If I were having lunch with BB... - Page 4 - New England Patriots Forums

***DaBruinz*** · 09-19-2008, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATS68

I want to talk to BB about the draft.

Why is this the first year that they drafted a LB high when they have won SB with all first day picks at LB. Teddy B, Vrabel, Ted Johnson and Willie Mac. all first day picks. Why Monty B, Chad Brown, Alexander.

First off, BB did not have a hand in drafting Bruschi, Vrabel or Johnson. BB wasn't with the team.

As for Beisel, he was brought in to learn from Bruschi and Johnson. The problem was that Bruschi had the stroke and Johnson abruptly retired when he couldn't pass a physical prior to camp. So, a guy who wasn't supposed to start ended up being thrust into that situation.

Chad Brown was brought in for his versatility. Brown was someone they pictured could end up moving inside to help out with the rotation there, again, they didn't expect him to start.

Alexander was a UDFA whom they brought in on the advice of Nick Saban. Alexander has been a very good special teamer and they probably have him slated to take over Izzo's spot at some point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATS68

Why draft M. Hill in the 2nd round when they had used a 1st round pick on Vince the round earlier and Vince makes it 3 #1's on D-linemen. Why not use the pick in another area.

My guess is that Belichick saw Hill as a low risk/high reward type player. When he was drafted, Hill was very raw, but the Patriots also had the potential of Seymour leaving in a year. So, they figured that the year would give Hill the time to adapt to the system, it would give the Patriots depth at DE and potentially groom a replacement for Seymour in case he didn't re-new his contract. As it turned out, Seymour did re-new his contract and Hill ended up behind 3 guys who are all starting caliber DEs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATS68

Why so many TE's and O-linemen drafted instead of D players.

Its a matter of the value of the players available at the time they pick. Also, I suggest you do some more homework here. During Belichicks tenure, (excluding 2000 since he had to use Grier's draft info), the Patriots have had 67 draft picks. 33 of those have been defensive players. 2 have been kickers. 4 have been quarter backs, 6 have been WRs, and 4 have been RBs. There have been 8 TEs and 10 O-linemen drafted.

So 18 players who cover 6-7 positions on the field to 33 players who cover 11 positions on the field. The ratio looks about the same. 3 to 1.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATS68

Why have they tanked the 2nd round of the draft.

There are ton questions I would have about the draft.

I believe that Belichick would tell you that they haven't "tanked" the 2nd round. To "tank" the 2nd round would imply that they have intentionally gone out of their way to draft poorly. And I think that Belichick would walk away from you at that point. I think that you need to be reminded that Matt Light, Deion Branch, and Eugene Wilson all came out of the 2nd round. Belichick would probably also tell you that he didn't feel that Marquis Hill was a bust either because Hill was behind so many talented players and that Hill provided them with a skilled player for the scout team.

The players whom they've had trouble with in the 2nd round were Bethel Johnson and Chad Jackson. Two wide receivers. Both of whom had significant injury issues when they got to the NFL.

***PatsWickedPissah*** · 09-19-2008, 11:20 AM

BB will never say direct bad things about a guy but M Hill was a bust as a player. I zeroed in on him the few times he was on the field. He was absolutely pathetic against the run and would get stood up and danced around by opposing RTs. Yes, he was behind really good players and even if he was developing he still would not have started but in his limited PT he was ineffective.

BB took a chance on him as a to be developed talent as described but that chance flopped. Another Day One pick that was a big zero.

***Box_O_Rocks*** · 09-19-2008, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by signbabybrady

not sure exactly what you mean by that.

Per your comments, you asked questions that elicited detailed responses and gave listeners some insight into BB's thinking...compare that to the daily questions eliciting monosyllablic answers asked by the guys doing this for a living - it's clear you should have been flunked out of journalism school for daring to include creative thinking in your interview effort.

chris_in_sunnyvale · 09-19-2008, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patfanken

Yeah, if you can dig it up, I'd be very interested. Thanks

Found it...sort of:

3 or 4 sight adjustments in 30 pass plays is high

It's an old post from October 2006. The source is supposedly BB himself from a podcast provided in a followup post:

Source: WEEI podcast

Note that I did not listen to the podcast itself (or check if the link still works), so I'm going solely by the post in the first link. Also note that I have no idea if this info still applies to 2007 and/or 2008. Maybe they do run more sight adjustment routes.

Regards,
Chris

LiveShot · 09-19-2008, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patfanken

... here a few of the questions I'd be sure to ask him.

1. Bill, I'd think we'd all agree that eliminating the possibility of TO's is a huge part of game preparation. In that vein, isn't time to consider that the multiple option read passing game that has swept through the league might be part of the problem. Even though it looks great on the board when you draw it up, the fact is that you put your team where you are always in danger where only ONE of the 4 or 5 guys who are running patterns or throwing the ball makes a miss read, and a play can blow up on you really badly.

Wouldn't you get better execution and a much less risky play if the receivers ran patterns called in the huddle. That way you eliminate any hesitation by the receivers. The QB would know EXACTLY where every receiver is going to be at any time. So wouldn't the improved EXECUTION would make up for any loss you'd have in creating separation by running option/read patterns?

Also wouldn't going back to that kind of system perhaps saved a guy like Chad Jackson, and allowed him to thrive, as opposed to crash and burn like he did. Back in the day Everyone knew that Unitas was going to throw that 12 yd out to Ray Berry, but the execution was SOOOO precise that it was completed anyway.

2. In the same vein that everything is cyclical in football (the shot gun that is the rage now is merely a version of the single wing that was run in the 30's and the spread formation has been used since the late 40's. So here is my next queston. I still can't get over how offensive line blocking has evolved into the zone blocking techniques we see today. Back in the day, (when the rules were a lot different and a lot HARDER for OLmen) the OLman AGGRESSIVELY ATTACKED his assigned man. He put his helmet into the man's chest and drove him back or at an angle. Today's technque we USE TO deride as "titty blocking". Standing straight up and litterally hand fighting the defensive lineman.

Once again this is a trade off between crisp execution and the read/option knd of thing that looks great when you draw it up, but requires the RB and blockers all to read the same thing. When it works it looks great, when it doesn't it nets negative yardage. AGAIN I ask, Bill, wouldn't you be better off in a system where everyone knows his assignment at the snap of the ball, and the runner knows WHERE the hole is going to be and is limited to PERHAPS a single option (ie 0ne hole over, depending on what he sees)

3. The first couple of questions I'd be asking him kind of coach to coach. But I would finally have to ask him the question WTF was he thinking when he sent that guy to film the Jets defensive signal AFTER getting the league memo NOT to do that anymore. Was he surprised at how strong the response was? What was the real purpose of the filming anyway, they certainly didn't get any advantage on the day they filmed?

In other words I'd ask him the same questions everyone else would...and more, but I have to run so I'll stop with these 3

As long as he picked up the check I could care what he said. I'd just sit, listen and learn.

Richter · 09-19-2008, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBruinz

First off, BB did not have a hand in drafting Bruschi, Vrabel or Johnson. BB wasn't with the team.

Actually, Belichick was with the team at the time, as assistant head coach. He was fired in '95 when Modell sabotaged him and the team by moving them to Baltimore. I don't know if he actually had any hand in drafting Bruschi, but he would have helped coach him, along with Al Groh. Ted Johnson was drafted earlier, I think a year earlier, so BB wasn't there for that. Vrabel was obviously not even drafted by the Patriots, he was drafted by the Steelers some time after 1996, but Belichick and Pioli did sign him, in their first year here.