In how many professions can someone be fired, languish on unemployment for 24 hours, then be rehired in a reserve status, making 100k per year?
Of the over 1,100 players shown the door by their teams on Saturday afternoon, roughly a third of them will find themselves on practice squads throughout the National Football League - ten of them in Foxbourough with the New England Patriots - with the guarantee that their minimum salary will amount to $107K if the player spends the entire year on the scout team.
WR/RB D.J. Foster
Practice squad, scout team, taxi squad, call it what you will - probably dependent on what era you grew up in - but for a football player with dreams of playing on Sundays, being on the ten-man practice squad means that you are but one step away from realizing that dream - even though that step taken would be due to another player's misfortune.
And that step doesn't necessarily take place in Foxborough, as practice squad members are technically restricted free agents, restricted in that if another team comes-a-callin' and wants to poach a player from another team's squad, the Collective Bargaining Agreement requires that the player taken must be on that team's active roster for three weeks.
That happens every so often, with the last time the Patriots engaging in the practice being in 2014, when they poached nose tackle Sealver Siliga from the Seattle Seahawks practice squad, and he remained on the Patriots' roster through 2015 and won a ring when New England beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl 49.
So, it's a hell of an opportunity to ply their trade, and get coached up. Strength and conditioning is part of the deal as well, as are all the amenities available to the players on the active roster, and they get Sundays off...
Patriots head ball coach and general manager Bill Belichick just had the unpleasant task of handing out pink slips to 37 players, but cheered up a bit when informing nine players (as of press time) that their NFL careers are still alive:
D. J. Foster - The second year running back has three different scenarios in which he would be called up to the big league club, as an injury or some other misfortune to either a running back, a wide receiver or to whomever ends up returning punts would open the door for the multi-talented Arizona State product.
David Jones - The undrafted rookie safety from Richmond has tremendous size (6' 3", 215 lbs), but is a bit fragile, having injured his right forearm multiple times in his last two seasons in college. He has untapped potential as a fierce-hitting strong safety.
Damarius Travis - another safety with great size (6' 2", 210), the undrafted free agent from Minnesota narrowly missed being named to the active roster as a backup free safety due to his fantastic mixture of speed and range.
Geneo Grissom - Grissom would probably have made the roster as well, were it not for a cutdown day trade with Seattle for the manic and violent Cassius Marsh. Grissom is in his third season in New England, but was inactive much of the time despite being on the 53.
Cody Hollister - Twin brother of tight end Jaocb Hollister who made the active roster, Cody is a large but not overly speedy receiver who needs work on route running. The Arkansas alum will get plenty of coaching on the practice squad.
Trevor Bates - A second stint on the squad for the Maine native, an active linebacker from a small school was drafted by the Colts last season and spent time on their squad before being released and ending up in Foxborough.
Ted Karras - the great nephew of former Detroit Lion standout and movie horse-puncher Alex Karras, the Illinios product was on the active roster last season but saw very little action. He will be the first player elevated if anything happens to a lineman.
James Ferentz - The son of a Belichick friend and an Iowa standout, Ferentz is on his third practice squad in as many years, having been assigned initially by the Houston Texans, then the Denver Broncos and now New England. This is his last season of eleigibilty.
Darius Kilgo - A sixth-round draft pick of the Broncos last season, this is the 320 pound defensive tackle's second stint on the Patriots' practice squad, and the only reserve defensive lineman on the squad.
Belichick still has one spot to fill on the practice squad, perhaps saving a spot in case he makes any other transaction on the active roster, which is always evolving. The Patriots also had four players clear waivers with an injury designation and have reverted back to the team's Injured Reserved List:
Defensive tackle Josh Augusta
Wide Receiver Devin Lucien
Defensive tackle Woodrow Hamilton
Cornerback D.J. Killings
The team lost four players to waiver claims on Sunday, including fan favorites in receiver Austin Carr claimed by the Saints and cornerback Kenny Moore, claimed by Colts, and also lost offensive tackle Conor McDermott who was claimed by Buffalo and tight end James O'Shaunnessey, who is now in Jacksonville.
