Learn the Rules, Harbaugh

From Pro Football Talk,:


"The current Collective Bargaining Agreement bars teams from practicing in full pads until training camp, but the Ravens may have violated that rule during their recent rookie minicamp.
Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com reports that the NFL is investigating the Ravens for using full pads during a session at that camp. A team official told Hensley that the Ravens are not aware of any investigation by the league, but said that there was “a five-minute period” during one practice that saw players in full pads during a non-contact punt drill"




From an e-mail from Colts Equipment Manager Sean Sullivan to Colts GM Ryan Grigson, after receiving a tip/complaint from the Baltimore Ravens (January 17, 2015)


"Patriots will let some air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better, it would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so that they don't get an illegal advantage."


Look, to paraphrase Ryan Grigson, all I want is a completely level playing field. It's about protecting the shield and the overall integrity of the game. The Ravens indicated to the Colts that the Patriots may be gaining a slight competitive advantage through equipment. The Colts went on to tell the NFL. It spawned a brief, concise investigation that ended neatly, with Tom Brady being served a four game suspension, the Patriots being fined one million dollars, and losing two draft picks, including this years first rounder.


At the time of the investigation, I didn't understand what the big deal was. I'm older now. I get it. Equipment violations are serious business. One day I'll have kids, and they'll probably play soccer, because we'll live in Massachusetts and everyone is required to play youth soccer. And let's say one day my kid plays in a game that he loses 6-0, and let's further say that I find that out that the opposing goalie was banging on non-existent shin guards during the pre-game check? I'll stop at nothing to make sure that kid never plays a down of soccer again. Or whatever the soccer equivalent of "down" is. It's about fairness.


So while wearing pads in a pre-pre season rookie minicamp drill may seem completely inconsequential, much like a team possibly deflating a football by .02 PSI in a 45-7 blowout may seem inconsequential, rules are rules, as the old saying goes. If those rookies were to gain an edge by participating in a drill that no other team in the league is allowed to perform, and carry that edge into the season, where they earn a victory on that edge, well then the whole league goes down in flames. In order to achieve fundamental fairness, in the interest of maintaining a completely level playing field, it is only fair, in the purest sense of the word, to fine the Baltimore Ravens NO MORE than $1,000,000, to have the Ravens forfeit NO MORE than two draft picks (including one first rounder), and to suspend each and every rookie who participated in that drill NO MORE than four games. This isn't about petty revenge, it's about what's right. And this is the only thing that's right.

Is It Paranoia If Everyone's Really Out To Get You?

Nate Davis Logic above

Early this morning, Nate Davis of the USA Today ran a column ranking each NFL's team off-season from 1-32. As you can see above, the Patriots came in at 31, the second worst off-season in the NFL. Since the start of the off-season, the Patriots have lost exactly one impact player in Chandler Jones, and received a second round pick and a former top-10 draft pick in lineman Jonathan Cooper. In addition to Cooper, the Patriots have also added Chris Hogan and Martellus Bennett on offense and added Chris Long, Shea McClellan, and Terrance Knighton  on defense. They came away with the nation's top return man in the draft, shoring up one of the weaker aspects of the team's special teams play last season. They cleared up additional cap space in extending franchise quarterback Tom Brady, and added a low-cost backup to Garroppolo in the draft. Let's take a look at what the AFC East teams above the Patriots did:

29. New York Jets (USA TODAY Ranking)

Ryan Fitzpatrick remains unsigned. Antonio Cromartie departed in free agency. Lost stalwart LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who literally only missed a single snap in a decade, and replaced him with oft-injured Broncos cast off Ryan Clady. Did add Matt Forte, who will be a plus in the running and the passing game, but lost hard running Chris Ivory. Darelle Revis did not get younger this off season.

