Idle thoughts – I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft

[patfanken]

I am a Pats fan...and this is the draft. So normally this is where I would go into my annual rant about my frustration in investing countless days discussing the pros and cons of dozens of potential Pats players, detailing with others about who we should pick and who is likely to be there when we do. Then there are the hours spent in watching the actual draft unfold, and once again be subject to trying to figure out what the **** just happened.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I watched my team trade down....again, and mostly agreed with the process. I justified the wasted 3 and half hours, by looking forward to a busy day on Friday, with 4 picks in the next 70, and dozens of very nice prospects that we could grab. People made lists. Lists with dozens of recognizable names that had been discussed over the last few months. Lists with lots of players that I would be comfortable with.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I am accustomed (or at least should be) to watching players I would love come off the board, only to hear the Pats make a pick of a player whom I haven't heard mentioned a SINGLE time in all the months leading up to this point. (If someone wrote a post touting Jamie Collins as a prospect, I'd love to see it.)

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now to watching my personal binkie (Margus Hunt) get picked immediately AFTER we get another mystery man.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So when all is said and done, we end up drafting 4 players. 3 of which had NEVER been discussed, and a 4th whose name I recognized (Aaron Dobson) but rarely saw mentioned as a likely prospect for us.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now at checking the players we drafted and finding all had significantly lower draft grades than the players drafted around them. Clearly whatever scoring system is used by the rest of league, we are using something else.

I am a Pats fans....and this the draft. So this whine is something we all do at this time, and over the next few days it will be echoed by many, who like myself our scratching our heads and trying to make sense of what just happened. I will have gird myself to hearing the mediots take this draft apart. Ron Borges is practically giddy with anticipation, and I can see Mazz, with all his football knowledge salivating.

BUT HERE'S THE THING: I am a freakin' Pats fan! And I get to watch my team get to win 10+ games EVERY freakin' year, without the occasional dips we see from the “other good teams”. My team has a young roster, seemingly filled with talented players. And none of us expect anything less but ANOTHER serious run at a superbowl.

This team is a lot more than just a HOF QB, and the best coach in the league. It takes 53 players to win all those games against other talented teams and it only gets harder every year. Somehow during these war of attrition seasons, BB has built teams that can survive all the injuries that occur, better than most everyone else. That depth that allows those double digit season got there somehow. So whatever we do in the draft and however strange it must seem you CANNOT argue with the end results...You just can't. We must be doing something right in the player acquisition process. Otherwise all those teams that seem to do better than us, would be beating us.

BOTTOM LINE: We can question. We can complain, but until the day comes where we start to see those 8-8 or 5-11 seasons again, there has to be some acknowledgment that whatever BB is doing in the player acquisition department is working, rendering all our *****ing and moaning pretty much irrelevant. (including my own)

 

[Brady2Moss]

Bottom line: 8 years no Super Bowls victories.

The team is Tom Brady and I feel bad that his last years are being wasted, he is the great QB ever to play this game, the ultimate team player, and gets to enjoy another grueling season of putting the entire team on his back.

 

[ausbacker]

Bottom line: 8 years no Super Bowls victories.

The team is Tom Brady and I feel bad that his last years are being wasted, he is the great QB ever to play this game, the ultimate team player, and gets to enjoy another grueling season of putting the entire team on his back.

Every year without a Superbowl feels like a waste for 31 teams. They are hard to win. Stop pretending that that feeling is isolated to the Patriots.

 

[Brady2Moss]

Every year without a Superbowl feels like a waste for 31 teams. They are hard to win. Stop pretending that that feeling is isolated to the Patriots.

31 teams have the best Qb in the league, 31 teams have the best Qb of all time too right? Stop pretending this isn't a unique situation. Stop pretending we don't have a unique advantage because we have an elite QB with reasonable cap hits because he took a massive pay cut on an extension this offseason to lower his cap number. Stop pretending other teams aren't getting bent over by their elite Qbs cap wise.

I'll let the rah rah BS go on now, those are my 2 cents. See ya.

 

[hwc]

Heh. Heh.

