BJ Raji Hypothetical

[mayoclinic]

BJ Raji from BC looks like one of the big winners out of the Senior Bowl and will possibly go top 10, almost definitely top 15. GB (9), SF(10) and Denver (12) and SD (16) are all possibilities. BUT, hypothetically, if he fell to the Pats at #23, would you take him?

On the negative side, DT is not an immediate need with Wilfork, and we have other needs which need to be addressed.

On the positive side, Raji is a major disruptor against both the run and the pass. He blows up plays, and has excellent penetrating ability for a man his size. Pairing Raji and Wilfork would create an "unbreakable wall" kind of like what the 2000 Ravens had with Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams. I could see BB using a lot of this situationally along with a base 3-4 set. In the base 3-4 he could spell Wilfork, provide injury insurance, and keep both of them fresh. Plus it would give us insurance if we couldn't resign Wilfork after 2009. We might also be able to use him at DE the way Baltimore has used 340# Haloti Ngata. Raji seems to have demonstrated almost Ngata-like athleticism this week.

Thoughts?

 

[BradyManny]

This all comes as a grain of salt as the only time I really took the time to watch the guy was the bowl game v Vandy. He looks more of an upfield player than the Pats prefer, but I guess Wilfork was the same way when he was coming out of college. Raji looks like he could be a better pass rusher than Wilfork, though I do think Wilfork is underrated in that regard. But I don't see Raji as stout against the run as Vince.

As for NT in general, I think it was BOR who recently reminded everyone that we can franchise Wilfork at the end of 2009 if need be, so I am taking NT down a notch on the needs list, although I would say backup NT is still a need as neither Wright nor LeKevin have the size one would like at the position, and those appear to be our two options.

If I considered NT a more pressing short term need, I would agree with you, but given we can control Wilfork with the franchise tag, I am feeling better about the position.

 

[PatsFan2]

With alot of Teams switching to 3-4 i expect him to be a Top Ten selection Regardless.

 

[mayoclinic]

With alot of Teams switching to 3-4 i expect him to be a Top Ten selection Regardless.

So do I. That's why it was a hypothetical. Then again, I didn't expect Wilfork to fall to us at 21 in 2004.

 

[PatsFan2]

So do I. That's why it was a hypothetical. Then again, I didn't expect Wilfork to fall to us at 21 in 2004.

I know what you're saying but with the lack of NT/DT in this Draft you can see why he'll be gone in a hurry.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

The point is moot at #23 - he's the only DT carrying a first round grade and he can play in any system - there are too many teams looking for DL help for Raji to slide to #23 like in the heady draft days of 2004. I know BB likes to draft for value, but as patchick has noted at one point or another, BB still manages to address need too. Moore's apparent slide moves Chung up as the next Safety, but he may not be a value at #23. That leaves CB and LB as the areas which could benefit most from a 1st round talent - I'd expect BB to look closely at the options there before calling in Raji as his choice.

 

[mayoclinic]

I know what you're saying but with the lack of NT/DT in this Draft you can see why he'll be gone in a hurry.

I understand, but it's nice to think of hypotheticals. Imagine a scenario like this:

- Get pick 97 in the draft as compensation for Asante Samuel and a 4th round comp for Randall Gay
- Resign FAs Mike Wright (DT.DE), James Sanders (S) and Lewis Sanders (S/CB)
- Sign as UFAs: Karlos Dansby (ILB/OLB), Sean Jones (S), Jabari Greer (CB)
- Franchise Cassel and trade him to Tampa Bay for 1(19) + conditional 2010 pick
-Draft (first 4 rounds):
1(19) BJ Raji, DT Boston College 6'2" 334#
1(23) Best available CB/S prospect: Sean Smith, William Moore, DJ Moore, or Alphonso Smith depending on availability, need, and BB's preference
2(47) Connor Barwin DE/LB Cincinnati 6'4, 255# 4.64
3(57) William Beatty OT Connecticut 6'6" 300# 5.10
3(87) Trevor Canfield OG Cincinnati 6'3" 315# 5.15
3(97) Devin Moore RB Wyoming 5'10" 191# 4.40
4(122) Best available TE or WR (Jarrett Dillard, Brian Robiskie, etc.)
4(132) Kevin Huber P Cinncinati 6'1" 220# 4.85

That would fix a lot of needs, and give us tremendous defensive versatility with some added toughness and playmaking ability.

