FanPost

3/15/12: The Current State of the Pats


Matthew Slater is back to return to his role as ST-captain.

Dan Connolly is back to resume his role as at least the top-interiorOLine backup if not the starting-Center. At 29, the Pats can get some more years out of him. While they do they should think about a long-term solution here.

James Ihedigbo and Tracy White are back to be ST-contributors along with the top-SS backup(for Chung) and a 4-3 OLB backup(Ninkovich), respectively.

As for new ...

DT Marcus Harrison is back. He's a longshot to make the roster, as he was prevously signed-and-cut faster than I think any of the Ventrone transactions. As of right now he looks like a training-camp body.

DT/DE Jonathan Fanene has been signed. Huge news, as he fills a huge hole. Having him along with the return of Myron Pryor from injury means no more of the failed Shaun Ellis experiment. Mike Wright is gone and Pryor needs to fight off the injury-prone albelr. Fanene's got a build similar to Fletcher Cox, who I hope he'll be able to mentor should we be lucky enough to draft Cox at 27th overall.

S Steve Gregory. He's versatile and we got him at a bargain much like Fanene. He can play CB, SCB, SS, but seems more of a natural FS. A natural FS is exactly what the Pats need. At 29 he brings a veteran's experience to a secondary who's oldest player was 25(Chung). He looks a lot like Harrison Smith, who I hope the Pats can draft at either 48th overall or 63rd overall.

Pats addressed 2 big needs thus far in free agency.

Now the big questions.....

Do they resign Mark Anderson? If they don't, that creates a position of need. I love Andre Carter but I just don't know if he can have another wonderful season after that injury at his age. After them it's Jermaine Cunningham or Markelle Carter. The Pats could already use help at DE/OLB even if Mark Anderson got resigned.

WR, WR, WR. Slot-receiver Danny Amendola? I suspect smokescreen, but also indicates how they feel about the SR position. Wasn't Julian Edelman suppose to be the SR of the future after Welker? But forget about SRs, the Pats need WRs. Chad Ochocinco didn't work out and will either restructure his contract to be a bargain or get cut. He's getting up there in age, anyways. So is Welker. Branch is even older and wore out last year, leaving the true wideout position a position of major weakness. When the Pats got forced to either throw into massive coverage up the middle or to try and beat the man-coverage on the outside, the Pats didn't fair well. Tiquan Underwood and Matthew Slater do not look like the future outside-the-numbers guys. I suspect the Brandon Lloyd move will still happen, but even if it does, he's also getting up there in age. Pats need young talent for outside the numbers if they hope to return to New England as champions next year.

Of the remaining free agents, who would you like to see become a Pat?

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