Your 2015 Rolling Draftnik Recap

mosi's man said:

Great stuff. That was tremendous.

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Thank you... and I salute your salute to The True Tatupu.

For me, personally, the draft is absolutely the least stressful time of the calendar year as a fan. I start worrying about injuries during training camp, then at the beginning of the season I get concerned about the schedule degree of difficulty, how good other teams we play are, etc. As the season moves on, I worry about winning the division, then getting a bye and finally playoff opponents. I know little, at most, about college players so *****ing about who's drafted where is of little concern to me. I might wonder about the positions of drafted players vs. what I perceive as areas of need, but that's about it. Stuff like mock drafts and after-draft grades for teams seem silly and a waste of time. I don't think anyone really knows how any team did until the guys drafted actually play, and an accurate assessment of that sometimes takes years. I just trust BB and the scouting department and relax as it all unfolds. Nice change from being worried most of the rest of the year.

Jackson 2 said:

For me, personally, the draft is absolutely the least stressful time of the calendar year as a fan. I start worrying about injuries during training camp, then at the beginning of the season I get concerned about the schedule degree of difficulty, how good other teams we play are, etc. As the season moves on, I worry about winning the division, then getting a bye and finally playoff opponents. I know little, at most, about college players so *****ing about who's drafted where is of little concern to me. I might wonder about the positions of drafted players vs. what I perceive as areas of need, but that's about it. Stuff like mock drafts and after-draft grades for teams seem silly and a waste of time. I don't think anyone really knows how any team did until the guys drafted actually play, and an accurate assessment of that sometimes takes years. I just trust BB and the scouting department and relax as it all unfolds. Nice change from being worried most of the rest of the year.

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In my heart of hearts I'm pretty similar, with this to add...

It's sort of like Christmas morning. We get to open everything under the tree and dream about how cool it's going to be having this and this and this, but the truth is we'll lose most of them most years and play primarily with our old favorite toys.

But the direction of this draft especially is intriguing to me. I think this year, on D, we release the kraken. Departures have made a reboot inevitable, and this draft/FA period suggests that the reboot has the look of the kind of D that disrupts/suffocates opponents. We might not have it built yet, but it's going that direction... we might be drifting away from the "bend don't break" D philosophy as we speak. Who knows. Maybe in June we start picking up veteran corners... but face it, we don't replace Revis, and the Browner skill set at S isn't getting instantly replicated.

If many of these guys translate to the NFL I can see this year being an inflection point in the Pats' defensive philosophy.

PatsFanInVa said:

It's how this team works... back when we had Jarvis Green we went out and got Ben Jarvis Green Ellis... just couldn't resist.

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Also, the one year experiment with Kyle Brady.

Very funny and well written, Im no one to second guess your expertise though I do question why you are perhaps the only Draftnik in the country that has rated Brown as low as a C.

Danger Zone said:

Very funny and well written, Im no one to second guess your expertise though I do question why you are perhaps the only Draftnik in the country that has rated Brown as low as a C.

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Thank you DZ, to get back into my draftnik persona for a bonus draftnik Malcom Brown session...

Has the size, quickness, and power to demand double-teams, then loses to them. Always knows where the ball is and what's required of him to get to it, unfortunately applies diminishing-returns formula. Fierce competitor at point of attack, sometimes forgets the other half of the play. Always a threat to punch through to the backfield, when he remembers. There are gliders with better motors than this guy.

Seriously, persona aside? I'm hoping that motivational question gets coached out of him and he gets as mean as he can be in NE. Well, not Aaron Hernandez mean, but you know what I mean. Mainly, it's hard to grade a first-rounder higher than a C, because whoever we picked, 31 other teams had already passed on him; it's almost like whoever we picked was only a pick or two away from only being worth a high second rounder