Draft Grade

Always a dumb thing to do since we never know the full outcome of a draft until years later, but I grade the picks by need, value and potential for the time being.

Overall I gave the Patriots a B-

The full chart of each pick can be seen here along with thoughts of the picks: http://joepatsfan.blogspot.com/2014/05/patriots-draft-grades-and-thoughts.html

What grade do you give the Patriots draft?

joepatsfan said:

Always a dumb thing to do since we never know the full outcome of a draft until years later, but I grade the picks by need, value and potential for the time being.

Overall I gave the Patriots a B-

The full chart of each pick can be seen here along with thoughts of the picks: http://joepatsfan.blogspot.com/2014/05/patriots-draft-grades-and-thoughts.html

What grade do you give the Patriots draft?

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This draft will be very difficult to grade for a number of years. Only Easley and Stork are likely to have major roles in the upcoming seasons.

@Brady6 or James White if my boy, Ridley, has fumble issues again. Rookie RB success is common from any round of the draft.

I think all of the O-line guys can feature this year. I like what I see from White ( albeit from the compilation videos)

the proof will be in the performances this season. I try not to take the nfl.com ratings as gospel and therefore its hard to give them a rating.

I give it a C. Was leaning towards C-. Not happy with the first 2 picks. I'm ALWAYS worried about wasting a 1st round pick on an IF. IF Easley didn't have surgery he'd have been a top 10 pick, IF he stays healthy he can be a star. He's very explosive, PRIOR to his 2nd knee injury. With so much talent available and so many needs, and it being the deepest WR class, maybe ever, this seems like a luxury pick. Sure, IF healthy, he may regain his explosiveness and help the team, but which TE is catching passes from Brady if Gronk isn't ready for the season, or gets reinjured ? Which WR takes Dobson's place if his foot isn't ready ? Boyce ended the season injured as well. We complained ALL season long that Elway has weapons and Brady doesn't, but what did BB/Caserio do to help that situation ? Don't get me wrong, I like the player, just not at that point, maybe we miss out on him, but he was a luxury pick.

2nd round, same thing, instead of trading up to take advantage of that great WR class, or trying to get one of the TEs left they take a QB. Once again, I like the player, but could have gotten a QB later.

3rd round, yeah there's no talent available there, let's trade it for a 4th and a 6th.

Some very solid picks in rounds 4-7, needed guys in the trenches, and got some decent ones.

Oddly enough, I think BB does better in the late rounds and UDFA, than he does in rounds 1-3.

scott99 said:

I give it a C. Was leaning towards C-. Not happy with the first 2 picks. I'm ALWAYS worried about wasting a 1st round pick on an IF. IF Easley didn't have surgery he'd have been a top 10 pick, IF he stays healthy he can be a star. He's very explosive, PRIOR to his 2nd knee injury. With so much talent available and so many needs, and it being the deepest WR class, maybe ever, this seems like a luxury pick. Sure, IF healthy, he may regain his explosiveness and help the team, but which TE is catching passes from Brady if Gronk isn't ready for the season, or gets reinjured ? Which WR takes Dobson's place if his foot isn't ready ? Boyce ended the season injured as well. We complained ALL season long that Elway has weapons and Brady doesn't, but what did BB/Caserio do to help that situation ? Don't get me wrong, I like the player, just not at that point, maybe we miss out on him, but he was a luxury pick.

2nd round, same thing, instead of trading up to take advantage of that great WR class, or trying to get one of the TEs left they take a QB. Once again, I like the player, but could have gotten a QB later.

3rd round, yeah there's no talent available there, let's trade it for a 4th and a 6th.

Some very solid picks in rounds 4-7, needed guys in the trenches, and got some decent ones.

Oddly enough, I think BB does better in the late rounds and UDFA, than he does in rounds 1-3.

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Seymour, Light, Branch, Warren, Wilfork, Mankins, Mayo, Vollmer, McCourty, Spikes, Gronkowski, Solder, Vereen, Ridley, Jones. That's a lot of hits very early and only one since 2004 is no longer on the team. The others are all but officially retired and spent the majority of their careers in New England and except Warren were either probowlers, all pros, or SB MVPs.

Jury still out on players like Hightower, Collins, Dobson, Ryan, and Harmon (he is the most questionable in my eye). And whether stars or not, all 5 will see significant snaps on a team coming off of an AFC appearance barring injury.

BB selects more players than anyone else in the NFL, his misses are going to be more frequent due to the sheer number of selections, but you can't ignore the great talent has has found early in the draft because there are a lot of misses.

Sometimes I think people label someone a bad pick I'd they never make the pro bowl or receive a big accolade.

strngplyr said:

Sometimes I think people label someone a bad pick I'd they never make the pro bowl or receive a big accolade.

