New England Patriots: Training Camp Overview

For the '09-'10 season, the Patriots have taken the unusual approach of having two practices a day, every day for the duration of the training camp period.

This approach can be attributed, mainly, to the unusual high rate of turnover experienced this past offseason, with 29 new players (as the roster count stands now) including free agents and those drafted, coming into, and learning an intricate system.

The high turnover includes the coaching staff (offensive coordinator, special teams), up to a very key position: vice-president of player personnel- a very misleading title, as its previous occupant, Scott Pioli, has been considered by many to be essentially Bill Belichick's right hand man.

The loss of Pioli, in contrast to what many people think, cannot fully be diagnosed until next season, because the draft selections and free agent acquisitions for this year, were evaluated during the previous football season, before Pioli left (with the exception of a few recent acquisition, such as Fred Taylor).

With that said, here are four things to look at, during training camp.

OLB situation

The situation at outside linebacker is not as unstable as most Patriots fans make it out to be. First, we have the return of Tully Banta-Cain, who languished in San Francisco as a full-downs linebacker. He returns to a specific position as a 1-2 down specialist in pass-rushing which is what he is best at.

Even with the oft-injured Shawn Crable on PUP, there are still a few free-agent signings that are being worked out. The easy and tempting move here is to make a big-splash signing or trade (e.g. Derrick Burgess) but this is not always the ideal solution; frequently a role player such as Pierre Wood, would work perfectly.

What most people forget is that we still have a monster on the other side, Adalius Thomas (on pace for 10 sacks before his arm injury, last year), who will dish out his share of offense-disrupting rushes, and in that regard, it is far better to have a no-nonsense role player who does his homework and goes where he's supposed to go, rather than a  star player who cannot resist the temptation to ignore the game plan and cash out on his talents or athletic prowess.

RB and TE situation

Both the Running Back and the Tight End corps are stocked with five players each. It is my belief that the RB situation is not as tight as the TE situation is. Fred Taylor whose elusive style fits the Patriots rushing philosophy, arrives to fill in Lamont Jordan's position.

Both Fred Taylor and Lawrence Maroney have the injury moniker, and it has to be considered possible to see either one of them on PUP or IR in the coming season. Solid contributors from last season were Kevin Faulk, the shake-n-bake 3rd down specialist who has been so durable over the years, Sammy Morris the downhill runner, and BenJarvis Green-Ellis who filled in admirably for a few games and has a knack for the developing hole.

It is my belief that all five players will be kept on the active roster. With Pioli in Kansas and McDaniels in Denver constantly prowling, it will be impossible to sneak players onto the practice squad.

Tight Ends are another issue, with Belichick calling the competition at that position the best he has seen in years, with newly acquired Alex Smith, Chris Baker, coming to challenge Ben Watson, David Thomas, and Tyson DeVrees.

Upon initial impression, David Thomas seems to be the odd man out, after his disastrous unsportsmanlike conduct halted a key drive against the Colts last year and put him in the Belichick doghouse for the rest of the year. He, however has had a solid training camp, making key plays in the situational football scenarios Belichick has thrown out from time to time during camp, and which, for Belichick, is the litmus test of any player on the team.

This is predicated on Belichick's philosophy that it is "not about pedigree, or what you did last year, it's about what you do on the field today." All of the players have versatility and talent, so without inner knowledge of how each player is handling the offense or individual improvement, it is difficult to make a diagnosis on how the tight ends situation will work out.

The Defense

Matt Cassel was the favorite target, the one poster you would find on a dartboard in  New England when it came to discussing why the Patriots missed the playoffs last season. The offense was sputtering without the long toss, Cassel was holding onto the ball too long, and either telegraphed or didn't throw to protect his receivers.

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