RB is still a top need. LGBT is at best a 1 year stop gap with the possibility of not making the team. They thought so much of Gaffney they exposed him to waivers.Seems to me we will see OL, DL, WR, LB, CB as the draft progression.
RB is still a top need. LGBT is at best a 1 year stop gap with the possibility of not making the team. They thought so much of Gaffney they exposed him to waivers.Seems to me we will see OL, DL, WR, LB, CB as the draft progression.
You believe they'll go into the season with this running back group? Still think they draft one relatively high.Seems to me we will see OL, DL, WR, LB, CB as the draft progression.
If we have CB as fifth on our draft progression, I'd be shocked. It's a top 3 need, IMO.Seems to me we will see OL, DL, WR, LB, CB as the draft progression.
I might quibble with some of these, but taking your assessments at face value, I think there's still a question of how a rookie is going to materially approve the situation. If they grab a corner with a late second or late third, it's probably not a guy who's going to push Ryan, but another question mark with some talent who will compete with Roberts / Coleman / Biggers for rotational duties and on special teams. They should probably still spend a fairly high pick on CB given the contract situations of Butler and Ryan, but when it comes to 2016 needs we probably need to be realistic that the draft is a tough place to get short-term contributors with no first-round pick. That's not just true at CB but at most positions on the roster.It is in no way a solid group, IMO.
... snip details on these ...
I realize I'm likely in the minority here, but despite the fact that I share your hope for a potentially solid group, I see an absolutely pressing need. I would be surprised if BB doesn't take a corner with one of his first four picks.
If you added up all of the CB's and divided them out equally, Ryan probably isn't a #2 CB. But he's a good #2 CB for this team. Butler can play against anyone, IMO, but he's great against smaller guys like Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, who are extremely hard to cover. Butler can do it and pretty much do it on an island. That leaves Ryan to match up with bigger WR's like Demaryius Thomas and Martavis Bryant with safety help or frees up a guy to blitz.Pertinent to the discussion of the CB group, Louis Riddick of ESPN chimes in on Logan Ryan.
Louis Riddick @LRiddickESPN 19s20 seconds ago
I love watching #Patriots CB Logan Ryan play press-man. Does it the way you draw it up.
"#1 corner" is kind of like "#1 starter"...it conjures up an image of a true ace or shut down corner, but when you actually go through the the rosters there are usually only 10-15 of those guys around. 3 corners basically start these days so yes it starts to get pretty thin looking at 90+ players league wide. Corner still seems like a real need along with the lines. Pats don't have a great injury history at this position either.It's bad form to post asking someone to do their homework for them, but I'd love it if someone who knows the rest of league well could put together a quick breakdown of what all (or even just the top teams, AFCE, whatever) of the other team's top-3 CB situation is like, so we could have some comparison to judge the Patriots' situation against. That'd make a nice thread, IMO.
Right, that's pretty much my thinking as well - and my point - but it would be awesome if someone did a breakdown of the top-3 CBs (as you say, three are essentially the starters) for each team so we could put some perspective on the Patriots' situation beyond the obscure "#1, #2, etc..." labels."#1 corner" is kind of like "#1 starter"...it conjures up an image of a true ace or shut down corner, but when you actually go through the the rosters there are usually only 10-15 of those guys around. 3 corners basically start these days so yes it starts to get pretty thin looking at 90+ players league wide. Corner still seems like a real need along with the lines. Pats don't have a great injury history at this position either.
For some reason I find it amusing that Bleacher Report's #1 overall CB doesn't even crack the top 3 on his own team in your rankings - Tyrann Mathieu in Arizona.Here are what I see as each team's top 3 CBs currently on the roster. How many groups would you take over the Patriots top 3?
NFC East
Dallas--Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Byron Jones
NY Giants--Janoris Jenkins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Trevin Wade
Philadelphia--Nolan Carroll, Leodis McKelvin, Eric Rowe
Washington--Bashaud Breeland, Will Blackmon, Greg Toler
NFC South
Atlanta--Desmond Trufant, Jalen Collins, DeMarcus Van Dyke
NO--Delvin Breaux, Kyle Wilson, Keenan Lewis
Carolina--Josh Norman, Brandon Boykin, Robert McClain
TB--Brent Grimes, Johnathan Banks, Alterraun Verner
NFC North
Green Bay--Sam Shields, Demetrius Randall, Quentin Rollins
Chicago--Kyle Fuller, Tracy Porter, Bryce Callahan
Minnesota--Xavier Rhodes, Terrence Neuman, Captain Munnerlyn
Detroit--Darius Slay, Darrin Walls, Quandre Diggs
NFC West
Seattle--Richard Sherman, Jeremy Lane, Tharold Simon
Arizona--Patrick Peterson, Justin Bethel, Asa Jackson
San Fransisco--Tramaine Brock, Kenneth Acker, Dontae Johnson
LA--Trumaine Johnson, EJ Gaines, Coty Sensebaugh
AFC East
NE--Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, Justin Coleman
NYJ--Darrelle Revis, Buster Skrine, Marcus Williams
Miami--Jamar Taylor, Byron Maxwell, Bobby McCain
Buffalo--Stephon Gilmore, Ronald Darby, Nickell Roby
AFC North
Baltimore--Jimmy Smith, Kyle Arrington, Shareece Wright
Pittsburgh---William Gay, Senquez Golson, Ross Cockrell
Cincinnati--Adam Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard
Cleveland--Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Jordan Poyer
AFC South
Houston--Kareem Jackson, Johnathan Joseph, Kevin Johnson
Indianapolis--Vontae Davis, Darius Butler, Patrick Robinson
Jacksonville--Prince Amukamara, Aaron Colvin, Davon House
Tennessee--Jason McCourty, Perrish Cox, Brice McCain
AFC West
Denver--Aqib Talib, Chris Harris, Bradley Roby
KC--Marcus Peters, Jamell Fleming, Marcus Cooper
SD--Brandon Flowers, Casey Hayward, Jason Verrett
Oakland--Sean Smith, DJ Hayden, David Amerson
That's a matter of debate - he lines up at both. I think he's officially listed at safety but since he plays corner in nickel he ends up playing more CB than anything else.Are you ragging on Red or Bleacher Report, because Mathieu plays safety.
Thanks.Here are what I see as each team's top 3 CBs currently on the roster.
They still have Robert Alford, no?Atlanta--Desmond Trufant, Jalen Collins, DeMarcus Van Dyke
Benwikere should be back at some point.Carolina--Josh Norman, Brandon Boykin, Robert McClain
Last year's first-rounder Trae Waynes will probably have a bigger role, too.Minnesota--Xavier Rhodes, Terrence Neuman, Captain Munnerlyn
LS must be strictly a camp body no?Mike Reiss @MikeReiss 1m1 minute ago
Patriots announce signing of LB Tony Steward and LS Christian Yount. Steward a 6th round pick of Bills last year.
Did someone say captain for the Bills game??!!
When said 5th rounder's primary job is to be in the Navy it probably helps to have a contingency plan.LS must be strictly a camp body no?
You don't draft a LS in the 5th rd if you aren't expecting him to at least play out his rookie contract.
Both. Duh. Extra mojoWhy would Steward outrank Hogan on the @tims4wins prospective Bills game captain list?