2015 Patriots Football

[littleteapot]

Wait we got Akiem Hicks out of this? Isn't he actually good?

Akiem Hicks is not Hakeem Nicks.

I mean, Hicks is supposedly decent... but how many DLs do we really need? In the meanwhile, our secondary is one Malcolm Butler injury away from time warping back to 2012.

Do you not like the trade? We gave up a guy who never played and sucked when he did. I'll take a starting-caliber defensive lineman.

[Donoghus]

Wait we got Akiem Hicks out of this? Isn't he actually good?

Akiem Hicks is not Hakeem Nicks.

I mean, Hicks is supposedly decent... but how many DLs do we really need? In the meanwhile, our secondary is one Malcolm Butler injury away from time warping back to 2012.

They need interior DL depth.  Inside is where this kid will probably end up playing.  Right now the Pats are relying heavily on a rookie & a second year kid with an injury history.

Both this & the Bostic trade were about adding depth.  I think the Hicks one tends to be the higher payoff move, though.

[Donoghus]

Wait we got Akiem Hicks out of this? Isn't he actually good?

Akiem Hicks is not Hakeem Nicks.

I mean, Hicks is supposedly decent... but how many DLs do we really need? In the meanwhile, our secondary is one Malcolm Butler injury away from time warping back to 2012.

Do you not like the trade? We gave up a guy who never played and sucked when he did. I'll take a starting-caliber defensive lineman.

Hooman didn't suck.  He took a step back on the depth chart this season but the guy wasn't crap either.  A very solid blocking TE.

[kozlodoev]

Wait we got Akiem Hicks out of this? Isn't he actually good?

Akiem Hicks is not Hakeem Nicks.

I mean, Hicks is supposedly decent... but how many DLs do we really need? In the meanwhile, our secondary is one Malcolm Butler injury away from time warping back to 2012.

Do you not like the trade? We gave up a guy who never played and sucked when he did. I'll take a starting-caliber defensive lineman.

Well, Hoomanawanui was strictly a blocker. He didn't suck, it just wasn't his job to catch the ball. He did in fact play 40% of the snaps last season, but I guess Michael Williams made him redundant (don't expect Williams to catch too many balls, either). I'll miss the 4 TE sets, though

[footey]

still hoping we can snag a stud corner back.

Remains the one glaring need for this team to repeat.

[kozlodoev]

Wait we got Akiem Hicks out of this? Isn't he actually good?

Akiem Hicks is not Hakeem Nicks.

I mean, Hicks is supposedly decent... but how many DLs do we really need? In the meanwhile, our secondary is one Malcolm Butler injury away from time warping back to 2012.

They need interior DL depth.  Inside is where this kid will probably end up playing.  Right now the Pats are relying heavily on a rookie & a second year kid with an injury history.

Both this & the Bostic trade were about adding depth.  I think the Hicks one tends to be the higher payoff move, though.

They have Sheard, Siliga, Brown and Easley. They also asked Jones to occasionally line inside. Sounds like enough depth. I guess Hicks is better than Grissom and Flowers, but interior DL really doesn't strike me as a need, depth or otherwise.

If we're looking at the line, I'm more concerned about who's playing behind Jones and Ninkovich on the edge.

[kozlodoev]

still hoping we can snag a stud corner back.

Remains the one glaring need for this team to repeat.

Don't even need a stud. Just someone similar to Butler, because I don't ever want to see Bradley Fletcher and Logan Ryan in deep coverage.

[Donoghus]

Wait we got Akiem Hicks out of this? Isn't he actually good?

Akiem Hicks is not Hakeem Nicks.

I mean, Hicks is supposedly decent... but how many DLs do we really need? In the meanwhile, our secondary is one Malcolm Butler injury away from time warping back to 2012.

They need interior DL depth.  Inside is where this kid will probably end up playing.  Right now the Pats are relying heavily on a rookie & a second year kid with an injury history.

Both this & the Bostic trade were about adding depth.  I think the Hicks one tends to be the higher payoff move, though.