Gbnreport has Raji going #24 to Atlanta in today's mock draft. I'm not defending their mock, but it's not an inconceivable scenario that he could fall a bit between now and the draft. Raji would add toughness and flexibility to the DL, would add insurance in case of injury or FA loss of Wilfork or Seymour (not that I want either). I think at this point he's a much better player than Clint Sintim or even Rey Maualuga.

Again, I'm not proposing it. Just something to think about.

 

[patchick]

That leaves CB and LB as the areas which could benefit most from a 1st round talent

Wait a second, Box...what happened to your WR dreams? :halo:

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I understand, but it's nice to think of hypotheticals. Imagine a scenario like this:

- Get pick 97 in the draft as compensation for Asante Samuel and a 4th round comp for Randall Gay
- Resign FAs Mike Wright (DT.DE), James Sanders (S) and Lewis Sanders (S/CB)
- Sign as UFAs: Karlos Dansby (ILB/OLB), Sean Jones (S), Jabari Greer (CB)
- Franchise Cassel and trade him to Tampa Bay for 1(19) + conditional 2010 pick
-Draft (first 4 rounds):
1(19) BJ Raji, DT Boston College 6'2" 334#
1(23) Best available CB/S prospect: Sean Smith, William Moore, DJ Moore, or Alphonso Smith depending on availability, need, and BB's preference
2(47) Connor Barwin DE/LB Cincinnati 6'4, 255# 4.64
3(57) William Beatty OT Connecticut 6'6" 300# 5.10
3(87) Trevor Canfield OG Cincinnati 6'3" 315# 5.15
3(97) Devin Moore RB Wyoming 5'10" 191# 4.40
4(122) Best available TE or WR (Jarrett Dillard, Brian Robiskie, etc.)
4(132) Kevin Huber P Cinncinati 6'1" 220# 4.85

That would fix a lot of needs, and give us tremendous defensive versatility with some added toughness and playmaking ability.

All of a sudden, I feel tingly.

[Note to self: if/when Ian sets up new rep system, give +rep.]

 

[VJCPatriot]

All of a sudden, I feel tingly.

[Note to self: if/when Ian sets up new rep system, give +rep.]

Just noticed that the rep system was gone. Never used it anyways. Good riddance.

 

[mayoclinic]

All of a sudden, I feel tingly.

[Note to self: if/when Ian sets up new rep system, give +rep.]

To continue my hypothetical, that kind of offseason/draft would leave us with a defense like the following:

DT: Wilfork, Raji, LeKevin Smith (or Wright)
DE: Seymour, Warren, Green, Wright (or Smith)
OLB: Thomas, Vrabel, Crable, Barwin, Wood/Redd
ILB: Mayo, Dansby, Guyton, Bruschi
S: Meriweather, Sean Jones, JSanders, LSanders e
CB: Hobbs, Greer, Wheatley, Wilhite
+ 1 1st round DB rookie

9 DBs, 9 LBs and 7 DLs would be about right. That looks to me like a potential top 5 defense. Add a punter known for his long hang time and ability to pin opponents inside the 20, and we would be much better off than we were in 2008.

Everything in my scenario is possible, and certainly more likely than getting all of g Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker,Kelly Washington and Brandon Meriweather would have been 2 years ago. There are 2 big IFs: (1) Dansby becoming a FA and signing with NE (unlikely, but no more so than AD was at this time 2 years ago); and (2) Raji falling to 19 (again, unlikely, but no more so than Wilfork was in 2004). Even if we signed only one DB in FA (a S or a CB, but not both) it would still work out.

I don't think it will happen. But IF it did, I would be mighty happy.

 

[Clonamery]

Wait a second, Box...what happened to your WR dreams? :halo:

Pffft...those be (all wet) dreams if you ask me.