15. Miami Dolphins (USA TODAY Ranking)

Did not retain Joe Philbin or that guy from your local YMCA who asks you to spot him even though he doesn't need the help he just wants to show you how much he can lift, Dan Campbell. This is good.  Lost Oliver Vernon. This is bad. Added Mario Williams. This is irrelevant. Lost Lamar Miller. This is bad.  Rumblings have already started that the locker room has turned against Ndamukong Suh. This is bad. Still employs Ryan Tannehill. This is bad. Again, this team is ranked as having the 15th best off-season, and ranks 16 spots higher than New England.

11. Buffalo Bills (USA TODAY Ranking)

Major off-season moves:

Again, this is a team that finished third in the AFC East, added no new pieces of note, and is considered by USA Today to have had the 11th best off-season in the NFL.

This happens every year. The rest of the country and the national media jumps on any opportunity to say that the tide is turning in the AFC East. Last year, the Dolphins won the Superbowl in March. This year, the Bills locked up the AFC East in May. We'll have to see what happens in January. Always happens that way.

A Way Too Early Roster Projection

The Color Key is Pretty Simple: Green= Lock; Yellow= On the Fence; Red= Outside Looking

In

*=Draft Pick **=UFA





It's early May. The Bruins and Celtics are done. The Red Sox still have 130 more games to play. We are entering a real tough stretch on the sports calendar. Now that the NFL draft has come and gone, let's take an (entirely too) early look at the potential 53 man opening Sunday roster for the Patriots. Hopefully, the color key above makes things easy to understand, but let's do a deeper dive on what the Pats are working with as they set to open OTA's and rookie mini-camp.

QB: Brady, Garoppolo, Brissett

For the first time since 2011, the Patriots will carry three quarterbacks on the 53 man roster. Due to the Brady suspension, it may not happen until Week 5, but all these guys will be here. Brissett is an interesting prospect. He has big fans in Bill Parcells, who mentored him out of high school, and Charlie Weis, who recruited him to Florida. Brissett is a big intangibles guy with prototypical size and a big arm. There's an outside shot he challenges Jimmy G for the QB2 spot once Brady returns from suspension.

Side note-very, very faint silver lining: While Brady serves his suspension, this allows the Patriots to keep a bubble guy on the roster for an additional four weeks, serving as an extended look for a possible prospect, or allowing them to keep an additional body depending on matchups.

WR: Edelman, Martin, Hogan, Mitchell, Amendola, Washington, Harper, Dobson, Lucien, Carter, Wilson

As presently constructed, Danny Amendola is the second best WR on the roster. Everyone wants him around. So why isn't he a lock? Money, money, money. Amendola has a big cap number, and the Pats have a young core of defenders in Jamie Collins, Donta Hightower, and Malcolm Butler that will need to be extended. He could be moved.

OL: Cooper, Jackson, Thuney, Mason, Volmer, Solder, Andrews, Stork, Cannon, Fleming, Kline, Waddle, Barker, Karras, Milton

A lot of competition on the interior of the OL. Stork and Andrews have proved to be productive centers, and Thuney projects there as well. A quick word on Nate Solder-before he was injured, I used to wish he would go away. I thought he was terrible. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got til it's gone? I'll be happy to have him back. It should have a trickle down effect on the rest of the line.

LB: Hightower, Collins, McClellan, Johnson, Gruger-Hill, Snyder, Steward, Humber, Bostic, Johnson

Johnson and Gruger-Hill are two intriguing rookies, a downhill thumper who had 142 tackles his senior season in Johnson, and a S/LB hybrid type in Gruger-Hill. Gruger-Hill is especially intriguing, as that hybrid position is a staple of the Belichick D and is being found all over the league now.

DB: Butler, Ryan, Jones, Biggers, Coleman, Bentely, Leblanc, Ebner, Harmon, McCourty, Richards, King

Another season, more question marks in the secondary. Can Butler have another Pro Bowl year? Is Logan Ryan for real? Are Jordan Richards and Duron Harmon the same guy?

Cyrus Jones is exciting, a feisty slot corner with big time return skills. He should make an immediate impact.







Take Thermometer: Garoppolo Edition

In this edition of Take Thermometer, we're going to rank potential Jimmy Garoppolo as starting quarterback takes from cool and reasonable to blistering, scorching hot.






