I think that we will see the return of Trader Bill in the 2008 draft. He has done this masterfully in the past to move up and down for just the players that he wanted. I think in 2008, and with multiple draft needs to address, he has the ammo to make some serious moves.

Move #1 - The Move Down. Unless an impact player slides to #7, and chances are the ones that BB likes will be gone by then, it makes a lot of sense to move down in the draft and acquire extra picks, either this year or next year. I look for BB to move into the teens and pick up another second round pick.

Move #2 - The Move Up. This is one of BB's trademarks. He is not afraid to move up when he sees a player he loves slipping. This has netted us Graham, Ty Warren, Hobbs, and Jackson among others. If BB acquires that extra 2nd rounder in move 1, he has the ability to package both the 2nd rounders to move back up into the late round 1 area. And there will be a lot of good players available in that range in what looks to be a deep draft for Corners, a primary Patriot need.

Move #3 - Trade for the Future. BB has also been known to trade picks for future picks, particularly when he deems he can get better future value, or the players currently available at that pick aren't all that appetizing. This is why the Patriots consistently have multiple first day picks, and why they continue to do well in the draft every year.

Ok, now that we've put the BB draft operating MO (method of operation) on the table, what might happen in this year's draft?

My quick version:

Round 1. Trade down to mid 1st rounder. Draft Groves or Rivers.
Round 1. Trade up to late 1st rounder. Draft Jenkins or Cason.
Round 3. With early pick, draft Goff to man the middle.
Round 3. With late pick, trade for a 4th and a future 3rd rounder.

Now the actual players BB picks will probably be different from my sample draft, but I think the MO will be very similar.

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My new mock, which I'm finishing up now, has something similar. In fact, if we are successful in trading out of the 7 hole and netting an additional 2nd or 3rd this year, I have no doubt we'll move back up.

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I wanna try this, trade pick seven to the Falcons after they select Ryan and Dorsey is on the board.
Patriots trade the seventh overall pick to the atlanta falcons for their three seconds and the rights to keith brooking.
Patriots throw in a 5th and seventh to compromise.
Patriots use the Atlanta second and their own third to move up to take Groves.
Patriots then wait till the second round and pick up a falling Cason,
Patriots then use their next second on Cliff Avril,
Patriots use the oakland third rounder on Dejuan Morgan
Patriots use their fourth round pick on falling defensive back Chevis Jackson.
Patriots use fifth round pick on best available punter
next picks who cares.
My ideal draft dream I know ill never ever happen.

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This doesn't strike me as likely unless another team is really desperate, since the Pats are almost certainly going to have an untradeable end-of-3rd comp pick in 2009 for Samuel. Certainly not impossible, but not likely.

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So, in your eyes, lets add 2 OLBs and screw the ILB position? Sorry, but adding Brooking, who is 32 years old, is only a stop-gap measure.

Also, Why take Dujuan Morgan? Why not take Jonathan Goff?

Adding Groves, Cason, Avril, and Jackson is a good haul. I don't think that Morgan is a fit for the Pats. I'd rather them look at Zbikowski.

I think we try and trade down with the Panthers at 13 (They might want Ryan/Brohm etc... before the Ravens) and pick up best available CB and pick up a 2nd rounder or a 3rd and a 4th combo.

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Your the first person with this type of post that I agree 100% with.. My belief is once we come closer to april 26-27, draft day, Brohm will be a top 10 pick and/or atlanta will decide to pass on Ryan and teams like Chicago and Carolina will want to jump ahead of baltimore to draft their future QB. Considering we have had past dealings with Chicago, I see us moving down no later than #14 and picking up an additional #2 pick..
This way we can draft BAP at #14, probably Harvey and then pick a cb with that additional #2..

Yea, I've thought trading down in the first, and then trading up to the top of the second, or the tail end of the first could be among the best strategies for the Patriots. But, they would have to pull it off, and other teams will be trying to trade up into that range (tail end of the first to the early second), as well.

Even without that second move (trading back up), I still think their 2008 draft could have a very nice outcome, especially if they make that first move.

Think about it, they might not even need to trade up in order to land a very good CB with the second rounder they could possibly receive as part of the trade, and there should be some good LB's and OT's available in that range, too. There is also the possibility of their trading that pick (or another) for an established vet.

Also, I'm thinking they might use some of their late round picks (5,6,7) to move up in either the second, third, or fourth.

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A couple days ago I suggested something along the same lines...
I proposed a trade of #7 to ATL for (4) 2nds(3 in 08, 1 in 09).
Having 6 picks in rounds 2/3 to package them together and trade back up to nab the 3 players you want. Everyone cried bloody MURDER, everyone has a first round binkie.....but if you dont get that one STUD pass rusher, trade back for value and target the players you want as they fall because at that point you can "overpay"in picks to trade back up.
I dont think ATL would do it, they have ALOT of holes, but to have 2 top 10 picks(Dorsey/Ryan)could make that team very competitive quickly. They arent going to be very good in 08 anyways, why not train the QB of the future and get the best DLineman in the same draft??