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Or if they weren't on their binkie big board they have to be wowed by them or they'll always think "could have gotten someone better"

Only time will tell but right now on paper I'd have to go with a "C" as well but who knows..

I think that we drafted players who will likely start by 2015: Easley, Stork and Hilapio. If Vollmer were to be injured, we have a 4th capable of starting in Fleming. Drafting a backup for the oft-injured Vereen also gets a big plus from me.

When you pick at 29, that results in a B from me.

I don't judge by evaluations of the future of players they might have chosen. Many of us would have drafted ASJ at 29 or Fiedorowitz at 62. Belichick disagreed.

I give him a B+.

I like the Easley pick and love the 3 OL.

I thought bb would spend quality on TE position, but he went low rent quantity instead. We will see if that bites us down the road. That my only big complaint, but I can live with the approach especially as he may not be done on the FA /cap casualty market later on either.

I didn't think a "heir" qb needed to be addressed til next year, and a later rd could have filled the backup heir slot. But bb has a lot more info on what was there this year ( exactly how many qbs visited Foxboro?) AND WHAT is in the PIPELINE for next years draft as we'll, so I give him benefit of doubt and assume he got "his guy".

With the length of time wrs take to develop and nbr of yr 2 guys, I didn't see need for another wr, so not disappointed there. Just because everyone else is drafting wrs, does that mean we should too! so that an equally good yr2 guy or our dev rookie gets snatched off the PS when we can't fit them all in the 53? That is a real waste of draft capital. Bb addressed wr last year-basta!

I give the draft a solid B.

I love the fact the Oline has been injected with some size and youth. It has been talked about on these boards how the new line coach prefers bigger more powerful linemen, and I can't help but to think it's true after the draft. Stork and Halapio may end up being steals, as both players would have been ranked much higher had it not been for injury. I like the direction this unit is headed in and I am a huge fan of the Halapio pick up.

I like the we took a player like Zach Moore where we did vs. the 3rd. If he works out, awesome if he doesn't it's not such a terrible loss. I'm rooting for him.

Jeremy Gallon/Thomas - both of these guys have uphill battles to secure positions as both of their positions are crowded (esp if Ryan to Safety is true).. however if they both commit to special teams play, I can see them sticking and working hard to move up the depth chart. ESP Gallon.. kid is big play after big play.

Easley, if I said I wasn't even a little concerned about the knees I'd be lying however what the kid can grow into under Belichick and surrounded by the talent in the front 7 totally eclipses any worries. I think once it's go time, we will have a lot of fun watching this kid grow.

Garrapolo, love the upside.. not going to beat dead horse.. we all know only time will tell.

Disappointed that TE wasn't addressed but given where and how quick they went we would have probably had to trade the Easley pick.. and no hate toward Niklas/ASJ/AMaro but I'll take Easleys upside over them. CJF went a few picks after Garrapollo, based on value alone... CJF was a 3rd-4th rd talent while Garrapollo was a 1st-2nd, so again can't hate the pats for that one etheir.

Note: Hope Joe Don Duncan signs! was a binky!

I'll give it a C and that can improve if Easley is actually ready for the start of the season,
The offensive lineman are ok but, still questioning the Garoppolo pick and I see what they are saying just think we could have waited one more year.

The White pick is meh and I still hope Ridley stops those fumbles
I do like that he is able to do all the things asked of a running back and added insurance just think a bigger back is what we needed if we were to go that way.

I don't give out a stupid grade but I think BB and the Pats did very well for themselves in this draft.

My initial impression immediately after the NFL Draft was to grade the Patriots haul with a B-. Nearly a week removed, I see no reason to change that score as the team failed to address Tight End and OLB in the draft. That said, without knowing the team's plans moving forward, it's a grade in isolation.

I agree with everyone who says that this exercise is extremely difficult and almost pointless at the moment.

That said, I do like the 3 OL picks, the Thomas (S) pick, and the Easley pick as well. Even if Easley isn't contributing much until the 2nd half of the season, the fact that we'll have the 5th yr option on him may end up being enough to warrant the selection in itself.

I love the idea of going top 5 QB as well, although I don't personally know enough about JG to be able to comment too much on it--other than Belichick seems to point out some good traits. The biggest question will be whether or not he can build on that against better competition. I am one who feels that intelligence is one of the top positive traits to have for the position of QB though, and JG's football intelligence and ability to get rid of the ball very quickly isn't a bad thing--that's for sure. I also like the fact that he can be elusive at times as well.

If I had to grade it, I'd agree with the B-/C+ range currently, depending on how things work out. We may look back and see a few nice picks from this draft in my opinion.

1. Patriots, incomplete
...
32. Jets, incomplete

Fill in the rest as you wish. Those are the only two rankings that matter, and all of the "grades" are the same.

