Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

Connor's reaction to his visit: who he talked to, what they talked about, etc...

Connor Barwin: Patriot Visit Reaction ~ NE Patriots Draft

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

That seems like a fake report. Either that or the reporter at that site needs to take some Journalism 101. All I got out of that was that he thought it was awesome and pretty cool. Is he 10 years old?

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

You do know the reporter is a blogger and a fellow board member whom I believe does this for fun and not as part of his career plans after graduating from Columbia Journalism School?

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

Yikes BadMoFo. That hurt a wee bit. I felt like there was some good info in there for the board. And FWIW, it's not a fake report, I've spoken with Connor on a few occasions.

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

Nice, I liked the info there - it's cool to here who Barwin specifically met with, and its really interesting to see the way different teams are evaluating him - (olb/te vs. strict de) - obviously it makes sense for the pats to see how well he's kept up with his offensive knowledge, but it was also interesting how the teams that are evaluating him as a kind of dual-role guy are belichick-tree teams (NE, KC) whereas fisher and his guy schwartz are not. Its cool to see different philosophies at work

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

Yeah, I'm still surprised that the Pats are mainly interested in him on the offensive ball -- unless it is some elaborate smokescreen.

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

I'm mildly encouraged by the fact that the Patriots seem to be playing this one low key and close to the vest. Whoever the Pats end up picking, whether it's Barwin or someone else, I don't expect to hear a ton of reports that they are totally enamored of that pick. So bringing him in for a visit and publicly focusing on him as TE would be consistent with what I would expect if they were genuinely interested.

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

Perhaps, but amidst the peeing match in the laughing Mayock thread I did do a TE comparison between Barwin and Watson using their college numbers and Combine/Pro Day data, not to mention the various interviews that have let us get inside Barwin's head a little. The clear difference between the two is Barwin gets described as "clutch" as a TE, and has a much greater Special Teams background to his resume, not to mention occasionally rushing the passer. With Watson a UFA after this year...why not Barwin at TE? Can't hurt.

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

His Special-teams ability is how I think a team can get away with drafting him in the late first or early second round, and if any team values good ST play, it is the Patriots. ST allows Barwin to play make an impact while he develops into a TE/LB/DE

Re: Connor's Patriot Visit Reaction
 

That could be one take on it. However, here is my take on him meeting with Fears/Waldron/O'Brien. As a 3-4 OLB in the Pats system, you have to know how to play both the left and right side. When on the left side, Barwin would be going up against the TE. By knowing what the TE would do, Barwin is better able to read and react and be in position for the play. Also, lets not forget about Vrabel. Vrabel caught 8 TDs from the TE spot. The Patriots could be eyeing Barwin as the 3 TE in Goal Line situations much like where they had Vrabel lining up at times.

I noticed that he mentioned that he talked to Pees, but didn't mention what he talked to Pees about or for how long he talked to Pees. For that matter, how long he talked to Belichick wasn't mentioned either.

Its a good blog post. It would have been nice to pepper Barwin with questions, but clearly the author didn't want to compromise the nice situation he has with Barwin.

People seem to forget that these guys aren't obligated to talk to us. Just like the WR from the 2004 Pats that I talked to. He didn't have to share anything with me. The fact that he did was cool and I appreciated his time.