This is why I absolutely refuse to read a single word about draft prospects or who the Pats should pick in the weeks leading up to the draft. It's all meaningless because Mel Kiper doesn't have access to the Pats draft boards. And, he isn't drafting a guy in the third round to be a stellar special teams player the way Belichick is. The whole draft analysis thing is nothing but fantasy football. Pat Kirwin puts in in perspective when he points out that only 20 players selected at Radio City Music Hall will be starters on opening day. Basically, all these guys are projects and crapshoots.

As fans, we want a shut down corner or a whatever. Belichick wants a guy who can maybe step in and not give up three touchdowns when Talib gets hurt in game and who otherwise can make some special teams plays or not embarrass himself playing a few snaps at dime during the season. He knows he's not getting Deon Sanders in the third round. He's looking for good solid JAGs, too because you've gotta have 'em on a 53 man roster and you want to get 'em on cheap rookie conracts. "Hall of Fame? Hall of Fame! Don't talk to me about the Hall of Fame.... I just wanna draft a kid who can make the team...."

 

[ausbacker]

31 teams have the best Qb in the league, 31 teams have the best Qb of all time too right? Stop pretending this isn't a unique situation. Stop pretending we don't have a unique advantage because we have an elite QB with reasonable cap hits because he took a massive pay cut on an extension this offseason to lower his cap number. Stop pretending other teams aren't getting bent over by their elite Qbs cap wise.

I'll let the rah rah BS go on now, those are my 2 cents. See ya.

There's still going to be 31 disappointed teams at the end of the season. The Patriots are one of the top 5 teams in the NFL. I stress the word team.

 

[Fencer]

Heh. Heh.

This is why I absolutely refuse to read a single word about draft prospects or who the Pats should pick in the weeks leading up to the draft. It's all meaningless because Mel Kiper doesn't have access to the Pats draft boards. And, he isn't drafting a guy in the third round to be a stellar special teams

I too didn't study the draft at in advance at all this year. Glad I didn't.

 

[Username]

I'm pretty happy with the first two picks. Although I would have taken others who were available, they're both solid picks who should contribute from the get go. The other two picks are head scratchers.

 

[Fencer]

The other two picks are head scratchers.

A cynic could point out that Greg Schiano rebuilt his secondary this offseason, and HE didn't draft those guys.

 

[DarrylS]

A cynic could point out that Greg Schiano rebuilt his secondary this offseason, and HE didn't draft those guys.

Probably because he made his CB pick prior to these picks.. most of what he did was through free agency..

Lets see how many games this team wins...

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Main forum has a good breakdown of Pats drafts since 2000.

Good solid number of starters, right in the middle of the pack despite bad position every year in every round. Decent average time in the league, despite the "trade down and roll the dice" approach. But here's the thing -- they are so far ahead in total pro-bowlers and all-pros that they'd lead the league without Brady.

Draftniks, draftniks, draftniks... two things are true:

1) You don't know what BB et al know, and
2) They'll never pick who you think or want. Evah.

I'll try to get to my annual "Get to know you" thread for some comic relief. But like the OP says, just relax. Best team in the league to root for. I remember thinking in the early 90s, "Wah boo hoo, I wouldn't mind being a Bills fan" when people were pitying them.

So I don't have much love for this "Wah we haven't won the super bowl since 2004" thing. If Brady wins zero more SBs, wah, cope, they still just happen to know more than you about the draft.

 

[BlitzFritz]

I am very excited about Collins. Distinctive profile. Super speed rusher, and cover skills. Love the pick.

I am pretty excited about Dobson. Looks like the big fast receiver we all wanted. With hands. What's not to like?

I think I like Ryan. Seems tough and decent.

I dont get the fourth guy pick.

-------

Seems like we may have added 2-3 guys who can really make this team, and have an impact. Not so bad.

I dont slave over the draft like others so I dont get so worked up about NOT drafting the players we left on the board.

I am still grateful for those home AFCC games. The team building process seems to work.

