2014 Practice Squad Thread

Miguel · Sep 5, 2014

ESPN reported that 47% of 7th round draft picks from 1994-2014 made Week 1 roster. Pats have 41% success rate

Miguel · Sep 5, 2014

Someone asked in this thread how much money Boyce lost by becoming a practice squad salary. His salary went from $495,000 to $107,100.

Jimke · Sep 5, 2014

Miguel said:
Someone asked in this thread how much money Boyce lost by becoming a practice squad salary. His salary went from $495,000 to $107,100.

Is $107,100 a set amount? I seem to remember in bygone years that some players on the Patriots ps made substantially
more than other players to entice them to stay with the team.

patfanken · Sep 5, 2014

Miguel said:
ESPN reported that 47% of 7th round draft picks from 1994-2014 made Week 1 roster. Pats have 41% success rate

I still think he Pats do better than average when you put their numbers in THIS context. The Pats have had some remarkable success over the last 13 years. Its always tougher to make a successful team than a bad one. So given the Pats success and the fact they often wind up with more than the standard 7 picks, I think they have done well.

A couple of other quick points. While looking out over this graphic, I couldn't help noticeos the QUALITY of the 7th round picks that made the team.. Pass, Givens, TBC, Cassell, Deadrick, Edelman, Dennard, and Buchannon, not only made the team for a year or two. They all managed to make significant contributions. (note the jury is still out on Buchannnn, but it looks good so far)

I wonder if Miguel could get us the stats which would compare the success the Pats have with UDFA's vs the rest of the league. Once again 2 UDFA's made a very successful team. IIRC, didn't the Pats have something like 18 players on their superbowl roster in 2011 who started their NFL careers as UDFA's

BTW. Thanks Miguel for taking the time to put this together

Miguel · Sep 6, 2014

Jimke said:
Is $107,100 a set amount? I seem to remember in bygone years that some players on the Patriots ps made substantially
more than other players to entice them to stay with the team.

Yes, Practice Squad players can be paid more than the minimum of $107,100. Justin Green was paid more than the minimum last year. No current Patriot practice squad member is.

Miguel · Sep 6, 2014

patfanken said:
I wonder if Miguel could get us the stats which would compare the success the Pats have with UDFA's vs the rest of the league. Once again 2 UDFA's made a very successful team. IIRC, didn't the Pats have something like 18 players on their superbowl roster in 2011 who started their NFL careers as UDFA's

Gil Brandt tweeted on his timeline during this past week that 64 UDFAs made the 53-man rosters. Of course, with all of the transactions that took place after his tweet the number changed.

BTW. Thanks Miguel for taking the time to put this together

I like to thank @Brady6 for inspiring me to do the research. His point claiming Halapio was a roster lock because of his draft position inspired me to do the legwork as I did not recall that many 6th round draft picks making the Patriots.

ctpatsfan77 · Sep 6, 2014

Miguel said:
Gil Brandt tweeted on his timeline during this past week that 64 UDFAs made the 53-man rosters. Of course, with all of the transactions that took place after his tweet the number changed.

I like to thank @Brady6 for inspiring me to do the research. His point claiming Halapio was a roster lock because of his draft position inspired me to do the legwork as I did not recall that many 6th round draft picks making the Patriots. View attachment 6902

He would have had a point if he said that about Stork, though.

Brady6 · Sep 6, 2014

Miguel said:
Gil Brandt tweeted on his timeline during this past week that 64 UDFAs made the 53-man rosters. Of course, with all of the transactions that took place after his tweet the number changed.

I like to thank @Brady6 for inspiring me to do the research. His point claiming Halapio was a roster lock because of his draft position inspired me to do the legwork as I did not recall that many 6th round draft picks making the Patriots. View attachment 6902

I am glad I inspired you although I do not recall saying Halapio and roster lock ever in the same sentence. I actually said he would not even make the team when he was drafted in the day 3 thread back in May.

Miguel · Sep 6, 2014

Look at what you said in the thread - Connolly and Wendell - only room for 1

Brady6 · Sep 6, 2014

Miguel said:
Look at what you said in the thread - Connolly and Wendell - only room for 1

I was going on Reiss having Halapio as a sure fire lock. That thread was like 2 months ago so I am surprised it just motivated you today.. .

Halapio was the third pick in the sixth round this past season, so his status does not have any bearing on the information you posted (great information just the same).

Miguel · Sep 6, 2014

I had done the research at the time of the thread.

Brady6 · Sep 6, 2014

Miguel said:
I had done the research at the time of the thread.

I appreciate you posting it.

Urgent · Sep 6, 2014

patfanken said:
I still think he Pats do better than average when you put their numbers in THIS context. The Pats have had some remarkable success over the last 13 years. Its always tougher to make a successful team than a bad one. So given the Pats success and the fact they often wind up with more than the standard 7 picks, I think they have done well.

BTW. Thanks Miguel for taking the time to put this together

I don't think that draft pick probability works that way.
Every year the Patriots turn over 15-20 players on their roster, Super Bowl or not.
The Pats add at least a league average number of undrafted players.
The seventh round picks are not typically replacing starters - the Patriots really focus on developing young players over time.
If the Patriots keep more than the average number of UDFA's, there is no reason they should keep fewer than the average number of 7th round picks.

mgteich · Sep 6, 2014

We had a very deep roster going into the offseason, with lots and lots of youngsters. We shouldn't be disappointed that some of this year's kids didn't make the team.

