Welcome to the New England Patriots Jordan Richards

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...ds-in-the-second-round-of-the-2015-nfl-draft/

1) We know the Patriots covet players who do well in the 3-cone drill, and the 5-foot-11, 211-pound Richards was one of the best in the drill at the combine this past year. He posted a 6.74 time in the drill, the ninth-best out of the rest of the field. His father played football at Tufts in the 1970s.

2) He’s a team captain — both of the picks the Patriots have made to this point in the draft were team captains. (This is pretty much in line with one of their core organizational philosophies over the last five years or so.)

3) When it comes to his resume, he was a first-team All-Pac 12 in 2014. In four seasons with Stanford, he played in 54 games, with 152 tackles (13 for a loss) with one sack and nine picks.

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Even though it is a questionable pick, I will not pass judgement until he actually steps foot on the field.

PATSNUTme said:

The more I read about him the more he reminds me of Rodney, who was a mid round pick. We will just have to see how he does on the field rather than the draft "rankings".

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He's also two-tenths of a second faster than Rodney, so there's that.

DW Toys said:

As I have said best coach ever and mediocre at best Drafter. Yes...... AT BEST!

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This is empirically false.

JackBauer said:

This is empirically false.

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Agree.

Posters can criticize individual picks all they want and be right anecdotally.

But those of you that feel Belichick is a poor Drafter over all, go ahead, show us a single 5 year or longer study that grades the Patriots drafting as average or worse. I havent seen a single one.

EDIT: Here is the first draft ranking study I came across. It has Patriots 4th of the 5 best drafting teams.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...ing-the-5-nfl-teams-that-are-best-at-drafting

Heres one where they are the best.

http://sportswire.usatoday.com/2014...-49ers-tennessee-titans-new-england-patriots/

Here's one where they are ranked 3rd best.

http://www.sportingnews.com/list/46...seahawks-giants-jets-49ers-colts/slide/312660

Here's one where they are ranked best.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1579957-who-is-the-best-drafting-team-in-the-nfl/page/8

This NYPost article has them 4th best

http://nypost.com/2015/04/25/an-exhaustive-ranking-of-every-nfl-teams-draft-haul-since-2010/

primetime said:

I just don't see how anyone can defend a reach pick of a defensive back after Wilson and Harmon.

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Harmon is a decent fill-in safety. *See game-sealing interception against the Ravens.
That's more than enough IMHO and way beyond expectations for a 3rd-rounder. Huge contribution to the Super Bowl winning team.

Wilson is a premier special teams player. Go back to the 2012 draft board and that's probably what people were calling him at the time. A lot of people since have called him that. And he is just that. So at least, he has lived up to our expectations.

primetime said:

I just don't see how anyone can defend a reach pick of a defensive back after Wilson and Harmon.

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Duron Harmon was the 91st pick in the draft. That is a time when teams start thinking about drafting the elite kickers and punters. It's very hard to reach at the 91st pick in the draft.

Harmon is seen as a good enough player by the league's best coaching staff that he was in the game in the final minute of the Super Bowl. The 89th and 95th picks in the same draft didn't even make it to the 1st game of their second season on the roster.

The expectations that people have are wildly unrealistic and borderline delusional. They also reflect a complete lack of knowledge or acknowledgement of the draft results of every other team in the league.

The idea that Duron Harmon was a reach because a draft website says so is funny enough, but he has shown that he can play in the league as well or better than a bunch of players who were drafted right around when he was.

Adding a smart leader to this team's defensive backfield should never be an issue. IMO.

As for the draft slot ..... after the top 20 or so guys the next 100+ players aren't all that different from one another so who cares where they are drafted? Getting the guy one wants is most important.

Richards will become our starting SS within a year, and at that point investing a #64 on him will seem about right.

Sfpat said:

I never heard of any team having interest in Tavon Wilson anywhere close to the 2nd round

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He shot up draft boards after running a 4.4 40 in private workouts for a number of teams. Ran something like 4.65 at his Pro Day. There was Day 2 interest in Wilson.

Four freakin' Super Bowls, and the know-it-alls still don't trust the man to stack his own board and draft the players he likes best.

I promise you all - it will all work out OK. I know this, because it always works out OK.

Gator Mike said:

Four freakin' Super Bowls, and the know-it-alls still don't trust the man to stack his own board and draft the players he likes best.

I promise you all - it will all work out OK. I know this, because it always works out OK.

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Belichick's draft decisions and the four Super Bowls are two different discussions, despite how the homers try to frame it. Those people who only have "But Bill! Rings!" should probably not bother posting on draft days or in the early days of free agency.

tombonneau said:

The ultimate comeback. Because only NFL front office people can have opinions.

I did forget Vollmer. They should stick to WTF lineman.

One positive for Richards is that at least he was invited to the combine.

And to people citing Gronk as comparison, it's not even remotely the same thing.

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Ohh lord, what about D Brach, E Wilson, M Light.....

Bobs My Uncle said:

Adding a smart leader to this team's defensive backfield should never be an issue. IMO.

As for the draft slot ..... after the top 20 or so guys the next 100+ players aren't all that different from one another so who cares where they are drafted? Getting the guy one wants is most important.

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That's a good point. Also, to all who claim with such certainty that he'd have still been there 30 or 60 spots later, you have no basis for that statement whatsoever. None.

It's interesting that not one safety was taken in round 3, indicating there weren't any other high caliber safeties left, so if any team were looking for one, Richards could have been their guy.

Deus Irae said:

Those people who only have "But Bill! Rings!" should probably not bother posting on draft days or in the early days of free agency.

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Neither should people who haven't watched a prospect on tape.

manxman2601 said:

Neither should people who haven't watched a prospect on tape.

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That makes no sense.

as a card carrying member of the belichick fan club, it's impossible to spin this pick.

tavon wilson v2....this guy is another classic DB bust!!! no idea who the other guy is either. come on bill, listen to caserio for once.

malcom brown better work out otherwise this draft blows..
sucks that tampa got marpet...i wanted him badly!!

Deus Irae said:

That makes no sense.

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It makes perfect sense. If someone hasn't watched a prospect on tape then they are in no position to criticise the pick.

Gronkowski123 said:

as a card carrying member of the belichick fan club, it's impossible to spin this pick.

tavon wilson v2....this guy is another classic DB bust!!! no idea who the other guy is either. come on bill, listen to caserio for once.

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Caserio was in all likelihood the person who convinced Belichick to take Richards. He was at Stanford's Pro Day.