signbabybrady

Rather than detract from any of the USC guys i would use different logic to defend BB and that is the fact that he drafted a LB obviously he couldn't predict the injury that McKenzie would get. It would have been nice to have him on this team and with the Mayo injury he likely would have gotten some PT. Hopefully the injury doesn't derail him before he gets started.

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Jimke

Until the Patriots drafted Mayo in 2008, BB had never used a high

draft pick on a linebacker. There has never been a youth movement

at this position. BB inherited Ted Johnson, Tedy Bruschi, and Willie

McGinest from his predecessors and signed Mike Vrabel, Roman

Phifer, Rosevelt Colvin, Junior Seau, and Adalius Thomas as free

agents. Don't be surprised if he doesn't draft a linebacker again

next year.

Hardly Dykes

mgteich

The question was why Belichick didn't use one of top two draft choices on a linebacker instead on Chung and Brace. (the poster included #41 and butler, but that part isn't needed to focus on the issue).

The injury to mid-round pick McKenzie isn't relevant to the discussion of Belichick's judgement that the use if a top 45 pick for a linebacker was unneeded, even though we had THREE such picks.

signbabybrady

How can you say that the fact that there was a LBer he liked that he could draft later is not relevant to this discussion????

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mgteich

There was no guarantee at all that a linebacker who could contribute this year would be available at the end of third round and we would be in a position to draft him.

OK, Belichick thought that the linebacker position was worth a draft pick at the end of the third round or in the fourth and thought that players likely to be available at the end of the third round would be sufficient to meet the 2009 and 2010 needs at linebacker. Is that better?

Belichick chose to pass on linebackers at 34 and 40. I don't think that Belichick delayed until the end of the third round and our 7th opportunity (34, 40, 41, two 3rd traded into 2010 and Tate) because he thought there was a very serious need at linebacker.

You are certainly entitled to believe that Belichick chose to meet a critical 2009 need in this manner. Many of us thought at the time that Belichick would choose this direction and draft a linebacker in the late 3rd or 4th. But that was BECAUSE we believed that if Belichick took that route, he was reasonably satisfied with Mayo, Thomas, Guyton, Woods Banta-Cain, Crable and Alexander as our linebackers, with all of us understanding that Belichick would likely add a free agent or two. He has added Ninkovich and Seau. Lenon has come and gone. Crable has been put on IR. So we have Ninkovich and Seau instead of Crable and McKenzie.