Patriots UDFA Class Has Some Intriguing Prospects

Simple Jack's Brother said:

True, but they also had Byron Maxwell the before he left for Philly (and got burned in a poor system), and they've still got Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas in the backend. So they're still doing pretty ok for themselves, regardless of who their current CB2 is. ;-)

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True but Thomas and Kam aren't CBs

Lane was ok too. I think Maxwell was more of a benefit from an elite secondary.

Elijah said:

I think the bolded part is key, and the reason Maxwell was so bad in Philly and will be bad in Miami. He wasn't a good player because of Seattle's system, he just looked good because of Seattle's system.

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Agreed. That being said though, Seattle seems to have very specific physical traits they look for in their secondary. Big and strong, vs quick and twitchy for the Pats. I've read they place a REALLY high emphasis on a player's SPARQ score as well, which would account for why they seemingly have so many explosive players up in the Northwest.

One thing I noticed today, is it was rumored Auburn's Jonathan Jones, who is a 5'9 CB and an UDFA, was supposed to sign with Jax, but something had to have happened to change his mind, like a BB or Patricia/Boyer phone call.

He is now signing with the Pats.

Good cone numbers (not better than Cyrus Jones), but his vertical leap is 36". Asante Samuel had an insane 3 foot vertical leap like that so Jonathan Jones's 5'9 stature, is irrelevant just like Samuel's small frame was.

This means his closing speed and burst is really good, which is what we need. He could make the club, where BB doubles down on interior CBs like Cyrus Jones and possibly Jonathan Jones.

For you Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade fans, it's the "Jones Boys".

I also think BB's rep for playing guys based on how they look and fit in NE, regardless of draft status, plays well into which UDFAs choose to come here. Their agents know their clients will get more than a fair shake.

One more aspect as to why BB is the greatest GM ever.

There is not one team in the NFL that gives UDFAs more of a chance and where the Pats hit more on them up against any team in this league.

Jimke said:

Don't understand this. Listed on Rotoworld as Giant signing.

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Auburn's Jonathan Jones at CB was listed as Jax signing. BB is overpaying for camp invites as UDFAs.

Genius.

BobDigital said:

I had both DJ Foster and Jonathan Jones on my draft board. I think Jones has a good shot to make the roster and Foster I would love to carry on the PS. When i saw his film i thought "Lewis 2.0".

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I agree, Bob. I like the Jonathan Jones move. Did you used to post at the Globe board? I recognize your name. It was taken over by a bunch of children and trolls and now that board is going away finally and thankfully. What a disgrace that place turned into. It was only for Tom Brady fans and pink hats who only cared about offense and fantasy football logic.

Rusty Griswold said:

I agree, Bob. I like the Jonathan Jones move. Did you used to post at the Globe board? I recognize your name. It was taken over by a bunch of children and trolls and now that board is going away finally and thankfully. What a disgrace that place turned into. It was only for Tom Brady fans and pink hats who only cared about offense and fantasy football logic.

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I might have been on globe but i don't recall. I use the same name on a lot of sites though so odds are yes it was me. I use to be big into the ESPN board before that went to **** though.

I do wish there was a good centralized football site but IMO the fan sites are the best. Going on official team sites is usually a waste of time and overly PC and rah rah.

CORNER

Well, we have Butler, Ryan, C Jones and two roster spots.

I don't think that Coleman and Roberts have locks on the last two spots. We also have Biggers and Vereen.

arizona state aztecs ????

BobDigital said:

I might have been on globe but i don't recall. I use the same name on a lot of sights though so odds are yes it was me. I use to be big into the ESPN board before that went to **** though.

I do with there was a good cetralized football sight but IMO the fan sites are the best. Going on official team sites is usually a waste of time and overly PC and rah rah.

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I agree. Yeah, I used to post on the old ESPN site about 10 years ago, but haven't been back since they changed the formatting, etc.

Not one OT signed as a UDFA, and not one OT even drafted.

"Genius"(snicker).

I also wanted the Patriots to draft or sign undrafted free agent OT based on what happened in the AFC championship game. However, reading the article on how the Patriots workout and evaluate players, I am even more convinced that they know what they are doing more than any expert on TV or Internet.
The Patriots staff has a lot riding on this to get it right, whereas the experts/fans give opinions without any consequences.

Rusty Griswold said:

I agree, Bob. I like the Jonathan Jones move. Did you used to post at the Globe board? I recognize your name. It was taken over by a bunch of children and trolls and now that board is going away finally and thankfully. What a disgrace that place turned into. It was only for Tom Brady fans and pink hats who only cared about offense and fantasy football logic.

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Lol good old Rusty

pats_premi said:

I also wanted the Patriots to draft or sign undrafted free agent OT based on what happened in the AFC championship game. However, reading the article on how the Patriots workout and evaluate players, I am even more convinced that they know what they are doing more than any expert on TV or Internet.
The Patriots staff has a lot riding on this to get it right, whereas the experts/fans give opinions without any consequences.

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Pats always know what they are doing and have a well-thought out strategy.

Doesn't mean that they are right.

Danger Zone said:

Could anyone tell me why we didn't pounce on Glenn Gronkowski?

Maybe with Develin its just not a position of need?

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Exactly why.. Only FB that was worth picking up in this draft was probably Vitale.

robertweathers said:

Pats always know what they are doing and have a well-thought out strategy.

