2016 Redraft

Most years, we have a redraft exercise so we can all document what we would have done if we had been the man in charge. I believe Captain Stone posted his response in another thread already, but it would be nice if we had a centralized location to review our choices vis-à-vis those of the mad genius himself, BB.

Let me provide some context for my mock redraft, since most of my targets were actually available when I wanted to pick them. The biggest surprise for me was Ricardo Louis, who 114th overall (and was followed up by Campbell at 115; another guy I was intrigued by as a 6th or 7th rounder). I thought he might be available for one of our 6th round comp picks (most of the big sites, such as CBS, had him listed as a 7th rounder). I won't retroactively take him in the 4th, because I think he's only a developmental deep threat, and not a well-rounded player -- like Mitchell, for example -- so he doesn't get moved up my board just because a team gambled on him early. Still, I was saddened to see him go so much sooner than anticipated.

I also thought that La'raven Clark would go in the 2nd, and he was available in the 3rd. I had already adjusted my board, however, so it would be cherry-picking to go back and nab him, since I had two other players that I would have targeted above him. In keeping with that spirit, I'm going to do my best to redraft according to my big board, and not just use the actual draft as a cheat sheet to sneak in value picks (that's cheating, haha).

I've been clear that my favorite defensive back was Sean Davis. While watching the draft, once the picks got into the low 50s, I told my wife that I was expecting a run on defensive backs, and I was particularly worried about Pitt and KC drafting right before us. Well, between 54 and 64, 7 DBs were drafted, so I think that counts as a run. Among them, unfortunately, was Davis, going to the hated Steelers. I'm hopeful now that all his negative traits are most prominent. My point is just that my redraft includes a modest trade up for Davis, but it's not simply because he was picked 2 picks before the Patriots made their selection. I really honestly thought that Davis wouldn't last, and I was itching to see a small trade up in front of other AFC powers.

I had a similar thought processes regarding pass-rushers in the early 3rd round, which is why my projected trade-down from 61 is not identical to the Patriots trade, so that I can grab my target (Shilique Calhoun) before some of our rivals can draft a DE. I was particularly nervous about the stretch in the 70s. Jacksonville, Baltimore, and Chicago all took a DE here. My fears were not unfounded, and because I was already nervous at the time of the draft, I feel justified in targeting the late 60/early 70 range for a trade down to pick Calhoun. It's not just convenience since he went 75 and I'm targeting a trade just prior to that. Calhoun reminds me of Aldon Smith coming out of college, and they're almost exactly identical in terms of size and athletic profiles. Comparing them is somewhat eerie, really. Now they could potentially play together. Scary. I also double-dip on edge players, taking a gamble on Matt Judon, who led collge football with the most sacks. Always worth bringing in that kind of production.

Williams is the injury special. I think if he had been healthy last year, he could have gone in the 2nd with no problem. I'm annoyed he went to the Bills, and I think he'll eventually start over Williams and McCoy if he fully recovers from his injuries. He has excellent traits, and I see him as a solid workhorse for the next 6 - 8 seasons.

I had Garrett rated as a borderline 3rd/4th kind of guy, but WR was lower down my priority list than DE/OLB/DL, CB/S, RB, and OT. I think he's a better player than Vaitai, whom I picked first, but 1) I think Oline was a bigger need, and 2) I have concerns about projecting him into the Patriots offense, since he was a bit of a one trick pony in college (although to be fair he was the most productive receiver in all of college ball last year, which is a recurring theme with my list). Vaitai is longer than Cannon, and shows better explosion and agility numbers. He came from the same program, and is drafted around the same spot to be a better swing tackle than Cannon, who is a servicable right tackle when not playing against Von Miller. Ouch.

Reader was my favorite nose tackle type. Who is to say, though, that if we didn't draft Valentine at 96, that he wouldn't have lasted until the late 5th? Not sure if other teams had him on the radar, but most draft sites had him listed as a 7th rounder or UDFA, so it's possible that he could have been available. Take your pick on this one, really; similar size and power, although Valentine did put up intriguing explosion numbers.

I will say that linebacker and a hybrid safety/linebacker were both positions on my radar, and I never did come across Kamu Grugier-Hill or Elandon Roberts. I wish I had, because I'm actually pretty excited by both players, particularly KGH. I can't include them in my redraft, because I didn't have them on my big board, but I wanted to go on record saying that I really like these picks. Instead, I was targeting Feeney as a safety/linebacker hybrid who has experience at both positions, and exhibited monster workout numbers. I see him as more of a safety than a linebacker, but he could be lethal on blitzes, and he can actually cover pretty well. He's another player that I was annoyed went to Pittsburgh.

