Very smart and great motor. Comes hard every play. Good anticipation for the snap, and good use of strength/leverage.

To be honest, last year he had either lost a step or was injured. He wasn't nearly as good in the pass rush as he had been.

You know I agree with this statement for the most part. My hope is that the pick isn't something crazy like a 3rd or 4th, but I think Pioli would think better of that.

Obviously NE's willingness to part with Vrabel for a 6th or 7th is telling about how they feel about there existing linebacking corp. Hopefully it's not as much of a reflection of how they feel his skills have degraded.

But smile, we don't have Napolean Harris!

He was an OLB during his Pittsburgh years and first few years with us. When we had a run of injuries in the middle of our defense, and Phifer retired, etc., he slid inside and performed VERY well. He's a VERY smart defensive player, and can be either inside or outside and make few mistakes.

I assume outside. It's harder to find OLB players. I'd be very surprised if you guys were exclusively 3-4 this year, however...

Just as a hypothetical, for sake of conversation:

Say someone like AQ Shipley or Troy Kropog slides on draft day to the point we could have taken him with the pick we used on Vrabel.

Will you still be OK with it, knowing we could have had a spot on the OL locked up for the foreseeable future?

Oh, I understand...and I'm not sure I agree with it either, but I do believe it's just the start...and I do believe that....I think it's going to be a GREAT ride whether I or you or anyone else believes in a paricular move or not. I do think he has a plan, and that alone is leaps and bounds above the previous 3 years debacle (which isn't saying much).

I've edited this post so many times, it's getting really toughto type lol

Have a good one, g'night

Sure. The entire 2000 draft other than Brady was a wipeout. They had less time than they wanted to prepare for it with all the silliness involving Parcells, but still.

And the Pats have had some lousy 2nd round picks, to be honest. Bethel Johnson and that other useless burner WR come to mind.

Some FA CB signings have turned out to be jokes.

The list goes on and on. Nobody is perfect. Not even close.

Jesus Christ. You make the ridiculous assumption that, first, you're going to get something good with a late round pick, toher than just crossing your fingers and praying, which is basically what late round picks are.

Second, if there is someone he REALLY likes at 5th or 6th round, it's not that hard to trade to get a pick at those levels.

Finally, you just completely discount what Vrabel can bring you off the field on the LONG SHOT HOPE that you get yet another KID who just might not totally suck. It's silliness.

Just so you understand where I land in the "pecking order" here, I'll tell you I don't know as much about football as most here do.

I don't know who those guys are, but if they did and could play as well as you infer, then no, I wouldn't.

Yeah, because 7 more is really what you want. Every team should have 40% of its roster be 1st and 2nd year guys...

:rolleyes:

(I realize you're not saying this, I'm directing this at the other geniouses on here)

And that's my point.

It's silly to not question anything he does just because he's been part of 3 Championships.

Acutally, Patriots fans desperately hope that this is one part of a two step process to bring Peppers or someone here. We're REALLY thin at linebacker now!!

If they like those guys enough, they can move up to get them. It's not like it's hard to get a late round pick...

Let me point out something else --

nobody on here, despite much discussion about the topic, has much feel for how much 3-4 versus 4-3 the team wants to play, or how well they project their current players in filling those roles.

They want to go to 3-4, and yet your roster isn't exactly loaded with guys who are well suited for that. The transition is a multiyear process. OLB is one of the tougher positions to fill.

Vrabel gives them someone who can do the OLB thing, and can help the younger players that can fit into that system do that. He has experience both at OLB and ILB, and can play and help other players with both roles.

What the hell 5th, 6th or 7th round pick can do any of that? Answer: none.

He's hit on one or more almost every year. Tell me you would have won without the contributions of those players.

Now we've given up another pick. We had 7 to start, presumably traded one of them for Vrabel, now we're using one to trade up to get a play we could have had if we just kept our pick.

Fantastic. A rebuilding team with 5 draft picks.

Who's he gonna teach to play linebacker?

Derrick Johnson, who's probably not going to be re-signed?

Demorrio Williams, who's also likely to be told to walk once his deal is up?

He's a rental, and it's pretty likely with a roster this shallow that half of the players he's "mentoring" this year aren't going to be on the roster next year.

He was great for you guys, he fit the system. Part of that system is being smart enough to know when to cut a guy loose because he's got nothing left to give. I think Belichick is ****ing brilliant for getting anything for a guy that isn't an every-down player, who wouldn't have been on the team in 2010.