Pats draft QB Jimmy Garropolo from Eastern Illinois in the 2nd round

iapatsfan said:

How about 1 decent healthy TE not coming off major reconstructive knee surgery? I don't need 2 - one will do. Did I also mention we will be starting Duron freaking Harmon at safety as it stands now? You know, the horrendously bad pick from last year. How is it possible to release a garbage player like Gregory and see a decrease in the talent level at safety?

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1.There have been lots of articles that state that we're moving Logan Ryan to safety, so a 3 safety tandem of McCourty, Harmon, and Ryan doesn't look nearly as bad as you're suggesting.

2. There was a dramatic dropoff of safety talent in the 2014 draft after the initial several went off the board. That would have meant that we'd have needed to select one in the 1st round. Belichick obviously did not want to do that.

3. Harmon didn't look "horrendously bad" as you're trying to say. That's ridiculous. He filled in just fine for a couple of games.

4. We may still draft or select an additional safety prior to the start of the season, and/or Gregory may still even come back for the S3 or S4 spot.

mgteich said:

Obviously!

HOU wants Mallett, but wants at least a 2-year deal before any trade.

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Good luck to both of them attempting to agree on compensation, which was the major obstacle that I've pointed out numerous times in response to rumors regarding a trade.

That's "If" these latest rumors are true, thus debunking the ones from 12 hrs ago that state that Mallett is off the market.

It's still quite possible that something may get done, but it's also just as possible that Mallett stays for the last year here while Garoppolo learns our system. It isn't like we've never carried 3 QBs before. If we have to do it once every 4 yrs or so, then I don't see the big deal myself.

Snake Eyes said:

Yeah, and they could have done an even better job by effectively utilizing that pick.

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I guess we will have to deal with another lousy AFC Championship appearance. Getting sick of all those. Something needs to change. Why do pro sport teams spend millions of dollars on scouting when they can just go on the internet?

Love the player, not sure I love the position of the pick but I can live with that. The thing that stands out to me is we can now say with certainty that the Mallett pick was wasted pick by the Patriots. Unless he's traded for something reasonable in the future, he's a depreciating asset. For a guy strong on the economics of football, it's not a smart Belichick move (IMO).

Welcome to New England Jimmy. You're in an ideal situation to sit, learn and develop from the best in the business for the next few years.

iapatsfan said:

You don't get "luxury" picks when you had your ass handed to you in the playoffs.

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Oh, please...that's silly.

We beat DEN once, and they beat us once.

If it hadn't been due to a year with insane injury totals across the board and maybe some untimely overthrows, we may have been in that game a lot more than losing by 10 pts.

This team has gone to the AFCCG is each of its last 3 seasons, and have held the first round bye now 4 yrs in a row. How many positions do you honestly see as being major weaknesses? There's only so much you can do to try and improve this year. You need to have some luck and health as well. Personally, I'm glad and appreciative that we have a coach that will allow us to compete post-Brady and into the future.

Sticky Caulk said:

I guess we will have to deal with another lousy AFC Championship appearance. Getting sick of all those. Something needs to change. Why do pro sport teams spend millions of dollars on scouting when they can just go on the internet?

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What good is an AFC championship if you lose in it? Or in the SB?

Coming in 2nd just means that you're the first loser.

supafly said:

Personally, I'm glad and appreciative that we have a coach that will allow us to compete post-Brady and into the future.

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I'd much rather be more competitive with Brady than maybe competitive afterwards. Elway is the one doing it right, he knows that franchise QBs don't come along often, the smart thing to do it maximize your potential with them than to hope and pray you just get another.

There have been lots of articles that state that we're moving Logan Ryan to safety, so a 3 safety tandem of McCourty, Harmon, and Ryan doesn't look nearly as bad as you're suggesting.

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Considering Ryan is not a safety. Yes it is.

