Patriots Do All In Draft Except What Was Needed

I think it is clear that the Patriots did not view any of the CB available to them in the draft as being able to compete with the guys currently on the roster. Why spend a pick on a CB if they may not even make the team?

I wanted to see a CB drafted as much as anybody, but I thought they came out of the draft filling two of their needs; pass rush and guard. Sure, the Jordan pick is a little bit of a WTF, but whatever, we need our Tavon Wilson.

AndyJohnson said:

I'm not sure why people keep dismissing Dennard. If he is healthy, he is probably the #1 corner on the team.
2013 Dennard was better than 2014 Browner. I'm not sure why a season lost to health makes him disappear.

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Because when a player disappears for a season, it does not always mean they come back ready to compete.

Nunchucks said:

Because when a player disappears for a season, it does not always mean they come back ready to compete.

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Well he didn't actually disappear for a season, he struggled with injuries.
The last time he was healthy he was a good corner.

AndyJohnson said:

I'm not sure why people keep dismissing Dennard. If he is healthy, he is probably the #1 corner on the team.
2013 Dennard was better than 2014 Browner. I'm not sure why a season lost to health makes him disappear.

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Statistically speaking, 2013 Dennard was better than 2014 Browner. With that said, it depends how much you value the physical aspects of Browner's game (hitting, jamming, etc) With that said, I think there are a number of layers to the Dennard situation.

As far as Dennard is concerned, he is not a CB1. We don't know if Butler and Roberts are either. We know Ryan, McClain and Arrington aren't.

Hes slated to make $1.5m next year. If he plays like 2013, he is worth CB2 money. If BB thinks others will pass him and if he doesn't play at CB2 level and if you believe he can't play the slot, hes gone.

Have to say, Dennard looks healthy now in this photo from earlier this year!

robertweathers said:

Statistically speaking, 2013 Dennard was better than 2014 Browner. With that said, it depends how much you value the physical aspects of Browner's game (hitting, jamming, etc) With that said, I think there are a number of layers to the Dennard situation.

As far as Dennard is concerned, he is not a CB1. We don't know if Butler and Roberts are either. We know Ryan, McClain and Arrington aren't.

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If he is the best we have, he is a cb1. He may be the best we have.

Hes slated to make $1.5m next year. If he plays like 2013, he is worth CB2 money. If BB thinks others will pass him and if he doesn't play at CB2 level and if you believe he can't play the slot, hes gone.

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The 3rd outside corner, who doesn't play the slot will make the team, whether that is Dennard or someone else.
As of the moment, at his best Dennard has played better, by a good amount, than any corner on our roster.
Other than "if he gets passed by others' there is no reason to discount him.

AndyJohnson said:

If he is the best we have, he is a cb1. He may be the best we have.

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Based on 2013 yes. Based on limited time in 2014,no. With that said, we can say in 2014 he was never 100%.

AndyJohnson said:

As of the moment, at his best Dennard has played better, by a good amount, than any corner on our roster.

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I would agree

AndyJohnson said:

The 3rd outside corner, who doesn't play the slot will make the team, whether that is Dennard or someone else.

Other than "if he gets passed by others' there is no reason to discount him.

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Actually his chances of making the team are slightly worsened because hes not considered a standout special teamer and allegedly can't play the slot. That is also true for Fletcher.

To justify $1.5 he needs to play CB1 quality.[/QUOTE]

Still not sure of the point, or even the tone, of that article.

Field Yates was on Sports 5 Overtime last night. He claimed that the Patriots saw a big drop-off afte rthe first 3 CBs in the draft.

Waynes went at 11.
Johnson went at 16.
Peters went at 18.

They would have had to move up 15 spots to jump Peters, who is certainly not a sure thing. The cost was prohibitive.

If they really graded out the class like Yates claimed, picking a corner means taking a flyer on a guy you don't really expect to be better than what you already have (and we have a LOT of young, cost-controlled/prove-it-deal corners right now - I count 9).

Hopefully they'll work a trade or find a gem in the May 12 and camp cuts - or even better Fletcher and Dennard will return to form, Butler will continue his trajectory and the others will step up.

It is what it is.

Revis is gone.

Gotta agree with Andy Johnson as regards Dennard. He looked real good in 2013 and last year was just a write off due to him not being healthy. A year in the same locker room as Revis and Browner will have undoubtedly done a great deal for all the young defensive backs on the roster. I'm expecting to see a very good secondary this season, not expecting it to be up to the standard of last year but still very good.