Bryant is one of my favorite late rounders I've scouted. He ended up going to Seattle as an UDFA, but I take him here with our last comp pick. He could turn out to be what we hoped Dominique Easley would be. Explosive, explosive player, and I hope he has good success in the NFC, but not if both teams make it to the Super Bowl, haha.

Foster and Jones were two guys I'd picked out early in the process as good scheme fits, and they're the only UDFAs that the Patriots brought on board that I'm excited about. I think both make the team. Johnstone could push Cannon or Waddle off the team. He would have been a 2nd - 4th round pick without the injuries. Joel Heath has excellent size and athleticism, and is a hard worker on the Dline. Always worth bringing those guys in to camp.

I'm mostly going to follow the picks that the Patriots actually had, but I am going to assume a slight trade up to 56, since the Bears have shown that they are williing trade partners. We'd probably have to give up the 6s and 7s that we used to get a 2017 4th round pick, so I'm not sure my trade is better in the long run, but I just need to get my guy. Additionally, I'll just pretend that the Bucs traded up with us instead of the Chiefs (one pick off) to get their kicker, for the sake of this theoretical argument. I'm also projecting to trade 106 (picked up from Bucs) down for the Chiefs' two late 5th round picks to fill in the middle a little better (we get the Keyshawn Martin pick back).

Okay, that's probably enough backstory. Let me pull up my big board and get started!


2 56 Sean Davis

3 74 Shilique Calhoun

3 91 Jonathan Williams

3 96 Matt Judon

5 162 Halapoulivaati Vaitai

5 165 D. J. Reader

6 208 Keyarris Garrett

6 214 Travis Feeney

6 221 Brandin Bryant


UDFA:

DJ Foster
Jonathan Jones
Tyler Johnstone
Joel Heath

reamer said:

Most years, we have a redraft exercise so we can all document what we would have done if we had been the man in charge. I believe Captain Stone posted his response in another thread already, but it would be nice if we had a centralized location to review our choices vis-à-vis those of the mad genius himself, BB.

Let me provide some context for my mock redraft, since most of my targets were actually available when I wanted to pick them. The biggest surprise for me was Ricardo Louis, who 114th overall (and was followed up by Campbell at 115; another guy I was intrigued by as a 6th or 7th rounder). I thought he might be available for one of our 6th round comp picks (most of the big sites, such as CBS, had him listed as a 7th rounder). I won't retroactively take him in the 4th, because I think he's only a developmental deep threat, and not a well-rounded player -- like Mitchell, for example -- so he doesn't get moved up my board just because a team gambled on him early. Still, I was saddened to see him go so much sooner than anticipated.

I also thought that La'raven Clark would go in the 2nd, and he was available in the 3rd. I had already adjusted my board, however, so it would be cherry-picking to go back and nab him, since I had two other players that I would have targeted above him. In keeping with that spirit, I'm going to do my best to redraft according to my big board, and not just use the actual draft as a cheat sheet to sneak in value picks (that's cheating, haha).

I've been clear that my favorite defensive back was Sean Davis. While watching the draft, once the picks got into the low 50s, I told my wife that I was expecting a run on defensive backs, and I was particularly worried about Pitt and KC drafting right before us. Well, between 54 and 64, 7 DBs were drafted, so I think that counts as a run. Among them, unfortunately, was Davis, going to the hated Steelers. I'm hopeful now that all his negative traits are most prominent. My point is just that my redraft includes a modest trade up for Davis, but it's not simply because he was picked 2 picks before the Patriots made their selection. I really honestly thought that Davis wouldn't last, and I was itching to see a small trade up in front of other AFC powers.

I had a similar thought processes regarding pass-rushers in the early 3rd round, which is why my projected trade-down from 61 is not identical to the Patriots trade, so that I can grab my target (Shilique Calhoun) before some of our rivals can draft a DE. I was particularly nervous about the stretch in the 70s. Jacksonville, Baltimore, and Chicago all took a DE here. My fears were not unfounded, and because I was already nervous at the time of the draft, I feel justified in targeting the late 60/early 70 range for a trade down to pick Calhoun. It's not just convenience since he went 75 and I'm targeting a trade just prior to that. Calhoun reminds me of Aldon Smith coming out of college, and they're almost exactly identical in terms of size and athletic profiles. Comparing them is somewhat eerie, really. Now they could potentially play together. Scary. I also double-dip on edge players, taking a gamble on Matt Judon, who led collge football with the most sacks. Always worth bringing in that kind of production.