2. There was a dramatic dropoff of safety talent in the 2014 draft after the initial several went off the board. That would have meant that we'd have needed to select one in the 1st round. Belichick obviously did not want to do that

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A safety w/ two healthy legs > A DT with two bad knees

3. Harmon didn't look "horrendously bad" as you're trying to say. That's ridiculous. He filled in just fine for a couple of games.

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That's what we need to beat the Broncos in the playoffs - a "just fine" safety. Hopefully their Hall of Fame QB is intimidated by our "just fine" safety, our balky knee'd rookie and our backup QB.

4. We may still draft or select an additional safety prior to the start of the season, and/or Gregory may still even come back for the S3 or S4 spot.

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Gregory coming back is supposed to inspire confidence? This is supposed to be a good thing?

ausbacker said:

Love the player, not sure I love the position of the pick but I can live with that. The thing that stands out to me is we can now say with certainty that the Mallett pick was wasted pick by the Patriots. Unless he's traded for something reasonable in the future, he's a depreciating asset. For a guy strong on the economics of football, it's not a smart Belichick move (IMO).

Welcome to New England Jimmy. You're in an ideal situation to sit, learn and develop from the best in the business for the next few years.

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I'm not as sure as you are that it's necessarily a wasted pick, aus.

Every 3 years since '08 we've selected a high pick selection for backup QB. Not everyone will agree with me, but I feel as though the position of backup is important, specifically for this complex offense. Belichick is a guy who likes to have all of the bases covered in every scenario.

If Mallett stays the year, we'll have had the luxury of only having to carry 2 QBs every year, thus freeing up another position for the 53. He also knows the system and is there in case of emergency, not to mention the additions he makes on the scout team in practice. I think with the way that BB wheels and deals picks to accumulate more, we can afford to spend a 3rd rounder every few yrs to make sure it's taken care of.

Just my .02 cents though.

supafly said:

I'm not as sure as you are that it's necessarily a wasted pick, aus.

Every 3 years since '08 we've selected a high pick selection for backup QB. Not everyone will agree with me, but I feel as though the position of backup is important, specifically for this complex offense. Belichick is a guy who likes to have all of the bases covered in every scenario.

If Mallett stays the year, we'll have had the luxury of only having to carry 2 QBs every year, thus freeing up another position for the 53. He also knows the system and is there in case of emergency, not to mention the additions he makes on the scout team in practice. I think with the way that BB wheels and deals picks to accumulate more, we can afford to spend a 3rd rounder every few yrs to make sure it's taken care of.

Just my .02 cents though.

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I agree with what you're saying @supafly but I see drafting a Quarterback in Rounds 1-3 as a luxury pick for the Patriots. Given the many and varied needs of the team year in and year out, in retrospect, I'm not sure the Mallett pick makes any sense now. That could all change if he's flipped for something.

iapatsfan said:

Considering Ryan is not a safety. Yes it is.

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With a plethora of above average CBs, it makes sense to try and utilize the talent that Logan Ryan displayed in his rookie year, so I think most of us are fine with moving him to safety. Who cares?

You seem to be overly concerned about a lot of nothing.
The additions of Browner and Revis alone should help to combat Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

If Gregory does return, it would be nothing more than a S3-4, which is what I pointed out. He'd probably be the best S3-4 in the entire league, so I'm not sure what the whining is about?

scott99 said:

Im sorry, but only a moron would think the Patriots have had a good draft so far. No immediate help for Brady whatsoever. Brady was sacked more times last year since his first season, do we improve the Oline ? We've kept harping ALL offseason about Brady not having enough weapons, and all BB has gotten Brady is Brandon Friggen Lafell. We don't know if Gronk will ever be Gronk again, do we draft insurance, no. Our best rookie WR is hobbling around in a walking boot, yet do we draft a WR in the DEEPEST WR draft ever ? Nah why do that ? BB literally could have stayed home and had a monkey made the moves he made today.

