Rosevelt Colvin

Certainly the Patriots have tried over the years, signing free agents Rosevelt Colvin in 2003, Adalius Thomas in 2007 and acquiring Derrick Burgess in 2009.

They even looked through the draft, selecting Ryan Claridge, Jeremy Mincey, Justin Rogers, and Shawn Crable over the years. Jermaine Cunningham is the first OLB selected by Belichick in the second round, so many hope Cunningham dramatically improves on his one sack rookie year.

Continue reading "In a Rush for a OLB"

In 2003 the Pats surprised everyone when they signed LB Rosevelt Colvin, the top prize in free agency. The previous two years was bargain hunting and the Colvin signing was out of character. Rosie was joined by S Rodney Harrison, CB Tyrone Poole, G/C Russ Hochstein, and valuable special teamer LB Don Davis.

Continue reading "The Bi-annual Free Agency Splash"

It's a long off-season. It's even long

Continue reading "The Drive in '09"

Identity Check - The Patriots can't afford to play to the level of their competition. From start to finish, it must be Patriots football. Get an early lead, build on it, then put your adversary away.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 15"

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 14"

This goes back to when I was hoping the Patriots would draft at least two linebackers in April. I was so relieved they came away with three and added two more as rookie free agents. But  Bo Ruud doesn't make the active roster. Then Shawn Crable goes on IR. Next up was Adalius Thomas apparently breaking his arm. Pierre Woods takes his place. The word is Woods broke his jaw tackling Pittsburgh's tight end on Sunday.

Continue reading "Younger Depth at Linebacker"

Welcome back, Rosevelt Colvin. 

This was an unexpected move. When the Patriots and Colvin first parted ways I thought it was good-bye, not see you later. He was cut soon after Super Bowl XLII after finishing the season on injured reserve, the second time in five years with the Pats. In his absence, Adalius Thomas played better than Colvin after switching from ILB to OLB. 

Continue reading "A Patriots-Colvin Reunion"

Continue reading "Reruns?"

Whoever is selected to follow in Upshaw's footsteps has a daunting task. He needs to learn from what Upshaw did for the players association and how Upshaw did it, but make his own decisions. Upshaw led a strike in order to gain free agency years later. The framework is in place to avoid a work stoppage. Hopefully the next union executive director and the owners don't waste the work Upshaw did.

Continue reading "Union Needs a new Upshaw"

Those losses are a little overrated. I was a fan of a healthy Colvin, but he missed 26 games with the Pats. When LB Adalius Thomas shifted from a member of the ILB rotation to OLB from week 13 through the playoffs (eight games), Thomas had 5.5 sacks. Colvin had four sacks in twelve games. If that production continues for Thomas, combined with good health, Thomas projects (eleven sacks) to have a better season than Colvin's career best (10.5).

Continue reading "Room for improvement"

Continue reading "Say When"

But there's not much behind them. ILB Eric Alexander has one start and very little in-game experience. OLB Pierre Woods is a special teamer who never started and in his limited time hasn't distinguished himself. They added two LBs in the draft last year, but Justin Rogers didn't make the final cut and Oscar Lua spent the year on the injured list and was released to start free agency.

Continue reading "A linebacker workout"