Williams is the injury special. I think if he had been healthy last year, he could have gone in the 2nd with no problem. I'm annoyed he went to the Bills, and I think he'll eventually start over Williams and McCoy if he fully recovers from his injuries. He has excellent traits, and I see him as a solid workhorse for the next 6 - 8 seasons.

I had Garrett rated as a borderline 3rd/4th kind of guy, but WR was lower down my priority list than DE/OLB/DL, CB/S, RB, and OT. I think he's a better player than Vaitai, whom I picked first, but 1) I think Oline was a bigger need, and 2) I have concerns about projecting him into the Patriots offense, since he was a bit of a one trick pony in college (although to be fair he was the most productive receiver in all of college ball last year, which is a recurring theme with my list). Vaitai is longer than Cannon, and shows better explosion and agility numbers. He came from the same program, and is drafted around the same spot to be a better swing tackle than Cannon, who is a servicable right tackle when not playing against Von Miller. Ouch.

Reader was my favorite nose tackle type. Who is to say, though, that if we didn't draft Valentine at 96, that he wouldn't have lasted until the late 5th? Not sure if other teams had him on the radar, but most draft sites had him listed as a 7th rounder or UDFA, so it's possible that he could have been available. Take your pick on this one, really; similar size and power, although Valentine did put up intriguing explosion numbers.

I will say that linebacker and a hybrid safety/linebacker were both positions on my radar, and I never did come across Kamu Grugier-Hill or Elandon Roberts. I wish I had, because I'm actually pretty excited by both players, particularly KGH. I can't include them in my redraft, because I didn't have them on my big board, but I wanted to go on record saying that I really like these picks. Instead, I was targeting Feeney as a safety/linebacker hybrid who has experience at both positions, and exhibited monster workout numbers. I see him as more of a safety than a linebacker, but he could be lethal on blitzes, and he can actually cover pretty well. He's another player that I was annoyed went to Pittsburgh.

Bryant is one of my favorite late rounders I've scouted. He ended up going to Seattle as an UDFA, but I take him here with our last comp pick. He could turn out to be what we hoped Dominique Easley would be. Explosive, explosive player, and I hope he has good success in the NFC, but not if both teams make it to the Super Bowl, haha.

Foster and Jones were two guys I'd picked out early in the process as good scheme fits, and they're the only UDFAs that the Patriots brought on board that I'm excited about. I think both make the team. Johnstone could push Cannon or Waddle off the team. He would have been a 2nd - 4th round pick without the injuries. Joel Heath has excellent size and athleticism, and is a hard worker on the Dline. Always worth bringing those guys in to camp.

I'm mostly going to follow the picks that the Patriots actually had, but I am going to assume a slight trade up to 56, since the Bears have shown that they are williing trade partners. We'd probably have to give up the 6s and 7s that we used to get a 2017 4th round pick, so I'm not sure my trade is better in the long run, but I just need to get my guy. Additionally, I'll just pretend that the Bucs traded up with us instead of the Chiefs (one pick off) to get their kicker, for the sake of this theoretical argument. I'm also projecting to trade 106 (picked up from Bucs) down for the Chiefs' two late 5th round picks to fill in the middle a little better (we get the Keyshawn Martin pick back).

Okay, that's probably enough backstory. Let me pull up my big board and get started!


2 56 Sean Davis

3 74 Shilique Calhoun

3 91 Jonathan Williams

3 96 Matt Judon

5 162 Halapoulivaati Vaitai

5 165 D. J. Reader

6 208 Keyarris Garrett

6 214 Travis Feeney

6 221 Brandin Bryant


UDFA:

DJ Foster
Jonathan Jones
Tyler Johnstone
Joel Heath

Click to expand...

Once a draft is over, I tend to mentally reset in the brain department and put all the names I've spent so much time on, to the back of my mind, so your Jonathan Williams reminder has made me sad. But, having said that, it was never a draft that got me madly excited barring a very few names.