I wish the media had balls enough to call him out on his poor drafting. But they are too afraid of COACH Belichick, they should be ripping apart GM Belichick. All of our enemies have gotten stronger, but not us. Terrible draft, only a moron or BB apologist thinks he's done well the last two days. Keep watching him waste away Brady's chances. Hope you enjoy it.

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I'm sorry, but only a moron would presume that they have the slightest idea that they know whether a draft has been "good" or "bad" within days of it happening, never mind before they've even picked the last five rounds.

What we do know about is the results of drafts a couple of years down the line. Which of the drafts from 2010, 2011 or 2012 would you say has best demonstrated the incompetence of BB the GM? The one where we got two All-Pro players in Gronk and McCourty and four starters? How about the one where we picked up our starting backfield and left tackle? Or was it the dreadful 2012 class where EVERY SINGLE GUY PICKED MADE THE TEAM AT SOME POINT AND PLAYED?

Oh, I know, you're just ahead of the curve because you're looking at the 2013 draft class and see the disaster looming on the horizon. After all, what have Collins, Dobson, Ryan, Harmon and Boyce showed so far other than that they're likely to be cut this coming training camp?

Very well thought out post on your part, you must really miss the game day threads as a weekly catharsis.

supafly said:

Oh, please...that's silly.

We beat DEN once, and they beat us once.

If it hadn't been due to a year with insane injury totals across the board and maybe some untimely overthrows, we may have been in that game a lot more than losing by 10 pts.

This team has gone to the AFCCG is each of its last 3 seasons, and have held the first round bye now 4 yrs in a row. How many positions do you honestly see as being major weaknesses? There's only so much you can do to try and improve this year. You need to have some luck and health as well. Personally, I'm glad and appreciative that we have a coach that will allow us to compete post-Brady and into the future.

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How do you remedy your injury concerns as a team? Draft a guy with two bad knees in the first round.

Major weaknesses:
Center - see Denver game when Knighton abused Wendell.
TE - nobody behind our injury riddled starter.
WR - See last season
Safety - please.

ausbacker said:

I agree with what you're saying @supafly but I see drafting a Quarterback in Rounds 1-3 as a luxury pick for the Patriots. Given the many and varied needs of the team year in and year out, in retrospect, I'm not sure the Mallett pick makes any sense now. That could all change if he's flipped for something.

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I think this is just an instance where we may disagree a bit. Some will see it one way, and others will see it the other way.

I think it depends on how you personally view the importance of backup QB, so for me---I am honestly fine with selecting a higher quality, higher talented QB once every 4 yrs myself.

I don't think the odds of a 3rd round pick working out are much better than 50/50 anyway, but I could be wrong. Some charts say one thing, while others give a more optimistic picture. I've gotten a pretty clear 50/50 rate from what I've seen, but again...I could be off by 10 percent or so.

Hopefully we can turn Mallett into a future pick for 2015, but I still don't see it being as high as many have suggested. If it's a 4th rounder or so for 2015, then I'd personally rather have Mallett at the helm for this upcoming season. I don't see any case where Garoppolo would be able to handle those duties as a rookie, but I could be wrong. Normally, we wait one full year, although in 2009 we did go with Hoyer due to getting rid of KOC right off the bat. Now THAT pick was a failure

Where we disagree a bit is that I see Mallett holding it down and doing his job for 4 yrs (if he stays this year). That's about all we can ask for. I definitely see where you're coming from though, no doubt. I just don't think it's necessarily a "wasted" pick, since he's basically doing his job as a backup. It seems as though BB is good with bringing in higher talented QBs as backups, so we may have to get used to sacrificing a higher round pick once every 3-4 yrs, at least until Brady's gone anyway.

josh77 said:

You said it. There's never been an FCS QB that has been able to QB in NFL, let alone win a Super Bowl

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Tony Romo went to the exact same school. And **** on Romo all you want, but he is one of the better QBs in the league.

iapatsfan said:

How do you remedy your injury concerns as a team? Draft a guy with two bad knees in the first round.