When asked about the progress of any player at this point in the team building process, we usually get a canned response from New England Patriots head ball coach Bill Belichick, something to the effect of a combination of "He works hard", "He's a smart kid" and the ever popular, "We'll have to see."
But on Tuesday when asked about second-year quarterback Jacoby Brissett, we got something straight from the depths.
"He's a work in progress." Belichick deadpanned to the glee of bored beat writers.
When Brissett is in the game on Thursday night against the Jaguars, it will most likely be with all manner of position battles happening all over the offensive line, so we are going to be able to witness first hand if Brissett has made that essential second-year progression in regard to his mechanics.
You see, the North Carolina State alum has a penchant for throwing off his back foot when being pressured up the gut, a natural knee-jerk reaction that produces overthrows without much on them, especially up the sidelines, making them ripe for interceptions by centerfielders in the worst-case scenarios, and wasted downs in the best-case.
Thus far in camp, it's obvious that he still has the issue and has thrown the aforementioned high ball off of his back foot release and it seems as though he is trying to compensate for the poor mechanics rather than correcting them. It will be interesting to see if Jacksonville makes it a point to pressure him up the middle to force those floaters, and also to see if they align a single-deep safety as a ball hawk to pick him off.
This is what camp and preseason are for. Brissett has an absolute rocket for an arm when he can step into throws and does have good accuracy on the intermediate and short throws, making him an adequate short-term backup, but the issues with his mechanics make him a poor choice as a long-term fill-in, as teams would easily be able to game-plan against his weaknesses.
Needless to say, tonight's game is going to be important to his future with the team.
Other players we will be watching closely:
Dion Lewis - From all accounts the "Human Joy Stick" is back to his old elusive self, breaking ankles and causing would-be tacklers to grasp at thin air. How much he used in the preseason - and even early in the regular season is anyone's guess, but it makes sense to limit the demure all purpose back's exposure to things that might rip his legs apart, so if he does play, we really can't expect it will be for very long.
Rex Burkhead - On the other hand, we will probably see plenty of Burkhead, who has a little bit of every type of running style known to man inside of him. He can play the power guy, he can catch the ball, he can protect the passer - which may turn out to be a godsend to Patriots quarterbacks in the preseason - and once he's in the open field, he looks like a newborn fawn trying to find it's footing, with elbows and knees everywhere. Regardless of how it looks, he's been effective with it in the past.
Devin Lucien - Lucien has generated plenty of press clippings the past few weeks, and now it's time to see if he's just a workout warrior or if his star rises when the bright lights come on. You can read more about the Arizona State product here...
Jacob Hollister - The Patriots generally carry three tight ends, but the third guy is normally more of an inline blocking machine than what Hollister presents, but his receiving skills can't be ignored. Of the candidates for the roster spot, the Wyoming product is far and away the best pass-catching prospect, but he offers little from a blocking perspective, certainly less than what the other candidates bring.
For that very reason, Hollister is going to have to bring the "Wow" factor in the preseason if he wants to make this team.
Conor McDermott - Does the athletic McDermott have the sand-in-his-pants anchor to play the blindside protector? Either Brissett and/or Jimmy Garoppolo is going to find out on Thursday night when the UCLA product goes up against names like Yannick Ngakoue and Dante Fowler.
Blessed with a basketball player's size and slide step, McDermott looks every bit a tight end - but one can't help noticing that he is a far more effective blocker on the move in the running game pulling into the interior on a "wham" assignment, using a killer cut block to take down rogue linebackers while his set and slide technique screams "tackle" in pass protection, he just doesn't have the anchor - or does he?
We'll probably get to see tonight...
