Eh, it's the Saturday evening before Training Camp opens with a intrasquad scrimmage on the next Saturday afternoon and other than waiting for Barry Jackson to drop some knowledge, the only real issue left to discuss is who fills Phil Merling's Roster spot. Granted, all we have is reports of "a achilles injury" no one has confirmed a "ruptured achilles tendon" diagnosis, this could be a Rothian situation in the making. Or a sly joke: Merling's Achilles Heel causes lost season... anywho, I've looked into Adalius Thomas's situation in NE, as well as Mike Nolan's affinity for him: -Adalius T had a poor season in two areas: -Run stopping -pass coverage He had a decent enough season rushing the passer: -124 pass rushes, 3 sacks, 2 passes defensed, 3 hits, 3 pressures Looking at his stats, he appears to have been used much more in coverage with 160 plays dropping back into coverage. Compared to Q Moses: 43 snaps, 1 sack, 1 pressure. Onto Mike Nolan: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...have_mutual_admiration/srvc=sports&position=0 A run down of what happened in Pastriot land: http://musketfire.com/2010/04/18/adalius-thomas-discusses-future-with-pats/ http://coolweather.dreamhosters.com/general/the-adalius-thomas-situation.html The bolded portion is born out by his PFF stats, he spent far more time in coverage or defending the run than he did heading upfield on the passrush. In Summary, I can imagine the flack if Thomas was signed after Taylor left for NY, however that is a poor way to make football decisions, Thomas knows Nolan's defense, he is still marginally productive (I see him moving Q Moses off the roster) on the passrush. That and Dolfans simply cannot bring themselves to come to grips with the fact Taylor turned down a contract extension in Miami to play for the Jests. Variables: -he had 600 snaps with the Pats, a reduction to around 100 with the Phins. -contract demands, he is a Vet minimum player at this point in time, the rumor was he wanted Joey Porter money. -can he still play Special Teams? He made the pro bowl as a ST player. -Progress stopper..this one I find odd, whose progress would he be stopping? One can make the projection that "if" Q Moses had a similar number of passrushing snaps, he would approximate Thomas's 3 sacks, however CK's excellent film of Moses imho shows that to be false, as Q lacks explosion. Interestingly enough, one of Thomas's sacks came against the Dolphins. Thoughts on a Slooow Saturday Evening?
Yep, and I'd expect him to play on Special Teams. 120 snaps (Charlie Anderson's number from 09) on the nickel line is not enough to justify signing him, he'd have to create more value by playing on ST.
I'm not so quick to sour on Quentin Moses. Trading out a 26 yr old for a 32 yr old doesn't make sense either. If Quentin doesn't take any steps forward I might get on board but he's been working hard to make the switch to OLB and he does have rush ability. The Universal Draft youtube showed him to be hesitant but I think it's just him reading and reacting to the plays. I mean the kid was a terror at Georgia, he's just had to build up an all around game. That said, I'm sure he's on a short leash. If the coaches think he's reached his ceiling and still is mediocre then I'm sure they'll pull the plug and go after Thomas. BTW- I know Adalius is fast but what the heck is he doing playing OLB in the 4-3 at 6-2 270? Bellicheck needs to pay for these ballsy personnel moves and it will take a Kory Sheets to do it...
"Q" has seen his snap count decline every yr since 07, he never has shown much in the way of a passrushing talent, not saying he "never" could Yr #4 it suddenly emerges? Eh, if the guy is on the radar, why wait? And do not underestimate the value he has in knowing Nolan's Scheme, and to be frank, the chip on his shoulder after the Pasts usage of his skills. They paid him the big bucks, then moved him everywhere from ILB to OLB, then dropped him into coverage, or used him on clearly running downs. THAT is a part of the reason why to me, a Q/Thomas swap makes sense, especially if AD plays ST, something Q never has. Toss in the Nolan/AD history and I'd love to have him as the 5th DE/OLB.
The good thing is Thomas knows this defense so we could probably wait until the 3rd or 4th preseason game and sign him if none of the current players step up.
True, however: -We do have an extra roster slot with Merling's injury and Ferg's retirement -Sparano and Co are fanatics about Conditioning, better to sign him now and ascertain that his health is up to snuff. -a part of his value is a part time coach out on the field, that is what Ferg brought from Dallas, Thomas could do the same for a really young Lb/De corps in Miami. -the longer we wait, the higher the probability that another team has a injury at OLB/DE and that makes Thomas more attractive to that team that would need a Day 1 contributor.
we don't need anymore slow aging lbs, had enough of that last year.if rex isn't biting whats that tell ya?
rewatched the Patriot game at their house last year..Thomas was all over the field, Rushin, droppin, had an int for 6 as well... I'am just into the youth right now, willing to pay the price, set's us up for next year's run better. I can see both sides though....Nolan knows what he can do, and if he say's we gotta get him than Ireland has to listen..
Don't want either one. Yeah, I'm sure Thomas might be able to help, but it's a mistake to fill our young roster with more aging vets. We need to develop all our young talent instead. But I do agree that Uentin is not a good option either
I would shy away from the guy , while the Pats were in free fall, i really doubt belicheat and others called him out because one late meeting. I expect more to the story. Id do alot of homework! As a player id love to look at the guy.