Dakota Johnson Hot: Jimmy Garoppolo, what do we have here?


I'm not sure you can argue that the Brady suspension isn't the best thing to happen to Garoppolo, career wise. His only shot at meaningful snaps would occur only one of two ways, both of them horrible: Brady gets injured, Brady retires. With the suspension, no one gets hurt, and we don't lose Tom Brady forever and ever. Garoppolo will be given a four game audition, not just for the Patriots, but for the rest of the QB starved teams in the NFL. If he plays effectively, he can parlay these four games into a starting job, either down the road in New England, or down the road in Cleveland or San Francisco or someplace else. The Patriots will know the true value of the former second round pick, and are certainly anxious to see what he can do when the lights are bright.






Selena Gomez Hot: Quarterback Controversy


What if Jimmy G plays lights out? What if he is the second coming of Aaron Rodgers in September and the Patriots start 4-0? Will it cause friction in the locker room if he's returned to the bench? No. No it won't. He will be returned to the bench no matter what happens while Brady is suspended. If Garoppolo plays well, he and the Patriots will obviously be thrilled. They will be more than happy to hand the keys back to the legend with the four rings. This is Tom Brady's team, always has been, always will be, and any success had while he is gone will not lead to any further controversy. Garoppolo, I'm sure, knows this better than anyone.






Eva Mendes in The Other Guys Hot: We will finally develop a WR


People around New England like to vaguely blame Tom Brady for the inability of the Patriots to develop young wideouts. Because Brady is such a perfectionist, he often shuts out young players after their first mistakes, relying heavily on his veteran counterparts. People may argue that because Garoppolo faces a learning curve along with the younger recievers, they may be able to develop together and form a better rapport than Brady has. There may be some merit to this, but Tom Brady is not the problem. People fail to mention names like Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and gasp, Aaron Hernandez when discussing young pass catchers who developed under Brady's direction. The Pats don't develop pass catchers because they kind of suck at drafting them.




Margot Robbie in the Wolf of Wall Street Hot: Trade Brady


Genius right? We recoup our first round pick by trading Brady away from a 2017 first rounder. Garopplo plays so well that we decide to end the Brady era early and move on. That's the only reasonable explanation as to why we drafted a QB in the 3rd round, right? Jimmy G needs a backup, too. The youth movement starts now. Thanks for the memories, TB12.


Get all the way,


the fuck,


out of here.


With that.

How the Brady Suspension Impacts the Patriots

Barring an injunction, Brady is slated to miss the following four games: On the road in Arizona followed by three consecutive home games against Miami, Houston, and Buffalo. While it's easy to say the Patriots will finish that stretch at 4-0 or 3-1 because, hey, it's the Patriots, that's both over simplifying things to a ridiculous degree and also why the rest of America hates New England. We have a limited sample size with Garoppolo. He played mop-up duty semi effectively in the "the Patriots aren't good anymore" bowl in Kansas City, going 6-7 for 70 yards in garbage time against a team that had long since taken their foot off the gas pedal. Later that year, in the season finale at home against Buffalo, he went 10-17 for 90 yards and chipped in an additional 16 yards on the ground. He spent a lot of time that game looking like a chicken who recently got his head chopped off and was told to play quarterback. Garoppolo often appeared to panic under pressure and break off his reads when the pocket got hot.


 Let's take a look at the challenges the first four opponents will bring to Jimmy G and the Pats.

.

Opening in Arizona, on Sunday Night Football, is a tough draw with or without Brady. The Cardinals have one of the most dynamic, athletic secondaries in the NFL, led by Patrick Peterson and swiss army defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. They were a top 5 defense in terms of yards allowed before adding Chandler Jones this off-season, who will certainly be additionally motivated to get after his old team. Aside from the challenges the defense presents, the Cardinals offense is also loaded. The Cards had the leagues top rated offense in 2015. Asking essentially a rookie Quarterback to carry the team in a shootout on opening night is a tall order.

