Let me tell you about Jordan Richards

Look at BB's history of the best players drafted. With the exception of a couple of years, only one dominant player developed for each draft. Thus, using a 5th round pick for a LS who has great potential is logical. Not to mention, your the World Champions and have dominated the league for over a decade. One year, the Patriots had 3 marquee players drafted. One had slid and is now has a life sentence. I'm not that rattled with drafting Jordan at #2. They got their man at #1 and we'll see how the other picks play out.

Froob said:

Hopefully he does. Reading some of the stuff about Richards gets me excited but eh the film doesn't seem to be that great on him. Hopefully BB knew what he was doing. I actually think Harmon was a solid pick, I wouldn't mind seeing a lot more Harmon now with Revis gone. As for Wilson....maybe there's a slim chance it will be like my Madden where he sucked for 3 seasons and in his fourth season he become a stud for me buuuut probably not.

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Something I have noticed in recent years is intelligence makes a huge difference in the secondary. Revis isn't the most physically talented CB in the NFL but he is very smart in his coverage, Sherman as much as he is a loud mouth has a high IQ. For this reason I'm actually high on Richards. I don't love the placement of his pick but I am happy we picked him.

I have been thinking all season but I have not mentioned it because I didn't want to open a thread that had a lot of naysayers but I will say it now. I think they should move Tavon Wilson to CB. I think he could be very effective in a Brandon Browner role against bigger players. He was a CB as a senior in college and his struggles in the NFL are not in coverage ever they are with angles and reading plays in front of him.

Bostonian1962 said:

Thanks for posting. With all the draft info saying he was a 6th or 7th rounder, to pick him in round 2, is pathetic. Does anybody think he would not have been there in round 3 or 4, and if he wasn't, so what? I liked their first pick, and the rest of their draft, but his was beyond foolish. If he becomes a Hall of Famer, they still could have traded down, added picks, and still had him.

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This post is so bad that it doesn't even deserve a response, but I will anyway. To answer your question, yes there was a good chance he would have been gone by the next round or two, as not one safety was taken between NE at 64 and the Jags at 104 in the 4th round., indicating there was a big dropoff in safety talent. The Pats may have had intelligence that some team in the next round was likely to go with a safety selection. There is no way to say he would have been there, and in previous drafts where this same thing occurred, we've heard later that another team was ready to grab our guy (I recall Vollmer in particular).

Look at it another way. Belichick trades down all the time, he's the ALL TIME leading expert and practitioner of trading down, and is always looking to squeeze every last ounce of value from a draft. He does it when he has 2 or 3 guys he'd be equally happy with, so he knows there's no real risk. When he doesn't do it, it means he wants a specific guy, and I think going in that Richards was on the Pats must-have list.

Or possibly there are no trade partners at that moment, we may have been trying to trade down 10 spots but nobody wanted to play. What he wasn't willing to do, obviously, was gamble that 32 more picks would go by and Richards would still be there. I don't understand how people don't trust his judgment on that.

Unless you like to see the Pats graded well in a draft, what does it matter about what some draftniks think about the value of the spot that Richards was drafted at? All that matters is whether or not the kid can play and ends up helping this team win ballgames. If he does, no one will be talking about what round the guy was drafted!

With all due respect to the draftniks out there ..... BB gets the benefit of the doubt on this one.

a 7th rounder in the 2nd round

happens every draft.

NEWSFLASH

Looking at clips on YouTube is not "watching film."


I seriously doubt there is anyone who is not employed by a team or a college team who has ever " watched film " on any of these players. There are some who have spent many hours watching games and have a relatively informed opinion but the suggestion they are scouting game film is really pretentious.

Note: This is not a shot at Grid, Manx, Mayo and some of the others who bust their asses to go in depth on draft prospects, but I'm seeing a whole bunch of others who are now trying to pretend they have immersed themselves in game film of players they acknowledge weren't even on the radar and I'm calling bullsh.t. on it, they have never spent hours watching Jordan Richards and are simply citing draft mags and pretending they did the research.

* I do believe Kontra when he says he watched a number of Stanford games, that's very different than those saying that " Richards film " doesn't support his pick.

Gronkowski123 said:

a 7th rounder in the 2nd round

happens every draft.

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Very true, the Patriots big board never matches Mel Kipers.

The whole "coach on the field" has been a trend for a while now by BB, seems as every year we draft kids whose father was the HC of their high school team, and in college these guys were co captains or very smart kids.. 3 kids from Stanford on this squad right now.

All of this is purposeful... McCourty for example..

I have had some questions about the pick like everyone else, and this is where I landed.

Out of the potential 15 slots in our secondary, we currently only have two guys that would be considered veterans. With that in mind, is it that surprising he drafted the guy considered the smartest? The most coach like? I don't know if he will work out, but with that in mind, I understand the rationale.

They have an incredible from seven that will create a ton of issues for offenses. Offenses will have to make a lot of quick decisions, meaning the Pats secondary's biggest focus will be positioning and proper recognition. If Richards can do those things from the hop, we should be in good shape.

Bostonian1962 said:

Thanks for posting. With all the draft info saying he was a 6th or 7th rounder, to pick him in round 2, is pathetic. Does anybody think he would not have been there in round 3 or 4, and if he wasn't, so what? I liked their first pick, and the rest of their draft, but his was beyond foolish. If he becomes a Hall of Famer, they still could have traded down, added picks, and still had him.

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Why would you know that?

His "grade" was probably based on one report somewhere during hi 3-4 years, then every other "expert" copied that.

Now you think you "know" where he was going to be picked better than a team that scouted and interviewed him and knows which other teams did and which other teams were looking for that type of player.