A bit OT, I know. But I don't think any of us should believe it either. The November thing was odd at best, the Dolphins had little interest in spring, and he made it abundantly clear he didn't want to go to NY. Anyway, as far as progress-stoppers go, I think he could slow Koa Misi. That's a guy who I think they're expecting to seize the starting job right away on the strongside. Would Thomas accept a situational pass rush/special teams role, and a contract that reflected such a role? I think it all depends on what he's sold up front by the coaches and GM. They all say they welcome competition, and they do. But when a veteran like Thomas thinks he's played the young guy even, or perhaps a little better, will he accept the coaching staff giving the young player the nod? Would he accept being demoted midseason in favor of the young player? We see a lot of guys complaining every year. I'd prefer him to Quentin Moses. Neither player would be in our long-term plans. But Thomas is a tremendous upgrade. I'd do a 2-year deal assuming he's not going to be a cantankerous type, which we don't.
I think we need a more of a mix of proven Vets to go along with the youth Deej. For example, bringing in M Douglas is a great move as it offers stability, we do not have that situation at OLB in any sense, Charlie Anderson has maybe 400 snaps as a OLB..in his career, if Anderson cannot hold up to the punishment of being a Starter, who steps in? Wake has even less experience, ditto Q, then we are down to utter newbie Rooks like Edds, Misi, even McCoy, a good passing attack would abuse them. That is a part of the reason why Thomas would make sense as both insurance and as a interface between what Nolan says and how the inexperienced players should use it out on the field.
That has never been resolved, Irish still claimed there was a second offer, and no one has said the first offer was pulled, Taylor on the other hand claimed the first offer was "not the way he does things" and there was no second offer. Meanwhile, apparently he did want to go to NY as he did sign there..actions speak louder than words. That is the real question, as not only would Misi start ahead of him but Thomas would take Wake's ST role (or should) and a part of the problem in NE was Thomas's disagreement with how they were using him. We are also paper thin in the experienced Depth portion of the roster at OLB, that is the other issue with Rooks and Newbie Starters, no one knows how well they will hold up to the punishment of playing OLB/DE. And, just imho, Thomas could line up across from Wake on the 4 man nickel rush line to me that is a huge hole we have to fill, especially with Merling gone, that leaves...Charlie Anderson and Q and maybe McCoy..none of which are great options, that leaves Misi who is learning to play OLB via OJT there is no guarantee he will learn the position quickly enough to be a Starter in mid September, add in he was not a great passrusher at Utah, and Thomas makes a bit more sense.
Considering the last two signings of DL to fill out 79 & 80, apparently this regime has no desire for AT. The age of the DT signed yesterday doesn't bode well for the "we want youth" factor, so it seems to me this FO and Nolan see some other problem with AT. As much of a genius as (sure hate saying it but true) Bellicheat is, Parcells probably puts a lot of stock in BB letting AT go as well. There could be also a factor of Parcells not wanting BB's castoffs either,, since BP still prefers to be considered BB's mentor.
I was going to edit my post to touch on this until I saw your reply. It's absolutely a big ?? opposite Wake. I think Misi could ultimately end up better than we anticipate as a pass rusher, but we surely don't know. And being a rookie, we have to count on him wearing down. With Starks -- our best pass rusher next to Wake IMO -- to see less time in nickel (again IMO) and the loss of Merling, I think it's very possible we see regression in this area overall. If our coverage units improve the way we hope, I expect we could see more unconventional rushes on these downs. Similar to the way Rex Ryan manufactures pressure in the face of inadequate personnel. But at the root of all this, we have a conversion type youngin' with one proven, outstanding skill (Wake), a conversion type rookie with promise (Misi) and a bunch of guys. Eek.
There is a secondary problem as well, there are no guarantees that Smith and Davis do play THAT much better as 2nd yr Corner's, if they are toasted, and we play some teams in the first 7 games that can certainly light them up, there goes the "creative pressure packages" out of the playbook. Toss in a complete, utter unknown at Free Safety...yikes! Yep, which is one of my themes for adding Thomas, instead they picked up Stanley, which means Sparano has bought into the Anderson/Q/Wake/Misi/Edds being able to generate pressure as the Dline in the Base 3-4 isn't designed to generate pressure. Favre, Brady, Palmer, Flacco, will earn pro bowl births playing against such a limited Defensive Scheme. Eegads, the more I look at it, the more I really do hope we play more 4-3 base as Wake/Starks/Odrick/Langford has more potential than our base 3-4 lineup.
I think it's very unlikely that AT would mesh well with this team. I doubt he would take the vet minimum. I doubt he would play STs. I doubt that he'd be a good leader or mentor. None of those traits are in his history. I expect that he would retire before playing at the minimum and on STs unless he is broke and has no other options.
More or less Agree Rafi, that is what would make him an Acorn, he would have to sacrifice a lot to play for the Dolphins this season, so the whole concept is a longshot. However, it is a longshot that does make sense, unless Chris McCoy is far more talented than we have been led to believe, the only player who could do half of the things A Thomas can do is AJ Edds, and he is not a passrusher. I'm sort of banking on AT's ego being big enough that he wishes to get even with the Pastriots as well as playing for Mike Nolan again.
whatever... the FrontOffice is on top of it for me: Moses deserves a shot & should be ready to step up
Moses is a scrub @ OLB and the front office don't want Adalius Thomas because of age. There is a youth movement going on. Why take on another non productive dinosaur. I read an idea here about moving Moses inside. Not a bad idea really. The guy can't cover but does have strength.
Moses is well schooled, very talented, young & basically, an untried player sporting an excellent collegian career filled w/ promise & accolades he has learned the position from the best to play it & deserves a legitimate shot @ the start the only thing he lacks is game-time he will step up in 2010 big time OLB's in rotation: Moses/Misi, Wake/Anderson