-- FRITZ

 

[borg]

I am a Pats fan...and this is the draft. So normally this is where I would go into my annual rant about my frustration in investing countless days discussing the pros and cons of dozens of potential Pats players, detailing with others about who we should pick and who is likely to be there when we do. Then there are the hours spent in watching the actual draft unfold, and once again be subject to trying to figure out what the **** just happened.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I watched my team trade down....again, and mostly agreed with the process. I justified the wasted 3 and half hours, by looking forward to a busy day on Friday, with 4 picks in the next 70, and dozens of very nice prospects that we could grab. People made lists. Lists with dozens of recognizable names that had been discussed over the last few months. Lists with lots of players that I would be comfortable with.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I am accustomed (or at least should be) to watching players I would love come off the board, only to hear the Pats make a pick of a player whom I haven't heard mentioned a SINGLE time in all the months leading up to this point. (If someone wrote a post touting Jamie Collins as a prospect, I'd love to see it.)

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now to watching my personal binkie (Margus Hunt) get picked immediately AFTER we get another mystery man.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So when all is said and done, we end up drafting 4 players. 3 of which had NEVER been discussed, and a 4th whose name I recognized (Aaron Dobson) but rarely saw mentioned as a likely prospect for us.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now at checking the players we drafted and finding all had significantly lower draft grades than the players drafted around them. Clearly whatever scoring system is used by the rest of league, we are using something else.

I am a Pats fans....and this the draft. So this whine is something we all do at this time, and over the next few days it will be echoed by many, who like myself our scratching our heads and trying to make sense of what just happened. I will have gird myself to hearing the mediots take this draft apart. Ron Borges is practically giddy with anticipation, and I can see Mazz, with all his football knowledge salivating.

BUT HERE'S THE THING: I am a freakin' Pats fan! And I get to watch my team get to win 10+ games EVERY freakin' year, without the occasional dips we see from the “other good teams”. My team has a young roster, seemingly filled with talented players. And none of us expect anything less but ANOTHER serious run at a superbowl.

This team is a lot more than just a HOF QB, and the best coach in the league. It takes 53 players to win all those games against other talented teams and it only gets harder every year. Somehow during these war of attrition seasons, BB has built teams that can survive all the injuries that occur, better than most everyone else. That depth that allows those double digit season got there somehow. So whatever we do in the draft and however strange it must seem you CANNOT argue with the end results...You just can't. We must be doing something right in the player acquisition process. Otherwise all those teams that seem to do better than us, would be beating us.

BOTTOM LINE: We can question. We can complain, but until the day comes where we start to see those 8-8 or 5-11 seasons again, there has to be some acknowledgment that whatever BB is doing in the player acquisition department is working, rendering all our *****ing and moaning pretty much irrelevant. (including my own)

These weekly outpourings......your shrink assigns you this weekly exercise in order for you to banish your inner demons and confront your fears openly (in an anonymous sort of way)....right? Has anyone wearing a white uniform removed your belt and shoe laces recently?

 

[Off The Grid]

I am a Pats fan...and this is the draft. So normally this is where I would go into my annual rant about my frustration in investing countless days discussing the pros and cons of dozens of potential Pats players, detailing with others about who we should pick and who is likely to be there when we do. Then there are the hours spent in watching the actual draft unfold, and once again be subject to trying to figure out what the **** just happened.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I watched my team trade down....again, and mostly agreed with the process. I justified the wasted 3 and half hours, by looking forward to a busy day on Friday, with 4 picks in the next 70, and dozens of very nice prospects that we could grab. People made lists. Lists with dozens of recognizable names that had been discussed over the last few months. Lists with lots of players that I would be comfortable with.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I am accustomed (or at least should be) to watching players I would love come off the board, only to hear the Pats make a pick of a player whom I haven't heard mentioned a SINGLE time in all the months leading up to this point. (If someone wrote a post touting Jamie Collins as a prospect, I'd love to see it.)

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now to watching my personal binkie (Margus Hunt) get picked immediately AFTER we get another mystery man.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So when all is said and done, we end up drafting 4 players. 3 of which had NEVER been discussed, and a 4th whose name I recognized (Aaron Dobson) but rarely saw mentioned as a likely prospect for us.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now at checking the players we drafted and finding all had significantly lower draft grades than the players drafted around them. Clearly whatever scoring system is used by the rest of league, we are using something else.

I am a Pats fans....and this the draft. So this whine is something we all do at this time, and over the next few days it will be echoed by many, who like myself our scratching our heads and trying to make sense of what just happened. I will have gird myself to hearing the mediots take this draft apart. Ron Borges is practically giddy with anticipation, and I can see Mazz, with all his football knowledge salivating.