They have Sheard, Siliga, Brown and Easley. They also asked Jones to occasionally line inside. Sounds like enough depth. I guess Hicks is better than Grissom and Flowers, but interior DL really doesn't strike me as a need, depth or otherwise.

If we're looking at the line, I'm more concerned about who's playing behind Jones and Ninkovich on the edge.

Sheard is an edge guy (who can play inside) who's already having a stellar season so far.    Pats have been susceptible to the run early on (its been masked a bit because of teams trailing on them & becoming one-dimensional).  Adding a guy like Hicks to the inside should help.  You really can't have enough depth on the DL and if it comes at the expense of a TE4, I'm fine with that.

[littleteapot]

Hierarchy of importance between cornerbacks, defensive lineman and blocking tight ends:

Tier 1 (basically impossible to get without giving up something legitimate):
Cornerbacks

Tier 2 (really important - always good to have more of):
Defensive linemen

Tier 3 (pretty much worthless):
Blocking tight ends

[Donoghus]

Hierarchy of importance between cornerbacks, defensive lineman and blocking tight ends:

Tier 1 (basically impossible to get without giving up something legitimate):
Cornerbacks

Tier 2 (really important - always good to have more of):
Defensive linemen

Tier 3 (pretty much worthless):
Blocking tight ends

A good pass rush makes the absence of tier 1 more palatable.  You can have the best cover corners in the world but if the QB is getting all day to throw, they're still gonna get burned a decent amount of the time.

[littleteapot]

Hierarchy of importance between cornerbacks, defensive lineman and blocking tight ends:

Tier 1 (basically impossible to get without giving up something legitimate):
Cornerbacks

Tier 2 (really important - always good to have more of):
Defensive linemen

Tier 3 (pretty much worthless):
Blocking tight ends

A good pass rush makes the absence of tier 1 more palatable.  You can have the best cover corners in the world but if the QB is getting all day to throw, they're still gonna get burned a decent amount of the time.

My point is I wouldn't expect the pats to be able to land a good corner without giving up something. Don't know a whole lot about Hicks but I don't think he's really a passrusher, is he?

[Donoghus]

Hierarchy of importance between cornerbacks, defensive lineman and blocking tight ends:

Tier 1 (basically impossible to get without giving up something legitimate):
Cornerbacks

Tier 2 (really important - always good to have more of):
Defensive linemen

Tier 3 (pretty much worthless):
Blocking tight ends

A good pass rush makes the absence of tier 1 more palatable.  You can have the best cover corners in the world but if the QB is getting all day to throw, they're still gonna get burned a decent amount of the time.

My point is I wouldn't expect the pats to be able to land a good corner without giving up something. Don't know a whole lot about Hicks but I don't think he's really a passrusher, is he?

No.  I think he's being brought in with the idea of being a run stopper. But the Pats pass rush so far this season has been really, really good.  Its been able to make things better for that shaky secondary.

[kozlodoev]

Hierarchy of importance between cornerbacks, defensive lineman and blocking tight ends:

Tier 1 (basically impossible to get without giving up something legitimate):
Cornerbacks

Tier 2 (really important - always good to have more of):
Defensive linemen

Tier 3 (pretty much worthless):
Blocking tight ends

A good pass rush makes the absence of tier 1 more palatable.  You can have the best cover corners in the world but if the QB is getting all day to throw, they're still gonna get burned a decent amount of the time.

My point is I wouldn't expect the pats to be able to land a good corner without giving up something. Don't know a whole lot about Hicks but I don't think he's really a passrusher, is he?

Well, they did get Talib for a 4th rounder. Though he was considered to come with baggage.

[Donoghus]

You can count the number of bonafide "shutdown" corners in the NFL these days on one hand & you probably don't even need to use all 5 fingers.  Becoming more & more of a rarity.

[PhoSita]

You can count the number of bonafide "shutdown" corners in the NFL these days on one hand & you probably don't even need to use all 5 fingers.  Becoming more & more of a rarity.

It seems like having a reliable stable of competent corners, with a couple of them capable of forcing turnovers without getting frequently burned in the attempt, is the ideal.