Welcome back Tailgater!
Caldwell sounds like he might work out if he stays healthy. Givens also had trouble staying on the field if you remember. last year was by far his best. i don't think it's going to be too hard to make them up among Brady's 12 or 14 targets.
Caldwell may end up doing all right, but up to this point he has not show that he can be a #2 receiver in this league starting only 14 games in his career. Givens on the other hand was a solid #2 receiver that I think the Pats will miss. The Pats might make up his loss through other players, but looking at the WR position, the Pats have not upgraded.
I know everyone disaggrees, but Gostkowski will have better stats than AV did the last 2 years, especially at Gillette, and will make a big difference in field position on kickoffs. The kid has a leg.
I am not even sure that Gostkowski will start, but if he does, I really do not think he is an upgrade. He may do a little better on kickoffs, but it will come down to pressure. I would not want to have a rookie kicker trying to kick a field goal with the game on the line. Especially when he knows whom he is replacing. (a guy that Pats fans expected to make the big kick). That will only put more pressure on the kid. So, I say the Pats are not better off with Gostkowski.
Dwight may be missed for his PR duties, but not as a WR. Bam childress will more than make up for his WR duties, and the rook, (Willie Andrews?) looked good in camp as a PR.
How can you say a guy who only has 4 reception will more than make up for a guy who averaged 17.5 YPC and caught 3 TD this past season. I think there is a big difference in veteran WR’s and WR’s that do not have much experience.
Mangini did not do a very good job last year, mostly due to injuries, but how can you say he was 'good'? There's nothing to show for it. Pees has a boatload of experience in the college ranks and is in his 3rd year with the Pats. I'd think he'd do at least as good as EM as the DC.
The Pats “D” may not have been ranked in the top ten, or even top 20, but I thought that through all the injuries Mangini had the Pats D playing decent towards the end of the season. As for Pees, if BB thought that Pees is as good or better than EM, then why didn’t he choose Pees to be DC last year?
LB? they lost Willie and Chatham. Vrabel slides into Willies spot (an improvement in speed if nothing else), and Mel Mitchell replaces Chatham and more. They do have to have the kids step up though (Banta-Cain, Claridge, Alexander). I don't expect anything out of the rookies, not for the Pats. It takes a while to pick up their stlye of play. I expect Beisel to make great strides from what we've heard out of camp. He better or the LB corps is definately an issue.
I know you like Vrabel, and think that he is an upgrade to Willie, but even if he is, it will be Beisel who is going to have to take Vrabel’s spot. Is Beisel an upgrade over Vrabel? I think overall the Pats LB core is worse than it was last year.
Even with the new coaches for the Jets and the Bills, I still think they improved their teams more than the Pats. The question is who has improved their team the most. You can’t give an edge to the Pats just because they are still using the same system. Using the same system does not improve their team from last year. It does give them an advantage, but they are not improved because of it. The Bills and Jets on the other hand may not have a lot of wins this upcoming season, but I think that the new coaches and systems will end up being an improvement from the previous ones.
