2020 Pats: Roster & Beyond (non-QB edition)

Bowser

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Sep 27, 2019
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If the Patriots want to be a run-heavy team would it make sense to spend a late day 2 or early day 3 pick on a potential starter upgrade over Sony or an untested Harris?
I think someone like AJ Dillon or Zack Moss makes a lot of sense for what they run in the 4th. Just curious if anyone has an appetite for potentially upgrading that spot and if so when.
My Pats draft list had two RBs on it until Dan Vitale was signed -- AJ Dillon and Zack Moss. I've since dropped Dillon.

Moss is very intriguing. Ran a 4.65 at the combine at 223 lbs, then a 4.52 (at 219) at a mini pro day. He runs with power, has great hands, and can pass protect. Potentially a replacement for James White, who's on the last year of his deal -- and who'd free up $3.6M if traded.


Text: With his pro day canceled, Utah RB Zack Moss had a private workout today in which he was electronically timed at 4.52 in the 40. Had run an official 4.65 at the Combine.
 

SMU_Sox

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I'm very intrigued by Darrynton Evans from App. St. Little small (5'10" 205) but has 3 down skillset if he's in a rotation. Great speed, and other measurables, and impressively didn't fumble once in 482 carries.
Also offers ST versatility. Super elusive as a runner. I have him ranked highly in my board as a third day rotational player and good STer. He is my favorite of the receiving backs this year and is an elusive runner but as you implied he is not an every down back.

My Pats draft list had two RBs on it until Dan Vitale was signed -- AJ Dillon and Zack Moss. I've since dropped Dillon.

Moss is very intriguing. Ran a 4.65 at the combine at 223 lbs, then a 4.52 (at 219) at a mini pro day. He runs with power, has great hands, and can pass protect. Potentially a replacement for James White, who's on the last year of his deal -- and who'd free up $3.6M if traded.


Text: With his pro day canceled, Utah RB Zack Moss had a private workout today in which he was electronically timed at 4.52 in the 40. Had run an official 4.65 at the Combine.
Testing for RBs matter sure but that is one of the few positions where unless a guy completely bombs it I am not concerned. Running backs need elusiveness and vision and body coordination which isn’t easily measured with conventional athletic testing. I think it’s funny that the three guys I liked a lot for the Pats are three you mentioned. I have some other draft crushes but those 3 and Michael Warren, and Darius Anderson are my day 3 favorites so far.
 

Bowser

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Sep 27, 2019
399
Testing for RBs matter sure but that is one of the few positions where unless a guy completely bombs it I am not concerned. Running backs need elusiveness and vision and body coordination which isn’t easily measured with conventional athletic testing. I think it’s funny that the three guys I liked a lot for the Pats are three you mentioned. I have some other draft crushes but those 3 and Michael Warren, and Darius Anderson are my day 3 favorites so far.
Good points, though I thought Moss's 4.65 forty at the combine was pretty close to bombing! 4.52 would make him the fastest guy in the RB room:

Sony Michel: 4.54
Damien Harris: 4.57
James White: 4.57
Dan Vitale: 4.60
Brandon Bolden: 4.66
Rex Burkhead: 4.73 :oops:

Note: Combine numbers. James Develin wasn't invited to the combine but apparently has clocked a 5.03.
 
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Cellar-Door

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Good points, though I thought Moss's 4.65 forty at the combine was pretty close to bombing! 4.52 would make him the fastest guy in the RB room:

Sony Michel: 4.54
Damien Harris: 4.57
James White: 4.57
Dan Vitale: 4.60
Branden Bolden: 4.66
Rex Burkhead: 4.73 (!)

Note: Combine numbers. James Develin wasn't invited to the combine but apparently has clocked a 5.03.
That's one reason Evans is so intriguing, he has that 4.41 speed. which is a real difference in terms of just big play breakaway potential that we don't have right now, the guy who if you get him past the first level he's not getting caught.
 

DJnVa

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View: https://twitter.com/DougKyed/status/1242153235399532555


The Patriots signed safety/special teams standout Cody Davis on Monday, according to his agent. http://nesn.com/?p=1058541

From article:
Davis ran a 4.41-second 40-yard dash with a 6.77-second 3-cone drill and 4.01-second short shuttle coming out of Texas Tech as an undrafted free agent in 2013.
He’s started five career games on defense and has 82 tackles, eight pass breakups and two interceptions in seven NFL seasons. He’s led the Jaguars in special teams snaps in each of the last two seasons.
 

Marciano490

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If Ghost gets his own goodbye thread, it has to be called “Giving Up the Ghost.”
 

jsinger121

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Not surprised on Ghost. Good kicker, high cap number but a health question going forward.
 

BaseballJones

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Not surprised on Ghost. Good kicker, high cap number but a health question going forward.
Yep. I've advocated going with a rookie kicker. Blankenship is a good bet. I'd love it if the Syracuse kicker decided to go pro. That dude never misses.
 

Brand Name

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Yep. I've advocated going with a rookie kicker. Blankenship is a good bet. I'd love it if the Syracuse kicker decided to go pro. That dude never misses.
Szmyt is a true soph. Can’t happen. Easily my K1 for next year’s class which looks bleak.

This is the right move, and echoing a thought elsewhere that it’d be impossible to know lay, maybe his recovery isn’t going as well as expected. I’ve been banging the Blankenship drum for excellence in simple, repeatable mechanics since Ghost went down. Make it so BB, please don’t make it Bass.

