If the Bengals don't draft Gresham....

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Looking back at the draft a week later I was wondering...If the Bengals had gone another way,Do the Pats stay put and take Gresham at #22 and thereby changing the whole picture of the first round including the move for McCourtny,possibly affecting Denver's move for Tebow and Dallas's move for Bryant and maybe changing the whole bottom of the first round and possibly changing the second round a bit?

I think the Pats had Gresham set as thier first round pick since he was the preimier TE, but when Cincy opted for Jermaine instead of Bryant or any other player, I think the Pats were willing to drop down and let the draft take its course since they knew no other TE would likely be picked for a while.

What do you think?

 

[apple strudel]

Personally I think we were targeting Alualu or Mathews at 22, but it's possible we were targeting Gresham. If we were we didn't want him too badly because everybody knew the Bengals would take him based on their needs, so we only would have needed to trade up a little to get him.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Personally I think we were targeting Alualu or Mathews at 22, but it's possible we were targeting Gresham. If we were we didn't want him too badly because everybody knew the Bengals would take him based on their needs, so we only would have needed to trade up a little to get him.

The Bengals were said to have been interested in a few guys like Mathews and Bryant among Gresham of course,I really don't know if NE was zeroing in on Gresham and hoping he would fall or maybe they weren't,I do think NE was definately going to take 2 TEs in the draft no matter how or where they got them.

 

[midwestpatsfan]

I am thinking no, and I say this because of BB talking about Gronks ability to be a good blocker, which Greshaim is not. I think BB likes the thought of Gronk to be a blocker first and a reciever second. Probably not what us fans want to hear, but that way Gronk is on the field on every down rather than just on passing plays. He has more versatility in that capacity.

 

[SeauOUCH]

The Pats were not targeting Gresham in the 1st round, they were targeting McCourty & Pouncey.

I bet BB would of taken Gronk in the 2nd with Gresham still on the board.

 

[WhiZa]

The Pats were not targeting Gresham in the 1st round, they were targeting McCourty & Pouncey.

I bet BB would of taken Gronk in the 2nd with Gresham still on the board.

Where did you hear Pouncey's name? That's the first I hear the Pats were interested

 

[SeauOUCH]

Where did you hear Pouncey's name? That's the first I hear the Pats were interested

A regular poster on a different board with an inside source ( he's made lots of credible posts in the past ) posted just before the draft that Pouncey & McCourty were the 2 guys the Pats were targeting in the 1st round.

Considering he was right again ( & nobody had McCourty on the radar ) I chose to believe him.

 

[Mark Morse]

Gresham was not on their Board! His agent is Tom Condon and BB refuses to draft anyone that has Condon as his agent. This stems from the Ben Watson holdout. Watson had to fire Condon to get into camp!

 

[eagle eye]

BB said in his press conference that McCourty would be his pick at 22 and the only reason he traded down was because he was comfortable that the teams then picking ahead of him both times he traded were not taking a CB.

 

[bakes781]

The Pats were not targeting Gresham in the 1st round, they were targeting McCourty & Pouncey.

I bet BB would of taken Gronk in the 2nd with Gresham still on the board.

I beleive that.

1st I don't think the drop off from Gresham to Gronk is much at all. In my mocks I had Gronk ahead of Gresham. I think the higher ceiling is clearly in Gronk's favor.

Just about every prospect from Florida was a target so Pouncey would be no different. His versatility would certainly appeal to BB.

 

[patchick]

1st I don't think the drop off from Gresham to Gronk is much at all. In my mocks I had Gronk ahead of Gresham. I think the higher ceiling is clearly in Gronk's favor.

I'm with you. Assuming his back really isn't a concern, I rate Gronk as the best TE prospect not just of this year, but of the past 3 years at least.

In general, the depth of the TE class this year was really impressive. Last year Richard Quinn was the second TE off the board! He wouldn't have cracked the top half dozen this year.

 

[Criptonite]

I don't think the Pats were targeting Gresham. Cincy had obvious interest in Gresham there. If the Pats really wanted him, they would have made a move up to get in front of Cincy. As for Alualu, I think he may have been their top target too. They clearly wanted a DE. They signed Warren like 2 minutes after the draft to add depth there, so it they clearly had him set up as a fall back plan if it didn't work out in the draft. But they definitely weren't interested in Odrick, Wootton, Carrington, Lane or Art Jones. They passed on each of them a number of times. That's why I think Alualu was the target.

