Revisiting the 2014 draft

Kontradiction · Apr 22, 2016

Now that two years is about to pass since this draft, I figured I'd go back and evaluate it...

1 (29): Dominique Easley
2 (62): Jimmy Garoppolo
4 (105): Bryan Stork
4 (130): James White
4 (140): Cameron Fleming
6 (179): John Halapio
6 (198): Zach Moore
6 (206): Jemea Thomas
7 (244): Jeremy Gallon

Yikes. What a pile of crap. I was high on the Easley pick when it was first made. Shows you what I know. The kid has two bum knees now and doesn't give a damn about football. He's no longer on the team, becoming the quickest first round pick Belichick has cut in his time with the Patriots. Actually, he's not on any team currently. Right now he's a free agent and it doesn't sound like there's a lot of interest in him as we speak (though I'd be surprised if someone didn't take a shot on him before TC).

JAG was a pretty controversial pick around these parts when we made it as well. With two years in the books, it doesn't look like the pick was a real need. Sure, he seems to be an upgrade on what Mallett was and he comes cheaper than the Hoyers of the NFL, but Brady had shown no signs of slowing down and there's no indication, to date, that Garoppolo is the QBOTF. I nearly punched a hole in my wall when I saw Allen Robinson sliding down the board to us just to have him picked one before Garoppolo. Jarvis Landry went one pick later.

Stork was a solid pick. He picked up the play at center in his rookie year and was a very big reason for the improvement in pass protection from the center position. He did fall off a bit in 2015, however. Whether that had to do with nagging injury or whether that was due to the fact that his history of concussions caught up to him is for the Pats to decide going forward.

White and Fleming have been bit contributors thus far. White came in and performed decently once Lewis went down and Fleming has been a back-up tackle since coming into the league. Neither has particularly set the world on fire. White is looking at competing with Donald Brown for a roster spot this season. Fleming can definitely be improved upon.

Halapio didn't even make it out of TC that year. He was a part of the final round of cuts and is now out of the league altogether. Moore made it out of TC, was active for eight regular season games and none of the postseason. He was cut prior to the 2015 season and is now on the Vikings. Jemea Thomas bounced around to three different squads in 2014 and is now on the Tits. Gallon spent most of the 2014 TC on PUP before he was released by the team prior to the season. He's currently out of the NFL and plays for the Toronto Argonauts.

The draft itself was woeful. It yielded four players still on the roster, one of whom is starting caliber. I suppose the process itself wasn't an awful one, though, since it yielded Butler. He ended up doing something pretty important later on that year, IIRC.

manxman2601 · Apr 22, 2016

KontradictioN said:
Now that two years is about to pass since this draft, I figured I'd go back and evaluate it...

1 (29): Dominique Easley
2 (62): Jimmy Garoppolo
4 (105): Bryan Stork
4 (130): James White
4 (140): Cameron Fleming
6 (179): John Halapio
6 (198): Zach Moore
6 (206): Jemea Thomas
7 (244): Jeremy Gallon

Yikes. What a pile of crap. I was high on the Easley pick when it was first made. Shows you what I know. The kid has two bum knees now and doesn't give a damn about football. He's no longer on the team, becoming the quickest first round pick Belichick has cut in his time with the Patriots. Actually, he's not on any team currently. Right now he's a free agent and it doesn't sound like there's a lot of interest in him as we speak (though I'd be surprised if someone didn't take a shot on him before TC).

JAG was a pretty controversial pick around these parts when we made it as well. With two years in the books, it doesn't look like the pick was a real need. Sure, he seems to be an upgrade on what Mallett was and he comes cheaper than the Hoyers of the NFL, but Brady had shown no signs of slowing down and there's no indication, to date, that Garoppolo is the QBOTF. I nearly punched a hole in my wall when I saw Allen Robinson sliding down the board to us just to have him picked one before Garoppolo. Jarvis Landry went one pick later.

Stork was a solid pick. He picked up the play at center in his rookie year and was a very big reason for the improvement in pass protection from the center position. He did fall off a bit in 2015, however. Whether that had to do with nagging injury or whether that was due to the fact that his history of concussions caught up to him is for the Pats to decide going forward.

White and Fleming have been bit contributors thus far. White came in and performed decently once Lewis went down and Fleming has been a back-up tackle since coming into the league. Neither has particularly set the world on fire. White is looking at competing with Donald Brown for a roster spot this season. Fleming can definitely be improved upon.