 

[mayoclinic]

Pffft...those be (all wet) dreams if you ask me.

What's wrong with wet dreams? Some of my best one.

 

[patchick]

I understand, but it's nice to think of hypotheticals. Imagine a scenario like this:

- Get pick 97 in the draft as compensation for Asante Samuel and a 4th round comp for Randall Gay
- Resign FAs Mike Wright (DT.DE), James Sanders (S) and Lewis Sanders (S/CB)
- Sign as UFAs: Karlos Dansby (ILB/OLB), Sean Jones (S), Jabari Greer (CB)
- Franchise Cassel and trade him to Tampa Bay for 1(19) + conditional 2010 pick
-Draft (first 4 rounds):
1(19) BJ Raji, DT Boston College 6'2" 334#
1(23) Best available CB/S prospect: Sean Smith, William Moore, DJ Moore, or Alphonso Smith depending on availability, need, and BB's preference
2(47) Connor Barwin DE/LB Cincinnati 6'4, 255# 4.64
3(57) William Beatty OT Connecticut 6'6" 300# 5.10
3(87) Trevor Canfield OG Cincinnati 6'3" 315# 5.15
3(97) Devin Moore RB Wyoming 5'10" 191# 4.40
4(122) Best available TE or WR (Jarrett Dillard, Brian Robiskie, etc.)
4(132) Kevin Huber P Cinncinati 6'1" 220# 4.85

Frankly, just signing Dansby, Jones and Greer would be a heck of an offseason! Much too much $$ I'm sure, alas. I'll settle for any one of the three.

And just for fun, I'll pick at the most innocuous bit of your dream roster: I like Morstead over Huber at punter.

 

[Clonamery]

What's wrong with wet dreams? Some of my best one.

....can't be better than your Draft/FA dreaming in this forum.

 

[mayoclinic]

Frankly, just signing Dansby, Jones and Greer would be a heck of an offseason! Much too much $$ I'm sure, alas. I'll settle for any one of the three.

And just for fun, I'll pick at the most innocuous bit of your dream roster: I like Morstead over Huber at punter.

If the rest works out, I'll happily give you Morstead over Huber.

I'm not sure about the money. IF we franchise and trade Cassel quickly (not easy to do, but a lot of teams need QBs and will want to resolve that issue quickly going into FA and the draft, so it is in their interest as well as ours to move quickly) and we restructure a few contracts (Green, possibly Vrabel and Neal) then with the additional cap money we will have some room to work in FA. Signing 1 reasonably big FA (Dansby) and 1-2 moderate ones in additional to reasonably-priced resignings is not out of the question. But I certainly haven't tried to analyze the numbers in detail.

 

[tombonneau]

I understand, but it's nice to think of hypotheticals. Imagine a scenario like this:

- Get pick 97 in the draft as compensation for Asante Samuel and a 4th round comp for Randall Gay
- Resign FAs Mike Wright (DT.DE), James Sanders (S) and Lewis Sanders (S/CB)
- Sign as UFAs: Karlos Dansby (ILB/OLB), Sean Jones (S), Jabari Greer (CB)
- Franchise Cassel and trade him to Tampa Bay for 1(19) + conditional 2010 pick
-Draft (first 4 rounds):
1(19) BJ Raji, DT Boston College 6'2" 334#
1(23) Best available CB/S prospect: Sean Smith, William Moore, DJ Moore, or Alphonso Smith depending on availability, need, and BB's preference
2(47) Connor Barwin DE/LB Cincinnati 6'4, 255# 4.64
3(57) William Beatty OT Connecticut 6'6" 300# 5.10
3(87) Trevor Canfield OG Cincinnati 6'3" 315# 5.15
3(97) Devin Moore RB Wyoming 5'10" 191# 4.40
4(122) Best available TE or WR (Jarrett Dillard, Brian Robiskie, etc.)
4(132) Kevin Huber P Cinncinati 6'1" 220# 4.85

That would fix a lot of needs, and give us tremendous defensive versatility with some added toughness and playmaking ability.