Deatrich Wise - The Jacksonville offensive line is a hot mess everywhere except at the pivot, so the Patriots coaches should reasonably expect to see their defensive linemen dominate - but in a preseason game in which the coaches are looking at form and technique, domination is not always going to be apparent to the naked eye, nor will it necessarily show up on the stat sheet.
With Wise, who has long arms and enormous hands, he should be rag-dolling tackles early in the game with a savage initial punch, and bull rushing him back into the pocket. Like Trey Flowers before him, Wise dominated as a defensive end at Arkansas with uncommon strength, but unlike Flowers, he's not quick-twitch so a lot will depend on his pad level as the game wears on.
If he plays into the late stages of the game and he's still stacking up tackles like cord wood, it may be an indication that the Patriots have struck gold twice in drafting hogs.
Derek Rivers - Rivers was an All American defensive end at Youngstown State, but in the pros, his best destiny is at strong-side linebacker, as his size and skill set whispers "Jamie Collins".
Rivers has been working on his pegs on both sides of the second level all through camp, and when rushing in tandem with Wise, who has worked exclusively as a down lineman, they have been nearly unblockable. Rivers' issue is that he has zero experience as a stand-up linebacker, so the learning curve is protracted - but if his production in camp is any indication, he's well ahead of that curve.
Cyrus Jones - Naturally, everyone in the civilized world and Canada will be watching with a blood-lust to see if Jones muffs a punt or makes some sort of crazy, knee-jerk decision of some sort that will result in a turnover, but Jones seems to have regained much of his confidence on fielding kicks, so in addition to his special teams play, he will be getting some reps at corner, perhaps a bunch.
Damarius Travis - strong safety Jordan Richards is in the fight of his career for a roster spot, but every kid in the mix that gets injured makes him closer to a lock to hold on to his spot for a this season. The only player left in his way? Damarius Travis.
Travis is an undrafted box safety with a reputation for going after the big hit, eschewing proper wrap-up technique required for run support. He also is reported to have issues with handling tight ends on seam routes, which belies his extraordinary height (6' 2") for the position. That said, we'll be looking to see if the Jaguars can cause those deficiencies to manifest, of if he has taken to professional coaching.
Patriots' safety Duron Harmon stops to admire the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl 51
The New England Patriots have so many premium draft picks on their defensive depth chart that they could field a starting lineup made entirely of first and second round draft picks.
No matter what traditional base alignment they play in, there is plenty of draft royalty to man the positions - why just take a look at what the lineup could look like in a 3-4:
Left Defensive End - Kony Ealy (2nd round 2014 by Carolina )
Nose Tackle - Malcom Brown (1st round 2015)
Right Defensive End - Alan Branch (2nd round 2007 by Arizona)
Weakside Linebacker - Kyle Van Noy (2nd round 2014 by Detroit)
Weakside Inside Linebacker - Dont'a Hightower(1st round 2012)
Middle Linebacker - David Harris (2nd round 2007 by New York Jets)
Strongside Linebacker - Shea McClellin (1st round 2012 by Chicago)
Right Cornerback - Eric Rowe (2nd round 2015 by Philadelphia)
Left Cornerback - Stephon Gilmore (1st round 2012 by Buffalo)
Free Safety - Devin McCourty (1st round 2010)
Strong Safety - Patrick Chung (2nd round 2009)
They could use this lineup, but they won't - for no other reason than they are a much better team when their "Devil Dogs" are on the field - their blue-collar, toiling in the trenches and anything-but-pretty working stiffs - because head ball coach and defacto general manager Bill Belichick really doesn't care in what round a player was drafted, doesn't care how much a player makes in salary.
None of that makes any difference on the field. The only thing that does matter is how well a player does his job, and while all of the aforementioned royalty have all had their highlight reel production and individual accolades, there are other players on the team - the Devil Dogs, the Dog Faces, the big ugly collection of irrelevants - who were considered reaches by some draft experts and outright garbage by others that make the ultimate difference.
