Are We Improved As Of Now? SAT NIGHT

Sure, there will be minor changes to the bottom of the roster over the next 2 weeks. We need the depth. But these additions are unlikely to be significant. We can only HOPE for a significant addition or two.

But where are we, as we wait as we close the week and look forward to Belichick's transactions and to the Practice Squad.
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OVERALL - AN IMPROVED TEAM

I see the offense at least as good as last year, one of the best in the history of the NFL. I see a modest improvement in the defense that was in the top 10 in points allowed and was improving in the last half of the season. I see a bit of improvement in the special teams.
We've improved. However, so have other teams. Teams should be better prepared for the hurry-up. In addition, we have a much tougher schedule. We are an odds on playoff team, and a strong favorite to win at least 10 games (as always). My prediction (as it has been for over 10 years) is 11-5 and a division win.

OFFENSE

OVERALL We should see an improved running game (it was #7 last year). We should have better OL play (we were among the very best last year). Our passing game should take a bit of a step backward, at least for the first part of the year. On balance, we should be as good as last year.

QB NO CHANGE

RB/FB IMPROVED
out Woodhead (we have the additions and an improved Vereen)
in Blount, Washington, Devlin

WR LIKELY A SMALL STEP BACKWARD
out Welker, Lloyd, Branch
in Amendola, Thompkins, Boyce, Dobson

TE LIKELY ONLY A SMALL STEP BACKWARD
After all, Hernandex was injured for much of 2012.
out Hernandez, Fells
in Sudfeld

OL IMPROVED
The unit us healthier. We do need an upgrade from Kline.
out Thomas, McDonald
in Svitek, Kline

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DEFENSE Overall, this unit is improved. We should see improvement from at least a couple of last year's rookies. We've added Kelly and Fletcher. One of this year's rookies
should contribute. We've had a few pluses and no downgrades from 2012.

DL Kelly makes this unit better. We will pick up a DT and another DL backup this wee Also, Jones is likely to be more productive than last year.
out Deaderick, Love, Forston, Francis
in Kelly, Vellano, Buchanan

LB This unit is improved. Fletcher has been playing very well. Collins is learning.
Hightower should be improved.
out Koutouvides, Tarpinian
in Collins, Fletcher, Beauharnais

CB Dennard should be more productive than last year. Ryan is an upgrade over Moore.
out Moore
in Ryan

S This position is somewhat improved, since we know who is in what position.
out Chung
in Harmon

SPECIAL TEAMS
We now have a dedicated KR, one of the best in the NFL. We have on of the best PR's for at least part of the year. We have a change at punter. We've kept our gunners.
Overall, these units should be a bit better because of the improvement at KR.

Worse during the regular season, built to do better in the postseason than they have.

We have higher ceilings and lower basements. With a few key injuries we will be six feet under.

Right now, I have serious reservations about the Defensive Line. I'm sure that will change once the Patriots have surveyed the landscape and bring in the appropriate replacements.

Kelly has replaced Love. That is a major, major improvement.

I too have reservations about the backups. However, as andy reminds us, this group of backups is not much worse than last year. The only effective backup we had was Cunningham, and he really didn't do all that much. And yes, I look forward to see who Belichick will sign to fill the two open DL roster spots.

ausbacker said:

Right now, I have serious reservations about the Defensive Line. I'm sure that will change once the Patriots have surveyed the landscape and bring in the appropriate replacements.

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I fear you are making the error of comparing whole-season health last year to starting health this year.

QB -- pretty much the same as last year.
RB -- Woodhead is better than the new guys. Ridley and Vereen have, however, had another year to develop.
TE -- Big decline. Who knows whether Sudfeld, an under-muscled rookie, will be more durable than Hernandez.
WR -- I'll just duck that discussion.
OL -- Thomas is gone. That's a depth decline. But except for Mankins, the guys are young enough that more age is better.

DL -- Jones is a year further along. Kelly is a big upgrade.
LB -- Young guys are further along.
CB -- We're starting the year with Talib and, we hope, an improved Dennard.
S -- McCourty has another year of experience.

ausbacker said:

Right now, I have serious reservations about the Defensive Line. I'm sure that will change once the Patriots have surveyed the landscape and bring in the appropriate replacements.

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If we are talking about depth, then there is definitely cause for reservations. Looking backwards, releasing Deaderick was one of the big mistakes of the off season. We can only hope that Armstrong can get healthy and then shows up.

On the other hand, I think there is a lot to be excited about with our starters. Nink, Wilfork, Kelly, and Jones are a force to be reckoned with.

Ifleninwasawizard said:

Looking backwards, releasing Deaderick was one of the big mistakes of the off season.

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I don't see how we can call it a mistake without actually knowing what these laziness and complacency issues really were like. I definitely don't think he's a guy that can't be replaced by Vellano, and the supposed poor attitude makes it an easier decision.

Yes, this is always an issue. Actually, in looking at Hernandez, I did consider how little he played last year, when guessing that the reduction of output would be relatively small.

However, in general, your point is well taken. We never take into account future injuries. If we believed that we would lose even TWO top players this year, especially on defense, we would be in deep, deep trouble. Our problem is a lack of depth, and that is always a hidden weakness that shows up when there are injuries.

