Should we have drafted Clay Matthews last year

[patsfan55]

TOO weird. I was just looking at my fantasy league's top defensive players and noticed how many sacks he had this year.
I started looking at the trade we pulled off that year and this is what ended up happening.

Clay Mattews and a 6th in 2009
and we got
Darius Butler, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski

As awful as I feel that we didn't go after Matthews, it does ease my pain a bit to see the haul we got for him.

Now the Greg Jennings for Chad Jackson swap with Green Bay is a whole different story

 

[BrewCity Cheesehead]

TOO weird. I was just looking at my fantasy league's top defensive players and noticed how many sacks he had this year.
I started looking at the trade we pulled off that year and this is what ended up happening.

Clay Mattews and a 6th in 2009
and we got
Darius Butler, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski

As awful as I feel that we didn't go after Matthews, it does ease my pain a bit to see the haul we got for him.

Now the Greg Jennings for Chad Jackson swap with Green Bay is a whole different story

Fun fact: The Brandon Tate pick, that the Packers traded to the Patriots, was originally the Jets' 3rd round pick that was traded to the Packers in exchange for.... you guessed it.... BRETT FAVRE.

 

[reflexblue]

Should we have drafted Clay Matthews last year.... Why we have Crable, i just wish i could remember his first name.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Should we have drafted Clay Matthews last year.... Why we have Crable, i just wish i could remember his first name.

I just wish I could remember Crable even getting onto the field.
Seriously though. Second guessing is fun but pointless.
I liked Clay a lot going into the draft, more than the other USC backers even.
But you never know how it would have worked out.
Would he have grasped the Pats system, would he have gotten hurt, etc.

 

[reflexblue]

I just wish I could remember Crable even getting onto the field.
Seriously though. Second guessing is fun but pointless.
I liked Clay a lot going into the draft, more than the other USC backers even.
But you never know how it would have worked out.
Would he have grasped the Pats system, would he have gotten hurt, etc.

Its well documented in this thread that there were a lot of concerns about steroid use, Matthews went form 195 to 240 in a year. 12 LBS of muscle would be normal not 40. In hind sight i'm sure BB would wished he had drafter Matthews.

 

[jmt57]

TOO weird. I was just looking at my fantasy league's top defensive players and noticed how many sacks he had this year.
I started looking at the trade we pulled off that year and this is what ended up happening.

Clay Mattews and a 6th in 2009
and we got
Darius Butler, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski

As awful as I feel that we didn't go after Matthews, it does ease my pain a bit to see the haul we got for him.

Now the Greg Jennings for Chad Jackson swap with Green Bay is a whole different story

Does Bert Breer peruse this site for ideas for his blog?

Revisiting the Packers trade - Extra Points - Boston.com

So which group do you guys take? For me, personally, it's hard to look past the presence of a potential superstar pass rusher, since they're so valuable and hard to find, but I can understand why you might like the depth of the Patriots group of four.

To his credit, Breer does point out that the net of the trade was actually Matthews, OT Jamon Meredith, and LB Travis Goethel for Butler, Tate, Edelman and Gronkowski. Meredith was cut during camp in '09 whule Goethel has yet to dress for a game.

 

[NewFeep]

I just wish I could remember Crable even getting onto the field.
Seriously though. Second guessing is fun but pointless.
I liked Clay a lot going into the draft, more than the other USC backers even.
But you never know how it would have worked out.
Would he have grasped the Pats system, would he have gotten hurt, etc.

Would he have planted Sanchez like a tree a couple of times last week for us?
I see your point though and I am over us not taking but I was screaming hin name 2 years ago for us to take him........

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

7 sacks in 4 games.....might be better than dad

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Any time I look back at drafts and think of the "What ifs," I remember something Tom Brady said years back around the time of our last Super Bowl.

In a sit-down interview, he was asked that if he had been taken by another team one or two spots ahead of New England, where would his career be at that point. Tom said he might not be in the league. That's coming from a guy that had enough confidence in himself to tell the owner he was the best decision he ever made.

That always reminds me not to look at the guys we passed on and assume they would be just as good here.

 

[51Hits]

Any time I look back at drafts and think of the "What ifs," I remember something Tom Brady said years back around the time of our last Super Bowl.

In a sit-down interview, he was asked that if he had been taken by another team one or two spots ahead of New England, where would his career be at that point. Tom said he might not be in the league. That's coming from a guy that had enough confidence in himself to tell the owner he was the best decision he ever made.

That always reminds me not to look at the guys we passed on and assume they would be just as good here.

Oh so true. Injuries, personal relationships with coaches, game plans, etc. all of that effects players. The stars align for anyone who is on top, they didn't just get there instantly. I don't exactly think BB is a moron for passing on Matthews, he just regrets it. It's easy to see how good he looks now and weep.

But on draft day, selecting him you're picking a guy with questi0ns that VJC brought up. Now obviously, Bill wasn't too high on him either and saw all that as a red flag. If the guy is a bust, we call BB an idiot for ignoring such red flags. Now he's an idiot for not drafting him. Free agency is one thing, but normaly criticism for drafting like this is nothing but hind sight.