Doesn't mean that they are right.

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In the AFC championship game, our top OT was on IR, and two others were recovering from injuries. For some posters, this simply doesn't matter. We had poor OT play and we needed to draft an OT or two. The team saw the issue differently. They liked Cannon and Waddle, and might even think that there is a place for Williams or Fleming. We didn't need to use 2016 resources for an 2107 OT.

Alternatively, from Training Camp through the early pre-season, we depended on the 3 rookie interior lineman. We dubbed them as having solved the interior line problem, especially when Stork came back.
And folks thought that Kline was all of a sudden a fine interior linemen because he was performing better than the others. Yes, Kline did perform better than the others. For Scar and Belichick, that was NOT good news. They knew what they had in Kline, an OK backup, and a measuring stick for the others. The team did NOT like what they saw. They brought in Cooper for $2.3M for his 2016 services. Then they followed this up by drafting Thuney, who Scar made sure we knew was going to play inside. And just for good luck, the team drafted Karras, presumably for the Practice Squad.

The reality is that almost all posters have a radically deficient set of information, and a level of analysis not even close to that any of the coaches or assistants.

mgteich said:

In the AFC championship game, our top OT was on IR, and two others were recovering from injuries. For some posters, this simply doesn't matter. We had poor OT play and we needed to draft an OT or two. The team saw the issue differently. They liked Cannon and Waddle, and might even think that there is a place for Williams or Fleming. We didn't need to use 2016 resources for an 2107 OT.

Alternatively, from Training Camp through the early pre-season, we depended on the 3 rookie interior lineman. We dubbed them as having solved the interior line problem, especially when Stork came back.
And folks thought that Kline was all of a sudden a fine interior linemen because he was performing better than the others. Yes, Kline did perform better than the others. For Scar and Belichick, that was NOT good news. They knew what they had in Kline, an OK backup, and a measuring stick for the others. The team did NOT like what they saw. They brought in Cooper for $2.3M for his 2016 services. Then they followed this up by drafting Thuney, who Scar made sure we knew was going to play inside. And just for good luck, the team drafted Karras, presumably for the Practice Squad.

The reality is that almost all posters have a radically deficient set of information, and a level of analysis not even close to that any of the coaches or assistants.

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Lots of good thoughts, although I still believe that the decision to forego drafting an OT will continue to be a controversial topic from now through the end of the year. It's also quite possible that they have other plans in an attempt to address the position, whether that's through a future addition via a cap casualty, etc.

Your last sentence is a good reminder that while we have strong opinions at times, we also lack the adequate information that is necessary to make these determinations. That said, I'd have still liked the team to have drafted an OT in a year where we didn't have many real needs. It's certainly possible that they simply didn't care for the available options versus their value system. We'll see how it all pans out.

robertweathers said:

With that with the exception of Sherman SEA is not killing it at CB either

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They may not be killing it at that specific position, but having Sherman shut down one side of the field surely goes a long, long way towards replicating their success.

In that system, you could probably have the Browns starting CBs see some success back there. After all, SEA was the first team since the late 60s Vikings to have the best scoring defense three years in a row (Minnesota did it '69-'71). The Seahawks followed that up by going out and doing it for a 4th year in a row last season, if I'm not mistaken.

supafly said:

They may not be killing it at that specific position, but having Sherman shut down one side of the field surely goes a long, long way towards replicating their success.

In that system, you could probably have the Browns starting CBs see some success back there. After all, SEA was the first team since the late 60s Vikings to have the best scoring defense three years in a row (Minnesota did it '69-'71). The Seahawks followed that up by going out and doing it for a 4th year in a row last season, if I'm not mistaken.

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I agree. Just saying other than Sherman they have not been killing it at drafting CBs

Is there any news apart from Reiss's report about De'Runnya Wilson?

As for the OTs, it was odd they didn't draft one, since that was their only real option. They're paying so much money to Solder and Vollmer that they couldn't get a good tackle to come in FA, or trade for one like the Jets did. The only real explanation is that they didn't like the guys who were available.

There also has to be a reason they haven't cut Marcus (high cap number) Cannon, the best guess being that he was pretty seriously hurt last year. People forget, but Cannon has been a good right tackle for the Pats in the past.

Add that to the development of Mason, Andrews and Stork, who've all played well as young interior linemen, and my best guess about what happened in the draft is that they're mainly concerned with the left guard spot, where they have three question marks in Jackson, Kline and Cooper. They have two excellent starters at tackle, a promising right guard in Mason, and two young centers who've played well. Yes, there's a lot to worry about in case of injury, but that's true at pretty much all the positions, isn't it?

supafly said:

Lots of good thoughts, although I still believe that the decision to forego drafting an OT will continue to be a controversial topic from now through the end of the year

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When Scar rejoined the team I am sure they went thoroughly through the OT depth chart and apparently agreed that the players have enough potential to stay put unless someone would fall considerably. While I agree that the timing was good to get some fresh blood on the OT I guess those players would need to be worth the pick/UDFA spot and it doesn't look like the value was there relative to other positions.

Don Kipines said:

There also has to be a reason they haven't cut Marcus (high cap number) Cannon, the best guess being that he was pretty seriously hurt last year. People forget, but Cannon has been a good right tackle for the Pats in the past.

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Cannon is a Scar binkie. He spoke very highly of him in the TC before retirement and I would be surprised if he is gone before TC.