Trey Flowers #2 - Darryl Roberts #4 - Top 10 Draft Steals Per PFF

JarOfMayo51 said:

Roberts made me scratch my head when looking at his combine numbers.

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Roberts wasn't at the combine which is why he dropped. Teams get hard over combine numbers why else do you think Byron Jones was rated the 25th-30th best CB and had a 5th to 7th round grade in pretty much every scouting/draft place pre-combine?

Had Roberts gone to the combine and put up his pro-day numbers, he would have been the talk of the combine for CBs other than Jones and he doesn't drop past the 3rd round

everlong said:

I'm hoping he turns out better than the last Arkansas DE we drafted who despite lacking elite physical skills put up great stats against elite SEC competition.

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You mean All-World Patriots TE Jake Bequette?

RDS11 said:

I sure hope Flowers will prove to be a steal, but right now he's very similar to what Jake Bequette was at this stage : both went to Arkansas, started for 4 years, but Bequette ran the 40 yard faster and had more sacks than Flowers. Flowers had more tackles for loss and more pass defended than Bequette, which means he can be disruptive in other ways than just QB sacks.

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40 and more sacks doesn't really mean much. Flowers might not have had sack master numbers in college but he posted a draft class-best 46 hurries last season and of the 4 pressures La'el Collins gave up last year 3 of them of them were Flowers.

I'll take a guy that gets consistent pressure over a guy that gets 15 sacks and half of them come from coverage or when the game is out of hand.

JMC00 said:

Roberts wasn't at the combine which is why he dropped. Teams get hard over combine numbers why else do you think Byron Jones was rated the 25th-30th best CB and had a 5th to 7th round grade in pretty much every scouting/draft place pre-combine?

Had Roberts gone to the combine and put up his pro-day numbers, he would have been the talk of the combine for CBs other than Jones and he doesn't drop past the 3rd round

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That and he went to Marshall. Those two things kept him out of mind for every team but New England.

I was very excited we drafted him and actually called it before the pick in the draft thread if I remember right. I had three CB I wanted the see BB go after and Roberts was on that short list. He's raw, which really means he depends more on his physical abilities more than football smarts to get the job done. Once BB gets him balanced out, I have no doubt he is a starter that outplays Alfonzo Dennard's best effort.

Sticky Caulk said:

That and he went to Marshall. Those two things kept him out of mind for every team but New England.

I was very excited we drafted him and actually called it before the pick in the draft thread if I remember right. I had three CB I wanted the see BB go after and Roberts was on that short list. He's raw, which really means he depends more on his physical abilities more than football smarts to get the job done. Once BB gets him balanced out, I have no doubt he is a starter that outplays Alfonzo Dennard's best effort.

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I have high hopes for him as well. The kid has the athleticism, the speed, the length, and the ball skills to play man to man in this league but his technique is lacking. Supposedly, Belichick has been working hands on with the kid a lot. If Roberts can get the technique down to play the position, he's definitely going to be one to watch in TC. It'll be interesting to see what he's capable of once they put the pads on.

These were 2 of my 3 favorite value picks in the draft (3rd being Tre Jackson).

I really think we need someone late in the draft to bit to off set losing a 1st next year. I do hope Roberts hits cause I am a believer in Butler. Not to be Revis or anything but I really like him. I would hope we can go into the draft next year not even needing a 1st rounder cause our starters are set.

Brady6 said:

This could be a great draft class. I actually believe there is strong potential for Brown, Richards, Flowers, Jackson, Mason, and Roberts to develop into starting caliber players in the NFL.

Grissom and Wells I'm not as high on but the have upside.

Cardona will be the best LS in the NFL by the end of the season.

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LS is not a position that one thinks too much about until snaps start skipping off the turf or sail over the head of the intended catcher. That teams actually created a position just for LS shows how valuable a consistent LS is. That the Patriots picked Cardona in the 5th round and did not know if he would even be able to play shows how highly they thought of the young man.

Also notable is the number 1 steal was drafted by the Alanta Falcons whose GM Thomas Dimitroff a former Director of College Scouting for the Patriots uses the same system of grading college players as the Patriots.

Roberts reminds me of Butler when he first became a Patriot. Raw talent that needs work on technique but should get better and better as the season progresses.

I really think Ekpre-Olomu drafted in the 7th by Cleveland will be the biggest steal. He will likely "red shirt" due to a bad knee injury in December.

Dragda said:

I really think Ekpre-Olomu drafted in the 7th by Cleveland will be the biggest steal. He will likely "red shirt" due to a bad knee injury in December.

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I think the main issue there is that there are some serious concerns as to whether he can fully recover. Apparently the knee was messed up really badly, worse than was let on. I agree that it's still a worthwhile 7th round flyer, though. If he recovers that's a steal.

We're really evaluating "steal" status throughout the league on a numerical scale before they even get to training camp?


PFF is sucking more and more.

KontradictioN said:

Maybe Flowers will also have a few less damning pics of Belichick with farm animals if he sucks as well.

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Whoa
Beastiality is better than what been fermenting on this board

Deus Irae said:

We're really evaluating "steal" status throughout the league on a numerical scale before they even get to training camp?


PFF is sucking more and more.

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hehe anything to stay away from the typical narratives that have been a part of this offseason.. I think its safe to say that we desperately need training camp to start.

IcyPatriot said:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/05/07/10-biggest-draft-steals/

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Sure, Flowers and Richards might be considered top draft steals at where they were drafted. And Richards and Grissom might be considered top draft reaches at where they were drafted. The BOTTOM LINE is that it seems that Belichick seems to have gotten good value in positions of need in this draft.

Belichick gets more value in late round picks than almost any team (there are a couple of others that do about as well). He almost always does fine in terms of value in the first, given where we pick.

However, the "sweet spot" that we often talk about in the 2nd and early third hasn't served Belichick as well.

I suppose we'd be less questioning if Belichick drafted
1 Brown
2 Jackson
3 Flowers
4 Richards
4 Mason
4 Roberts
5 Grissom
6 Cardona
last 3 - Wells, Derby, ****son (it seems likely that these three are Practice Squad bound)

In the end, Belichick was right. He was able to get Jackson and Flowers later in the draft, allowing him to pick his favs Richards and Grissom early. IMHO, Belichick was just showing off with Roberts. He took a "significant risk" in drafting Wells and Derby before Roberts. Obviously, we needed a potential roster addition at cornerback. After all, there are 2-3 other teams that evaluate late draft picks as well as Belichick. Someone might have taken a flyer on Roberts in the 6th.

Flowers = Ninko's replacement [EOM]

KontradictioN said:

Aye. Imagine if he hit on more of those second round picks while still securing steals later on in the draft...

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Or if Aaron hernandez was a human being.

For me, JE11 is enough to prove belichick's drafting brilliance when it comes to overlooked guys. It's like drafting Marques Colston.... only if he had been a QB in college.

..................

Tuck said:

Flowers = Ninko's replacement [EOM]

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...and when Nink moves on, it'll be a sad day. Nink has another 2 years in him. Just not sure if its here.

Chandler Jones contract situation also bears watching. It's 50/50 that both he and Nink are back next year.

robertweathers said:

...and when Nink moves on, it'll be a sad day. Nink has another 2 years in him. Just not sure if its here.

Chandler Jones contract situation also bears watching. It's 50/50 that both he and Nink are back next year.

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Ninkovich is due $2M of new money for 2016. Why wouldn't he be back?

Excited to see the kids out there end of this month

mgteich said:

Ninkovich is due $2M of new money for 2016. Why wouldn't he be back?

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Lots of reasons. Declining play. Players behind him playing better.