Gbnreport has Raji going #24 to Atlanta in today's mock draft. I'm not defending their mock, but it's not an inconceivable scenario that he could fall a bit between now and the draft. Raji would add toughness and flexibility to the DL, would add insurance in case of injury or FA loss of Wilfork or Seymour (not that I want either). I think at this point he's a much better player than Clint Sintim or even Rey Maualuga.

Again, I'm not proposing it. Just something to think about.

You can always tell where someone lives based on their "dream" mock drafts.

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

The point is moot at #23 - he's the only DT carrying a first round grade and he can play in any system - there are too many teams looking for DL help for Raji to slide to #23 like in the heady draft days of 2004. I know BB likes to draft for value, but as patchick has noted at one point or another, BB still manages to address need too. Moore's apparent slide moves Chung up as the next Safety, but he may not be a value at #23. That leaves CB and LB as the areas which could benefit most from a 1st round talent - I'd expect BB to look closely at the options there before calling in Raji as his choice.

Completely agree with this.

But Mayoclinic had a good point about how Wilfork slid in 2004 and if he slid down to 19-23 (a lot of teams here need QB eg Cassel). From what I have seen from the senior bowl he would be worth it but he would be the BPA at that point I believe. He is dominating out there like Ellis did last year and is a special player. I still believe it will be a LB, DB or OL if a great one slides will be the position picked in the first. With Haynesworth, Bernard and Haye from Tampa UFA's maybe teams will address their need through FA which would let him slide.

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

I understand, but it's nice to think of hypotheticals. Imagine a scenario like this:

- Get pick 97 in the draft as compensation for Asante Samuel and a 4th round comp for Randall Gay
- Resign FAs Mike Wright (DT.DE), James Sanders (S) and Lewis Sanders (S/CB)
- Sign as UFAs: Karlos Dansby (ILB/OLB), Sean Jones (S), Jabari Greer (CB)
- Franchise Cassel and trade him to Tampa Bay for 1(19) + conditional 2010 pick
-Draft (first 4 rounds):
1(19) BJ Raji, DT Boston College 6'2" 334#
1(23) Best available CB/S prospect: Sean Smith, William Moore, DJ Moore, or Alphonso Smith depending on availability, need, and BB's preference
2(47) Connor Barwin DE/LB Cincinnati 6'4, 255# 4.64
3(57) William Beatty OT Connecticut 6'6" 300# 5.10
3(87) Trevor Canfield OG Cincinnati 6'3" 315# 5.15
3(97) Devin Moore RB Wyoming 5'10" 191# 4.40
4(122) Best available TE or WR (Jarrett Dillard, Brian Robiskie, etc.)
4(132) Kevin Huber P Cinncinati 6'1" 220# 4.85

That would fix a lot of needs, and give us tremendous defensive versatility with some added toughness and playmaking ability.

Gbnreport has Raji going #24 to Atlanta in today's mock draft. I'm not defending their mock, but it's not an inconceivable scenario that he could fall a bit between now and the draft. Raji would add toughness and flexibility to the DL, would add insurance in case of injury or FA loss of Wilfork or Seymour (not that I want either). I think at this point he's a much better player than Clint Sintim or even Rey Maualuga.

Again, I'm not proposing it. Just something to think about.

Man we need to get you in there to replace Piloi!!

That would be a great off season and draft but I think we would only be able to get 2 out of 3 of those FA but if we did your draft covers us pretty well. I think Robiskie would be a steel for us in the 4th and I am falling in love with Beaty (with a little more bulk, we will send him to eat with Wilfork and O'Callighan).

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

I watched Raji just bull rush Unger at the Sr. bowl practice. If he fell to #23, I would think that it would be difficult for BB to pass on a D-Lineman like him.

Could you image a 4-3 2009 Pats Defense that looked like this:

DE-Warren
DT-Raji
DT-Wilfork
DE-Seymour
OLB-Thomas
OLB-Vrabel
MLB-Mayo
CB-Hobbs
CB-Wheately, Whilite, FA, draft
SS-Merriweather
FS-FA, Draft, Rodney?