You've probably heard it all offseason. "The Patriots need a better pass rush." There are questions as to who will be up to the task of replacing Mike Vrabel after he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs along with Matt Cassel for a second round pick. Along with our secondary, this is probably the biggest perceived weakness for our New England Patriots. They made no moves in the draft to pick up an outside linebacker, and while they pursued Jason Taylor and Derrick Burgess, we've seen no action in that regard ever since (Taylor, as we all know, chose to return to the Miami Dolphins). So who steps up to get after the quarterback?

Number 2 on our list: Adalius Thomas.

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The 2007 season brought us the highest scoring offense in NFL history. This was due in large part to our revamped wide receiver corps, headlined by the acquisitions of Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Donte Stallworth was essentially a one-year rental and was gone after that season, and after 2008, we lost Jabar Gaffney when he departed to the Denver Broncos with former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. To fill the void left by their departures, we traded a 2009 fifth rounder to the Philadelphia Eagles for Greg Lewis and drafted wide receiver Brandon Tate in the third round. We also signed...

Number 3 on our list: Joey Galloway.

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Note: The big boss (aka MaPatsFan) will be away for a bit, so I'll be taking over for this series while he's gone.

Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs. These were the names Patriots fans had come to know when it came to the defensive backfield for New England. Both of these players are now cornerbacks for the Philadelphia Eagles, leaving us to wonder who our new starters will be once the 2009 season begins. Bill Belichick addressed the position with three draft picks recently, bringing Terrence Wheatley, Jonathan Wilhite, and Darius Butler onboard. Free agency netted us Shawn Springs and...

Number 4 on our list: Leigh Bodden.

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Date of Birth: January 27, 1976 (1976-01-27) (age 33)
Place of Birth: Pahokee, Florida
Height: 6 ft. 1 in.
Weight: 228 lb.
College: Florida
High School: Glades Central HS (Belle Glade, FL)
NFL Draft: 1998 - 1st Round - 9th overall
Experience: 12th season
Jersey Number: #21
Contract Details: 2 years, $5 million. Includes $1.45 million signing bonus and base salaries of $1.55 million (2009) and $2 million (2010).

Fred Taylor has spent his entire career in the NFL playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Up until now, that is. After visiting with the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots, Taylor ultimately chose to come play for Bill Belichick and the Pats as he enters the final stages of his illustrious career.

This is old news at this point, considering his signing came way back during the early days of free agency, but there's still plenty to be excited about.

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The draft is finally behind us. After much speculation about who the Patriots would select, here are the players Bill Belichick and the front office ultimately chose to be a part of New England.

1. 2nd Round (32nd overall): Patrick Chung, SS - Oregon
2. 2nd Round (40th overall): Ron Brace, DT - Boston College
3. 2nd Round (41st overall): Darius Butler, CB - Connecticut
4. 2nd Round (58th overall): Sebastian Vollmer, OL - Houston
5. 3rd Round (83rd overall): Brandon Tate, WR - North Carolina
6. 3rd Round (97th overall): Tyrone McKenzie, OLB - South Florida
7. 4th Round (123rd overall): Rich Ohrnberger, OG - Penn State
8. 5th Round (170th overall): George Bussey, OT - Louisville
9. 6th Round (198th overall): Jake Ingram, LS - Hawaii
10. 6th Round (207th overall): Myron Pryor, DT - Kentucky
11. 7th Round (232nd overall): Julian Edelman, QB/WR - Kent State
12. 7th Round (234th overall): Darryl Richard, DT - Georgia Tech

There you have it, folks. That's a haul of 12 rookies for 2009. Broken down by position, that's 3 defensive linemen, 3 offensive linemen, 2 wide receivers, 1 cornerback, 1 linebacker, 1 safety, and 1 long snapper.

The Patriots also traded cornerback Ellis Hobbs to the Philadelphia Eagles for both of their fifth round picks. Finally, the Patriots stocked themselves pretty well for the future, trading two of their third round selections to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans. In return, the Pats received their 2010 second round picks (so make sure you root against these guys next year!). Those picks may be extra important with all of our potential free agents coming up, depending on how the CBA situation plays out.

On the eve of the 2009 NFL Draft, it's only natural to wonder who the heck the New England Patriots are targeting in this year's crop of rookies. It's tough to get a clear picture on who exactly Bill Belichick and the front office covet, but sometimes pre-draft visits can give us an idea of who they're taking a look at.

With only thirty total pre-draft visits allowed by the league each year, who have the Patriots brought into the facilities thus far? The following list I'm about to present should answer that question (although, unfortunately, I've only gotten 28 out of 30, so if any of you know who the other two are that I've missed, please feel free to mention them). The Patriots don't always bring their coveted player in for a visit, but we did bring Jerod Mayo in last year, so take this list for what it's worth.