Major weaknesses:
Center - see Denver fame when Knighton abused Wendell.
TE - nobody behind our injury riddled starter.
WR - See last season
Safety - please.

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The position of center can be addressed in any number of ways, including moving Connelly over and having Cannon/Kline/draft pick/free agent take the position of RG. The object should be to split up Connelly/Wendell from last year, since they occupy the all important interior gaps. If one of them moves down, then I think we're in a much better position.

WR was addressed with a new pact to Edelman, a healthy Amendola, bringing in a guy who's improved in all 3-4 seasons at CAR in LaFell, and seeing all of our rookies go into their all important 2nd year. There's absolutely no scenario where WR will look as bad as last season.

Safety--we've been talking about. A top 3 tandem of McCourty, Harmon, and Ryan would be more than fine.

TE can be addressed by selecting someone in the rounds that occur tomorrow, or adding Dustin Keller.

It's all doom and gloom with you, man. What gives?

supafly said:

With a plethora of above average CBs, it makes sense to try and utilize the talent that Logan Ryan displayed in his rookie year, so I think most of us are fine with moving him to safety. Who cares?

You seem to be overly concerned about a lot of nothing.
The additions of Browner and Revis alone should help to combat Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

If Gregory does return, it would be nothing more than a S3-4, which is what I pointed out. He'd probably be the best S3-4 in the entire league, so I'm not sure what the whining is about?

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In a league moving to big, back shoulder fade WRs/TEs, you want to start two undersized safeties? Sure the corners have improved, but would there be a smaller safety tandem in the league? That out to work out well when facing quality TEs.

nekromantique said:

Tony Romo went to the exact same school. And **** on Romo all you want, but he is one of the better QBs in the league.

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Definitely top 10-12.

Historically has the same QB rating range as Brady in the 95-96 range, with a better than 2/1 TD to INT ratio, and a 65 percent completion percentage.

Romo is definitely not a 'bad' QB, although his decision making comes into question. I agree with you that he gets more crap than he deserves, and makes tons of good plays. I feel bad for the poor dude, playing on such a lousy team/organization.

iapatsfan said:

In a league moving to big, back shoulder fade WRs/TEs, you want to start two undersized safeties? Sure the corners have improved, but would there be a smaller safety tandem in the league? That out to work out well when facing quality TEs.

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"I" have nothing to do with it. I'm just passing on the popular and current reports that have surfaced from the beat reporters that follow the team in regards to moving Ryan to the position of safety.

I trust Belichick, so whatever he sees fit is much better than anything we're going to come up with.

You're also being a bit harsh on Harmon, who could go either way. We haven't seen enough one way or another, so I don't blame BB for utilizing his 3rd round selection from last spring.

The position of center can be addressed in any number of ways, including moving Connelly over and having Cannon/Kline/draft pick/free agent take the position of RG. The object should be to split up Connelly/Wendell from last year, since they occupy the all important interior gaps. If one of them moves down, then I think we're in a much better position.

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In case you forgot, Connelly sucked last year.

WR was addressed with a new pact to Edelman, a healthy Amendola, bringing in a guy who's improved in all 3-4 seasons at CAR in LaFell, and seeing all of our rookies go into their all important 2nd year. There's absolutely no scenario where WR will look as bad as last season.

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Healthy Amendola? Seriously?

Safety--we've been talking about. A top 3 tandem of McCourty, Harmon, and Ryan would be more than fine

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Sorry, but that safety group couldn't cover our TEs, and one of our TEs has one leg.

TE can be addressed by selecting someone in the rounds that occur tomorrow, or adding Dustin Keller.

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What's your obsession with guys with bad knees?

It's all doom and gloom with you, man. What gives?

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Watching a precipitous drop off in talent during Brady's golden years will do that to a man.