State of the New England Patriots Position by Position: Linebackers

February 19, 2014   ·   Randolph Charlotin   ·   Jump to comments

Signed: Dont’a Hightower, Jerod Mayo, Jamie Collins, Steve Beauharnais, Ja’Gared Davis, Chris White
Free Agents: Brandon Spikes, Dane Fletcher
How can anyone not love Brandon Spikes? He’s a throwback linebacker that relishes delivering bone-crushing hits to ball carriers. In college he wore No. 51, modeling his game after Hall of Famer Dick Butkus.
As a Patriot, Spikes had the honor of wearing 55, worn before by Willie McGinest and Junior Seau. To Spikes’ credit, he did a fine job of following in the footsteps of those legends.
He was a tone-setter on defense. Instinctive. A fiery and emotional player. A natural leader on and off the field.
And the Patriots could be better without him.
With all due respect to Spikes and what he brings to the field, Jamie Collins can do that and more. That became apparent when Collins started the AFC Divisional round game against the Indianapolis Colts in place of an injured Spikes. Six tackles, a sa...

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