cstjohn17

This is driving me insane, I know BB & SP are not fools but why a QB in round 3? why? This has caused me to lose sleep.

The O line seems like an obvious position of need, if not in 2008 definitely in 2009. I find it impossible to believe that the Patriots couldn't have found a player as good or better the Yates / Hochstein. I don't have a specific name but here is the list of O lineman drafted after O'Connell (pick 94)

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/...aftyear%3d2008

Tackles
Anthony Collins OT KANSAS 4 13(112) Cincinnati
Tony Hills OT TEXAS 4 31(130) Pittsburgh
David Hale OT WEBER STATE 4 34(133) Baltimore
Josh Sitton OT CENTRAL FLORIDA 4 36(135) Green Bay
Breno Giacomini OT LOUISVILLE 5 15(150) Green Bay
Carl Nicks OT NEBRASKA 5 29(164) New Orleans
Barry Richardson OT CLEMSON 6 4(170) Kansas City
Nate Garner OT ARKANSAS 7 4(211) New York
Demetrius Bell OT NORTHWESTERN ST 7 12(219) Buffalo
Brandon Keith OT NORTHERN IOWA 7 18(225) Arizona
King Dunlap OT AUBURN 7 23(230) Philadelphia
Corey Clark OT TEXAS A&M 7 27(234) San Diego
Geoff Schwartz OT OREGON 7 34(241) Carolina
Kirk Barton OT OHIO STATE 7 40(247) Chicago

Guards
Chad Rinehart OG NORTHERN IOWA 3 33(96) Washington
Oniel Cousins OG UTEP 3 36(99) Baltimore
Michael McGlynn OG PITTSBURGH 4 10(109) Philadelphia
Shawn Murphy OG UTAH STATE 4 11(110) Miami
Roy Schuening OG OREGON STATE 5 22(157) St. Louis
Michael Gibson OG CALIFORNIA 6 18(184) Philadelphia
Donald Thomas OG CONNECTICUT 6 29(195) Miami
Chester Adams OG GEORGIA 7 15(222) Chicago
Mackenzy Bernadeau OG BENTLEY 7 43(250) Carolina

Centers
Cody Wallace OC TEXAS A&M 4 8(107) San Francisco
Kory Lichtensteiger OC BOWLING GREEN 4 9(108) Denver
John Sullivan OC NOTRE DAME 6 21(187) Minnesota
Steven Justice OC WAKE FOREST 6 35(201) Indianapolis
Jamey Richard OC BUFFALO 7 29(236) Indianapolis

PonyExpress

There are maybe 30 people capable of becoming quality NFl Qbs, at any given time, on planet earth. The Pats just got one at the end of rd 3.

IMO O'Connell has as much potential as Joe Flacco.

Maybe Brady will never miss a game; maybe he will. maybe he'll decide to retire early; maybe he won't.

It never hurts to prepare for all contigencies, especially at the most important position in sports.

Ochmed Jones

The NFL is a QB league, however we went into last year without much, if anything behind Brady. I tend to think that the poor play of Cassel (think Miami game) and his pending FA had BB thinking of upgrading the position. I do not know yet if O'Connell brings anything as far as passing goes to the table, but he can scrabble in a pinch and for a big guy, he ran all over the place last year.

All that being said however, I really liked Collins of Kansas at ROT. He is nasty and we need nasty. At ROG I really liked McGlynn of Pitt, again, he is nasty and we need nasty.

captain stone

Besides Collins & McGlynn, I was also intrigued by the physical potential of the still-raw Oniel Cousins. I was really PO'ed that Roy Schuening wasn't taken with our 4th-rounder or the 5th-rounder that was used to trade up for...Matt Slater. I even would've been OK if our 6th-rounder had been used on Steven Justice as Koppen's backup. Heck, if our 7th-rounder hadn't been thrown away for Slater, it could've been used to select Kirk Barton or Bentley College's first-ever NFL Draft choice, Mackenzy Bernadeau.

Thats a lotta missed chances there. The FO better be right this year, because it sure wasn't right last year.

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ctpatsfan77

Well, that's funny, because pretty much everyone at camp is raving about Slater right now. . . .

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Ochmed Jones

Raving about Slater as a return guy, let's hope he can play defensive special teams, otherwise where is the versatility that BB craves?

BelichickFan

Slater has shown well (according to reports) in various aspects of ST (and has flashed as a WR too), but if he ends up being a great returner he's well worth the pick - both for production and keeping starters like Hobbs and Maroney off ST. As of this moment, and a game hasn't been played yet, I am very happy with the Slater pick.

pats_premi

I guess lots of people are raving about Hester for his kick/punt return ability. If I remember correctly, Hester was taken in the second round and he did not have a true position in college (similar to Slater). So if Slater is half as good as Hester in the return game then I think using fifth round pick on him is worth it ?
One other thing, Patriots used 3 low round picks on the offensive linemen last year and non of them made the team.. so who knows.

cstjohn17

Drafting Slater is fine, once you get past the first 3 rounds a draft picks chances of having any impact are about 10%.

What about drafting O'Connell? this why I am losing sleep. Neal is likely to start on the PUP and now the Patriots are bringing in guys like Barry 'frickin' Stokes.

captain stone

The right side of the OL is very, very muddled right now.

Will Barry Stokes be tried at G or T, or both? Is he any good at either one?
Can O'Cal establish himself at RT?
Will Kaczur suffer from withdrawl symptoms, and will we notice the difference?
Is McMahon just TC fodder, or can he become the backup RG/RT?
Can Connolly provide quality versatility, incl. Center, in addition to youth & size?
Will we again have to suffer Hochstein's impersonations of a turnstile?
Can Yates stay healthy, and will it matter?
And most importanly, how badly hurt is Neal?

The FO is playing with fire, and Brady's health, by not having been more pro-active during the off-season.

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