Rookie roster ages - New England Patriots Forums

TeamPats · 08-16-2007, 02:34 PM

I was looking at the roster ages on patriots.com and I noticed a unique fact, with all the rookies we drafted this year including Meriweather, Brown, and the supplementaries, the two youngest players on this team (excluding Chris Dunlap) are still Chad Jackson and Laurence Maroney.

I just think it is important to remember just how young these two kids are and just how much time they have to improve. Whether or not you want to say their rookie years lived up to their potential, it should be acknowledged that these kids were true Juniors in college when we drafted them and are still maturing. I have no doubt Maroney will succeed on this team if he remains healthy, but let's go easy on Chad Jackson, he has a long career ahead of him and is only 22 years old. He has plenty of time to mature into the talent he is capable of. If a kid redshirts in college it's part of the game, but it seems if he redshirts on the Patriots he is a malcontent.

(This post was not in response to any recent posts, but more a series of posts throughout the off-season)

***mgteich*** · 08-16-2007, 03:05 PM

We had PK Sam a couple of years ago. The problem with youngsters is that take longer to develop and in the meantime use up a portion of their contract period. I'd MUCH rather have a 5th year 25 year old rookie for a 4 year contract (the max for round 2 and beyond) than have a 22 year old.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeamPats

I was looking at the roster ages on patriots.com and I noticed a unique fact, with all the rookies we drafted this year including Meriweather, Brown, and the supplementaries, the two youngest players on this team (excluding Chris Dunlap) are still Chad Jackson and Laurence Maroney.

I just think it is important to remember just how young these two kids are and just how much time they have to improve. Whether or not you want to say their rookie years lived up to their potential, it should be acknowledged that these kids were true Juniors in college when we drafted them and are still maturing. I have no doubt Maroney will succeed on this team if he remains healthy, but let's go easy on Chad Jackson, he has a long career ahead of him and is only 22 years old. He has plenty of time to mature into the talent he is capable of. If a kid redshirts in college it's part of the game, but it seems if he redshirts on the Patriots he is a malcontent.

(This post was not in response to any recent posts, but more a series of posts throughout the off-season)

patsox23 · 08-16-2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgteich

We had PK Sam a couple of years ago. The problem with youngsters is that take longer to develop and in the meantime use up a portion of their contract period. I'd MUCH rather have a 5th year 25 year old rookie for a 4 year contract (the max for round 2 and beyond) than have a 22 year old.

Eh. Maybe. I think it's a little shortsighted to make the case based on PK Sam and, I'm preuming, Chad Jackson. You never know. Some 25 year olds take longer to develop than some 22 year olds. Plus, there are so many variables - scheme, skill-set for that particular scheme, position competition, reps, etc...

I agree with the initial premise here. It's way, WAY too early to pass judgment on Chad Jackson. Did he have a rough rookie year? Sure did. But he's a rookie WR. They're not all like Deion or Anquan. Some take years to become what they are. Jackson is REALLY talented, and right now he's being brought back SLOWLY from tearing an ACL, and the Patriots, with their depth at WR, have the luxury in taking their time.