King on M&M: Ellis a big plus for Pats

Sports Illustrated NFL writer Peter King made his weekly appearance on the Mut & Merloni show Friday to talk about the Patriots and other NFL news.

Most of the talk in the preseason in Foxboro has centered around the Pats' revamped defensive line. King said the key player might be one who isn't getting as much attention.

Said King: "I think one of the great sort-of untold stories of this year for the Patriots is going to be Shaun Ellis. … I thought it was really interesting that he had a huge game in the Jets' win over New England in the playoffs. When he left the Jets and went to the Patriots, to me if was the reverse Johnny Damon deal. Yet, very little was made of it. And I think because in football you're sort of an anonymous guy on the defensive line a lot of times, especially when you play a 3-4.

"But here's a guy who's played everything. He's played all over the line, both in a 3-4 and a 4-3. So, I think both the addition of Shaun Ellis by Bill Belichick and the subtraction of Shaun Ellis from Rex Ryan, I think that's going to be a really, really interesting story watching these two teams battle it out."

Added King: "He's not going to be a 12-, 13-sack guy. That's not who he is. He's going to be a solid 3-4 end, but not just a 3-4 end, he's going to play all over the line. He'll get you six or eight sacks, maybe. He got two in the playoff game last year and he was one of the best Jets on the field."

The Patriots play the Lions Saturday night in Detroit in the third preseason game. The Lions are receiving some recognition as a team that could make a major improvement this season. King agrees with that assessment, assuming quarterback Matthew Stafford and the defensive line can stay healthy.

"If you have Nick Fairley, Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams -- very underrated nose guy -- if you have those three guys playing in tandem, switching up in the middle, playing in rotation, I'm not saying it's impossible to block, but that's going to be the best defensive tackle group in the NFL," King said. "If Fairley plays, let's say 13, 14, 12 games, something like that, and if Stafford stays healthy, I firmly believe this team is going to win nine or 10 games."

The Colts made news this week by luring Kerry Collins out of retirement on a reported one-year, $4 million deal while Peyton Manning recovers from neck surgery.

"I still believe [Manning] is playing opening night, regardless of the signing of Kerry Collins," King said. "But when you pay a guy 4 million bucks, you know what you're saying? Our backup quarterback can't do it. They reached the conclusion … after watching Curtis Painter now for three weeks of the preseason, saying: He's too much of an Achilles' heel. We cannot surrender this season if Peyton Manning is injured, so what we have to do is we've got to get better at quarterback.

"I don't believe the Colts have come to the determination that Peyton Manning is not playing the opener. I believe they've come to the determination that if Peyton Manning doesn't player the opener and if he misses two or three weeks, we're going to go 0-3 if we play Curtis Painter. That's why I think they did what they did."

Tim Tebow was in the news this week, taking some hits from analysts who ripped the second-year quarterback for his poor throwing mechanics and lack of accuracy. King takes a different approach when looking at the former Heisman Trophy winner's future.

"I don't think [his future success] will be on the Broncos, but look, I've been clear that if you think Tim Tebow has no value in the NFL, you're an idiot, in my opinion. You watch him put up 20 points, albeit on a bad defense last year, in the second half against Houston to win a game. And to play great down the stretch in the clutch both throwing the ball and running the ball.

"Look, this is a thinking coaches league. If you can't think of a way to get Tim Tebow involved in your offense to help you win, I don't think you're a great coach. If I was [new Broncos coach] John Fox, right now, this year, I would think of three packages that this guy can play. Because remember this, this is a really important difference from 2010. There is no third quarterback rule this year. That's off the books. … You can dress a quarterback like Tim Tebow and put him in at quarterback any time and not worry about making anybody else ineligible. To me, that changes the game for Tim Tebow. It makes him more attractive.

"I know this: If Tim Tebow's on the open market, either Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, somebody is going to go get him and he will be helping a really good team win, not by playing every down but by doing something in their offense in the next few years."

To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page. For more Patriots news, visit the team page at weei.com/patriots.