The home game against Miami appears to be the easiest game on the opening slate. The Dolphins still employ Ryan Tannenhill at Quarterback, don't have a viable rushing threat, and are the Dolphins. They will present Garoppolo with problems defensively, primarily with a pash rush that goes from the inside out, led by certified sociopath and All-Pro Ndamukong Suh. Garoppolo's sample size as a starter is small, and the results are a mixed bag. When he played Buffalo in the 2015 Week 17 Superbowl, he sometimes looked panicky when facing an interior rush. He got off his reads quickly and relied on his feet too often to make plays. Miami can get after you up the middle, and if the O-Line doesn't improve significantly under Dante Scarnechia, it won't matter who the Pats play. 

Houston has many of the same strengths and weaknesses as Miami. Question marks at the QB and RB positions, strong defense led by an All-Pro Defensive Lineman. His name is JJ Watt, the best defensive player in football and the only NFL player working out this off season. He'll be ready for this game, also nationally televised on Sunday Night Football. Historically the Patriots have taken JJ Watt out of the game with double teams and a steady dose of handing the ball off. This could be a game where the Pats ask Garoppolo to hand the ball of 35 times, but the Houston offense appears to have improved this off-season with the additions of Brock Osweiller and Lamar Miller to go along with Nuk Hopkins-don't laugh, but the game could turn into a shootout in which JJ gets to pin his ears back and get after the QB.

Finally, the Pats finish out the suspension gauntlet against Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills. Rex Ryan teams always play New England tough, and that's with Brady under center. Asking a new quarterback to recognize and diagnose Ryan's exotic blitz packages will be one of the more difficult tests of the young season. The final three games being at home will help the young quarterback, where he won't have to deal with the potential for crowd noise impacting his play calling and the pass rush.

The Patriots won't be able to roll over any of these teams, and while much can change with the NFL draft and preseason injuries, the Pats will have their work cut out for them with Brady on the bench for a quarter of the season. Getting Garoppolo first team reps throughout the summer and keeping the other big dogs healthy will be paramount in keeping the Pats on track in the early going. 

No Justice, No Peace

A US District appeals court ruled in favor of the NFL and Commisioner Goodell to uphold the suspension levied on Tom Brady for his alleged role as mastermind of the Deflategate scandal. One full season after Bob Kravitz lit the world on fire with his tweet regarding potentially deflated footballs, it's come to this. Brady will be out the first four games of the 2016 NFL season barring a legal miracle.


It's difficult to articulate the emotions I feel about this court decision. Part of me feels dead inside. I'm so sick of this story. How much longer is this supposed to go on? This saga has been going on for 16 months now. I'm over it. I think we're all just about over it.


A whole different part of me feels an immense boiling hot anger that we have to go through this whole rigmarole again from fans and media about how the Patriots have been exposed as cheaters and that Tom Brady's legacy is somehow tarnished because of a statistically insignificant amount of air pressure lost in a football game. More months of terribly unfunny "Ron Grady" memes. More months of "defending the wall". More months of stories about a 7th grader from Newburyport proved the Patriots innocence at his science fair. It's exhausting. It's embarrassing. It's the worst. Everything about Deflategate is the worst. Of course, I want Brady to fight. If he wins, jubilation. If he loses, well, at least its over.

Dominique Easley Released: What a Waste

April 14, 2016

Released after just two years, Dominique Easley now holds the distinction of being the worst first round draft pick on the Bill Belichick era, drawing sighs of relief from Lawrence Maroney and Brandon Merriweather.


The Pats took a chance on Easley out of Florida, swayed by his blue chip talent and not deterred by his medical issues. What they got in return was a few stretches of brilliant, disruptive play in between long stints on injured reserve.


The curious timing of the release and it's negative effect on the salary cap (the move will actually cost the Patriots almost a million bucks) indicate that the move was not football related. According to a report from Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, Easley was described as "immature", "unreliable", and a "locker room cancer". Not good. Easley also recently suffered injuries from a pit bull bite, and whispers surround Easley about a potential tie to dog fighting. Ask Mike Vick if Roger Goodell looks kindly on dog fighting.