Someone -- anyone -- please put Bob George out of his misery.

Tunescribe said:

Someone -- anyone -- please put Bob George out of his misery.

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Tunes, You're being a little hard on him (IMO).

It is the post draft, pre-camp news cycle and he tried for some tongue-in-cheek ligh-hearted humor about the typical fan-angst about weird BB picks like what goes on on this board every May. Ok, he ain't the writer for the Onion. Didn't bother me.

Gumby said:

Tunes, You're being a little hard on him (IMO).

It is the post draft, pre-camp news cycle and he tried for some tongue-in-cheek ligh-hearted humor about the typical fan-angst about weird BB picks like what goes on on this board every May. Ok, he ain't the writer for the Onion. Didn't bother me.

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It's not just this one piece. Bob George is a rank amateur wannabe who consistently serves this board with poorly written, poorly conceived, negatively charged tripe about the Patriots. Why Ian enables him is an ongoing mystery I have yet to solve.

Tunescribe said:

It's not just this one piece. Bob George is a rank amateur wannabe who consistently serves this board with poorly written, poorly conceived, negatively charged tripe about the Patriots. Why Ian enables him is an ongoing mystery I have yet to solve.

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Fair nuff.
I would agree on 2/3 of your critiques.

but now blaming Ian for not black balling someone who is trying (and not always /often succeeding) seems unfair as well. I don't think ian has a laundry list of guys looking to provide content. Some of the best content providers here prefer to just post and not blog-article write.

AndyJohnson said:

The 3rd outside corner, who doesn't play the slot will make the team, whether that is Dennard or someone else.
As of the moment, at his best Dennard has played better, by a good amount, than any corner on our roster.
Other than "if he gets passed by others' there is no reason to discount him.

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Yes, the 3rd outside corner will make the team. And yes, Dennard at his best will make the team.
I expect us to keep five corners. And yes, Dennard has an advantage in trying to win a rester spot.

My guess now, for the 53, is Butler, Fletcher, Arrington, Dennard and Ryan.

Gumby said:

Fair nuff.
I would agree on 2/3 of your critiques.

but now blaming Ian for not black balling someone who is trying (and not always /often succeeding) seems unfair as well. I don't think ian has a laundry list of guys looking to provide content. Some of the best content providers here prefer to just post and not blog-article write.

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If you're looking for "unfair," consider the premises behind most of Bob George's columns. Having content for its own sake regardless of quality would be pretty sad, yet the fact remains that he is sanctioned as a columnist by the manager of this message board. There are other possible approaches vs. "black-balling" the guy. Bob needs instruction and editing help that would aid what he's trying (and failing) to achieve.

Oswlek said:

DT and OG were just as high on the need list as CB was.

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Especially when you are picking last each round early on.

Tunescribe said:

It's not just this one piece. Bob George is a rank amateur wannabe who consistently serves this board with poorly written, poorly conceived, negatively charged tripe about the Patriots. Why Ian enables him is an ongoing mystery I have yet to solve.

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I feel obliged to open the pieces because they're stamped Patsfans and that gives it a sense of gravitas in my mind. After clicking the link, I'm met with the unfortunate reality of a JetsInsider piece masquerading as a Patsfans article. Naturally, the author comes to me as no surprise and I disregard the piece immediately. Hell, I'd be happy if it was a controversial article that made me think critically but no, they're generally not and it's a shame.

Such is life.

PatsFans.com Article said:

Patriots Do All In Draft Except What Was Needed

Bob George

Say it again, over and over. Bill Belichick knows more about foot

Continue reading...

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JC, Boy George could do better than that piece of drivel...

AndyJohnson said:

Well he didn't actually disappear for a season, he struggled with injuries.
The last time he was healthy he was a good corner.

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Yeah, exactly what I thought might happen.

eagle eye said:

Gotta agree with Andy Johnson as regards Dennard. He looked real good in 2013 and last year was just a write off due to him not being healthy. A year in the same locker room as Revis and Browner will have undoubtedly done a great deal for all the young defensive backs on the roster. I'm expecting to see a very good secondary this season, not expecting it to be up to the standard of last year but still very good.

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Maybe last year wasn't all due to surgery, based on the latest rumors.