Which makes no nevermind to Belichick, as he considers draft experts on the same level as beat writers: a complete waste of his time. Belichick has his own formula for grading potential draftees, and has instructed his scouting department to not give players grades on projected rounds, but instead based on a five-tier system of potential.
The criterion is simple. Belichick wants his scouts to grade players based on how they would fare under his philosophies, placing them in a linear progression of "starters", "potential starters", "developmental players", "backups" and "players who wouldn't make it on any NFL roster." - which precludes status, popularity and any other superficial label that could be applied.
For example, the team's best pass rusher is 2015 fourth-round selection Trey Flowers. Their most consistent defender over the past decade has been former fifth-round pick Rob Ninkovich while rotational nose tackle and 2016 third-round pick Vincent Valentine saw significant snaps late last season and was a force in the running game...
...but it is in the secondary where the "dog faces" make the most impact on defense, as former third-round safety Duron Harmon and undrafted cornerback Malcolm Butler make their bones as two of the best in the game at what they do.
Unless you are one of the people who have been living under large rocks for the past few years, you already know of Butler's heroics in Super Bowl 49 and his corresponding meteoric rise to the top of the NFL's cornerback ladder - this is where I question my own usage of the term "meteoric rise", as meteors tend to fall, not rise, but I am a slave to commonly used metaphors - but not many are truly aware of Harmon's contribution to two championship teams.
Pro Football Focus published some interesting numbers in regard to the Patriots' secondary, a unit that they graded out to be the third-best in the National Football League at the end of last season, and while they've added a very sturdy piece to their cornerback kennel in former Buffalo Bill Stephon Gilmore, it is the steadiness of the safety corps that they opine is what makes this secondary.
And, of course, we know this because the Patriots were said to be in their nickle or dime defensive alignments on 80% of their snaps in 2016, with an extra safety in on the action the majority of that time - so is it any wonder that the Patriots ponied up a four-year, $20 million contract to keep their all-important nickel safety, Duron Harmon, in Foxborough for the immediate future?
Harmon is that rare blue-liner that has the size (6' 1", 210 pounds) and speed (4.41 at Rutgers' pro day), plus the requisite lateral agility to play the single high safety role well enough that it allows New England's defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to use free safety Devin McCourty as a coverage chess piece and strong safety Patrick Chung as an impromptu weak side linebacker without losing anything on the back end.
There is not another team in the National Football League that features such capability in their secondary and, as such, the versatility of what is known as the Big Nickel defense - that is, a nickle or dime alignment that features three safeties - is often overlooked when assessing the talent level of a coverage unit, but the talent of the Patriots' safety corps has not eluded the folks at Pro Football Focus.
The one weakness that the report identified in the secondary was the lack of a true nickel cornerback, which was offset by Harmon playing deep and McCourty - a former cornerback with elite speed and an All Pro selection at both corner and safety on his resume - moved around in coverages, often taking the double slot in a spread formation much like a nickel corner would.
But the Patriots appear to have strengthened their cornerback positions by adding former Buffalo Bill Stephon Gilmore in free agency, who joins Pro Bowl talent Malcolm Butler and ascending star Eric Rowe to form an imposing corps - and with Rowe being a former college safety with like-attributes as Harmon, it gives Patricia many, many options in coverage.
Rowe and Gilmore come as like-sized boundary corners who will most likely fixate on the larger outside receivers, while Butler, who has proven his mettle both outside and in, figures as a chess piece that will be moved around to take advantage of mismatches.
With Gilmore on board and with Rowe ascending as a legitimate corner (see his coverage on Julio Jones in the Super Bowl for an example), teams that employ bigger wideouts to create those mismatches really don't apply against New England as they are well above the curve - again - when it comes to neutralizing a competitor's advantage.
Add to that the aforementioned coverage skill of McCourty and Chung's ability on tight ends, there's not much that's going to get by the Patriots' secondary.
