Here's my updated take on who we should target

[bbell31]

in first round if we trade up...bowers, fairley,dareus or peterson, stay put at mid first rd....cameron jordan, gabe carimi,r. quinn, derrek sherrod,n. solder, b. harris or aaron williams, late first...m. cannon tcu tackle, stefen w., mark ingram, harris or williams, justin houston...second round...stefen, l. ziemba, costanzo, demarco murray, leshoure, kyle rudolph, maybe jeremy beal, jimmy smith and guard-boling, romeus........give me ur thoughts...

 

[ZoisKing]

What the...?

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

in first round if we trade up...bowers, fairley,dareus or peterson, stay put at mid first rd....cameron jordan, gabe carimi,r. quinn, derrek sherrod,n. solder, b. harris or aaron williams, late first...m. cannon tcu tackle, stefen w., mark ingram, harris or williams, justin houston...second round...stefen, l. ziemba, costanzo, demarco murray, leshoure, kyle rudolph, maybe jeremy beal, jimmy smith and guard-boling, romeus........give me ur thoughts...

Thoughts ...

-- I don't see a trade up to the top 10.
-- Cam Jordan failed to impress me in the Colorado and Nevada games.
-- Quinn is an unknown to me.
-- Sherrod is a good kid, but I think Dante wants more of a run blocker.
-- Solder I like, raw, but he's a nice project.
-- Harris is a consideration, but I really expected him to be more physical in his bowl game where he struggled against Floyd.
-- Williams is an unknown.
-- Cannon doesn't fit NE's OL profile, good kid for Pit or Dallas.
-- Wisniewski is overpriced for what NE would be getting.
-- Ingram is okay, if he's there in the second.
-- Houston is iffy, I'm not sure I'd want him before the third.
-- Ziemba ... I'd rather grab his Center on Day Three.
-- Costanzo seems okay.
-- Murray ... NE has Woodhead.
-- Leshoure ... NE has BJGE.
-- Rudolph, where does he play?
-- Beal in the early third perhaps.
-- Smith is okay.
-- Boling is a good fit.
-- Romeus looked too stiff for OLB.

 

[BradyMossWelker]

Seriously bbell. What would this board do without you?
Thank you for taking your time to post your accurate stuff.
You should be a mod.

 

[Sciz]

Seriously bbell. What would this board do without you?
Thank you for taking your time to post your accurate stuff.
You should be a mod.

Post without sarcasm:
Stop making new threads. You can keep posting in threads you have already made.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

-- Ingram is okay, if he's there in the second.
-- Murray ... NE has Woodhead.
-- Leshoure ... NE has BJGE.

This brings up an interesting point. Theoretically BB has to take a RB or two in this draft.

You would think he would be interested in taking a RB that brings the same qualities as a healthy Taylor. The problem is except for Ingram, I can't find a RB in this draft that fits that mold.

Instead I find myself projecting guys with skill sets that BB has not had previously on the roster, ie: Thomas (over six foot tall) of K State who can run (maybe too upright for BB's taste) and catch and hopefully learn to block.

Conventional thinking is that at some point in this draft BB has to take a RB. But who fits the bill?

PS: I still consider Marecic to be a FB not a RB.

 

[MaineMan]

This brings up an interesting point. Theoretically BB has to take a RB or two in this draft.

You would think he would be interested in taking a RB that brings the same qualities as a healthy Taylor. The problem is except for Ingram, I can't find a RB in this draft that fits that mold.

Instead I find myself projecting guys with skill sets that BB has not had previously on the roster, ie: Thomas (over six foot tall) of K State who can run (maybe too upright for BB's taste) and catch and hopefully learn to block.

Conventional thinking is that at some point in this draft BB has to take a RB. But who fits the bill?

PS: I still consider Marecic to be a FB not a RB.

Agree that it's an interesting question, maybe more interesting than most people seem to think.

My take is that BB won't necessarily be looking for a Taylor-style replacement as much as for at least one durable, one-cut, north-south, "between the tackles" guy (IOW, a BGE clone) because you can never have enough of them for insurance. If the guy also has some ability to make "extra" things happen at and beyond the defense's second level, that would be a bonus, but I'm not sure how many of the earlier requirements I listed BB would be willing to give up to get that feature - in at least the ONE guy.

For the 2nd RB (possibly the first one of two actually drafted) he might lean more toward a guy with some "extras", but I think that will still be a guy with some up-the-middle heft (in contrast to a Faulk/Woodhead type).

But I'm also thinking that any RB he takes will likely have demonstrated some competency catching the ball, even if he doesn't have grand stats doing so.

 

[Off The Grid]

This brings up an interesting point. Theoretically BB has to take a RB or two in this draft.

You would think he would be interested in taking a RB that brings the same qualities as a healthy Taylor. The problem is except for Ingram, I can't find a RB in this draft that fits that mold.

Instead I find myself projecting guys with skill sets that BB has not had previously on the roster, ie: Thomas (over six foot tall) of K State who can run (maybe too upright for BB's taste) and catch and hopefully learn to block.

Conventional thinking is that at some point in this draft BB has to take a RB. But who fits the bill?