BUT HERE'S THE THING: I am a freakin' Pats fan! And I get to watch my team get to win 10+ games EVERY freakin' year, without the occasional dips we see from the “other good teams”. My team has a young roster, seemingly filled with talented players. And none of us expect anything less but ANOTHER serious run at a superbowl.

This team is a lot more than just a HOF QB, and the best coach in the league. It takes 53 players to win all those games against other talented teams and it only gets harder every year. Somehow during these war of attrition seasons, BB has built teams that can survive all the injuries that occur, better than most everyone else. That depth that allows those double digit season got there somehow. So whatever we do in the draft and however strange it must seem you CANNOT argue with the end results...You just can't. We must be doing something right in the player acquisition process. Otherwise all those teams that seem to do better than us, would be beating us.

BOTTOM LINE: We can question. We can complain, but until the day comes where we start to see those 8-8 or 5-11 seasons again, there has to be some acknowledgment that whatever BB is doing in the player acquisition department is working, rendering all our *****ing and moaning pretty much irrelevant. (including my own)

2 Questions...

1 ~ Are you a Patriots Fan?

2 ~ Is this...the Draft?

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Bottom line: 8 years no Super Bowls victories.

The team is Tom Brady and I feel bad that his last years are being wasted, he is the great QB ever to play this game, the ultimate team player, and gets to enjoy another grueling season of putting the entire team on his back.

I'm getting a little sick of this line, used mostly by trolls of other teams.

Show me a team that has made it to 5 super Bowls in the last 12 years. show me another team that has been to 7 AFCCG's in the past 12 years.

Oh and BTW, TFB is just as responsible for the 2 close losses as anyone else, just as he was responsible for the 3 close SB wins.

Yes all fans want their team to win the SB every year. But it's the "fans" who repeatedly whine about the 2 last minute SB losses, every chance that they get, that are an embarrassment to the rest of the fans base of this team.

 

[patsfan13]

First 40 years as a Pats fan 2 trips to the SB no wins, last 8 years 2 trips to the SB. The last 8 years is living large compared to most of my life as a Pats fan.

In addition the core of the team has been rebuilt while winning double digits games every year.

We went to the AFCCG and lost to the SB winner. Some people don't know who well they have it.

Bottom line: 8 years no Super Bowls victories.

The team is Tom Brady and I feel bad that his last years are being wasted, he is the great QB ever to play this game, the ultimate team player, and gets to enjoy another grueling season of putting the entire team on his back.

 

[MUFC7]

After watching the press conference I am not as concerend anymore with this draft class. He said there could be FAs after the draft and if we get Abraham for the rotation I think this their plan is shapping up very nicely. There are still some quality players left for the 4th round pick (Patton, Jesse Williams).

The draft is a crapshot. I can remember that many experts didn't like the Seahawks last year draft and look what now everyone says about this draft class. The Harmon pick is a headscratcher and I honestly don't know why he did it. He could've easily waited for the 4th round pick. I didn't like the Logan pick either. Another zone CB that can get burned easily? Yeah exactly what this D needed. Maybe like last year we'll get a real steal a la Dennard in the 7th that makes it look better. But after all I'm happy with this off season. Only thing that really stings is that instead of Harmon we could have Sanders. That would've been a great draft this way.

 

[patfanken]

I'm getting a little sick of this line, used mostly by trolls of other teams.

Show me a team that has made it to 5 super Bowls in the last 12 years. show me another team that has been to 7 AFCCG's in the past 12 years.

Oh and BTW, TFB is just as responsible for the 2 close losses as anyone else, just as he was responsible for the 3 close SB wins.

Yes all fans want their team to win the SB every year. But it's the "fans" who repeatedly whine about the 2 last minute SB losses, every chance that they get, that are an embarrassment to the rest of the fans base of this team.

THAT was the point of my little late night writing exercise. The fact is that for all the legitimate frustrations we have in watching the Pats draft, you cannot deny the results. NO other team in the league can come close to matching the overall accomplishments this team has made over the last 12 years. THUS, while we will be forced to hear all the questions about BB's draft acumen over the next few weeks, he must be doing something right, otherwise all those wins wouldn't have happened.