I'll be splitting players into offense and defense, with their position in parenthesis.

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Height: 5-11   Weight: 197   Age: 37
Born: 11/20/1971 Bellaire , OH
College: Ohio State
Experience: 15th season
High School: Bellaire HS [OH]

The departure of Jabar Gaffney has created an opening to our #3 wide receiver spot (or #2, depending on how you look at it). After visiting with the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers, Joey Galloway found a new home with our New England Patriots, inking a one-year contract with a base salary of $1.15 million, according to Mike Reiss (who indicates that Galloway may have had a bit of leverage in negotiations, which is why the contract is worth more than the veteran minimum).

Joey Galloway brings a boatload of experience. He'll be entering his fifteenth season in the league this year after previous stints with the Seattle Seahawks (who drafted him eighth overall back in 1995), Dallas Cowboys, and most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had three straight years of 1,000 yards receiving with the Bucs, including a career year in 2005 where he had a career high 83 receptions for 1,287 yards and 10 touchdowns. In 2006, he made 62 receptions for 1,057 yards and 7 touchdowns while starting 14 games. In 2007, he made 57 receptions for 1,014 yards and 6 touchdowns while playing in 15 games. His 2008 season was cut short due to a foot injury, limiting him to just 13 receptions for 138 yards.

What will he bring in 2009?

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Hey everyone, welcome to the NESilver version of Pats Pulpit! That's right! I'm taking over! Mwahaha... oh, sorry, did I say that out loud? Ahem. Anyway... I'll be taking over the stat duties, and splitting time with MaPatsFan on position profiles and free agent signings. We'll get a good rotation going there. Consider us a bit like Gary Guyton and Tedy Bruschi, or Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris. Wait, does that mean one of us is gonna be injured frequently? Hmm... this wasn't in the job description...

Okay, so with that out of the way, I wanted to focus on our most recent draftees with my first post. I figured that would be a good way to kick things off, since we're getting closer to the draft and all. It's an exciting time of year, where everyone's excited about how well their team will do next season, and you can definitely include me in that bunch. Just for the record, I am a BIG optimist and a major homer for our New England Patriots, which means I fully expect every single one of our draftees to turn into studs and Pro-Bowlers every year. Is that really so unreasonable? I sure don't think so.

With that said, here's the list of our draft picks for the past two years who are currently still a part of the team.

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Christopher L. Gasper from The Boston Globe reports...

The Patriots have signed a replacement for long snapper Lonie Paxton, who defected to Denver on the first day of free agency, signing a five-year, $5.38 million deal. New England announced today it has signed longtime Arizona Cardinals long snapper Nathan Hodel.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

No word on how good Hodel is at making a snow angel, but he has been reliable like Paxton. According to the team's release, starting with the beginning of the 2002 season, he made every long snap for Arizona over a period of seven seasons through 2008.

via i371.photobucket.com

Thanks for the info NESilver. I added in the picture. -Chris

I've been debating whether I should post this here or not. I wrote this back in mid-February for Pats Pulpit, when there was very little news coming out (offseason dead period, you could call it). I was originally just looking back at some of the accomplishments New England had during their 2008 season (like Jerod Mayo winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, Belichick achieving his 150th win as a head coach, etc). In the end, however, 2008's biggest story for the Pats was undoubtedly Matt Cassel.

So, in my absolute boredom, I put this together. You can consider it a highlight reel of Matt Cassel in the form of a fanpost. He had a few bad games (Miami, San Diego) but overall he put together a pretty good season. The list I put together is (in a nutshell) his basic info, 2008 stats, awards won throughout the year, game-winning or tying drives, wins in different weather conditions (playing in New England this was a must), and links you can click on to watch the highlights of these different occasions.

There's also a special "Eff You" to a certain talking head I find really annoying, and who came out looking like a moron in the end. Oh, and I repeat, I was extremely bored when I wrote this a while back, but I figured you guys might appreciate it now that Cassel's a Chief. Enjoy!

Date of Birth: May 17, 1982 (age 26)
Place of Birth: Northridge, California
Height: 6 ft. 4 in.
Weight: 230 lb.
College: Southern California
NFL Draft: 2005 - 7th Round - 230th overall
Roster Status: Kansas City Chiefs

2008 Season Statistics
Games: 16
Record: 11-5
Pass Attempts: 516
Pass Completions: 327
Completion Percentage: 63.4%
Passing Yards: 3,693
Yards Per Attempt: 7.2
Touchdown Passes: 21
Interceptions: 11
Times Sacked: 47
Yards Lost on Sacks: 219
Passer Rating: 89.4
Carries: 73
Rushing Yards: 270
Rushing Average: 3.7
Longest Run: 19

Awards
Week 7 (vs. Denver Broncos) - AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 12 (vs. Miami Dolphins) - AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Vizio "Top Value Performer" Award - 2008 (Received over 42% of votes)

