Yeah, much of the media believes he'll be Brady's backup. I tend to agree with them--though I'll admit I'm a bit biased. Another thing to note: Kevin Faulk is REALLY pushing Smith for the starting RB spot. Don't know how that will pan out because in all honesty, Smith is built to with-stand season-long punishment, where Faulk, at only 5'9" or so, doesn't appear to be capable of taking the hits that the typical 15-20 carries starting running backs get each game, and sustain himself over the course of a full season. He (Faulk) does provide a GREAT "change-of-pace" at the RB position and has pretty much solidified himself as a 3rd-down specialist for the Pats. Worse case scenerio is that he'll split time with Smith. Defensively, Jarvis Green has slipped a bit. Started the spring working with the first unit, but in NE's complex defensive scheme, he was having trouble (he's better suited for the DE position, but they were trying to use him at DT--to fill the only void on the defensive line). Worst-case in Green's scenerio is he'll be a #2 DE and possibly see playing time in passing situations as the DT in nickel and dime packages. The Pats will be using a 3-4 defense, so that leaves players like Rosevelt Colvin and Willie McGinest ,that are gifted enough to play both LB and DE, to get the majority of the playing time in positions that Jarvis could play. Jarvis just needs to solidify himself as a DE on the depth chart. But, every report I've seen concerning all 3 former Tigers has always been pretty positive and it's clear that the coaching staff is high on all of them.