Halapio didn't even make it out of TC that year. He was a part of the final round of cuts and is now out of the league altogether. Moore made it out of TC, was active for eight regular season games and none of the postseason. He was cut prior to the 2015 season and is now on the Vikings. Jemea Thomas bounced around to three different squads in 2014 and is now on the Tits. Gallon spent most of the 2014 TC on PUP before he was released by the team prior to the season. He's currently out of the NFL and plays for the Toronto Argonauts.

The draft itself was woeful. It yielded four players still on the roster, one of whom is starting caliber. I suppose the process itself wasn't an awful one, though, since it yielded Butler. He ended up doing something pretty important later on that year, IIRC.

1. There was certainly evidence at the time that Easley didn't give a damn about football. I wasn't as high on him as you and Mayo but I was fine with the pick at the time because I thought it signalled a new attacking defense.

2. I was OK with the Jimmy G pick. Back up QBs are important, you just hope to never have to use them. I like what I've seen from him so far. Thank goodness we have little evidence of what he can do on the football field so far.

3. Stork & White. Both have done OK. Would have preferred a little better than OK.

4. The rest was borderline trash.

Jimke · Apr 22, 2016

Belichick has had quite a few drafts like this but covers his butt thru free agency and trades.
His best accomplishment so far this offseason was the Bennett trade. He also signed Hogan to an offer
sheet and signed three very good free agents in Long, McClellan and Knighton to bolster his defensive .

Kontradiction · Apr 22, 2016

Jimke said:
Belichick has had quite a few drafts like this but covers his butt thru free agency and trades.
His best accomplishment so far this offseason was the Bennett trade. He also signed Hogan to an offer
sheet and signed three very good free agents in Long, McClellan and Knighton to bolster his defensive .

The free agency period was nothing short of a home run this year. 2014 was very solid as well. If the team can cap this free agency period with knocking the draft out of the park, the Pats are set for years.

BobDigital · Apr 22, 2016

Yeah overall too bad.

Easley i don't mind as a pick. Obviously in retrospect i wish they did something different but you need to take shots to get that legit top talent. If you don't take risk you don't get Easley but you also don't get Gronk.

Garo I think is a good pick and possibly served as a motivator for Brady to get more mobil which is something it seemed like he let slide in his game since 2006 and got too into sitting from the pocket since 2007.

Stork is already worth the pick. Without him we don't win the SB in 2014. Hopefully he rebounds.

I don't see why people are so down on White. He did really well. The problem is they compare him to Lewis who was freaking electric last year. He was probably the best pass catching back in the NFL last year when 100% healthy. I have no complaints with White's play really and doubt we could do much better.

Everyone else is most likely not gonna help. Flemming has promise but we will see. If he hasn't done it in the past 2 years then he probably doesn't have it.

I think a guy should most likely show it in his first 2 years if not then it almost never works. On occasion it does but rare.

manxman2601 · Apr 22, 2016

BobDigital said:
Yeah overall too bad.

Easley i don't mind as a pick. Obviously in retrospect i wish they did something different but you need to take shots to get that legit top talent. If you don't take risk you don't get Easley but you also don't get Gronk.

Garo I think is a good pick and possibly served as a motivator for Brady to get more mobil which is something it seemed like he let slide in his game since 2006 and got too into sitting from the pocket since 2007.

Stork is already worth the pick. Without him we don't win the SB in 2014. Hopefully he rebounds.

I don't see why people are so down on White. He did really well. The problem is they compare him to Lewis who was freaking electric last year. He was probably the best pass catching back in the NFL last year when 100% healthy. I have no complaints with White's play really and doubt we could do much better.

Everyone else is meh. Flemming has promise but we will see.

If White was a WR I'd agree but he really can't run. If he's on the field, you're pretty much telegraphing that it's going to be a pass play.

captain stone · Apr 22, 2016

KontradictioN said:
Now that two years is about to pass since this draft, I figured I'd go back and evaluate it...

1 (29): Dominique Easley
2 (62): Jimmy Garoppolo
4 (105): Bryan Stork
4 (130): James White
4 (140): Cameron Fleming
6 (179): John Halapio
6 (198): Zach Moore
6 (206): Jemea Thomas
7 (244): Jeremy Gallon

Yikes. What a pile of crap. I was high on the Easley pick when it was first made. Shows you what I know. The kid has two bum knees now and doesn't give a damn about football. He's no longer on the team, becoming the quickest first round pick Belichick has cut in his time with the Patriots. Actually, he's not on any team currently. Right now he's a free agent and it doesn't sound like there's a lot of interest in him as we speak (though I'd be surprised if someone didn't take a shot on him before TC).