Records
- Longest scoring drive (# of plays) in Patriots history - 19 plays and 9:08 off the clock vs. the Buffalo Bills (Week 10)
- Threw for 400 yards and rushed for 62 yards - first player since 1970 AFL-NFL merger to have 400 or more passing yards and 60 or more rushing yards in a game (Week 11)
- First player in Patriots history to have 300 or more passing yards and 50 or more rushing yards (Week 11)
- NFL Record & Patriots record for most consecutive games with 400+ yards (2 games - 5 way tie) (Week 12)
- Patriots record for most games of 400+ yards in a season (2 - tie) (Week 12)
- Season record low of 57 penalties with Matt Cassel at quarterback (previous record-low was 59 set by the Seahawks in 2007)

When the game's on the line...
Week 8 (vs. St. Louis Rams) - Down by 3 points early in the fourth quarter, Matt Cassel engineered a game-tying drive for a field goal with 8:29 left on the clock. After a three-and-out by St. Louis, the Patriots received the ball back with 6:57 to go on their own 47 yard line. Matt Cassel would be sacked on the first play for -8 yards, but would operate out of the shotgun for the remainder of the seven-play drive, going 4-of-4 for 49 yards and throwing the game-winning touchdown to Kevin Faulk with 3:19 left in regulation.

Week 11 (vs. New York Jets) - The Patriots fell behind early, heading into halftime trailing 24-13. By early fourth quarter, the Patriots tied the game at 24-24, only to have the Jets march down the field and score a touchdown, taking a 31-24 lead with 3:14 left on the clock. After a three-and-out, the Patriots were forced to burn their timeouts, eventually getting the ball back with only 1:04 remaining. Beginning from New England's 38 yard line, the Patriots went to the No Huddle offense. On an eight-play drive, Matt Cassel would go 5-of-8 for 67 yards, including a 16-yard strike on 4th-and-1 to Randy Moss in the endzone for the game-tying touchdown with 0:01 left in regulation. All three of his incompletions were spikes to stop the clock.

Week 14 (vs. Seattle Seahawks) - The Seahawks, despite a 2-11 record, gave the Patriots all they could handle at Qwest Field. The Patriots entered the fourth quarter trailing 21-13, with their defense decimated by injuries (losing NT Vince Wilfork and LB Tedy Bruschi in the first half, and recently signed Rosevelt Colvin & Junior Seau filling in). After a field goal with 12:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Patriots now trailed 21-16. Taking over at New England's 29 yardline and 8:47 on the clock, the Patriots put together a fourteen-play 71-yard drive, with Matt Cassel throwing 5-of-8 for 60 yards and one rushing attempt for 9 yards. Sammy Morris capped the drive with a run up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown, and Cassel succeeded with a two-point conversion attempt to Wes Welker to put the Patriots ahead 24-21 with 2:44 left in regulation.

Cassel weathers the storm...
Week 15 (vs. Oakland Raiders) - Rainy conditions. However, the bigger issue was Matt Cassel playing less than a week after the death of his father, Greg. With a heavy heart, Cassel led the Patriots with 18-of-30 for 218 yards and a career-high four touchdowns to beat the Raiders 49-26.

Week 16 (vs. Arizona Cardinals) - Snow, sleet, and freezing rain conditions. Matt Cassel would go 20-of-36 for 345 yards and three touchdowns playing in snow for the first time ever. His counterpart on the field, Kurt Warner, completed just 6-of-18 for 30 yards as the Patriots beat the eventual NFC Champion Cardinals by a score of 47-7.

Week 17 (vs. Buffalo Bills) - Extreme wind conditions. Words will not do the winds in this game justice. The winds were strong enough that the goalposts had to be re-aligned and held down by the officials for field goal attempts, gusting as high as 55-60 mph. In a game dominated by rushing attempts, Matt Cassel threw for an efficient 6-of-8 for 78 yards in a 13-0 Patriots win.

Proving idiots wrong...
Whenever you can make Marshall Faulk look like a fool (and believe me, he does that well enough on his own), you are definitely a winner, in my book. Unfortunately, the YouTube video has since been removed, but Faulk's harsh criticism for Cassel and his projections for the young QB in the NFL have since been proven false.

At least, according to this report from the Star Tribune.

Vikings executives appeared to have spent extensive time attempting to address their quarterback situation at the combine, which ends today. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the team met with David Dunn, the agent for New England's Matt Cassel. The Vikings have interest in Cassel, but he has received the Patriots' franchise tag (guaranteeing him $14.65 million) and New England is believed to be asking for a significant return in a trade.

I wonder - was it that Cassel and his agent were asking for too much money, or were the Patriots asking for too many draft picks in return?

Either way, the Vikings look to be making a move for Sage Rosenfels instead.