I think our whole draft depends on who we sign right now i wouldnt be surprised if we got desmond bryant from oakland hes intelligent (went to harvard), young and had a breakout season. If we get him I still wouldnt mind getting a dt in the first but it definitely lessens that need. we could sign someone like kenny philips for s which then we wouldnt even need to draft a safety. Those are my top 3 FA targets and i think that could help a lot if we get desmond bryant i think a trade down or someone like Johnathan Banks would be great (replacing Talib) all in all we have a lot of possibilities through FA and the draft and a lot of interesting possibilities with vollmer, talib and welker all FA's
Hey Mayo, who ya picking in this scenario? Rang and Brugler have new mocks out. 3 qb's going in first 8 picks. Lord, I hope that happens. Will drop some good players to us. And, increase demand for a qb to trade down. Rang has us taking Matt Elam whom I like. But, not as much as some other guys left on his board. Brugler has us picking Tavon Austin. I thought we want a bigger WR if Welker leaves?
With Rang's board we could have Dion Jordan, Jon Cooper or Jesse Williams. Could you make a decision in 15 minutes? Matt Glennon is on his board so someone will prob want to trade up and we'll deal down.
2013 NFL Mock Drafts - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com
I'm taking a bit of a sabbatical from posting for a while to recharge my batteries before the draft, but didn't want to be discourteous and ignore a direct request.
I agree with Ewan that it depends on what we do in FA, and I also agree with him about Desmond Bryant, who is actually my top FA target for the Pats. In fact, I've gone "all in" for Bryant the way I was all in for the Pats acquiring Talib and for the Pats signing Armond Armstead. I could go into detail as to why, but to be brief, I think Bryant would be a force in the middle next to Wilfork, with the ability to be a 3 down lineman who can stop the rush, clog the passing lanes, and generate inside pressure. He had 4 sacks, 11 hits and 20 hurries in 350 pass rushes in 8 starts last year. I think he's just hitting his prime. I like him better than any of the draft optons, because I think he combines some of the disruptiveness of guys like Sheldon Richardson and Sharrif Floyd without being just a penetrator. He's also a smart, tough kid who is a hard worker. I see Armond Armstead more as a LDE who can move inside on passing downs, where Armstead and Bryant would be a terror. A base DL of Armstead-Wilfork-Bryant-Jones would be able to stop the run, clog the passing lanes and generate pressure with a 4 man rush. Armstead could move inside on sub packages with Ninkovich moving to LDE. Ninkovich could allso see time at OLB.
I like the idea of picking up Kenny Phillips, but cap space will be tight. I actually think that Nate Ebner has the physical tools to develop as a stud SS opposite Devin McCourty. I'd love the Pats to pick up George Wilson to tutor him. Wilson was a UDFA WR who converted to SS very successfully. He'd be an immediate upgrade over Steve Gregory in terms of physicality, and a pretty cheap pick up. Ebner was very raw last year, but the secondary was also in flux. After a year to learn the position, and with a more stable secondary, and with someone to tutor him, I think he could develop fairly quickly - maybe not as an immediate starter in 2013, but perhaps over the course of the year. He has elite athleticism, and the rare combination of brute physicality and elite movement skills that you seldom see. Only Kenny Vaccaro has that skill set of the current set of draft prospects.
Getting to your question, if the Pats did sign Desmond Bryant, I'd go OL in round 1. The guy I would really like to target is DJ Fluker, who is my 4th "all in" guy. I think he'd be a brute on the right side of the line at either RG or RT. Put him next to Vollmer or Cannon and the Pats would have a dominant physical right side of the line. Ideally, we'd re-sign Vollmer and use the 3 of them in a rotation, and just overpower teams. Fluker is available at 29 in Bruger's mock, but not in Rang's. In Rang's, I'd go with Jonathan Cooper, who is more athletic but less powerful. He'd probably play LG, with Logan Mankins moving to RG, or center.
Either way, by signing Bryant (in addition to Armstead) and drafting Fluker or Cooper the Pats would significantly upgrade both of their lines. I'm a strong proponent of building around the trenches.
That's all for now. I probably won't be posting for a while.
best describes my feelings on him. Bray, to me, seemed like more of a product of his talented receivers and showed way too many flashes of being an absolute gunslinger.
