A tale of a draft SQUANDERED....

[jmt57]

A tale of a draft SQUANDERED....

When we look back on this draft in a few years it will probably be looked at as the point in history that marked the beginning of the end of the Patriots run of excellence. Yes it might take a few years, but THIS was the point where it started to go down hill. ...

You're way off base.

We need to wait until halftime of the first preseason game.

Only THEN will we be able to determine how successful this draft was, or was not.

 

[Synovia]

No, Mallet doesn't make sense, Synovia. He's not getting more than a 4 year deal. I'm pretty sure Brady just signed an extension for 4 years. The team didn't need a developmental QB in the top 3 rounds. It could sure as hell have used help at other positions, though.

And Aaron Rodger's deal expired the same year as Favre's. See how that worked out?

 

[DropKickFlutie]

I think the Pats draft may have semi blown up when KC took DE Houston right before them.
I think they made a semi huge miscalculation, thinking a DE or OLB would drop to them with one of those 3rd rd picks. Pioli may have adjusted his board after the Pats dropped back and taken one of their targets.

 

[ausbacker]

PFK,

You are leaving out the one and two that we added to next years draft which if this is the begining of the end 4 of 64 next year could go a long way to reversing that.

You like Solder as do I and protecting Brady is as important as anything.

I think you still need to prepare for the unthinkable and a guy like Mallet should be as good a back up as most in the league have. Hopefully he matures and developes and he can net you something in the future.

I really like Vareen seems like a perfect Patriot and then Riddley seems to compliment him nicely not to mention they each seem to be good backups to BJGE and Woodhead and I think you have alot of young talent at a position that was aging fast a year or two ago.

Dowling comes with injury concern and may have been a reach but I think he adds real nice to the DB rotation and one thing I think he should do that will be Key is hopefully take some of McCourty's ST reps as McCourty is to good to play as much ST as he does.

I think if you want to key on not helping the front seven than the draft looks bad but if you step back and look at what you get and how it should fit on the team (all should fill a spot without moving much off the roster) it was a pretty good couple of days and you added a one and two to next years draft. IMO classic BB draft so far and to not give the man his credit is wrong and I usually like what you have to say.

Thanks
SBB

I have to be honest and say that almost everybody seems to have forgotten that the Patriots signed Marcus Stroud and are acting like he isn't going to help improve the pass rush let alone Ty Warren & Leigh Bodden coming back.

I do think we might be a little light on at OLB right now as it stands. The draft starts to take on a different complexion when you start looking at the composition of the team.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Wow, first Off the Grid and now PatFanKen ... two posters at polar opposites of expressive styles but a shared passion for the Patriot Way.

It has been an odd draft, but I think calling this "perhaps the beginning of the end" is going kind of far (with all and considerable respect!). Love the picks of Solder, Dowling and Vereen. Beyond that, it's really just a "what the hell, why not?" pick in Mallett, then some "get me out of this weak draft" maneuvering.

As a fan, looking at all the potential to trade up and get someone we see as a difference, it's been a frustrating 27 hours to be sure.

But as Patspsycho points out, were talking about a team that was 14-2 last year. Not only that, it's LOADED with young talent. I feel like Belichick looked at this draft class and gave each obtainable player the "is he better for our team than what we have?' test and most often came away with "no." I also think he has some other plans with free agency if/when that ever begins.

So, instead of the beginning of the end, I see another run of extended success just getting going: The 09-10 draft classes, some nice additions this year, added top picks in 2012, a good group of veterans to steer things along. There's plenty of room to be critical and questioning, of course. But I think there's also tons of room for optimism.

 

[Deus Irae]

And Aaron Rodger's deal expired the same year as Favre's. See how that worked out?

You're kidding me with this one, right?

Oh, wait, I had you on ignore via Ffvb before the upgrade to Firefox 4 made that incompatible. That's why I'm stuck reading an inanity like this. Let me correct that with the site's ignore.


Rodgers. You've got to be yanking my chain trying to draw that equivalence.

 

[Ring 6]

Mallet makes absolutely no sense at all.

