Of the rookies, who do you think has a shot - New England Patriots Forums

midwestpatsfan · 05-02-2007, 12:36 PM

The dust has settled and now we have had a chance to get to know a little about the newbies on the team, so I thought we should discuss what people think these rookies can do for the team. I will start.

Brandon Meriweather: While I don't think Meriweather will be a "starter" I think he will be on the field alot. I think he can play some slot corner and safety. depending on what wilson shows this year, he could take over for him as well.

Kareem Brown: I think Brown brings versatility to the D-line. Brown will fight it out with LeKevin Smith and even Mike Wright and win. Brown needs to put on a little weight on to be Wilforks backup, but he is well built to help out Seymour and Warren as well.

Clint Oldenburg: Clint is a lot like O'Callahan to me just a little more raw. Will play right tackle and depending on O'callahans health and Kaczur's development, Oldenburg could have a shot but most likely a PS or inactive type guy.

Justin Rogers: Rogers is an interesting player, while I don't see him on the active roster this year, he looks to have the qualities to be a good project at linebacker. I did read that he did very well in the workout drills and he is extremely smart, so maybe with some time under Bruschi he could be the heir apparent. I am more excited about him after doing some research.

Mike Richardson: Obviously with Belichicks conection to Weis, there must have been some positive feedback on him. He tested out really well in drills and seems to be a workout warrior. IIRC I believe he had the fastest 3 cone and shuttle of everyone. He did play a lot in college as well, so we will see if he has what it takes to make this team, I think he is more of a PS guy for now.

Justice Hairston: I love this kid! He is big and fast! Not ellusive, but ultra productive. Seems to have some decent hands as well. I honestly think by the end of this year, sammy morris will be a non factor and Hairston will be a younger version of Dillon.

Corey Hilliard: Hilliard seems to be a project pick with potential. He will be in Scarneccia's school of young lineman and a practice squad guy.

Oscar Lua: Here is the 2 down linebacker we needed. I think if Lua can stay healthy, he could honestly play some this year. Smart, Aggressive, does whatever he has to to win. Lua does not have ideal size but plays beyond his talent, a real scrapper that has a real chance.

Mike Elgin: See Hilliard. Has versatility, would have rather taken Scott Stephenson with this pick, but we will see if he can hang on, PS maybe, but most likely gone.

UDFA
I like guettirez (sp?) as a developing 3rd qb. He has the same qualities as Brady and Cassell and should fit in well into this system. Hopefully he can develop like Cassell has.
I also like Warren as another developmental LB. He has nice size and good speed, we shall see if he can develop skills to play.

BlitzFritz · 05-02-2007, 12:42 PM

I would bet that Merriweather becomes a starter this year, and pretty fast.

That is the definition of a Bill belichick first round pick

letekro · 05-02-2007, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midwestpatsfan

The dust has settled and now we have had a chance to get to know a little about the newbies on the team, so I thought we should discuss what people think these rookies can do for the team. I will start.

Brandon Meriweather: While I don't think Meriweather will be a "starter" I think he will be on the field alot. I think he can play some slot corner and safety. depending on what wilson shows this year, he could take over for him as well.

Kareem Brown: I think Brown brings versatility to the D-line. Brown will fight it out with LeKevin Smith and even Mike Wright and win. Brown needs to put on a little weight on to be Wilforks backup, but he is well built to help out Seymour and Warren as well.

Clint Oldenburg: Clint is a lot like O'Callahan to me just a little more raw. Will play right tackle and depending on O'callahans health and Kaczur's development, Oldenburg could have a shot but most likely a PS or inactive type guy.

Justin Rogers: Rogers is an interesting player, while I don't see him on the active roster this year, he looks to have the qualities to be a good project at linebacker. I did read that he did very well in the workout drills and he is extremely smart, so maybe with some time under Bruschi he could be the heir apparent. I am more excited about him after doing some research.

Mike Richardson: Obviously with Belichicks conection to Weis, there must have been some positive feedback on him. He tested out really well in drills and seems to be a workout warrior. IIRC I believe he had the fastest 3 cone and shuttle of everyone. He did play a lot in college as well, so we will see if he has what it takes to make this team, I think he is more of a PS guy for now.

Justice Hairston: I love this kid! He is big and fast! Not ellusive, but ultra productive. Seems to have some decent hands as well. I honestly think by the end of this year, sammy morris will be a non factor and Hairston will be a younger version of Dillon.