If Easley wasn't a first round pick, this move wouldn't register much, if at all. He wasn't healthy for long enough to care about. However, with the 2016 first rounder taken away for possibly, maybe knowing that the Patriots possibly, maybe deflated footballs, losing another first so quickly into his career really stings. The Pats really need to nail the draft in April.

POT ROAST POT ROAST MAN I WANT TO BE A POT ROAST MAN

April 4, 2016

Terrance "Pot Roast" Knighton is coming to New England and this is something we can all feel good about. Pot Roast is a productive defensive tackle who almost single handedly derailed the Patriots in the 2013 AFC Championship. He won't be asked to spend his snaps chasing the quarterback, but he's capable. His job in New England will be to take on multiple blockers to free up Jamie Collins and Donta Hightower to make stops. At his best, he is a big bodied menace who is strong against the run and push the pocket against the pass. When he's on, he's a game wrecker. When he's off, he's still a lovable fat man named Pot Roast. I refuse to believe that Pot Roast's time in New England will be anything less than magical. There's been a really big lovable fat guy void in my heart since Vince left and I'm sure Knighton can fill it. A Connecticut native, he grew up cheering for the Pats, Sox, and Celtics. Never really liked kids from Connecticut, and how they get to choose between New York and Boston depending on whoever is good when they are in elementary school. Real glad that Pot Roast picked the right side.






Pot Roast got his nickname his rookie year in Jacksonville, when a flight attendant serving food walked down the aisle asking "Pot Roast? Pot Roast?" and he replied "right here". A teammate thought that Roast was confirming to the flight attendant that his name was  Pot Roast. The name stuck. I've never ever been on a plane where they serve Pot Roast, but I've also never ever been in the NFL.

Yahoo I Think: Chris Long to the Pats

March 18, 2016

Well hey! That was quick. The Pats shipped Chandler Jones out of town during lunch Tuesday afternoon and signed his positional replacement after dinner Tuesday night. I think I'm excited-the name Chris Long carries some weight-but I'm also not really sure if he's good anymore. Playing in just 18 games over the last two years due to injury, he had just four sacks. His most productive season came in 2011 when he picked up 13 sacks and forced a fumble. Long says he's fully healthy now, because he needed a contract, so of course he is. Now 31 years old, he's not going to replicate Chandler Jones statistically. What the Patriots do get is a veteran motivated to show everyone he's still got gas left in the tank and someone who is fired up to play for a perennial contender. He has never played in a playoff game. Still only has two less playoff sacks than Chandler Jones.


The Patriots are deep at defensive end now with Long, Jabal Sheard, Rob Ninkovich, Geneo Grissom, and Trey Flowers on the depth chart. He won't be asked to carry a big load and will hopefully stay relatively fresh over the course of 19 games.


Best case scenario: Long finds another gear playing for a winner and makes like old friend Mark Anderson and gets 10 sacks.
Worst case scenario: He gets a lingering injury in August, limps his way through 6 games, retires in February.


Side note: If Long shows up to training camp with his father's flat top, mark him down for 15 sacks. Flat-tops are very valuable.

See Ya Time: Chandler Jones to Arizona

March 15, 2016

The Patriots dealt Chandler Jones to Arizona on Monday for a 2016 2nd round pick (the 61st pick of the draft) and former 1st round guard Jonathan Cooper. Jones was part of a young defensive core including Jamie Collins, Donta Hightower, and Malcolm Butler who were entering the final years of their cheap rookie contracts. It would have been impossible to re-sign all of them, and once Oliver Vernon signed a deal worth roughly $758 million in New York, the clock started running on Chandler's time in New England. Vernon wasn't as productive as Jones last season (7.5 sacks, 0 Forced Fumbles, 0 interceptions to CJ's 12.5 Sacks, 4 Forced Fumbles, and 1 INT) and still got the most guaranteed money ever given to a defensive end. Jones will command a ridiculous contract at the end of next season and the Patriots were never going to give it to him. A lot of people will speculate that Jones had fallen out of favor in New England after he showed up to a police station shirtless and barefoot high on that sweet, sweet spice, but this was strictly a business decision. Dealing Jones now frees up some much needed cap space and gets some reasonable return on their first round investment.