Your opinion is inconsistent with the facts.
Lombardi says they had him rated as the #1 QB in the draft.
To say picking the QB 74 that you had rated #1 in a draft that say 4 go in the first 12 picks makes no sense is silly.

 

[Synovia]

Your opinion is inconsistent with the facts.
Lombardi says they had him rated as the #1 QB in the draft.
To say picking the QB 74 that you had rated #1 in a draft that say 4 go in the first 12 picks makes no sense is silly.

Thats Deus.

He thinks if he yells loud enough, it makes him right.

 

[Deus Irae]

I have to be honest and say that almost everybody seems to have forgotten that the Patriots signed Marcus Stroud and are acting like he isn't going to help improve the pass rush let alone Ty Warren & Leigh Bodden coming back.

I do think we might be a little light on at OLB right now as it stands. The draft starts to take on a different complexion when you start looking at the composition of the team.

Stroud has a career high of 6.5 sacks, and he got that back in 2002. He hasn't registered more than 3 sacks since 2004.

 

[ausbacker]

Stroud has a career high of 6.5 sacks, and he got that back in 2002. He hasn't registered more than 3 sacks since 2004.

Pass rush isn't just about sacks Deus. I know you know that. All I am suggesting is that addition is being completely overlooked because people expect the Pats to draft someone sexy or pull in a DeMarcus Ware type.

If Stroud works in a rotation that pressures the opposing QB on a consistent basis with an improved secondary then that's better than 2010 already. Ty Warren and Leigh Bodden improve the defense tremendously as it were.

That said I still think we need a quality outside linebacker to compliment Cunningham, Mayo & Spikes.

 

[BSR]

It boggles the mind how many people still put so much value in rookies. If our pass rush were dependant on a rookie then we were already screwed. This team always needed someone in FA.

Still its just laughable that fans put themselves through this angst every year. This has been going on for 10 years now. Every year the same story, and you still haven't figured it out yet? Really?

 

[Deus Irae]

Pass rush isn't just about sack Deus. I know you know that. All I am suggesting is that addition is being completely overlooked because people expect the Pats to draft someone sexy or pull in a DeMarcus Ware type.

If Stroud works in a rotation that pressures the opposing QB on a consistent basis with an improved secondary then that's better than 2010 already. Ty Warren and Leigh Bodden improve the defense tremendously as it were.

That said I still think we need a quality outside linebacker to compliment Cunningham, Mayo & Spikes.

I agree that pass rush isn't just about sacks, Aus, but Stroud's been shot as any kind of pass rushing force for more than 5 years. If you're relying on him to help the pass rush, you're probably better off bringing Andre Tippett out of retirement.

I'd love to see the Patriots coaches get excellence out of him. Of course, I wanted the same from Warren last year, and that certainly didn't happen.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Yup I guess that's it. They have 4 more picks but what's the sense. I should just erase 8 OLB, the 5 WR, and the 6 OG, prospects that I have on my draft list for tomorrow.

I do think that BB has forgotten more about drafting players while he went to the bathroom, than any of us and the talking heads in the media willever know.

But that's just MVHO.

 

[Deus Irae]

Yup I guess that's it. They have 4 more picks but what's the sense. I should just erase 8 OLB, the 5 WR, and the 6 OG, prospects that I have on my draft list for tomorrow.

I do think that BB has forgotten more about drafting players while he went to the bathroom, than any of us and the talking heads in the media willever know.

But that's just MVHO.

Matt Millen's forgotten more about drafting players than any of us and the talking heads in the media will ever know, too. Everyone who's ever been a GM in the modern NFL game can lay claim to that statement.

 

[ausbacker]

I agree that pass rush isn't just about sacks, Aus, but Stroud's been shot as any kind of pass rushing force for more than 5 years. If you're relying on him to help the pass rush, you're probably better off bringing Andre Tippett out of retirement.

I'd love to see the Patriots coaches get excellence out of him. Of course, I wanted the same from Warren last year, and that certainly didn't happen.

Granted that's a valid opinion but I think he'll contribute more than what most seem willing to give him credit for. We know Wright can get after the QB (despite his concussion issues) and to be fair Ninkovich surprised me as a difference maker in some games. Most of us seem willing to discount any sort of player improvement. In fact none of us appear to have factored this in along with player decline.

