Originally Posted by BradyFTW!
(Post 5534004)
Patriots fan here, just thought I'd stop by and give my 2 cents on Vrabel.
First off, he's one of my favorite Pats. He was a key defender on all 3 of the SB runs, and he's a high-intelligence, high-work ethic guy. He struggled a lot last year, but his shoulder was injured pretty much all season. FWIW, I don't think that Pioli would trade for him without knowing that it was going to heal fine. Assuming that, I don't think he'll come back at his 2007 level (12.5 sacks, 77 tackles, mostly in the first 2/3rds of the season), but you should expect closer to 2007 than 2008.
A lot of us had projected that Tedy Bruschi would be gone, and Vrabel would move inside to take his place. Vrabel has played quite a bit of ILB in the past (in 2005, when Bruschi had his stroke before the season, Vrabel moved inside for pretty much the whole year). I wouldn't assume that he was signed to be an OLB in a 3-4, because he's definitely a hybrid and can play either way. He's also by all accounts a leader in the locker room. I've been following the Chiefs a bit since Pioli left, and I do want him to succeed in KC (just not at the Pats' expense ;P). Anyways, depending on what you guys actually gave up, I think that it could be a good move. If I had to guess, I'd say that it was either a 3rd/4th rounder, or maybe part of a larger trade with some swaps in draft position.
I'm not psyched with the move as a Pats fan in of itself. I like Vrabel, and think that he could continue to contribute for us. I'm encouraged, though, in that I think that it's either setting up a big move or it means that our young guys are progressing well.
|
