Player Predictions - jmacz's Blog

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jmacz's Blog

Player Predictions

Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:49 PM.

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Quarterbacks:
Tom Brady is coming off his 5th Super Bowl appearance, and will want to avenge his loss to the Giants last year with a better year in 2012. Look for Brady to be among the top in the NFL in all passing categories, and to be a prime candidate for MVP. Ryan Mallett has earned the back-up spot after Bryan Hoyer was cut during training camp. Hopefully Mallett won't be seeing to many snaps, and only in blow-outs.

Runningbacks:
No longer do the Patriots have a bunch of 30 somethings lining up behind Tom Brady, no those days are gone. The Patriots are now led by second year player Stevan Ridley, who looks to improve off of a nice rookie season. Backing him up are Shane Vereen, rookie Brandon Bolden, Danny Woodhead, and rookie Jeff Demps. Vereen will fill in as Ridleys number 2, splitting a fair amount of carries with him. Bolden will take some short yard situations. Woodhead is the 3rd down back, and Demps is purely a kick returner at this point, but with literal Olympic sprinter speed, has the potential to be a lot more down the road. John Conner was signed during the Pre Season, the former Jet is a very good lead blocker, and an average ball carrier/catcher. About as much as you would expect from any Fullback.

Wide Receivers:
New acquisition Brandon Lloyd will look to make a huge splash with his new team. Lloyd provides Brady with big, fast. and athletic WR that he has been lacking since Randy Moss play fell off a cliff. Coming off his best season as a pro, Wes Welker will look to add to that in 2012. Welker has lead the league in catches five of the last six years, and will look to do the same this season. Deion Branch and Julian Edleman add some nice depth to the position, both being reliable targets for Brady. Matt Slater will largely play on special teams.

Tight Ends:
There isn't much to be said here, most everybody knows about what Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are capable of when both players are on the field and healthy together. If that can happen this season, expect the duo to duplicate or at least come close to their record breaking seasons a year ago. Joining them is former Bronco Daniel Fells, who will be primarily used as a blocking tight end.

Tackles:
Nate Soldier has some big shoes to fill this season, after the retirement of three time Super Bowl champion Matt Light during the off-season. Soldier was the teams first round pick, and showed a lot of promise at both tackles last year. His 6'8 frame gives him a lot of room to grow, it doesn't hurt that he used to play tight end, very affective blocker in the open field. Sebastion Vollmer is the starter at the other side, another massive man at 6'8 Vollmer is one of, if not the best RT in the NFL. But a back issue has plagued him the last 2 seasons and it remains to be seen if Vollmer can stay healthy for a full 16 game stretch. Backing them up are veteran Mark LeVior, and 2nd year player Marcus Cannon.

Guards:
It took four and a half million dollars, but Brian Waters was lured out of retirement once again. The former all-pro will join another for the second straight season in Logan Mankins. Waters and Mankins were two of the best guards in the NFL last season, and despite getting up there and age the two look to continue that trend into this season. Behind them are Donald Thomas, who is a big physical lineman who is very raw with some potential, and Dan Connolly who can fill in at either guard or center.

Centers:
After it was seen that Dan Koppen no longer could hold the starting job this season, it was revealed that Ryan Wendell would be taking over this season as the starter. Wendell filled in for a few games last season and played pretty well, but he should not be the long term answer here. Nick McDonald backs him up, who was also promising in limited playing time last season. Going into 2012, Center is undoubtedly one of the Patriots weak spots.

Defensive Ends:
After the switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense last year, every Patriots fan still had the same kind of player number on on their list come the draft, a pass rusher. And for once the team actually came through and drafted Chandler Jones. Jones has all the physical tools to become on of the best players at his position. He's great rushing the passer, and he's great against the run. It is very rare to find a prospect in the draft with Jones potential the Patriots may of struck gold here. Rob Ninkovitch and Jermaine Cunningham look to be platooned opposite Jones this season. Both players are decent pass rushers and good against the run, Ninkovitch also has the nack for the big play. Jake Bequette who was drafted in the 3rd round will add a little more depth to this position, which may be the Patriots most improved from last season.

