NFL Draft: Day 2, Rounds 2-3 Thread

BelichickFan said:

Assuming they had the chance, I would have taken the Bills' Watkins offer had I been STL. Go to 9, you can still get Lewan or any of the CB/S and get the Bills' #1 next year. Great deal for CLE IMO and I'd have done it if I were STL, get a good player and ANOTHER #1 from RGIII deal.

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I don't know. Greg Robinson was being considered at a whole other level to Lewan.

manxman2601 said:

God! I hope not:



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I SINCERELY HOPE NOT

manxman2601 said:

I don't know. Greg Robinson was being considered at a whole other level to Lewan.

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I love Robinson but that could easily be another Top 15 pick again next year.

BelichickFan said:

Assuming they had the chance, I would have taken the Bills' Watkins offer had I been STL. Go to 9, you can still get Lewan or any of the CB/S and get the Bills' #1 next year. Great deal for CLE IMO and I'd have done it if I were STL, get a good player and ANOTHER #1 from RGIII deal.

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There's definitely an upside to what you're saying but given Bradford's injury history I think they needed to get Robinson or Matthews. Lewan is a nice player but a notch down. Again not saying you're wrong and I love what Cleveland did but for the Rams who are closer than people think I believe they played it right.

I'm thinking it has to be TE at 62 but I have a feeling the value won't be there. A trade back seems viable to pick up a 3rd and 4th. with two 3rd's and three 4th's, there's a bit more flexibility. I think they can go in a lot of different directions there and pick a starting TE and center with some developmental guys on defense.

RIpats88 said:

I want Jace Amaro or another move Tight end. Patriots NEED another TE. if they go DT in the first round(which they did) and TE in the 2nd that fills two major needs.

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Agree 100%, first target should b best available TE. I'd even be fine with trading up for Amaro or ASJ.

Galeb said:

Jordan Matthews.

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Would love this. Hopefully he's around in round 3. Need a TE in round 2.

How about Joyner starting across McCourty at pick 62?

patsinthesnow said:

How about Joyner starting across McCourty at pick 62?

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I'd rather Exum in the 4th

If there is any way to get Bitonio then I hope we go for him in round 2.

Of course this means that we will most probably not be able to get one of the better TEs (Amaro, ASJ, Niklas, CJF) unless we can trade up twice.. but longterm I think Bitonio might be the more important puzzle piece..

Bold Prediction: Pats will pick 4 times today...

I think the 2-TE scheme ship has sailed. It was a scheme designed around the fact that the Patriots' two most potent offensive weapons were tight ends - and even then, given injuries, Gronk and Hernandez didn't actually play together all that much anyways.

The Patriots have the best tight end in football, so long as he stays healthy. Chasing a mediocre tight end prospect to pair with Gronk seems like a fool's errand, especially since they have two potent slot receivers now and Hernandez was used as a slot receiver as much as he was a tight end.

I'm with the offensive line group. All the weapons in the world don't matter if Ryan Wendell is playing matador.

I think we have to look at :

-tight end
-offensive line
-safety

I would be happy if any of these positions are addressed with our next two picks.

manxman2601 said:

God! I hope not:



This comes from ProFootballTalk. For some reason i'm having trouble pasting into the forum. Help!

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That would actually be plausible if the Patriots believed that Brady would be done before his contract expired. But given Nick Caserio's "claim" that the Pats are more considered with finding Mallett's replacement, not Brady's, I don't see it.

Whats people's thoughts on Tre Mason @ 62? He's a typical work horse back, love his running style.
I think thats decent value, mainly because we have no idea whats gunna happen with Ridley after this year. BB doesn't really "pay" running backs so I could see another team overpaying for Stevan.

primetime said:

I think the 2-TE scheme ship has sailed. It was a scheme designed around the fact that the Patriots' two most potent offensive weapons were tight ends - and even then, given injuries, Gronk and Hernandez didn't actually play together all that much anyways.

The Patriots have the best tight end in football, so long as he stays healthy. Chasing a mediocre tight end prospect to pair with Gronk seems like a fool's errand, especially since they have two potent slot receivers now and Hernandez was used as a slot receiver as much as he was a tight end.

I'm with the offensive line group. All the weapons in the world don't matter if Ryan Wendell is playing matador.

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I agree to a point. We absolutely need to upgrade our TE depth but not necessarily to run the 2 TE set. We can't afford to have Gronk get hurt and then have absolutely nothing behind him. I don't think it's a coincidence that when Gronk was healthy we had the number 1 offense. We can't replace his loss but we can mitigate it with one of the TEs that are available.

sucks the top safeties are gone.

primetime said:

I think the 2-TE scheme ship has sailed. It was a scheme designed around the fact that the Patriots' two most potent offensive weapons were tight ends - and even then, given injuries, Gronk and Hernandez didn't actually play together all that much anyways.

The Patriots have the best tight end in football, so long as he stays healthy. Chasing a mediocre tight end prospect to pair with Gronk seems like a fool's errand, especially since they have two potent slot receivers now and Hernandez was used as a slot receiver as much as he was a tight end.

I'm with the offensive line group. All the weapons in the world don't matter if Ryan Wendell is playing matador.

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I somewhat disagree, I think it is going to be different than the previous two TE offense if they rebuild it. I think the Patriots would prefer to have a true Y-TE like Niklas or CJF. This would put Gronkowski at the Flex-TE and will allow them to use him as an offensive playmaker all over the field. When we had Hernandez his limitations as a blocker forced Gronkowski to play the Y-TE and often times that led to Gronkowski being held back to block. Drafting a player like CJF gives you an elite blocking TE capable of catching the football, you will not get the same level of production in the passing game as Hernandez offered but you can optimize the production you get from Gronkowski.

manxman2601 said:

wesley Johnson and John Urschel are really good fits. Borg had a source saying the Pats are looking at an "intelligent OL" which fits Urschel perfectly.

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Brady6 said:

I am concerned that Wesley Johnson at 6’5 ½” is too tall to play center at the next level.

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I agree with both of you. I really like Johnson as one of the most flexible OLs in the draft -- the only player I can recall seeing listed under C on some draft boards and OT on others! I think he's a perfect backup/utility lineman, but too tall for a starting center. Urschel, meanwhile, has never played center but to me is born for the position and I wouldn't want to play him anywhere else.

One I don't want is Marcus Martin, he strikes me as the kind of player who is labeled "all raw potential" simply because he's erratic.

Coach42 said:

I agree to a point. We absolutely need to upgrade our TE depth but not necessarily to run the 2 TE set. We can't afford to have Gronk get hurt and then have absolutely nothing behind him. I don't think it's a coincidence that when Gronk was healthy we had the number 1 offense. We can't replace his loss but we can mitigate it with one of the TEs that are available.

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I think the best move is Niklas or CJF that gives you a base offense like this -

QB - Brady
RB - Ridley/Vereen
X-WR - Dobson
Z-WR - Edelman
Y-TE - Niklas/CJF
Flex-TE - Gronkowski

This makes Gronkowski the chess piece, they can move him around inside and outside with isolation routes, etc. Plus running with those two TEs is going to be effective.