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Top Draft Philosophies in the NFL Today - Part 1: The Belichick Philosophy - Windy City Gridiron
Good read and accurate as well
Good read and accurate as well
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Good read and accurate as well
It's all true, as far as it goes. I think we've learned a lot about BB's draft philosophy that wasn't in the article.
1) BB drafts for need. Drafting Wilfork, Gostkowski, Light, Mayo, Meriweather, Gronkowski... all need picks. Tim Dimitroff said drafting for need was one of the most important things he learned while he was with the Pats.
2) BB looks for big strong physical defensive players. His DTs are 320#, his DEs are 300#, his LBs 255#. This is how NTs end up playing DE for him. Long arms and long frame are preferred (witness: Seymour, Warren) on the outside.
3) His o-linemen are lean 300# and not spilling over their belts. Mankins, Light, Vollmer... big guys, big frame, good feet. Has never shown any interest in the 320# road graders.
4) BB locks in on a specific player (McCourty, Chung, Mayo) reads what the other teams are looking for, and trades down as far as he can to still get that guy. If his guy comes off the board unexpectedly, he trades down or out instead of picking the next best guy at the same position.
5) BB doesn't put all his eggs in one basket. He will take many rookies on to fill the same need. Thus, Gronkowski and Hernandez; Wilson and Samuels; Mayo and Guyton. This feels more like an admission that between personalities and injuries, you can never be sure about any player.
Regarding the article. BB drafts players where he believes they will provide the team with the highest value. To say that this team doesn't spend "high draft picks on O-line" is just BS. Especially when you see that Light, Vollmer, Klemm were taken in the 2nd round and Mankins at the end of the 1st.
Light has held down the LT position since Game 3 of the 2001 season.. Vollmer's 2nd team All-Pro nod tells me that we're looking at a guy who could be anchoring the right side for the next decade, or the left if he's comfortable there. Mankins is an All-Pro guard. He's easily top 5 in the league at LG.
Klemm was good when healthy, regularly winning the RT position out of TC only to get injured quickly.
Regarding the article. BB drafts players where he believes they will provide the team with the highest value. To say that this team doesn't spend "high draft picks on O-line" is just BS.
5) BB doesn't put all his eggs in one basket. He will take many rookies on to fill the same need. Thus, Gronkowski and Hernandez; Wilson and Samuels; Mayo and Guyton. This feels more like an admission that between personalities and injuries, you can never be sure about any player.
BB drafts for VALUE. Need is just part of the equation. How many times does he, himself, have to say it before people will actually listen.
BB drafts for VALUE. Need is just part of the equation.
BB drafts for VALUE. Need is just part of the equation. How many times does he, himself, have to say it before people will actually listen..
Sorry, but I believe that you don't understand the term road-grader. A road grader is a guy who is know for, basically, bowling people over in the run game. It's about strength and attitude more than being "320 lbs"...
..Everyone "fixates" on "their" player. BB only "trades down" when he has people on the phone asking him about the pick and he feels he can move down and still get his guy. You make it sound like BB is always, actively trying to trade down and that just isn't the case.
As for your examples of taking rookies to fill the same need, that is a huge stretch. First, Gronk and Hernandez are very different types of TEs. Mayo and Guyton are also very different types of ILBs. Again, you are stretching reality to the extreme to fit your hypothesis.
Regarding the article. BB drafts players where he believes they will provide the team with the highest value. To say that this team doesn't spend "high draft picks on O-line" is just BS. Especially when you see that Light, Vollmer, Klemm were taken in the 2nd round and Mankins at the end of the 1st.
Light has held down the LT position since Game 3 of the 2001 season.. Vollmer's 2nd team All-Pro nod tells me that we're looking at a guy who could be anchoring the right side for the next decade, or the left if he's comfortable there. Mankins is an All-Pro guard. He's easily top 5 in the league at LG.
Klemm was good when healthy, regularly winning the RT position out of TC only to get injured quickly.
And that leaves the upper picks open to obtain better players in the "skill" positions.
Agreed. I didn't understand the OL comment at all.
And the last sentence of that OL paragraph was the following:
Out of 25 picks in the first two rounds over 11 drafts with BB, we've spent 1 pick on a RB, 3 on WRs (2 of which were busts), and 0 on a QB, for 4 picks on the "skill positions." That's the same number of picks spent on the OL during the same rounds, which the author said we don't do.
The stockpile pick seems a bit of an oversimplification as well. It's true that we've made a lot of picks, but we don't trade down just for the sake of trading down. It's about value, and in many instances BB is willing to go up and get a guy too.
Don't forget the 3 picks on TEs (Graham, Watson, GRONK).
Top Draft Philosophies in the NFL Today - Part 1: The Belichick Philosophy - Windy City Gridiron
Good read and accurate as well
NEED IS A GIVEN
We can say that Belichick doesn't draft for need as many times as makes us happy; that does not make it so.
The reality is that the first round pick has been for need since Belichick arrived. Obviously, we poor mortals did not see the need for a pass-catching TE when Watson was drafted.
Belichick looks at players in terms of the need of the patriots for a player, how he would fit in for us. A player's value as a prospect for other nfl teams is irrelevant. If value or talent were the issue, then this would not be so.
Belichick does NOT draft players who we don't need and that Belichick doesn't expect to fit in.
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VALUE AND THE PATRIOT BOARDS
Belichick ranks players he wants in terms of value to the team. Availability in the draft also affect value. Obviously, NEED is a tremendously important component to that value. In this draft, OTBE. QB's and NT's just don't have the same value to us as OT's OG's and DE's. The need and scarcity component changes as the draft unfolds. Also note that quarterbacks are more valuable as we get into the later rounds.
Belichick must put values on each of the players in terms of when they are worth drafting in this draft. Thus, Belichick may have only five or six players with 1st round value available when we pick at 17 or he might have 20. This greatly affects strategy. It is not just about picking the highest value on the board.
VALUE, BOARDS AND OTHER TEAMS
Belichick must maintain a general board that includes the values of other teams. It is here he can see who others value at various spots. Belichick also needs to understand the tendencies and values put on players by other teams.
TRADING DOWN OR UP
This is a complicated set of decisions based on both kinds of board. Also scarcity at a given point in the draft is a key component.
For example, if we have the 5 OT's rated pretty equal, and we have the choice of all of them at 17, we would almost assuredly move down, securing an additional pick and still getting one of the five almost-equal OT's. This presumes that we looked at the board and decided that the best value for us was at OT at pick 17. The same is true at OLB/DE. If there is a rush on OT's and QB's before 17, thre could be four or five DE/OLB's available at 17. Again, Belichick might very well trade down.
Trading up could be for two very different reasons. The first is that we have an opportunity for a player that slipped is worth much more than the then current position in the draft. For Belichick, this doen't happen much (if ever) in the first round. The more likely reason to move up is because of scarcity. Lety us say that Belichick wants one of the DE/OLB's and has 5 players on his board. If only one is available at 12, Belichick might very well move up, as he did for Warren.