I think the only picks that need looking at for me are the Brissett, Valentine and Karras picks. I'd probably substitute those guys with Ridgeway, J Will and Kalan Reed. Having said that, I'm fine with the Brissett pick and we did need to add a QB.

Edit: One alternative would have been to not trade down from 61, take Bullard at 61 and then take Mitchell and J Will at 91 & 96.

manxman2601 said:

Once a draft is over, I tend to mentally reset in the brain department and put all the names I've spent so much time on, to the back of my mind, so your Jonathan Williams reminder has made me sad. But, having said that, it was never a draft that got me madly excited barring a very few names.

I think the only picks that need looking at for me are the Brissett, Valentine and Karras picks. I'd probably substitute those guys with Ridgeway, J Will and Kalan Reed. Having said that, I'm fine with the Brissett pick and we did need to add a QB.

Edit: One alternative would have been to not trade down from 61, take Bullard at 61 and then take Mitchell and J Will at 91 & 96.

Click to expand...

Wow, I actually love that idea. Bullard, Mitchell, and Williams sounds great!

I agree that I move on to the next draft. I just had some extraneous notes and decided I'd write up a short (heh) post. Thanks as always for your comments.

reamer said:

Wow, I actually love that idea. Bullard, Mitchell, and Williams sounds great!

I agree that I move on to the next draft. I just had some extraneous notes and decided I'd write up a short (heh) post. Thanks as always for your comments.

Click to expand...

It was an excellent set of extraneous notes. I liked your Brandin Bryant pick. It'll be interesting to see what the Seahawks get out of him.

Here's my re-draft from the other thread:

"This is what the Naked Emperor should have done:

60) OT LeRaven Clark - He would've filled the biggest hole on this team: providing an athletic backup
for the annual Solder & Vollmer injuries, while being groomed to become the Starting LT by 2018.
What happened to Brady in the AFCC was a national embarrassment, and should have been off-season Priority #1. Instead, Bill has completely ignored this most-glaring need, to our inevitable downfall.

78) WR Braxton Miller - The next Anquan Bolden, lighter but more athletic, and just as tough.

91) CB Cyrus Jones - If he were 2-3" taller, then taking him at 60 would be justified…but he's not.

96) I would have traded this to Oakland for 114 & 154, which is what they gave Cleveland for 100.

112) I would have traded this to Chicago for 117 & 206, which is what they gave LA for 113.

114) DT Hassan Ridgeway - Malcom Brown's linemate at Texas, and the 3-Tech to replace predicted
bust Dom Easily. Willie Henry would also have been an acceptable answer.
Slow, weak, lazy Fat Vinnie Valentine at 96? Bill's worst 3rd-rounder ever, and that's saying a lot.

117) RBs Devontae Booker, Kenneth Dixon, Jordan Howard or Jonathan Williams - take your pick.

147 from Miami) LG/T Joe Dahl - Our Starting LG, who can play LT in a pinch better than anybody
else on this damn OL, including Vollmer.
I would have then traded 154 to Seattle instead of 147. Betcha they would've taken it too.

206 from Chicago) DE Stephen Weatherly - Best DE available, and would automatically become a far
superior upgrade to the execrable GeeNo Grissom.

208) TE Beau Sandland - Finally, a worthy replacement for The Prisoner; a Move TE who can really, really move. Devon Cajuste, Thomas Duarte & Stephen Anderson were also still available here.

214) OLB Travis Feeney - Most athletic LB available, would've been a top-125 pick were it not for his
shoulder injuries. The healthier but less experienced Aaron Wallace would also have been an acceptable answer.

221) WR Mitch Mathews, this year's version of Jeff Janis. Charone Peake, Kenny Lawler & Keyarris Garrett were also still available here.

225) CB Kalan Reed - the next Asante Samuel? - or CB/FS Jalen Mills, who would've been a top-100 pick
were it not for his injury/legal issues.

In summary:
2 Left-side OLmen? Check.
2 WRs with both size and speed? Check.
Powerful young legs at RB? Check.
An athletic, true Move TE? Check.
A strong and athletic 3-Tech? Check.
An athletic DE? Check.
An athletic LB? Check.
2 athletic DBs? Check.
Almost every, single hole on this team filled? Check."