JAG was a pretty controversial pick around these parts when we made it as well. With two years in the books, it doesn't look like the pick was a real need. Sure, he seems to be an upgrade on what Mallett was and he comes cheaper than the Hoyers of the NFL, but Brady had shown no signs of slowing down and there's no indication, to date, that Garoppolo is the QBOTF. I nearly punched a hole in my wall when I saw Allen Robinson sliding down the board to us just to have him picked one before Garoppolo. Jarvis Landry went one pick later.

Stork was a solid pick. He picked up the play at center in his rookie year and was a very big reason for the improvement in pass protection from the center position. He did fall off a bit in 2015, however. Whether that had to do with nagging injury or whether that was due to the fact that his history of concussions caught up to him is for the Pats to decide going forward.

White and Fleming have been bit contributors thus far. White came in and performed decently once Lewis went down and Fleming has been a back-up tackle since coming into the league. Neither has particularly set the world on fire. White is looking at competing with Donald Brown for a roster spot this season. Fleming can definitely be improved upon.

Halapio didn't even make it out of TC that year. He was a part of the final round of cuts and is now out of the league altogether. Moore made it out of TC, was active for eight regular season games and none of the postseason. He was cut prior to the 2015 season and is now on the Vikings. Jemea Thomas bounced around to three different squads in 2014 and is now on the Tits. Gallon spent most of the 2014 TC on PUP before he was released by the team prior to the season. He's currently out of the NFL and plays for the Toronto Argonauts.

The draft itself was woeful. It yielded four players still on the roster, one of whom is starting caliber. I suppose the process itself wasn't an awful one, though, since it yielded Butler. He ended up doing something pretty important later on that year, IIRC.

We warned him, and warned him, and warned him again…yet Bill didn't listen.

And in the end, we were right - again, and Bill was wrong - again.

We were right that Joel Bitonio was a safer pick than Easily, and that Bitonio could've been Mankins' immediate replacement and give Brady SB-caliber LG protection for the rest of Brady's career.

If Bill wanted a passing-down DT, he could've had the healthier, cleaner Caraun Reed with the pick wasted on the unathletic, useless blob Cam Fleming.

Groppy is a 4th-round talent taken where WR Jarvis Landry (offense) or DE Kareem Martin (defense)
could've been immediate rotational contributors at their respective positions.

I thought then, and still think now, that the stronger, more athletic Russell Jethro Bodine will become a more productive Center than the injury-prone Bryan Stork. Groppy might still have been available at this pick too; and small-school, big-potential CB Pierre Desir might've provided the best value of all of them.

Lil' Jimmy White is a 6th-round talent taken 2 rounds too soon. Bill could've waited until 2015 to find the Vereen & Ridley replacements. Stork might still have been available here, but if not that's cool too,
future Ravens starting Center John the Genius Urschel would've been waiting for ya.

Fat Johnny Halapio was an even less athletic, more useless version of Cam Fleming. Meanwhile, FS/SS
starter-in-the-making Antone Exum (aka Harrison Smith's tag-tean partner in Minnesota) was one of
the best players available regardless of position.

Zach Moore was a good pick in that he was taken where his value suggested he be taken; but if Kareem
Martin had already been the pick instead of Groppy, then this pick could've been used on physical freak Laurent Duvernay Tardif, aka the Best OLmen (and one of the best players regardless of position) Still Available.

Jemima Thomas: too slow for CB, too small for FS. No thanks. I already took DB Antone Exum, now
I'll take physical freak Jeff Janis, aka the Best WR (and one of the best players regardless of position)
Still Available.

Jeremy Tiny Gallon: Too Damn Small, and not explosive enough to compensate. More than a few better
options still available, including Michael Sam…nah, just kidding.

patsfaninpa · Apr 23, 2016

Here's what all of us would have done.

2014 Mock Draft ~ Final Exams!!

PatsFan2 · Apr 28, 2016

manxman2601 said:
If White was a WR I'd agree but he really can't run. If he's on the field, you're pretty much telegraphing that it's going to be a pass play.

I agree would like to see if he improves as a runner but if not wouldn't mind them experimenting with him as a Slot WR.

rookBoston · Apr 30, 2016

These retrospectives are pointless. The draft class produced 5 players who contributed to a team with a deep roster and playoff pedigree.

