Poll

mcsully

Liked the story, especially about Levi Jones (trying not to be a homer about Mankins) but to pick D Brick as a player leading the group is crazy.. The guy has the tools but never has played a down..

RoadGrader

having Mankins as my binkie, I was satisfied with his level of play last year especially in light of not having veteran Matt Light next to him for essentially the season.

with, hopefully, a fully-healed Light back, a fully-healed Dillon back and a potentially explosive Maroney in the backfield, we will see the kind of running attack this year I was hoping for last year.

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5 Rings for Brady!!

It is just a relief to be able to hope that Brady won't get hit as much. His O-Line was good in 2001, getting worse by the game in 2002, couldn't run block in 2003, in 2004 they were so bad that in many games Brady had to hand off to Corey and thank god for Dillon's big year because Brady was getting killed. Last year Brady couldn't hand off the ball and was 'pressured' on every play in many games, which means 'hit' late.

I can't stand when people bring up the stat about Brady's O-Line being #6 in sacks given up. That's because Brady gets smacked hard to the ground AFTER releasing the ball. That stat is a great example of how misleading stats can be.

mavfan2390

They're doing every position, take a look, Seymour was named the elite DE.

Bostonian1962

Good find. Thanks.

Poll

Bruschi was also named one of better LBs.

Richter

Even though I think D'Brick is going to be a very solid player in the league, he shouldn't be on that list, having never even suited up for a game before. Mankins, on the other hand, could be our best offensive lineman early in the season, even if Light and Koppen are healthy and playing. He's that good.

SunnyDenmark

Would be nice if it turns out that way. Even if he is a stable rock for the next 5-6 years I am happy about that as well. One thing about BB and SP, they miss on very few first day draft picks- especially 1st rounders. So I hope Mankins continues that trend. Peter King said in this past Tuesdays MMQB, that he scored our 2001 draft low because you are EXPECTED to hit on your 1st round picks (Seymore). Plus Matt Light in the 2nd (rest was crap). But Peter doesn't give enough credit were credit is due. If you don't hit on your first (as BB / SP have done time and time again), there are significant costs to pay. 1) the $$ for the 1st round bust. 2) the $$$ for the Free Agent (three years later) to fix the problem the bust was supposed to fill. 3) loss of productivity from the player that you COULD have taken ie. Seymore over Sullivan - case in point.

5 Rings for Brady!!

I have seen it argued that Bioli is good at drafting because they hit with the first two picks, and save their misses for the less important picks. They got two starters in the 2001 draft and only average 2.5 starters per draft, so it was fairly close to their other drafts.

I'm happy getting 2.5 QUALITY starters per draft, and I think we did better and better as time goes on, which is important. Bioli just needed some time to get up to speed, and their continuity helps.