"New England Patriot's Promising Rookies: Crable and Mayo Stand Out"

When watching preseason games, one should pay less attention to the score, and more attention to the individual players. While the Patriots lost 16-15 to the Ravens, Patriots fans should be happy with the performances of some of the younger players.

 The starting quarterback for the Patriots was Matt Cassel, while Tom Brady sat on the sideline the whole game, accompanied by Randy Moss and Wes Welker. On the Raven's opening drive I was able to observe a few things.

Firstly, Jerod Mayo showed great instincts. On one play, the Ravens ran a screen play, which resulted in a 3 yard gain. On this play, Mayo went for the lead blocker, allowing Richard Seymour to make the tackle.

Secondly, Terrence Wheatley needs some more time to adapt to the NFL. At times he seemed confused, but looked more up to speed by the end of the game. Hopefully he will progress quickly and fill the hole at #1 cornerback.

I was most impressed by the Patriots two 3rd round picks. Kevin O'Connell made some smart decisions, and displayed his athleticism by rushing for 22 yards. Although he had below 50 % completion percentage, and through a interception, he seems fit to bypass Cassel at the #2 spot on the Patriots depth chart. Shawn Crable had a great game. The Michigan product had 4 tackles, 1/2 a sack, and an interception. If he continues to play like this in preseason, he could earn a spot in the Patriot's linebacker rotation.

Matt Slater showed promise on special teams, but does not look to be a starting reciever.

Here's a list of some other performances by developing players:

The Good

• Brandon Meriweather- 3 tackles, improved instincts and solid defense

• Pierre Woods- 3 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. May develop into a starting linebacker if he keeps this up

• Ray Ventrone- The safety saw some time as a tailback, and made some nice catches while showing good receiver instincts (Kevin Faulk like)

• Matt Gutierrez- Went 10 for 16 but through one pick and fumbled once. He was better than Cassel though (He only through one pass all last season)

The Bad

• Matt Cassel- Completed 1 of 4 passes, through an interception. Number 2 spot on depth chart is in danger  

• Chad Jackson- Did a whole lot of nothing

The Ugly

• CJ Jones- Dropped a few passes and made some bad special teams decisions. He was a practice squad guy all last year. That is not going to change