Corey Hilliard: Hilliard seems to be a project pick with potential. He will be in Scarneccia's school of young lineman and a practice squad guy.

Oscar Lua: Here is the 2 down linebacker we needed. I think if Lua can stay healthy, he could honestly play some this year. Smart, Aggressive, does whatever he has to to win. Lua does not have ideal size but plays beyond his talent, a real scrapper that has a real chance.

Mike Elgin: See Hilliard. Has versatility, would have rather taken Scott Stephenson with this pick, but we will see if he can hang on, PS maybe, but most likely gone.

UDFA
I like guettirez (sp?) as a developing 3rd qb. He has the same qualities as Brady and Cassell and should fit in well into this system. Hopefully he can develop like Cassell has.
I also like Warren as another developmental LB. He has nice size and good speed, we shall see if he can develop skills to play.

This analysis seems overly optimistic to say the least. I would be stunned if anyone other than Meriweather is on the active roster for a single game.

RoughingthePasser · 05-02-2007, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlitzFritz

I would bet that Merriweather becomes a starter this year, and pretty fast.

That is the definition of a Bill belichick first round pick

Merriweather is our man!
He's mad.

koolaid23 · 05-02-2007, 01:20 PM

theres alot of talk about moving eugene wilson to corner. then let meriweather take over at FS week one...depending on how he does during mini and training camps.

sebman2112 · 05-02-2007, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by letekro

This analysis seems overly optimistic to say the least. I would be stunned if anyone other than Meriweather is on the active roster for a single game.

Kareem Brown will likely be on the active roster, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him as one of the main backups.

The Patriots have already told Lua they intend on him being an immediate contributor, and Pioli said Lua was their sleeper pick, who he believes is like Cassel.

We'll see, but I think the original poster is pretty close to reality.

bucky · 05-02-2007, 01:35 PM

[QUOTE=sebman2112;420492]
The Patriots have already told Lua they intend on him being an immediate contributor, /QUOTE]

Where did you see that?

I generally agree that the only way any of the picks besides Kareem and Brandon make the active roster would be on Special Teams (that's why the 3 OL are head scratchers to me). That said, I hope to see as many of them as possible make it on ST because that's how young players develop.

sebman2112 · 05-02-2007, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucky

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebman2112

The Patriots have already told Lua they intend on him being an immediate contributor,

Where did you see that?

I generally agree that the only way any of the picks besides Kareem and Brandon make the active roster would be on Special Teams (that's why the 3 OL are head scratchers to me). That said, I hope to see as many of them as possible make it on ST because that's how young players develop.

I've heard this from other sources, but seneschal2 originally posted this article that contained the fallowing:

Quote:

"How gnarly was that?" said Lua, who had 26 unanswered messages on his cell phone an hour after his selection at approximately 1 p.m. "It's a good deal. My family's happy. My mom is a little sad because I'll be on the other side of the map."

Throughout the process, Lua has been contacted regularly by the Patriots, and Lua thought he could get drafted in the later rounds.

"Through the whole process, they showed a lot of interest," said Lua's father Gabriel. "In the last days, the Patriots were the most interested."

But when Lua saw the Patriots had four picks in the sixth round and none of those were used to select him, he got a little worried.
"They waited a round, probably hoping to get me as a free agent," Lua said. "But the prior round, there was a few linebackers taken, so they probably wanted to avoid losing me to the Saints, Giants, or Dolphins."

One of the perks for Lua is that he will get to play behind All-Pro linebacker Tedy Bruschi, in whom Lua sees a lot of himself.
Lua, at just under 6-1 and who played at 250, is about the same size as Bruschi.

"He's not the biggest or the fastest, but he makes plays," Lua said. "There's a tremendous amount of knowledge you can learn from.
"That's amazing, an incredible feeling, knowing I will be sitting in a room with Tedy Bruschi and maybe Junior Seau and being part of the Patriots."
Although Lua will be an apprentice to Bruschi, the Patriots told him they expect him to have an impact right away.

patsox23 · 05-02-2007, 02:27 PM

Meriweather and Brown. Otherwise - quite a few will make the p.s.

FrreeeBird · 05-02-2007, 02:37 PM

I'll say Meriweather, Brown, and Richardson (fastest 3 cone in the draft, Pats almost always have health issues in the secondary).