New England Patriots Re-Sign Shawn Crable: Could His Career Be Back on Track?

The New England Patriots announced on Saturday that they re-signed former third-round pick Shawn Crable to the 53-man roster. This comes less than two months after his sudden release from the team back in the summer.

Despite huge concerns about the Patriots depth at outside linebacker, the organization released him on July 28 for a failed physical, but Bill Belichick left the door open to bringing him back. Sure enough, the team re-signed him on September 6th, and he was called up to the 53-man group after Kevin Faulk was placed on season-ending IR.

The Patriots haven't gotten as much production out of the outside linebackers as they'd like. But really, what were they expecting?

Drafting Florida defensive end Jermaine Cunningham in the second round may be a promising move for the future, but what's to be expected of him as he transitions to outside linebacker in a complex scheme?

Releasing Derrick Burgess on cut day obviously didn't do much to bolster the spot, either. He didn't show enough signs of improvement in the 3-4 defense, and still rushed with his hand in the ground even this preseason.

Rob Ninkovich has been making tackles all over the field, tallying up 11 on the season, but hasn't applied a whole ton of pressure on the quarterback in the process.

Tully Banta-Cain was expected to be the hall-mark for the Patriots pass rush once again, and has proven to be just that, accounting for 1.5 of the team's four sacks, and the only ones that have come from a linebacker.

Needless to say, more production could be prudent, especially in a 3-4 defense.

(Re-)enter Shawn Crable, who was regarded as a stellar pass rusher coming out of Michigan in 2008. He was considered a great pass-rusher with a high motor, registering 17 sacks in his collegiate career, with only two seasons as a starter.

One injury after another has kept him sidelined, and even though the team did little to address its gaping hole at outside linebacker, Crable was considered "on the bubble" for much of the offseason.

Crable has finally made his way back onto the roster—but he'll have to really impress the coaching staff to make it back on the field.

Many thought that this season would be the final opportunity for Crable to put up or shut up. It didn't appear as though he'd even have the opportunity when the season began, but he has turned things around enough to get the coaches back on his side.

Sources:

patriots.com