PS: I still consider Marecic to be a FB not a RB.

Agree that it's an interesting question, maybe more interesting than most people seem to think.

My take is that BB won't necessarily be looking for a Taylor-style replacement as much as for at least one durable, one-cut, north-south, "between the tackles" guy (IOW, a BGE clone) because you can never have enough of them for insurance. If the guy also has some ability to make "extra" things happen at and beyond the defense's second level, that would be a bonus, but I'm not sure how many of the earlier requirements I listed BB would be willing to give up to get that feature - in at least the ONE guy.

For the 2nd RB (possibly the first one of two actually drafted) he might lean more toward a guy with some "extras", but I think that will still be a guy with some up-the-middle heft (in contrast to a Faulk/Woodhead type).

But I'm also thinking that any RB he takes will likely have demonstrated some competency catching the ball, even if he doesn't have grand stats doing so.

Question: Are you two assuming that Coach Bill retains BenJarvus Green? Because I am not.

Indeed, because he'll probably command $3 Mill or so a year, now, I'm INTENSELY hoping we RFA him, and roll him for Picks.

He's already gone, as far as I'm concerned.

***

Unless we're going to subscribe to the asinine philosophy of NOT building Depth, we need TWO at each position: 2 Tail Backs AND 2 Half Backs.

And, for MY money, we'll pull in 2 Full Backs, as well. But I'm flexible, on that. My Current Notions:

The BackField Draft

~ 4th Rounder ~ Full Back Owen Marecic. BORN to don the Red White + Blue.

~ 5th Rounder ~ Full Back Henry Hynoski. BEAST.

~ 6th Rounder ~ Tail Back DaRel Scott. Tail Back Speed. Half Back Pivotal Velocity: Cuts and BLASTS.

~ 7th Rounder ~ Half Back Allen Bradford: Hard Yard MASHER. BULL DOZER.

~ 8th Rounder ~ Swing Back Mario Fannin: You can KEEP Stanley Havili, thank you VERY much!! :rocker:

 

[VJCPatriot]

Question: Are you two assuming that Coach Bill retains BenJarvus Green? Because I am not.

Indeed, because he'll probably command $3 Mill or so a year, now, I'm INTENSELY hoping we RFA him, and roll him for Picks.

He's already gone, as far as I'm concerned.

BJGE will be back. As an RFA he wouldn't bring anything back in picks unless the Pats offered him a high tender. And no team will be giving up a 1st round pick for Benny. Therefore I expect the Pats to resign him for a reasonable multi-year deal like they did with Woodhead.

~ 4th Rounder ~ Full Back Owen Marecic. BORN to don the Red White + Blue.

~ 5th Rounder ~ Full Back Henry Hynoski. BEAST.

~ 6th Rounder ~ Tail Back DaRel Scott. Tail Back Speed. Half Back Pivotal Velocity: Cuts and BLASTS.

~ 7th Rounder ~ Half Back Allen Bradford: Hard Yard MASHER. BULL DOZER.

~ 8th Rounder ~ Swing Back Mario Fannin: You can KEEP Stanley Havili, thank you VERY much!! :rocker:

The Fullback position is just about dead as far as the Pats offensive system is concerned. They will never draft a pure FB. Morris can be retained on the cheap to act as a lead blocker. The Pats also won't waste 4-5 draft picks on RB/FB prospects. I do expect them to use a mid to late round pick to develop a RB to backup Benny though. You ARE aware that there is no 8th round in the NFL draft, right?

 

[patchick]

~ 4th Rounder ~ Full Back Owen Marecic. BORN to don the Red White + Blue.

~ 5th Rounder ~ Full Back Henry Hynoski. BEAST.

Wow..the Patriots FINALLY have the tight end roster of BB's long-time dreams, and you want to load up on fullbacks? I'm not seeing it. How many snaps can a true FB possibly expect in this offense, and what two other positions are you eliminating to make roster room?

 

[Sciz]

He's delusional. What do you expect?

@VJC: He considers UDFAs the "8th round"

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

This brings up an interesting point. Theoretically BB has to take a RB or two in this draft.

You would think he would be interested in taking a RB that brings the same qualities as a healthy Taylor. The problem is except for Ingram, I can't find a RB in this draft that fits that mold.

Instead I find myself projecting guys with skill sets that BB has not had previously on the roster, ie: Thomas (over six foot tall) of K State who can run (maybe too upright for BB's taste) and catch and hopefully learn to block.

Conventional thinking is that at some point in this draft BB has to take a RB. But who fits the bill?

PS: I still consider Marecic to be a FB not a RB.

Ben-Jarvus needed time to learn the passing game, he ran okay his rookie year as an injury replacement so a one dimensional late round/UDFA isn't automatically a negative.

Rob Rang reported 12 underclassmen RBs declared for the draft. NFL Draft Scout's updated RB ranking now has 7 underclassmen projected to rounds 1-3, inevitably somebody is going to slide.