That said, depth is going to be more a matter of who Belichick and Patricia see as having the most developmental upside, because with Butler's contract expiring at the end of the season and with Chung and Rowe scheduled for free agency the following offseason, the Patriots are in good shape to bring along potential replacements.
Actually, Belichick drafted Jordan Richards out of Stanford to develop into a Chung replacement, but he's been a disappointment in a backup role, and no Patriots' fan can hear the name Cyrus Jones without cringing and then falling into a drooling, blank-staring stupor in recalling his struggles in the role as a punt returner last season...
...the fact of which has many forgetting that he was a shutdown corner at Alabama, and never really got a chance to showcase that potential as a rookie as his fumbling issues on punt returns sapped him of so much confidence that Belichick didn't even bother dressing him for the final six games of the regular season, nor for the playoffs.
Jones has always bounced back from disappointment in his football career and has the talent to do so again, and don't expect Belichick to throw the towel in on him after just one season, especially as a second round draft pick. But while Jones looks to improve on his disastrous rookie season, the jury has spoken in Richards' case, and he may well get the axe as a former second rounder who didn't make much improvement from his rookie season to his sophomore campaign.
Like Jones, Richards looked like a bust from the very start - but unlike Jones, Richards doesn't have the speed nor the instincts to play the strong safety role in New England, as his lumbering style is more scripted for an inside linebacker role, but he just doesn't have the size. His roster spot is in serious jeopardy, especially given the two undrafted free agents that Belichick signed immediately after the draft.
Richmond's David Jones is a Harmon clone with sideline-to-sideline lateral agility and speed and the ballhawking skills that would make him a fine centerfielder, but has durability concerns and a left forearm that has been the bane of his football existence - this combined with the fact that Harmon was just re-signed, it makes sense that Jones find his way to the practice squad, or even to the PUP where he could allow his forearm to adequately heal while being coached up on the Big Nickel...
...while Minnesota's Damarius Travis is ready to contribute immediately. At 6' 1" and 212 pounds, Travis is a pure box safety that can handle tight ends across the formation and in tight quarters and is a violent striker in run support. Where he gets into trouble, as does Chung, is when a tight end takes him up the seam in single coverage - which really isn't an issue with Harmon stalking the blue line.
That leaves only the special teams players that populate the rest of the secondary depth charts, as safeties Nate Ebner and Brandon King and slot corner Jonathan Jones are ace standouts. Ebner has been a fixture for five seasons and King for two, as the speedster from Auburn also doubles as an emergency "Dime" safety in prevent formations.
Jones also played at Auburn and is a speed merchant like King, but has tremendous ball skills and plays much bigger than his 5' 9" stature would suggest, and has the inside track for the fifth corner spot.
All told, the Patriots may just have the best secondary in the National Football League - surely the most diversely talented - and as we've witnessed for the past couple of seasons, that should be enough.
It's a tradition in New England for at least one undrafted free agent to make the 53 man roster - but the way the Patriots are handing out guaranteed cash to them, it might be more than one.
The problem is, this team is so loaded with talent, what chance does any of them have to break into the best roster, top to bottom, in the NFL? Some would say slim-to-none, but don't tell that to players like Malcolm Butler, Brandon King, Jonathan Jones or Ted Karras, all of whom have cracked the code in recent seasons, with Butler being the most high-profile of the group...
Tennessee DE Corey Vereen
...showing once again, that draft status means absolutely nothing to Patriots' head ball coach Bill Belichick, whose approach to the draft was covered in depth - or at least as in-depth as is allowed - by Belichickian friend Michael Lombardi recently:
"Instead of predicting the rounds, our system forced our scouts to grade every player as either a starter, a potential starter, a developmental player, a backup, or someone who couldn't make any NFL team." Lombardi offered recently, "We wanted to define the prospect's role on our team, and we wanted to predict how long it would take him to achieve that role."