I wrote it because I know how pissed off I am going to be listening to those who will shout to the universe, "why can't we draft like the Ravens do" or "draft like the Steelers do", or "draft like the Niners do", yet COMPLETELY ignore those teams' occasional slippages into mediocrity.

For 12 years now, with the occasional exception, we have been drafting late in EVERY round. Every policy and procedure the NFL can think of is designed to make sure that EVERY team occasionally has to slip back to the pack . Yet somehow this management team has kept the Pats above that criteria. So while we have the right to legitimately criticize this pick or that, the reality is, there is no team I'd rather be compared with when it comes to player acquisition, than the New England Patriots.

So while that last pick was really a mystery, and totally unexplanable, even more so than the Wilson pick of last year; I have to look at the TOTAL volume of work over the years and compare it with the results, and in the end just shake my head and move on.

 

[patfanken]

2 Questions...

1 ~ Are you a Patriots Fan?

2 ~ Is this...the Draft?

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Grid, I don't get it. please explain.

 

[Ring 6]

I am a Pats fan...and this is the draft. So normally this is where I would go into my annual rant about my frustration in investing countless days discussing the pros and cons of dozens of potential Pats players, detailing with others about who we should pick and who is likely to be there when we do. Then there are the hours spent in watching the actual draft unfold, and once again be subject to trying to figure out what the **** just happened.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I watched my team trade down....again, and mostly agreed with the process. I justified the wasted 3 and half hours, by looking forward to a busy day on Friday, with 4 picks in the next 70, and dozens of very nice prospects that we could grab. People made lists. Lists with dozens of recognizable names that had been discussed over the last few months. Lists with lots of players that I would be comfortable with.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I am accustomed (or at least should be) to watching players I would love come off the board, only to hear the Pats make a pick of a player whom I haven't heard mentioned a SINGLE time in all the months leading up to this point. (If someone wrote a post touting Jamie Collins as a prospect, I'd love to see it.)

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now to watching my personal binkie (Margus Hunt) get picked immediately AFTER we get another mystery man.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So when all is said and done, we end up drafting 4 players. 3 of which had NEVER been discussed, and a 4th whose name I recognized (Aaron Dobson) but rarely saw mentioned as a likely prospect for us.

I am a Pats fan....and this is the draft. So I should be accustomed by now at checking the players we drafted and finding all had significantly lower draft grades than the players drafted around them. Clearly whatever scoring system is used by the rest of league, we are using something else.

I am a Pats fans....and this the draft. So this whine is something we all do at this time, and over the next few days it will be echoed by many, who like myself our scratching our heads and trying to make sense of what just happened. I will have gird myself to hearing the mediots take this draft apart. Ron Borges is practically giddy with anticipation, and I can see Mazz, with all his football knowledge salivating.

BUT HERE'S THE THING: I am a freakin' Pats fan! And I get to watch my team get to win 10+ games EVERY freakin' year, without the occasional dips we see from the “other good teams”. My team has a young roster, seemingly filled with talented players. And none of us expect anything less but ANOTHER serious run at a superbowl.

This team is a lot more than just a HOF QB, and the best coach in the league. It takes 53 players to win all those games against other talented teams and it only gets harder every year. Somehow during these war of attrition seasons, BB has built teams that can survive all the injuries that occur, better than most everyone else. That depth that allows those double digit season got there somehow. So whatever we do in the draft and however strange it must seem you CANNOT argue with the end results...You just can't. We must be doing something right in the player acquisition process. Otherwise all those teams that seem to do better than us, would be beating us.

BOTTOM LINE: We can question. We can complain, but until the day comes where we start to see those 8-8 or 5-11 seasons again, there has to be some acknowledgment that whatever BB is doing in the player acquisition department is working, rendering all our *****ing and moaning pretty much irrelevant. (including my own)

You arent reading where other teams rank players. You are reading where people who are trying to guess where teams rank players think they should be ranked.
I think if you look back guys who get chosen higher than those rankings work out better than guys who 'drop' who are drafted in the same vicinity. Its just bizarre the way the draft is covered. Geno Smith and Matt Barkley didnt 'drop', the people guessing what NFL decision makers were thinking were wrong. The pick wasn't wrong, the guess was.