As far as his legacy in New England? He won a Super Bowl, and anyone that's ever won us a Super Bowl is always cool in my book. I never ever remember Chandler Jones making even one play once December hit every year, so I won't particularly miss him. He's been injury prone and further prone to disappearing in playoff games. In 9 career playoff games he had two sacks. Von Miller sacked Tom Brady 35 times in the AFC Championship. Hopefully the extra cash the Pats saved goes directly into the wallets of Collins, Butler, and Hightower. In that order.

Chris Hogan: Born to Be Here

March 11, 2016

After sitting out the first two days of free agency (per usual), the Patriots made their first big move of the offseason, signing Buffalo Bills restricted free agent Chris Hogan to a 3 year, $12 million deal on Friday.

Anyone who knows anything at all about the Patriots, Bill Belichick, and/or Chris Hogan had to know this move was coming as soon as Hogan became available. Belichick used to dream about people like Chris Hogan when he was a little boy. Belichick has been looking for Chris Hogan his entire life. Without having played a single snap in Patriot colors, it feels like he's been here forever, as we've seen pieces of Hogan on the field before. What do we know about Tom Brady's new target, and what can we expect from him on the field?

Tale of the Tape:

Chris Hogan

6'1"

220 lbs

4th Season (Buffalo Bills, Monmouth University/Penn State University)

• He's white. Let's get that out of the way early. We all know Belichick has an affinity for white receivers, and he is now one step closer to turning his skill position players into a reasonable facsimile of the '86 Celtics. Every white slot receiver in the last 10 drafts has been linked to the Patriots because of the successes of Wes Welker and Julian Edelman. Hogan isn't a pure slot guy. He's bigger and sturdier than Welker and Edelman, but lacks their elite quickness. He'll be able to line up at the X and Z positions and gives Josh McDaniels the versatility he loves so much. (Hogan lineage: Welker, Edelman, Amendola, Hogan)
• He comes from the AFC East. Hogan had three mildly productive seasons in Buffalo (87 catches, 959 yards), showing slow and steady improvement each year. He had a particularly successful game during the last Bills-Pats game with 6 catches for 95 yards, both season highs. One of those catches went for 42, showing an ability to get north/south as opposed to the east/west/east/fake west/east again/west routine we normally see from our white guys. Ever since Welker used to drive Belichick crazy in Miami, he seems to subscribe to the "if you can't beat 'em, sign 'em" school of thought. (Hogan lineage: Welker, Scott Chandler, Hogan)
• He's an underdog. Hogan plays hard because he's not supposed to be here. He's not a particularly fast white guy from a small college playing receiver in the NFL. He's not a guy who's going to take plays off or come late to practice because it's snowing out. (Hogan lineage: Brady, Welker, Edelman, Amendola, Hogan)
• He played Lacrosse at Penn State. To be honest, I think this is what swayed Belichick more than anything else. Belichick loves lacrosse. He loves lacrosse players. He's often seeing playing pitch and catch with his sons on the field after games. I'm sure when he retires, he'll go coach in the MLL and win a bunch of rings over there. The Pats used to keep this kid named Buddy Farnham on the Practice Squad and I'm almost certain it's just because he played high school lacrosse. Always pulled for Buddy Farnham. (Hogan lineage: Farnham, Hogan).

Best case scenario? Chris Hogan becomes Wayne Chrebet for 2-3 years. The kid can play, as evidenced by his relative torching of the Patriots in November. He's got some years under his belt, and now finally has a competent offensive coach and quarterback to throw him the ball. If he can wrap his head around the offense, we could see numbers like this: 65 catches, 650 yards, 3 TDs. Let's actually hope it doesn't get much higher than that, because that probably means Edelman broke his foot or something.