Should give it an incomplete, but for the sake of this thread will give it a B+..

The Easly pick is some risk, but some possible high reward. He was valued highly before his most recent ACL and now that his injuries have been scrutinized, he will be an impact player.

The Garapolo pick is not that perplexing, here is a guy who may or may not be in our future. If he does it is a great pick, if not we will pick another QB next year in approximately the same slot. This team is built to stay good for a long time, not just right now. Remember many of the former teams who were considered dynasties, SF comes to mind.. remember Jeff Garcia?? The Grapolo pick is to avoid that happening, it is not to light a fire under Brady.. it is to prepare us for life after.

The rest of the picks are low risk, possibly high reward...

C-

1st round pick - The addressed a big need, an interior pass rusher, but for Christ sake a player with already 2 blown ACL's before a single NFL snap, this is scary. He is going to play with 2 knee braces and that is going to affect his mobility. Also, he's undersized, outstanding performance in college games, let's see if he's going to make the transition to the NFL against big centers and guards. The upside here is very high, just like the risk. After the Ras Island fiasco, I would spend a 1st round pick carefully, in a safe choice from a healthy standpoint, even if it's not the BPA when they were on the clock. This team is already adding another injury prone player to the roster.

2nd round pick - A waste of a 2nd round pick for a guy that will never play a snap (under normal circumstances) in his 4 years as a rookie. Nothing against the player, just against this selection at this spot. In a deep draft I expected a player with 1st round level in any other year. He actually is but I mean, a player that will actually play.

Oline addressed - I really like what they did here. If it's the right guys it's another question, gotta trust in their info and evaluation of the players.

James White - Seems like a good player, but his selection was forced due to BB not being able to retain Blount. So it was a need, stop saying this BPA bs, obviously GM's draft by need too, including BB.

6th and 7th - This is picks you use in projects, developmental players or gambles, so I'm not gonna complain, actually I really liked Gallon and Thomas picks. Gallon is very small, another slot receiver but it is what it is, gotta trust, big receivers go early unless they are really bad, small receivers slip on the draft, so who knows, sometimes you hit the gold...Thomas another electric player, adding depth to an already good secondary. Zach Moore is a very questionable choice, in a draft this deep you could expect some "more than a project" choice at #198, I think he's PS, but if somehow he contributes this season, even not playing well, just taking some snaps relieving the starters, I'm more than happy.

Looking forward to the season, they didn't not draft a TE and the WR corps remains with big questions marks, if is not Brady there this offense would stink badly, but the defense is getting there, nice additions to the Oline too, but overall a very disappointing draft in my opinion.

joepatsfan said:

Always a dumb thing to do since we never know the full outcome of a draft until years later, but I grade the picks by need, value and potential for the time being.

Overall I gave the Patriots a B-

The full chart of each pick can be seen here along with thoughts of the picks: http://joepatsfan.blogspot.com/2014/05/patriots-draft-grades-and-thoughts.html

What grade do you give the Patriots draft?

Click to expand...

The same grade I give them every year, an I for Incomplete.

I should have read on before I posted. It looks like a popular grade.

scott99 said:

3rd round, yeah there's no talent available there, let's trade it for a 4th and a 6th.

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Not sure how to take this statement - a compliment or a criticism? They looked at the teams between the pick they gave up and the one they got and figured they could get the same player - Stork. So essentially, they picked up a 6th rounder for free.

Grading drafts is tough, obviously. Grading drafts in conjunction with other off-season moves is more appropriate.

They picked up an all-world and a really good press corner. They added a box hitting, blitzing safety (Chung).

To complement those additions, they brought in the missing piece in Easley. IMO, he was worth the "risk" (personally I don't see it as much of a risk, but whatever). There were 2 other players who could provide instant pressure to go with the press corners: Clowney (who was #1 on their draft board, by the way) and Donald. Both were gone LOOOOOOOOONG before they picked.

From everything I've heard and seen, there was not another DL coming in who could immediately contribute to that missing ingredient, particularly on interior pressure. I LOVE that they're finally transitioning to a pressure Defense, as I've been screaming for years that the new rules make the bend-don't-break model all but obsolete.

The other thing they did was beef up the O-line, which I saw as their most pressing need. And I hope they go more power blocking than scheme, honestly. Watching many of Wendell's "failures" on tape, he had to get to a 3-tech who looped outside. When they were in snap-count stadiums like Denver, these guys were exploding off the line so by the time Wendell had even started for them, they werre already beyond reach.

I didn't want a rookie WR (unless it was Watkins or Evans). I didn't want a TE over Easley, and there were only a couple I would have taken anyway, and they were all gone by the 2nd pick - except for maybe CJF.

They checked most of their boxes on a team that already was Super-bowl ready. Another TE, another LB...they'll fix that before the season starts.