patsox23

From Patriot Reign by Michael Holley

"The Patriots held two picks in the first round, numbers 21 and 32. At the top of Belichick’s list were four players the Patriots should consider moving up for from 21: cornerbacks DeAngelo Hall and Dunta Robinson, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma. Next, he had written “My Card,” with “guys I would like to have on 1st day and 2nd day” in parentheses. His first-day card included two tight ends, Ben Watson and Kris Wilson. Three offensive linemen—Chris Snee, Travelle Wharton, and SEAN BUBIN — were on the list."

Also of note...

"If he couldn’t get Hall or Robinson on the first day, he thought Ahmad Carroll would be a good choice at corner."


Obviously, Ahmad Carroll has crashed and burned in the NFL, but the fact they liked Bubin enough to group him with Snee and Wharton (on Day One) makes me very pleased with this pick-up. If they take on Carroll as a reclamation project - doubtful, IMO - that will be interesting to watch.


P.S. Thanks to SeanUrlacher from kffl.com.

IcyPatriot

Nice post PatSox...i love the look back stories. They also serve the purpose of showing how uncertain and human the entire process is. Fans here get unruly when we lose...but Belichick and Pioli are not perfect...sometimes the other guy gets luckier....I'll still take Belichick/Pioli any day of the week when it comes to draft day...they go in with multiple options leaving little room for panic.

Bostonian1962

Nice find PatSox. Good stuff. I wonder if Carroll is next.

rookBoston

Interesting to note that Robinson, Hall, Vilma Wilfork and Snee have all been incredibly successful. Not sure about Wharton.

Picking Bubin off the scrapheap reminds me a lot of the reclamation job BB/SP are doing on Jonathan Sullivan, another player that (by all reports) the braintrust was interested in drafting in 2003.

There is a comment attributed to Belichick... and I'll have to paraphrase... if we draft a player and he doesn't work in our system, then that's a mark against the scout who scouted him. But if we like a player, he goes to another team/another system and flops, that doesn't tell us anything about whether that player would be successful in our system.

More concisely, one team's garbage is another team's treasure. Often, the different is scheme, coaching and chemistry.

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"We want to build a big, strong, tough, smart, fast, disciplined football team that will consistently compete for a championship."
-- Scott Pioli, from the Patriots scouting manual

flutie2phelan

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Digger44

This is an awesome post. It amazes me how BB does have the ability to scout and keep searching for the right fit. I'm not a homer and I understand that he is not always successful in this search (Starks and many more), but that is why he keeps searching. It is foolish to bash him for getting poor guys like Beisel because sometimes you can't tell if the peg will fit unless it is put near the hole. The thing I love is when BB gets the right peg, it is usually pretty strong (Rodney, Phifer, Sully, Jr. I hope).

PatsChick87

Thanks 23, I'd given away my copy of Patriot Reign to my Dad and so enjoyed re-reading that quote.

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Enjoying this Championship era!!

dryheat44

Great find. I hope you don't mind I borrowed the gist for a Football Outsiders contribution.

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When it's third and 10, you can have the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time. -- R.I.P. Max McGee

Bella*chick

Absolutely. No one can be 100% perfectly right on every player, but I think our guys get it right more often than not, based on our success.

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patsox23

I want to again acknowledge SeanUrlacher at kffl, whose quotes I found interesting enough to move over here, adding my own commentary.