Starting in the fourth round using their list:
-- Bilal Powell is a good receiver, he reminds me a little of Cory Dillon running angry.
-- All I know about Stevan Ridley is he got 1,100+ yards in the SEC this season.
-- Roy Helu
-- Anthony Allen is a decent receiver and has lead blocking experience to go with his yardage.
-- Vai Taua

Just to name a few. There's a plethora of RBs from skinny scatbacks to bruisers ... I think NE can find one or two late or even in the Third whom Ivan can coach up. And that's not counting whomever they find on the scrap heap after Ingram and Co. push people off current rosters. Not to forget they may be getting back a couple Navy kids in May.

 

[patchick]

There's a plethora of RBs from skinny scatbacks to bruisers ... I think NE can find one or two late or even in the Third whom Ivan can coach up.

Agreed, RBs are deep (if not exactly dazzling) this year, while most position run shallow. It's a good year to draft a couple from round 3 on.

I'll throw in Derrick Locke as a day-3 Woodhead type.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Agreed, RBs are deep (if not exactly dazzling) this year, while most position run shallow. It's a good year to draft a couple from round 3 on.

I'll throw in Derrick Locke as a day-3 Woodhead type.

Yup, and Dwight Dasher might be another Julian Edelbinky. Lots of toys for BB to choose from.

 

[borg]

It will be interesting to see if Miami drafts Ingram at #15. They certainly have need with Ricky looking to bolt and Brown's inconsistencies/injuries. Miami has used several #1s at the position over the years and the team has treaded water as a result. Will they go down the same path again....like a bird flying into a window over and over again.. If Ingram slips past Miami, then teams in the 20s will take a look....Indy, another #1 pick to help GOAT ...Saints, Packers, Seahawks?
Personally, I would love to add the guy at #33, after securing DE/OLB and OLineman

 

[PatsCanDoIt]

Most see our top need at 3-4DE. For me the talent has to match the need. If the best talent goes before 17, then we shouldn't draft DE until the talent matches the draft value. That's why I think we end up drafting one in round two or way later.

BB has said that OLB takes time for conversion so a first rounder is a bad investment. Maybe A. Smith or Kerrigan are exceptional cases. Guys like Beal and Houston are third rounders to me anyway. Other guys are either too big or too small for what I believe are OLB preferences.

I think prime targets would leave defensive backfield and offensive line. That or the big T word either up or down to secure 10th-11th pick or in the 20s with an extra mid 2nd rounder. We pick at 33 and then again thirty picks later. A mid 2nd would be good positioning.

 

[JerseyDevil26]

Oh boy reading that post made my head hurt.

What's the topic again?

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Ben-Jarvus needed time to learn the passing game, he ran okay his rookie year as an injury replacement so a one dimensional late round/UDFA isn't automatically a negative.

Rob Rang reported 12 underclassmen RBs declared for the draft. NFL Draft Scout's updated RB ranking now has 7 underclassmen projected to rounds 1-3, inevitably somebody is going to slide.

Starting in the fourth round using their list:
-- Bilal Powell is a good receiver, he reminds me a little of Cory Dillon running angry.
-- All I know about Stevan Ridley is he got 1,100+ yards in the SEC this season.
-- Roy Helu
-- Anthony Allen is a decent receiver and has lead blocking experience to go with his yardage.
-- Vai Taua

Just to name a few. There's a plethora of RBs from skinny scatbacks to bruisers ... I think NE can find one or two late or even in the Third whom Ivan can coach up. And that's not counting whomever they find on the scrap heap after Ingram and Co. push people off current rosters. Not to forget they may be getting back a couple Navy kids in May.

Here is the thing though with BB and RB's. Traditionally the single most important thing BB looks for in a RB is ball security.So if a college RB puts the rock on the turf, BB is passing on him.

Ingram lost 5 fumbles times in his entire college career (3 in one game against Auburn last month, OOPPPSSSS!!!!!) But Ingram is no burner, maybe 4.5. However if his slow time causes him to drop, I am sure BB will take a close look at him at #30.

Bottomline is that when projecting which RB the Pats might be looking at, be sure they are NOT fumblers.

 

[MaineMan]

Here is the thing though with BB and RB's. Traditionally the single most important thing BB looks for in a RB is ball security.So if a college RB puts the rock on the turf, BB is passing on him.

Ingram lost 5 fumbles times in his entire college career (3 in one game against Auburn last month, OOPPPSSSS!!!!!) But Ingram is no burner, maybe 4.5. However if his slow time causes him to drop, I am sure BB will take a close look at him at #30.

Bottomline is that when projecting which RB the Pats might be looking at, be sure they are NOT fumblers.

What's interesting about that is that Kevin Faulk (NOT drafted by BB) put the ball on the ground a lot his first few years. Dillon also lost the handle numerous times, IIRC.

 

[CTHuskies]

I don't see us trading up far enough to get cream of the draft. If we trade up it would only be 2 or 3 spots. More likely wiil br trade down since #17-37 will have similiar value.

I'd like to see:
Cameron Jordan or Allen Bailey or Cameron Heyward, a OLB such as Aldon Smith or Akeem Ayers, and OL such as DeMarcus Love, Nate Solder or Tyron Smith with one of top 3 picks