So it goes to figure that just because someone is rated in the first round by the draft experts doesn't necessarily make them a starter in Belichick's world, nor does someone rated a priority free agent make them a player who couldn't make any NFL team - and as many in the media have pointed out, that should explain some of the weird draft choices that the Dark Master has made in the past.
But there's more to it than that. What Lombardi omitted from his diatribe was that there is other criteria that goes into selections, such as philosophies and need.
The philosophies are, of course, the Erhardt-Perkins system on offense and the Fairbanks-Bullough approach on defense - both with Belichick's twisted little spin on them that makes them progressive rather than archaic in the modern NFL.
The approach on offense even has a mantra attached to it - "Pass to score, run to win" - which means that the philosophy on offense is to build up a lead with the passing game, then kill the clock with the run, which is standard fare in the NFL - but the defensive philosophy is more up for interpretation to defensive geniuses such as Belichick, which is frustrating to fans that don't understand it...
...and even more frustrating for opposing offenses, even though they do.
The Fairbanks-Bullough defense is a passive-aggressive two-gap system that when initially implemented back in the mid-70's, featured a three man line that was supposed to contain the offense rather than aggressively attack it, preferring to let the linemen occupy the offensive line and preventing pulling guards and tackles from reaching the second level to obstruct the movements of the linebackers.
In theory, this allows the linebackers free movement to flow to the ball, which is a large part of the modern strategy, but in Belichick's world, the key to the entire defense is to bring a strong safety/weakside linebacker hybrid down into the box in the place of a linebacker, and protecting him from the big uglies so that he can fly around and make plays.
It takes a certain collection of athletes to make this philosophy - known simply as the Big Nickel - work. It calls for massive, five technique defensive ends anchored by a gap plugging nose tackle, rotated in and out of the lineup much the same way hockey teams make line changes, keeping these large individuals fresh for their next shift and for late in the game...
...rangy linebackers who possess instincts and recognition traits to find the ball and flow to it, press-man corrnerbacks that mix it up with receivers coming off the line, and a trio of safeties that make the entire thing possible - a traditional free safety and a traditional box safety mixed in with an old-fashioned "centerfielder" who has the range, speed and angle recognition to be the last line of defense.
On the Patriots, those players are Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon, respectively - but while this lineup represents perhaps the best set of safeties in the National Football League, it took Belichick some trial-and-error and the requisite time to put the beast together.
McCourty started out as a cornerback as a rookie from Rutgers, taken 27th overall in the 2010 draft, then transitioned to the free safety position gradually over his second and third seasons, his coverage instincts and angle recognition perfect for the spot. Chung came to Foxborough via the second round in the 2009 draft with a reputation as a brick wall as a college run support safety and Harmon arrived on campus as a virtual unknown, a third round pick in 2013 when most experts had him listed as a priority free agent.
In the midst of all of this, Belichick took chances on players like Illinois cornerback Tavon Wilson, Ohio State's Nate Ebner and Stanford strong safety Jordan Richards in an effort to find the right mix to run his formation, and his priority free agent classes have been filled with safeties to supplement the process - and 2017 is no different.
Chung is aging before our eyes and Richards, who was drafted to be Chung's eventual replacement after a couple of years of grooming, has to be considered a bust. McCourty is still playing at a high level and Harmon is valued as the best centerfielder in the game today, as evidenced by the solid contract he was given in the offseason to retain his services - but the future of the Big Nickel leans heavily on finding that strong safety/weakside linebacker hybrid to fill the box.
Belichick didn't select any safeties with his limited number of draft picks this season, but he brought in five of them as undrafted, priority free agents, and a couple of them are potential gems in the alignment.
Richmond's David Jones is the most intriguing of the bunch, and is a Harmon clone on the back side as far as range and speed. At 6' 3" and 210 pounds, he's a long-glider who can go sideline to sideline smoothly, and has the football IQ to know to read a quarterback's body language and not get looked off by wily signal callers.
