in tough weather. So Taylor is not likely to be featured to start, but I bet he gets more carries as the season goes on (assuming Maroney can start the year healthy and stay that way).
Not his fault, though; for three years + he was stuck behind C-Mart, and then he was stuck in Oakland. Randy Moss sucked in Oakland too, remember?
Taylor is not as good a receiver as Jordan or Kevin Faulk and is not nearly as fast as he used to be… and has only caught more than 20 passes once in the last four seasons. In 8 years as a featured back, he had one 1,500 yard season. He can’t move the pile at the goal line.
Don’t get me wrong… I love the guy. I just think anyone (including the Pats) who signs him with the intent to make him their #1 guy is going to be disappointed.
Bad comparison. WRs depend on QBs, RBs tend to produce on their own even on bad team with bad lines. Jordan’s one good year came on a terrible Oakland team afterall. C-Mart has been out of the picture for more than half his career. Any argument for Jordan’s success is undermined by the fact that he couldn’t succeed in New England last season. Like you said, your Grandmother could run for 100 yards there.
Hmm, in 8 years Jordan has had ZERO 1500 yard seasons and couldn’t even beat out Justin Fargas in Oakland. Jordan has 150 catches in his entire career.
Why would you think the Pats were planning on him being their #1 guy? The Pats haven’t had anything resembling a single back situation since 2004. Taylor has been great as a part of a 2-back system in Jax and every indication is that they signed him for that purpose in NE. Sammy Morris isn’t going anywhere and Maroney will probably still be in the mix (or a rookie if they draft one).
Normally, I would have a ton of confidence in the Pats front office, but with Pioli gone and the Cassel trade, I’m not nearly so sanguine as I’ve been in the past few years.