Fencer said:

I fear you are making the error of comparing whole-season health last year to starting health this year.

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Fencer said:

I fear you are making the error of comparing whole-season health last year to starting health this year.

WR -- I'll just duck that discussion.
OL -- Thomas is gone. That's a depth decline. But except for Mankins, the guys are young enough that more age is better.

CB -- We're starting the year with Talib and, we hope, an improved Dennard.

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Well if we're talking about how well positions could handle an injury, then I'd say they're better than expected at these positions.

At WR, the #4 WR is one of Dobson, Boyce, and Edelman as opposed to last year's one catch of Stallworth and then a lot of nothing from Branch. I'd take all 5 (real) WRs this year over Branch last year.

At OL, I don't think it's crazy to think that Cannon could be just as good as Thomas as a fill-in. Could even be better if he was in fact giving Connolly a run for the starting spot. They are worse at the #5 interior spot, though.

At CB, they've improved at the #4 spot with Ryan over Cole, which was a big weakness against the Ravens in the playoffs.

No team knows or fan knows what they have right now...no team is ever the same 2 consecutive years so every offseason every team is 0-0 and looks great and ready to win a championship until you see them in the real games which can quickly separate the haves from the have nots.

So to answer the question.....I don't have a fu(king clue if this team is better now than before....

Sciz said:

I don't see how we can call it a mistake without actually knowing what these laziness and complacency issues really were like. I definitely don't think he's a guy that can't be replaced by Vellano, and the supposed poor attitude makes it an easier decision.

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I must have been out of the loop when it came to the character issues stuff. When I heard we cut him I thought it must have been because we added Kelly, Armstrong, and still had Love on the team. Apparently my own off-season game wasn't as strong as I thought it was

Ifleninwasawizard said:

I must have been out of the loop when it came to the character issues stuff. When I heard we cut him I thought it must have been because we added Kelly, Armstrong, and still had Love on the team. Apparently my own off-season game wasn't as strong as I thought it was

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Yeah, there were reports that both Love and Deaderick seemed to be pretty content where they were and weren't as interested in getting better as other players on the roster.

mgteich said:

TE LIKELY ONLY A SMALL STEP BACKWARD
After all, Hernandex was injured for much of 2012.
out Hernandez, Fells
in Sudfeld

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You're joking right?

ATippett56 said:

You're joking right?

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As was brought up, that was comparing 2013 full health to average 2012 health, which was pretty dismal.

Personally I'm not really worried or care to make comparisons from one year to another. I do think that the overall goal is to field a highly competitive team, and that has certainly been achieved.

The weaknesses vs the opposition's WR3, TE, and RB are our biggest worries, and with the choices of Collins, Harmon, Ryan, and a return to health from Fletcher that has hopefully been addressed. In the meantime we should have the advantage of being able to play a more attacking man coverage scheme similar to the one that was used down the stretch run of the past 2 seasons. Hopefully this can add to more sacks and hurries that we've all hoped for lately.

McCourty, Dennard, Talib, and even Arrington in their more natural spots right from the start should help. It sure would have been nice to have improved the safety position opposite McCourty. Sadly, that did not work out, but I do have a better feeling about the secondary as a whole than in the past.

The offense should continue to produce with a commitment to running the ball and having the same kind of passing attack--and I don't really care who is in there. Amendola is very good as long as he stays healthy, and personally I don't consider a freak collarbone injury and an elbow injury to be the nagging kind of worries. Maybe he does miss a handful of games, but he should still offer us a nice weapon that may end up surprising some people here. I do feel that an upgrade over LLyod may be achieved, and an upgrade over Branch has already been achieved.

Belichick has done a tremendous job of continuing to build a competitive team for the present without sacrificing the future. Last I heard we had approx. 11 million dollars worth of cap room still that will once again put us in position to make some moves next offseason, along with another crop of draft picks that will offer more of a full slate as opposed to this season.

Sciz said:

Yeah, there were reports that both Love and Deaderick seemed to be pretty content where they were and weren't as interested in getting better as other players on the roster.

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No, that was mostly Deaderick.

They released Love over differences on what to do about his diabetes diagnosis.

ctpatsfan77 said:

No, that was mostly Deaderick.

They released Love over differences on what to do about his diabetes diagnosis.

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Yeah, the real disappointment was Kyle Love, but it didn't appear that he wanted to retire for a year and stay around--or any other options that they offered him to stay on after getting himself in better health/shape. He was the one that we really would have liked to stay.

The loss of Deaderick isn't any big deal in my opinion. He wasn't really anything special and was nothing more than a JAG who could be upgraded. I was surprised to see someone point out the loss of Deaderick as one of the biggest losses of the offseason.

they could go 10-6 with the #9 offense and #17 defense but catch fire in the playoffs and win the SB I think we would all agree that's a improvement my point is they may look worst on paper but we wont know until its playoff team how good this team is

ctpatsfan77 said:

No, that was mostly Deaderick.

They released Love over differences on what to do about his diabetes diagnosis.

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It was mentioned a little with Love, but yeah, I think the liability behind keeping a fat guy with diabetes is what finally did him in. It just helps the team look a little better if they also make his more minor locker room issues known as part of it.