Patriots sign LB James Anderson
- Thread starter jsinger121
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Seems like a great depth signing on the face of it. My only concern is with why the guy is still a FA, though a number of factors can obviously play into that. I'm with Stitch regarding Harrison. Maybe they are expecting he'll end up back on the squad at some point, but I guess the whole Harrison to TE thing is a no-go.
jsinger121 said:
I briefly mentioned Anderson before and thought he'd be a good depth signing. Like this quite a bit.
Who's Harrison?
(Mark) Harrison is a WR from (where else?) Rutgers. On the tall side/big side for a receiver, he had a productive career in college. Suffered a foot injury, which led to him going undrafted last year. Patriots picked him up and he spent the year on the reserve/non-football injury list. With the lack of depth at TE, there was media speculation that Harrison might get a shot there, given that he has some size and operated out of the slot a lot in college and the Pats "move" TE operates out of the same location frequently.
But given the roster numbers, he was low man on the totem pole and went to make room for Anderson.
But given the roster numbers, he was low man on the totem pole and went to make room for Anderson.
Surprised Harrison went before guys like Wilson Van Hooser, but at least I won't have to read Reiss suggesting Harrison as a move TE every other day even though Belichick already told him no.
Anderson's a good depth option. This puts Beauharnais at risk - he doesn't provide the same special teams value guys like Hull and White do, and I don't know that they'd give him a second redshirt year as the 5th LB. On the other hand, I could see them deciding Beauharnais is better than Anderson in camp and making Anderson the surprise cut.
Anderson's a good depth option. This puts Beauharnais at risk - he doesn't provide the same special teams value guys like Hull and White do, and I don't know that they'd give him a second redshirt year as the 5th LB. On the other hand, I could see them deciding Beauharnais is better than Anderson in camp and making Anderson the surprise cut.
Since we've been on a pretty big PFF kick:
He's always graded out poorly against the run, and always graded out average/good against the pass. He lead all 4-3 outside linebackers in snaps against the run, and I think that's because teams realized he was the weak link and chose to run at him frequently. It would make sense, then, why he "lead the Bears in tackles", despite appearing pretty poor at stopping the run (and leading the charge for a shitty Bears defense).
Again, he ranked poorly in "run stopping tackling efficiency", but was JJ Watt freak of nature in "passing game tackling efficiency" (essentially how many missed tackles he made per tackling attempt while in coverage). His tackling efficiency was a 46.0.
As a comparison, the players ranked 2-10 had scores that fell between 18.3 and 10.5.
Obviously 1-2 more missed tackles brings him back down to earth, but he's generally always ranked highly in this category. It's also what helps contribute to his very good "yards per snap" against the pass.
Full disclosure, I've never seen this guy play. The stats tell me that he's very good at keeping his man in front of him and a very sure tackler in coverage, but can get eaten up and washed out of the play against the run. He could very well end up being the second linebacker in the nickel package with Mayo by the end of the season (or fill in well if/when an injury pops up).
This also tells me that Hightower better make the jump into a very good run stopper this year. They're going to need the bulk in the linebacker corp.
He's always graded out poorly against the run, and always graded out average/good against the pass. He lead all 4-3 outside linebackers in snaps against the run, and I think that's because teams realized he was the weak link and chose to run at him frequently. It would make sense, then, why he "lead the Bears in tackles", despite appearing pretty poor at stopping the run (and leading the charge for a shitty Bears defense).
Again, he ranked poorly in "run stopping tackling efficiency", but was JJ Watt freak of nature in "passing game tackling efficiency" (essentially how many missed tackles he made per tackling attempt while in coverage). His tackling efficiency was a 46.0.
As a comparison, the players ranked 2-10 had scores that fell between 18.3 and 10.5.
Obviously 1-2 more missed tackles brings him back down to earth, but he's generally always ranked highly in this category. It's also what helps contribute to his very good "yards per snap" against the pass.
Full disclosure, I've never seen this guy play. The stats tell me that he's very good at keeping his man in front of him and a very sure tackler in coverage, but can get eaten up and washed out of the play against the run. He could very well end up being the second linebacker in the nickel package with Mayo by the end of the season (or fill in well if/when an injury pops up).
This also tells me that Hightower better make the jump into a very good run stopper this year. They're going to need the bulk in the linebacker corp.
Dick Pole Upside said:
Sorry DPU -- I should have made my remark more obvious as sarcasm
I had hopes for Harrison but he's done less than nothing -- and be late to OTA? Buh-bye.
One of the reasons that I thought he'd be a good fit:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/20750663-606/linebacker-james-anderson-comes-with-a-teacher-feature-for-bears-rookies.html#.U5DJR-OwUz0
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/20750663-606/linebacker-james-anderson-comes-with-a-teacher-feature-for-bears-rookies.html#.U5DJR-OwUz0
Even though we'll all miss Spikes' bone-crushing hits (and the occasional fumble they caused), I really see Anderson as the better 4th LB. Being good against the pass is simply more important than being strong against the run (particularly when Mayo and HIghtower are strong against the run), and Anderson seems to have the head to be a Pats player who can help Collins and Hightower emerge whereas Spikes was obviously not a fan of the Pats way. Plus Anderson is obviously much cheaper.
Depth at LB was a concern and is a bit less so now.
Depth at LB was a concern and is a bit less so now.
Nice breakdown by Field Yates
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4763789/film-study-on-new-lb-james-anderson
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4763789/film-study-on-new-lb-james-anderson