Easley is a disappointment, but was always a high risk high reward proposition. You can't have every risky pick turn into a Gronk story without having your Ras-I and Easley stories on the books to normalize the odds. When you draft at the end of the 1st you're going to be picking through the leftovers, just by definition. I have no problem with the pick. It might have gone completely the other way and I don't criticize the GM for being willing to give it a shot. The kid still has a lot of upside.

What I don't buy is the woulda-shoulda-coulda games that fans play, "I knew I was right all along". Narcissistic.

JAG as been a first rate backup, and it's hard to criticize his play when he's playing behind the GOAT. Here what Jimmy has brought to the team-- a cheap asset that the staff has enough confidence in, that they don't feel the need to carry a 3rd QB. That alone is priceless. As for those who think that an injury to TB12 signals the end of the season for the Pats, I beg to differ. I'm comfortable that Jimmy can lead this team through the playoffs. And if the D is legitimate SB caliber, he can do enough on the offensive side to produce a championship. If Baltimore won a SB with Flacco, then for sure Garropolo can do as much.

Stork and White and Fleming have been variously solid and useful on the depth chart. And to my eye, they have been productive and good value as 4th round picks on rookie contracts. Not every draftee is going to be an all pro, and a Super Bowl hero.

The rest... Late round fliers competing for a spot on a roster that doesn't have any gaps. Get used to it. That'll happen again this year. One in ten late round picks will be a David Givens or a Julian Edelman, if you're lucky. This is just BB kissing a lot of frogs to find a prince. And every now and then he finds one.

luuked · Apr 30, 2016

KontradictioN said:
Now that two years is about to pass since this draft, I figured I'd go back and evaluate it...

1 (29): Dominique Easley
2 (62): Jimmy Garoppolo
4 (105): Bryan Stork
4 (130): James White
4 (140): Cameron Fleming
6 (179): John Halapio
6 (198): Zach Moore
6 (206): Jemea Thomas
7 (244): Jeremy Gallon

Yikes. What a pile of crap. I was high on the Easley pick when it was first made. Shows you what I know. The kid has two bum knees now and doesn't give a damn about football. He's no longer on the team, becoming the quickest first round pick Belichick has cut in his time with the Patriots. Actually, he's not on any team currently. Right now he's a free agent and it doesn't sound like there's a lot of interest in him as we speak (though I'd be surprised if someone didn't take a shot on him before TC).

JAG was a pretty controversial pick around these parts when we made it as well. With two years in the books, it doesn't look like the pick was a real need. Sure, he seems to be an upgrade on what Mallett was and he comes cheaper than the Hoyers of the NFL, but Brady had shown no signs of slowing down and there's no indication, to date, that Garoppolo is the QBOTF. I nearly punched a hole in my wall when I saw Allen Robinson sliding down the board to us just to have him picked one before Garoppolo. Jarvis Landry went one pick later.

Stork was a solid pick. He picked up the play at center in his rookie year and was a very big reason for the improvement in pass protection from the center position. He did fall off a bit in 2015, however. Whether that had to do with nagging injury or whether that was due to the fact that his history of concussions caught up to him is for the Pats to decide going forward.

White and Fleming have been bit contributors thus far. White came in and performed decently once Lewis went down and Fleming has been a back-up tackle since coming into the league. Neither has particularly set the world on fire. White is looking at competing with Donald Brown for a roster spot this season. Fleming can definitely be improved upon.

Halapio didn't even make it out of TC that year. He was a part of the final round of cuts and is now out of the league altogether. Moore made it out of TC, was active for eight regular season games and none of the postseason. He was cut prior to the 2015 season and is now on the Vikings. Jemea Thomas bounced around to three different squads in 2014 and is now on the Tits. Gallon spent most of the 2014 TC on PUP before he was released by the team prior to the season. He's currently out of the NFL and plays for the Toronto Argonauts.

The draft itself was woeful. It yielded four players still on the roster, one of whom is starting caliber. I suppose the process itself wasn't an awful one, though, since it yielded Butler. He ended up doing something pretty important later on that year, IIRC.

1 Starter, a few solid rotational players and then a bunch of people that didn't work out sounds to me more like the average draft class of any NFL team and not like a bunch of crap. Add in Butler and you have a rookie class that is actually above average if you compare it to the rest of the league.

Marinlik · Apr 30, 2016

manxman2601 said:
If White was a WR I'd agree but he really can't run. If he's on the field, you're pretty much telegraphing that it's going to be a pass play.

Sure. But that's pretty much what we got from Vereen, and he was a second round pick. I much prefer the value of White as a 4th rounder. But yeah. Both Vereen and White are players where you kind of start to wonder if you can't put a WR there instead.

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