 

[jsull87]

I don't think the Pats were targeting Gresham. Cincy had obvious interest in Gresham there. If the Pats really wanted him, they would have made a move up to get in front of Cincy. As for Alualu, I think he may have been their top target too. They clearly wanted a DE. They signed Warren like 2 minutes after the draft to add depth there, so it they clearly had him set up as a fall back plan if it didn't work out in the draft. But they definitely weren't interested in Odrick, Wootton, Carrington, Lane or Art Jones. They passed on each of them a number of times. That's why I think Alualu was the target.

I think he was A tagert not THE target. As you have seen from the other posts on this forum and from BB himself Mcourtney was his pick at 22 and he was happy to trade down and also the source before the draft saying Pouncey or Mcourtney were the targets... and thats the way it went.

 

[Seneschal2]

Pouncey, McCourty, Odrick, Earl Thomas, Derrick Morgan, and McClain were all on my board as round one Pats prospects. Thomas, Morgan, and McClain I had as top 15 prospects. The others I thought could be available at #22. I chose Odrick over Pouncey and McCourty, tagging DE as a greater need. I felt there were CB options later on, KNOWING BB has found his CB starters outside of round one.

Alualu I had as an early round two consideration.

TE Gresham was not on my Pats board.

 

[Criptonite]

I think he was A tagert not THE target. As you have seen from the other posts on this forum and from BB himself Mcourtney was his pick at 22 and he was happy to trade down and also the source before the draft saying Pouncey or Mcourtney were the targets... and thats the way it went.

You really can't take the word of BB or "sources" when it comes to the draft. Some "sources" just before the draft had us trading up to #10 to take Dez Bryant. As for BB, before the draft he implied that he wasn't interested in Gronkowski since he didn't play at all last season. But when looking back upon the draft, their actions can shed some light into their line of thinking.

BB seems to have wanted to draft a DE early IMO. They already had Warren lined up in case they couldn't land the guy(s) they wanted. And with BB repeatedly taking a pass on every other DE on the board, Alualu is the only one who fits the bill as their DE target.

 

[Criptonite]

Pouncey, McCourty, Odrick, Earl Thomas, Derrick Morgan, and McClain were all on my board as round one Pats prospects. Thomas, Morgan, and McClain I had as top 15 prospects. The others I thought could be available at #22. I chose Odrick over Pouncey and McCourty, tagging DE as a greater need. I felt there were CB options later on, KNOWING BB has found his CB starters outside of round one.

Alualu I had as an early round two consideration.

TE Gresham was not on my Pats board.

I agree. Odrick would have been my top pick and I liked Pouncey too if available. Although I think Morgan and Thomas are great, I didn't see Morgan able to move to OLB and I thought we were too full at safety for Thomas. I had Alualu rated in the same area, early to late round 2. I always thought Gresham was a possibility though just based on BB's history. I was screaming and cheering when the Bengals took him before we had that opportunity.

 

[WhiZa]

A regular poster on a different board with an inside source ( he's made lots of credible posts in the past ) posted just before the draft that Pouncey & McCourty were the 2 guys the Pats were targeting in the 1st round.

Considering he was right again ( & nobody had McCourty on the radar ) I chose to believe him.

You have to reveal his name and board if it's true. That's some serious info!

 

[PatsFanStnfrd]

Gresham was not on their Board! His agent is Tom Condon and BB refuses to draft anyone that has Condon as his agent. This stems from the Ben Watson holdout. Watson had to fire Condon to get into camp!

Let's just say that NE has not been tempted by the talents of players represented by Condon over the past six years. I don't believe Gresham would have been the exception.

 

[bucky]

If you look at Patriots All Access, you see BB's face when the Gersham pick is announced. He certainly doesn't look like a guy who was holding his breath that it wasn't Gersham. It seems like he was ready to trade with Denver no matter what Cincinnati did.

 

[patchick]

If you look at Patriots All Access, you see BB's face when the Gersham pick is announced. He certainly doesn't look like a guy who was holding his breath that it wasn't Gersham. It seems like he was ready to trade with Denver no matter what Cincinnati did.

FWIW, in various blogs today, Reiss said the same...and that Gronkowski was the Pats #1 rated traditional TE.