Defensive Tackles:
Vince Wilfork is the only player here who can really make an impact on a game. Kyle Love and Brandon Deaderick and nice back-ups not platooning as starters as they are now. Ron Brace hasn't lived up to his second round potential, Myron Pryor is one dimensional, and can only really be used as a pass rusher. The wild card here is Brian Price who was shipped to New England from Tampa for a late round pick and TE Visante Shiancoe. Price a former second round pick, showed promise last year in Tampa picking up 3 sacks. He could be a key player this season if he can figure out the system, there is a lot of talent around him.

Linebackers:
After winning 3 Super Bowls largely due to their 4 dominant linebackers, the Patriots now running a 4-3 defense have their next generation of linebackers in Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, and Dont'a Hightower. They are all, big, strong, athletic, and very good against the run. All three players do a little something different, and will all surely make a huge impact on the team this season. The one place they lack in however is pass coverage, none of them are particularly good in coverage. Spikes is flat out to slow, Mayo doesn't really get how to make a play on the ball, and pass coverage was never one of Hightowers strong points in college. Tracy White, Dane Fletcher, and Bobby Carpenter add quality depth, that will also contribute greatly in their rolls on special teams

Corners:
Here's were it may start to get ugly... The Patriots secondary was terrible last season, it it remains to be seen whether or not things will stay the same this season. Devin McCourty is coming off a terrible season, a sophomore slump by the book if you ask me. Despite intercepting 7 passes his rookie season, McCourty was dead last in yards allowed last season. Which is not what you want from your starting corner. Behind him are second year players Ras-I Dowling and Steerling Moore. Dowling has all the potential in the world, but after just playing in 2 games last season he was never seen from again, if he can stay healthy this season he may be a prime candidate to turn this secondary around. Steerling Moore though not very fast, is solid in coverage and knows how to react in big moments as we saw in the playoffs last season. Rookie Alfonzo Dennard is an interesting case a second round pick before he punched a cop in the face (not making this up, look it up if you please) Dennard is a high motor kind of player, who tends to always be around the ball. Myron Lewis was signed after being cut by the Bucs, the former 3rd round pick was lacklucster in Tampa only picking up a few tackles in 2 season. Lewis is the tallest CB on the Pats roster at 6'2.

Safetys:
Patrick Chung is the only remaining member of the 2011 safety's that is on the roster now. Chung who's been an affective in the box safety when healthy, will need to improve his coverage skills this season or the 3rd year player may be without a job next year. Rookies Tavon Wilson and Nate Ebner, who were drafted in the 2nd and 6th rounds respectively are two of the players to join Chung. Wilson a 4 year starter at Illinios has starter experience at all secondary positions, and looks to be starting this season at FS. Ebner, who's only coming off his second year playing football (he won the world cup in rugby) was drafted in the 6th round after a heads up from former Patriot linebacker, now Ohio State Coach Mike Vrabel. Ebner can fly around the field and make a big hit, he was a special teams star at Ohio State, often the first player down field on kick returns. Ebner will get most of his playing time on special teams, but may develop in to a nice safety down the road. Undrafted rookie F/A Tysyn Hartman was claimed off waivers from KC after the released him following the pre-season. Hartman was signed after Steve Gregory (who was only signed this off season) was traded to the Eagles for a 4th round pick. Hartman is big (6'3) and very athletic. He has a lot of untapped potential, and if the Patriots can find a spot for him he could be a player down the round. This group is in for an up and down season with 3 rookies in the mix

Special Teams:
Stephen Gostkowski returns for his 6th season, and as of now he's only the most accurate kicker in NFL history...no big deal. He's joined by third year player Zoltan "destroyer of space, time, and footballs" Mesko who lead league in net average last season. Dan Connolly will be doing the long snapping, adding another position to the list of his resume that already includes left guard, right guard, center, and kick returner. And rookie Olympic sprinter out of Florida Jeff Demps will be returning punts and kicks this season. Wait what?