As I said I honestly believe the pairing of Bodden and McCourty is going to help the defense tremendously. Adding Dowling (who appears to be nasty, is tall and can shutdown opponents) can only help that rotation. Most NFL teams don't go past 2 really good receivers. All of a sudden we're forcing teams to beat the Pats with their 3/4/5 guys.

I'm not going to deny there's a definite need to improve the pass rush but after considering all things I'm not sure it's going to be as bad as 2010 was.

 

[Deus Irae]

Granted that's a valid opinion but I think he'll contribute more than what most seem willing to give him credit for. We know Wright can get after the QB (despite his concussion issues) and to be fair Ninkovich surprised me as a difference maker in some guys. Most of us seem willing to discount any sort of player improvement.

As I said I honestly believe the pairing of Bodden and McCourty is going to help the defense tremendously. Adding Dowling (who appears to be nasty, is tall and can shutdown opponents) can only help that rotation. Most NFL teams don't go past 2 really good receivers. All of a sudden we're forcing teams to beat the Pats with their 3/4/5 guys.

I'm not going to deny there's a definite need to improve the pass rush but after considering all things I'm not sure it's going to be as bad as 2010 was.

Well, let's look at what we've got, though.

We can both agree that 1 RB this early made sense, but not 2, right?

 

[A_Ghost_In_The_Machine]

I agree Mallett is a talented passer but there's a reason he dropped as far as he did. I think the Mallett pick may have pushed me over the edge. I was alright with Solder, not flashy and I thought we could have waited for O-line but if BB thinks its the right choice I'll take it. Wish we would have stayed at 28 and taken a DL. Don't mind Dowling, maybe a reach but indications suggest the Bills liked him also. As far as RB goes I think you could have asked 10 different people to rate all the RBs in this draft in order and you'd have got 10 completely different outcomes. But I just cannot believe we took Mallett. Not only does he have huge character concerns but we wasted a pick we could have used to shore up our DL or pass rush. This is only made worse by the fact that Kenrick Ellis fell to the Jets :bricks:. Unless BB can envision trading Mallett as soon as FA opens up to someone who coveted him I really cannot see the point. If we've taken him to develop and then trade it'll be 2-3 years before we see any value from him by which point TB is getting close to retiring and our window may be closing. I don't even want to think about the possibility that he's been drafted as Brady's replacement, I don't think I can stomach 10 years of that insufferable douche

 

[PATSNUTme]

Matt Millen's forgotten more about drafting players than any of us and the talking heads in the media will ever know, too. Everyone who's ever been a GM in the modern NFL game can lay claim to that statement.

So, what's your point?

Has Matt Millen ever had 10 consecutive winning seasons? Has Matt Millen ever had 1 winning season? Should Matt Millen and BB ever be compared?

I think it's time for me to say good night to the board, so I won't wait up for an answer.

 

[ausbacker]

Well, let's look at what we've got, though.

We can both agree that 1 RB this early made sense, but not 2, right?

I agree, the second RB left me scratching my head but it's obvious that the Pats identified a need after the Jets stoned our run game in the playoffs. Whether we attribute that to the Pats or the Jets is personal opinion.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I think the Pats draft has been brilliant thus far.

I love the added players and I am stoked that an extra 1st and extra 2nd were added to boot.

Solder may well end up being a pro bowl LT for us. Considering it's TFB that he'll be protecting on the blind side, this Solder kid may well be the most important positional player on the team after QB.

Dowling is a highly skilled DB who might well have been long gone by the time the Pats picked (yesterday) had he remained healthy this past season. Sounds like great value should his health check out.

The two RB's were NEEDED selections as the Pats are looking at replacing the old farts.

Mallet is a head scratcher I suppose but, if reports of him being the #1 rated QB on the Pats board are correct, that's supreme value on a team that lives by value come draft day.

As for the lack of defensive players ..... it's about time BB started adding some skill to the offense. The Pats have loaded up on defenders for 4 years now ..... that side of the ball is stacked with youngsters already. I doubt any drafted kid would have been a slam dunk upgrade over what is already on the team. Maybe a stud OLB but how many of them were around for the taking?