After all Hilapio and Gallon were beaten out by last year's UDFA's Kline, Devey and Thompkins. BTW, Hilapio was acknowledged to be an afterthought and a long-shot. It is only on message boards that he was considered a potential 2014 or 2105 starter.

On defense, it was impressive (to me) that Moore made the team, given that we brought in vets on the DL and kept youngsters from last year: Siliga, Jones and Vellano.

BOTTOM LINE
I started a couple of threads on how many 6th, 7th and UDFA's would make the team. I thought a total of 1 or 2 would surprise me and make the 53, although at the time none seemed worthy. I'm NOT disappointed with only keeping Moore and Butler. After all, it's not that we kept a lot of old declining vets. Belichick waived several vets in the last couple of weeks.

Jimke · Sep 6, 2014

I am not a great fan for trading down. Trading down with Jacksonville this year resulted in a loss of 28 value
points and the 6th round player they drafted was Halapio.

mgteich · Sep 6, 2014

Jimke said:
I am not a great fan for trading down. Trading down with Jacksonville this year resulted in a loss of 28 value
points and the 6th round player they drafted was Halapio.

We wanted to draft a center. Our man was Stork at 93.

We traded Pick 93 for 105 and 178.

We drafted Stork and Hilapio.

Did we have interest in anyone else between 93 and 105?

mayoclinic · Sep 6, 2014

mgteich said:
We wanted to draft a center. Our man was Stork at 93.

We traded Pick 93 for 105 and 178.

We drafted Stork and Hilapio.

Did we have interest in anyone else between 93 and 105?

I don't know who the team had interest in. But they should have taken Brandon Thomas, who went to SF at #100. Top 50 pick, maybe top 40, if not for his ACL tear, Thomas would have been a 10 year starter at LG for us starting in 2015.

mgteich · Sep 6, 2014

mayoclinic said:
I don't know who the team had interest in. But they should have taken Brandon Thomas, who went to SF at #100. Top 50 pick, maybe top 40, if not for his ACL tear, Thomas would have been a 10 year starter at LG for us starting in 2015.

Now we're on 20-20 hindsight.

If the patriots had valued Thomas a likely 2015 starter they would have drafted him.

mayoclinic · Sep 6, 2014

mgteich said:
Now we're on 20-20 hindsight.

If the patriots had valued Thomas a likely 2015 starter they would have drafted him.

No hindsight at all. Many people projected Thomas as a top 40 pick prior to his ACL tear and projected him to LG. It was widely predicted that a team such as the Patriots or 49ers would take a chance on him and red shirt him for a year, and many people predicted that Logan Mankins would be gone in 2015, so the idea of drafting Thomas as Mankins' 2015 replacement made sense way before Mankins was traded. For example:

Clemson's Brandon Thomas was viewed by most as a second round prospect. After this news, he'll likely fall to the late rounds of the draft.

It's a tough break for Thomas and one that recalls the story of current Patriot Marcus Canon. Like Canon, Thomas spent the majority of his college career playing tackle, but scouts generally agree that he has a higher NFL upside at guard. Like Canon, Thomas was viewed as a second round prospect before having a major medical red flag unexpectedly pop up (in Canon's case, it was a lymphoma diagnosis that caused him to miss the majority of his rookie year).

Canon wound up falling all the way to the fifth round, where he was snapped up by the Patriots. He's gone on to be solid for them as a third tackle, although I've argued he'd be better utilized at guard.

Thomas will most likely experience a similar fall, which could make him a great value pick in the later rounds of the draft. The Patriots could stand to restock the pipeline with some youth in the interior offensive line, as they have little proven depth behind 32 year old Logan Mankins and Dan Connolly. If drafted, Thomas would come into a redshirt situation in 2014 before hitting the field the following year, where his athleticism could make him a fit in the Patriots blocking schemes.

The Patriots roster certainly appears to be well-rounded enough for the team to afford spending a later round pick on a high upside prospect who won't be able to help this year. Instead of using that fifth or sixth round pick on a fifth or sixth round caliber player, they'd be essentially adding a second-round caliber player to next year's draft haul.

Top guard prospect Brandon Thomas tears ACL | nepatriotslife.com

I don't consider April 8 2014 to be "hindsight". By the time the draft rolled around a month later, that "late round pick" projection was considered to be no later than a 4th, and quite possibly a 3rd. The 49ers, loaded with extra picks, ended up using a 3rd round comp pick. I think the Pats, picking at 93, had to know that the odds of Thomas lasting until 130 were low.

Of course, it's possible that the Pats didn't value Thomas as a likely 2015 starter, as you suggest, or that they valued Stork more. But I think it's also quite possible that having used their top pick on a guy coming off an ACL tear, they just decided that they didn't want to take on the risk of 2 of their top 3 picks being in that situation. JMHO. If so, I think it was a mistake.

Snake Eyes · Sep 6, 2014

Jimke said:
I am not a great fan for trading down. Trading down with Jacksonville this year resulted in a loss of 28 value
points and the 6th round player they drafted was Halapio.

Who cares about "points", all that matters is the players that draft picks can give you. If BB instead drafted Seantrel Henderson, who has been starting for the Bills, would you be a fan of trading down?

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