NFL front offices "know" some things. Frankly, you don't.

He's not only freaky athletic, he seems to have some physicality to him and some ballhawking skills

His pro day compared to the CBs at the Combine

4.38 40 (only Trae Waynes had a better 40 at the combine)

23 Reps of 225 LBs (only Josh Shaw had more at the combine)

39" Vert Jump (Only 5 guys had a better one and they were all drafted in the 3rd round or higher
Byron Jones 44.5"- 1st round pick
Kevin Johnson 41.5"- 1st round pick
Ronald Darby 41.5"- 2nd round pick
PJ Williams 40"- 3rd round pick
Alex Carter 40'- 3rd round pick

11' 10" Broad Jump (Only Byron Jones had a better jump at the combine which was a world record)

6.66. 3 Cone (Only Justin Coleman had a better one )

Looking forward to seeing how he does in camp. BB could have another draft steal on his hands.

Seems he was under scouted by a ton. PFF loves this kid and had him at pick 47 and the best cb after Byron Jones. Hoping for the steal, they could sure use it.

edkk323 said:

you must have 200-200 hindsight. Who could BB pick in the 5th was guaranteed to see the field at all?! Who says there is always going to be a war? Why would not the Navy think having a player in NFL could better represent them than having one more warm body in the Persian Gulf. BB rolled the dice.

Think it about, Debby D.

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Debby D.

Look up your Navy pro athlete history. The military does not think like civilians do. To them, making an exception for one guy to play football early is not an option. There is reality and there are dreams.

You may as well ask "Why do those mean superiors yell so much at those nice young recruits?"

I would agree with you, but reality is reality.

reflexblue said:

Well i can't find another explanation for draft picks such wilson, richards, r brace or the others that have come in the second or third round. So I do believe it

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Reflex - There is so much information we don't have so it would not be surprising that you (or anyone else) can't find another explanation for picks. Such as how the player interviewed. Such as how the player did breaking down film with the coach.

Tavon Wilson played pretty well as a rookie. He took some steps backwards his sophomore year, but he's been a steady producer on Special Teams and he's not been a complete failure when he's been on the field.

Why are you bagging on Richards? Because he's a player who didn't expect? Because the "draftnik" sites rated him as a 5th rounder? How many of these sites have gotten everything right? None. Just like no team has drafted perfectly.

The draft sites down-played many things about the kid. Such as his intelligence. They always downplay the intangibles and over-rate the physical attributes.

Things that are mentioned but clearly not considered:
At the East-West Shrine practices, he was mentioned as a tempo setter and field general for a bunch of kids who'd never played together.

The only issue is his playing speed. Which he makes up for in reading plays and taking the correct angles. How many times have I heard people complaining about the poor angles taken by players like Meriweather and Chung??

It's amazing the ridiculous hatred for picks people have without ever having see them put on a Pats uniform.

He looks like he likes to tackle. Definitely a belichick CB. I'm definitely excited about this pick. Could be a gunner on special teams too.

shmessy said:

That's awesome, but they could hire him as a coach, they don't need to draft coaches.

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Right because intelligence is useless on the football field.

Elite Athleticism
Top 10 in FBS in pass breakups
Not afraid to tackle

How did he go in round 7... I know he faced a lack of competition, but it is still FBS level competition.

All he has to do to make the team is be a better outside CB than Fletcher, Dennard (doghouse), or Ryan.

We've had a 7th round CB emerge as a starter midseason before (Dennard), and an UDFA become CB3 by the 4th quarter of the SB (Butler). Anything could happen with this kid.

edit: 23 reps of 225 lbs. at weighing 182 lbs. is crazy.

I like that BB took a chance on some athletic freaks late in the draft. You can't teach speed and jumping ability. Roberts and Wells were two Pro Day freaks.

I think Wells can be a freakishly fast, BIG safety. Roberts has length and speed. Two VERY interesting picks. Training camp is going to be very interesting with all the additions to the defense and also offensive line. Call me crazy, but Roberts just seems to have IT. Maybe we can get lucky with some late round DBs like Seattle did.

reflexblue said:

There is a writer (whos name escapes me) that appears on the felger and spaz show on tuesdays during the season. Last fall he said that he had talked to several of the people who have been in the "war room" on draft day. They told him that BB will get enamored with a particular player and go against what cassario and his staff have come up with, BB goes rouge so to speak and over rules them. He said that explains picks such as tavon wilson, and now, to me jordon richarson.

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Any Pats employee who described war room decisions to a writer who would appear on Felger and Mazz (is the name you are looking for Ron somebody?) would not be in the Patriots war room the following year.

My advice? Don't believe everything (anything?) you hear about the Patriots on Felger and Mazz....

AndyJohnson said:

Right because intelligence is useless on the football field.

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Intelligence and instincts may be the most underrated qualities in terms of draft analysis, and those are the qualities that allowed players like Bruschi, Vrabel. And Brady to turn into the players they became. Bruschi in particular made a living by always making the right decision with his first reaction and step and was never out of position. Whether it's football or baseball a step in the wrong direction basically means not making the play, and speed doesn't matter much if you take a wrong. first step. Richards may not be as fast as some other prospects but he rates off the charts in most categories, and while a lack of speed can kill outside at corner the ability to read plays and react the right way at safety can make up for it. I never heard people talk about Ed Reed's speed but they marveled at his ability to always know what the play was and where it was going. In not suggesting that Red was slow or that Richards is Reed, only that we may be looking at the wrong qualities when grading safety prospects, and underating the qualities of intelligence and instincts in evaluating them.