Should the injury concerns not be the case, I’d think Titans make sense as a Ghost destination. Still $23M in cap, including dead money, he went to Memphis, and many former Pats migrate there. Joseph is a very upgradable guy, if you talk about who’s in-house already.
 

Kliq

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Ghost had an impossible job having to replace AV, but managed to pull it off and nailed a lot of big kicks over the years. Not only with the Pats this season, but with a lot of good NFL teams, having one of the more reliable kickers is really important and Ghost was that year after year, playing with a lot of pressure.
 

normstalls

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Didn't see this posted yet (I don't think).
Nice little update on David Andrews.

https://www.si.com/nfl/patriots/news/andrews-on-dealing-with-blood-clots

After a series of tests in February, it was reported that Andrews is on track to play football again in 2020, as he feels like he is in "excellent condition physically". That good news for a Patriots team that just lost out on center Ted Karras, who started the entire 2019 season in place of Andrews but signed with the Dolphins in free agency this offseason.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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Ghost is maybe one of the most underrated players of the Brady/Belichick Era. Three time Super Bowl Champion, two time All Pro, the franchises all time leader in field goals. Definitely a Patriots Hall of Famer. Good luck to him going forward.
 

fiskful of dollars

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Loved Ghost. He never really had THE KICK, though, did he? Not a ton of game-winners or super clutch, big time, pressure kicks. Maybe I'm taking him for granted because he was so, so steady for so long but he seemed to miss at little more frequently in the playoffs, SB. Especially in the past 3-4 years.
 

BigSoxFan

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Loved Ghost. He never really had THE KICK, though, did he? Not a ton of game-winners or super clutch, big time, pressure kicks. Maybe I'm taking him for granted because he was so, so steady for so long but he seemed to miss at little more frequently in the playoffs, SB. Especially in the past 3-4 years.
39-44 (89%) in playoffs. Vinatieri was 56-69 (82%). Went like a decade before missing an XP in the playoffs and then had some issues there last few years but, all in all, an incredibly reliable kicker. Didn’t have any Vinatieri moments but had lots of tough kicks that he converted.
 

Pandemonium67

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Also, it has to be noted that some of his misses were PATs after they moved the ball back. Those suckers became somewhat harder for everyone.

He was excellent at kickoffs almost all the time -- an under-appreciated skill.
 

BigSoxFan

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Yeah. I think I was doing him a disservice. Prob recency bias. Gonna miss him. Great kickoffs too.

edit: clarity
It’s the life of a kicker. Everyone remembers the Denver missed XP because they lost by 2. Ditto for Eagles SB. In SB 38, Vinatieri chunked one and had another blocked. But he drained the game winner so those are forgotten.

Gonna miss Gost. He turned letting Vinatieri go into a slam dunk move. Hopefully Stidham can replicate this with Brady.
 

5dice

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He was excellent at kickoffs almost all the time -- an under-appreciated skill.
Agreed. I feel like with really good offensive teams that he was often on, this skill was even more important than FG makes and misses when they were rolling.
Need a short kickoff that is tumbling to eat clock, cause fumbles? Need to boot it through the end zone surely, need certain type of hang?
 

tims4wins

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We really do remember all of the high profile misses. 2015 AFCCG, 2016 AFCCG and SB, 2017 SB, 2018 SB. For better or for worse.

Of all the misses the one that hurts the most isn’t a miss. It’s when BB passed on a 47 yard FG indoors to go for 4th and 13 or whatever in the Scottish Game.
 

BigSoxFan

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We really do remember all of the high profile misses. 2015 AFCCG, 2016 AFCCG and SB, 2017 SB, 2018 SB. For better or for worse.

Of all the misses the one that hurts the most isn’t a miss. It’s when BB passed on a 47 yard FG indoors to go for 4th and 13 or whatever in the Scottish Game.
That decision was so dumb. Freaking dome kick. C’mon Bill.
 

Bowhemian

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We really do remember all of the high profile misses. 2015 AFCCG, 2016 AFCCG and SB, 2017 SB, 2018 SB. For better or for worse.

Of all the misses the one that hurts the most isn’t a miss. It’s when BB passed on a 47 yard FG indoors to go for 4th and 13 or whatever in the Scottish Game.
TOO SOON!
 

RetractableRoof

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For those that are advocating more veteran turnover to save cap money, don't the Pats run the risk of losing the identity in the locker room with so much turnover? It's the veterans that set the tone for how the team carries itself. If they cut too deep into that, isn't there a risk (especially with Brady absent on the offensive side of the ball)?
 

RoDaddy

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Where's the Thank you Ghost thread?! The dude is so deserving and hell, if the Sox forum can post a Thank you Hector Velazquez thread...
 

McBride11

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Ghost is sooo underrated. Drafted in Rd4 in 2006!!! (had to look that up). AV clearly has the highlights but Ghost was an exceptional kicker for 15 years here. He never had the highlight but he was so damn solid it was great. He is like 3rd all time in completion %.

Lots of churn on the roster. I hate all the losses - but glad we are doing it before BB retires.
 
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For those that are advocating more veteran turnover to save cap money, don't the Pats run the risk of losing the identity in the locker room with so much turnover? It's the veterans that set the tone for how the team carries itself. If they cut too deep into that, isn't there a risk (especially with Brady absent on the offensive side of the ball)?
see: Slater and the McCourtys (so far), Hightower is still here, Jules for now. Locker room has a decent number of Patriots Way-ish types.
 

bsj

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