P.S.: Let me add that using #60 on either DL Jonathan Bullard or DE Shilique Calhoun instead of on LeRaven Clark would have also been acceptable; if that had happened, then I would have used 114 not
on Hassan Ridgeway but on Joe Dahl, and used 147 on Joe Haeg to fill my LT need. #206 would then have been used on either DTs Greg Milhouse, Justin Zimmer, Joel Heath, Destiny Vaeao or Brandon Bryant if Calhoun had been the choice at 60.

Prelims: If Jason Spriggs had fallen just a wee bit more...a trade up in the second round is on the table. But the Packers dealt with the Colts in aggressive fashion.

Not grabbing a RB will be a plot line this season. Here's hoping Donald Brown and injury-plagued Stanford star Tyler Gaffney can put it to bed with their play. I'm worried, though.

I think I'll steal some of Cap'n's work as he makes sense to me, keeping the picks in the same order as occurred in the draft.

Biggest Need: OT
Round 2 (60) Although I think Cyrus Jones will be a wonderful player for us, I have to think Le'Raven Clark OT that the Colts nabbed fits better here. He has all the measurables, which is something more than can be said of the 5'9" Jones.

Round 3 (78) Braxton Miller WR. A quarterback with size, speed, strength, and explosiveness--so much so that he shined at the Ohio State pro day, which is saying something. Think: Julian Edelman as the Terminator joining the receiving corps. Thanks, Cap'n, for directing me here. Watching Miller perform in several all star practices, games, and his pro day was the proverbial "man among boys." He's another Gronk-type mismatch on the outside.

Round 3 (91) Hassan Ridgeway DT. A perfect fit for us, bringing him to teammate once again with Malco[l]m Brown. Captain Stone is right. This guy is the replacement for the failed first-rounder from Florida we recently released.

Round 3 (96) Tavon Young CB. The ultra-competitive Temple product was a shutdown machine with Combine measurables eerily similar to Cyrus Young, except he's lighter and his arms a little shorter. This is great value that the Ravens got (Man, their draft was strong!) early in the fourth round. Let's compare his career to our second-rounder's.

Round 4 (102) Joe Dahl OT/OG Washington State. Very similar to Joe Thuney is versatility, toughness, and size. His arms are longer, though everyone's is compared to ThunRex's, and he's not quite as uber-athletic. Detroit will love this guy. Another comparison: Dahl v Thuney.

Round 4 (112) Kenneth Dixon RB LaTech. Reminds me of another Louisiana collegiate we drafted a long time ago, Kevin Faulk. Both are noted for their production and pass-catching abilities. Not drafting this guy has the potential to hurt for a long time.

Round 6 (208) Travis Feeney Washington OLB/ST. This guy can come in to play special teams and, over time, can develop into a legitimate backup unlike the Eastern Illinois player we drafted. The Steelers drafted him.

Round 6 (221) Jack Allen Center Michigan State. He's too short. He's got slow foot speed. As a high school champion wrestler from Illinois the twice All-American has vice grip hands and a highly developed nasty streak. Simply put: he's a warrior. Not being drafted surprised a lot of people. Look to him to make the Saints and start at center for them in the coming years. I don't trust the health of Stork, one concussion away from retirement.

Round 7 (225) Joel Health DT Michigan State. The converted DE has excellent length. Long arms. Awesome young man. Getting married, no twitter or social media accounts, drove around Shilique Calhoun to his appointments. And the ceiling is definitely higher than Karras's, who I think was drafted largely because of his collegiate productivity at the hapless Fighting Illini and family tree, not for his ability to contribute during the season. But I'm often an idiot about these matters and hope to be proven wrong.

Priority Free Agent: Stay with DJ Foster.

If I knew everything i knew now and assume we pick at the same spots...


#60 Jonathan Bullard - DT (I just think it was a bad choice to leave him on the board considering we now lack interior pass rush but have bigs that we like.

#78 La'Raven Clack - OT - IDK about Thuney yet but too much talant to pass up here imo.

#91 Jacoby Brisset - QB - I will keep this the same. There are not enough must have names before and he has done okay for a rookie to this point.

#96 Graham Glasgow - OG - I do like the idea of interior help.

#112 - Malcolm Mitchel - WR - So far so good. Keep him.


The rest i keep the same. why not?
UDFA

Jonathan Jones - I like Cyrus but Jonathan has showed well and makes the Cyrus pick perhaps unneeded.
DJ Foster - Makes bring in another RB unneeded but potentially a good move.