LSU corner Dwayne Thomas is seen as a strong safety in the pros, mostly due to his lack of deep speed and because of his excellence in run support in the box, while Valdosta State's Kenny Moore is too short to play corner in the league at 5' 9", but is a terror in the box.
Utah's speedy Jason Thompson is a neophyte at the safety position, but despite his lack of experience - he was a quarterback at Wyoming before transferring to Utah and switching positions - he quickly worked his way into a rotation at free safety with Marcus Williams, who was drafted 42nd overall by New Orleans, splitting reps right down the middle with the second-rounder.
Minnesota's Damarius Travis was the highest rated (on the traditional scouting scale) of all of the defensive backs brought in by Belichick and has the look of a box safety in waiting. Bigger than Chung at 6' 1" and 210 pounds, Travis has the requisite coverage ability to handle tight ends and backs underneath, but not the long speed or quickness to handle them in space.
The rest of the undrafted free agent class are players that fit squarely in "developmental player" classification of Belichick's five-tier criterion.
Iowa running back LeShun Daniels is a big back (6' 0", 225 pounds) that scouting reports state can't create for himself, yet he averaged 2.4 yards per carry after contact. Northwestern wide receiver Austin Carr was Pro Football Focus's seventh-rated UFDA. A 6' 1", 195 pound slot receiver, he does his best work within five yards of the line of scrimmage, and was a Bilitnikof Award finalist and was named Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year, yet scouts wonder if he can get open in the pros.
Jacob Hollister is a move tight end coming out of Wyoming and his twin brother, Cody, is a wide receiver out of Arkansas. Try to find an in-depth scouting report from the experts, and there are none. Neither was invited to the combine, but both have impressive stats and size for the next level.
At 6' 5" and only 295 pounds, Iowa tackle Cole Croston is not athletic enough to play tackle in the pros and is too light to play guard or center, positions that would mask his lack of athleticism. Could be a practice squad stash to develop in the weight room. Harvard's Max Rich is just the opposite from Croston, and was perhaps the most athletic tackle in the class.
Scouts downplayed his pancaking defensive ends due to his level of competition in the Ivy League, but at 6' 7" and 315 pounds, Rich has the slide step and hand punch to project as a swing tackle with an emphasis on the right side on the professional level, while Purdue guard Jason King has started 40 c0nsecutive games at left guard against the best the Big 10 has to offer, and at 6' 4" and 305 pounds may find himself with a backup role on the 53 man roster.
Defensive tackles Josh Augusta and Adam Butler are longshots to make the roster loaded with excellent defensive tackles, especially Augusta, who at 6' 4" and 350 pounds is merely an immovable blob who offered no pass rush at all at Missouri, so perhaps Belichick is hoping Augusta loses weight to gain more quickness as a five-tech...
Butler, however, is a svelte 6' 4", 295 pounder who started his college career as an offensive tackle, but was moved to the other side of the ball after a defensive coach at Vanderbilt witnessed him arguing with an official at a rib eating contest, one that saw Butler devour 30 ribs in 60 seconds, but noticed that one of his competitors grabbed several uneaten ribs off of his plate as time wore down and dumped them in a waste bucket at his feet.
The coach so admired his passion in refusing to lose that he developed him into a defensive tackle and end hybrid that started every game his last two seasons. At that light of weight, Butler truly is a five tech defensive end, which Belichick is currently collecting, so he has a shot...
...as does Tennessee defensive end Corey Vereen, who looks every bit the defensive end prospect on his college film, though a cat named Derek Barnett gained most of the headlines for the Volunteers.
As you can see, Vereen has a quick get off, particularly from the strong side, and can bend around right tackles like they are standing still. From the blind side, Vereen often stunted into the middle of the line and taking advantage of gaps created by the nose tackle being double teamed.
It's a mystery why Vereen and several of these other players went undrafted, but Belichick obviously had them on his board somewhere, and with a classification of anything but someone who can't make any NFL team...
