2013 UNIT REVIEWS: DL Core

[chevss454]

This is so cool! Hopefully it's accurate.

NFL salaries by team and position

The National Football League has a salary cap, an upper limit on what teams can spend on their players, of $120.6m. But where the teams choose to spend that money is entirely up to them. Some, like Tampa Bay, overload their offence, while others invest heavily in defence. These figures are based on individual 'cap hit' numbers which include base salary and bonuses for the 2012-13 season. Read more about our methodology

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/inte...gland-patriots

[MaineMan]

Originally Posted by Hawg73

Thorough. Informative, forward-looking and yet understated. Outstanding post.

I'd also like to thank you for mentioning Armstead without getting giddy like most observors. He's got some potential, he could be good, but we don't know much of anything about the guy yet. It mystifies me how nuts some people get talking about him.

Thanks.

I tend not to idolize or demonize players. They're human, not gods or machines. They all have their "feet of clay". And that only becomes a problem if we idolize them in the first place since, once the clay feet that they've had all along are finally revealed, they're typically demonized. Or a personnel guy is a "genius" until he effs up, and then it's "Oh! He must've been an idiot who got lucky all along!"

Call it the manic-depressive approach to fandom. I can't live like that.

[MaineMan]

Originally Posted by chevss454

This is so cool! Hopefully it's accurate.

There's a little note at the bottom stating that they got their data from the NFL and Spotrac (one of my sources), so they probably shouldn't be too far off from the numbers I've been posting.

Spotrac is here: http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/

Spotrac also lists dead money by player (under the "Contract Terms" section) and has a year-by-year breakdown of salary/bonuses/total cap-hit for each player.

[chevss454]

More on Armstead & how he fits in the 3 man and 4 man fronts by Erik Frenz.

Argonauts general manager Jim Barker told ESPN Boston, "[Armstead] played on the edge some in the 30 front [3-4] but not much. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it, it’s that we didn’t play a lot of 30 front. He was moved around inside and was mainly an inside player for us."
That should be good news for the Patriots, who have struggled to create interior pressure for years. The role that was once filled by defensive tackle Mike Wright as the team's interior presence in sub packages has been a revolving door since his career was cut short by concussion issues.

• In 2010 (Wright's last year, with just 320 defensive snaps), the Patriots leaned on 543 snaps from defensive tackle Gerard Warren, along with a rotation of Ron Brace (285 snaps), Brandon Deaderick (258) and Myron Pryor (242).
• In 2011, Vince Wilfork played 1,173 snaps and Kyle Love played 696 snaps. Shaun Ellis was largely ineffective in 421 snaps, and Deaderick saw his snap total rise to 383. Gerard Warren (371) continued to contribute, as well. Albert Haynesworth (134) was released after eight games.
• In 2012, Wilfork (1,041) and Love (591) once again carried a significant load. The Patriots utilized defensive end Jermaine Cunningham (487) as an interior pass-rusher in some nickel packages. Deaderick (467) once again saw his snap total increase. Defensive ends Justin Francis (301) and Trevor Scott (289) were the only other defensive linemen to carry a significant workload in 2012.

As we can see, over the years, the Patriots' options on the interior defensive line have been dwindling.
The Patriots filled their need for an edge rusher in drafting Chandler Jones with their first-round pick last year, but the question now becomes whether they will continue to run the 4-3 alignment we saw in 2012 or if they will eventually shift back to the 3-4.

Scheme is dictated by personnel, so it's not difficult to imagine that happening, especially if Armstead turns out to be a gem. It would also allow for Rob Ninkovich to return to his more suitable role as a 3-4 outside linebacker.Wilfork is versatile enough to not only play both schemes, but to play multiple positions within those schemes. He was moved around in the 3-4 front quite a bit in both 2010 and 2011.
By now, however, we should know that the Patriots will never be solely in either front; they want players to be versatile enough to switch between the fronts. Trying to pin them down as either a 3-4 or 4-3 defense is an exercise in futility.
Since he has less experience in the 3-4, though, expect to see him earn the bulk of his workload as an interior linemen in four-man fronts, at least in the early going.
For now, Belichick is probably just happy to have an athletic defensive lineman to add to the Patriots' defensive arsenal.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...rmond-armstead

[Beaglebay]

I'll be keeping an eye on David Bass as the draft gets closer.

[sg14]

The opening post asked what move to make for DL core

I'd say bring back Pryor -that is what this team needs an interior pass rush. I'd like to say go#1 for a VW replacement but don't think it can/will happen this year.

Later on pick a Pryor type DT maybe Jordon Hill from Penn State
Can't have too much pass rush. Either So we would be adding a Pryor type plus A. Aarmstead.

We also may have some good connections with Penn State.

[Hawg73]

Originally Posted by sg14

The opening post asked what move to make for DL core

I'd say bring back Pryor -that is what this team needs an interior pass rush. I'd like to say go#1 for a VW replacement but don't think it can/will happen this year.

Later on pick a Pryor type DT maybe Jordon Hill from Penn State
Can't have too much pass rush. Either So we would be adding a Pryor type plus A. Aarmstead.

We also may have some good connections with Penn State.

Pryor was looking pretty good a few years ago and appeared to have put on some muscle and was ready to get regular rotational snaps, but certainly hadn't proved himself much.

The last two years have been almost entirely IR for him. I don't think we should count on Pryor for anything. I've gotta think he is just about done here, but that isn't a sure thing.

[midgar8784]

Originally Posted by Hawg73

Pryor was looking pretty good a few years ago and appeared to have put on some muscle and was ready to get regular rotational snaps, but certainly hadn't proved himself much.

The last two years have been almost entirely IR for him. I don't think we should count on Pryor for anything. I've gotta think he is just about done here, but that isn't a sure thing.

Yeah you start forgetting these guys are still on the team. It sucks, but a few injuries can make a team move on pretty quick.

[MaineMan]

UPDATE regarding Pryor:

According to Reiss, since Pryor was never activated off PUP in 2012, his contract tolls into 2013 at $715k. Imagine sitting on your butt for two years and not only getting hundreds of thousands in compensation but automatic triple-digit raises to boot!

Probably doesn't matter a huge amount. They could still let him go before 3/12 for the cap savings, or keep him around to see what he's got in OTAs.

In any case, that makes the current UNIT CAP HIT for 2013 closer to $14.3M (was $13.6M in the original post).