#1 Need For the Draft: SAFETY

[maverick4]

I know we don't draft for need but more for value/talent/fit, but we are only weak in one potential area for next year: the safety positions. This position is always a high injury spot for us - we lost safeties in two straight super bowl games, and the past two years there hasn't been a lot of stability or a championship quality of play.

This probably doesn't sound like something the Patriots would say, but we NEED to draft Griffin, Nelson, or Landry.

 

[SamBam39]

I know we don't draft for need but more for value/talent/fit, but we are only weak in one potential area for next year: the safety positions. This position is always a high injury spot for us - we lost safeties in two straight super bowl games, and the past two years there hasn't been a lot of stability or a championship quality of play.

This probably doesn't sound like something the Patriots would say, but we NEED to draft Griffin, Nelson, or Landry.

I think the pats will draft both a linebacker and a safety in the first round.
I think they are both needs to get younger at.

 

[TheSeymonsta]

but we are only weak in one potential area for next year:

You might be forgetting a position that we are weaker than Safety on....


LINEBACKER

We have 4 capable starters.
Bruschi, Vrabel, Thomas, Colvin....After that there is noone on the bench with enough talent to keep us going at that position were we to have injuries to any of our starters.

Safety

Harrison, Wilson, Sanders, Hawkins, Mitchell are all capable of starting on this team.

For 2 spots....

LINEBACKER IS A MUCH BIGGER NEED.


Should we upgrade the Safety position.....Hell Yes but LB is in a much more critical state.

 

[cstjohn17]

I agree with the Monsta, we have our top 6 returning Safeties (Harrison, Wilson, Sanders, Hawkins, Baker, Andrews) plus Gay and Scott as emergency depth.

Yes, the unit can be improved but it is not the number 1 need.

You might be forgetting a position that we are weaker than Safety on....


LINEBACKER

We have 4 capable starters.
Bruschi, Vrabel, Thomas, Colvin....After that there is noone on the bench with enough talent to keep us going at that position were we to have injuries to any of our starters.

Safety

Harrison, Wilson, Sanders, Hawkins, Mitchell are all capable of starting on this team.

For 2 spots....

LINEBACKER IS A MUCH BIGGER NEED.


Should we upgrade the Safety position.....Hell Yes but LB is in a much more critical state.

 

[SamBamsFan]

I know we don't draft for need but more for value/talent/fit, but we are only weak in one potential area for next year: the safety positions. This position is always a high injury spot for us - we lost safeties in two straight super bowl games, and the past two years there hasn't been a lot of stability or a championship quality of play.

This probably doesn't sound like something the Patriots would say, but we NEED to draft Griffin, Nelson, or Landry.

Why? Landry would be a good fit but to think about getting him would cost both our 1sts. Griffin & Nelson I am not sold on as "good Patriot material", esp. at the cost of a 1st round pick. I'd much rather have Weddle, Gattis, Wendling, Piscitelli w/ a later pick.

 

[danny88]

Why? Landry would be a good fit but to think about getting him would cost both our 1sts. Griffin & Nelson I am not sold on as "good Patriot material", esp. at the cost of a 1st round pick. I'd much rather have Weddle, Gattis, Wendling, Piscitelli w/ a later pick.

I wouldent...... Piscitelli ??? Maybe Weddle, but Piscitelli? The good "patriot material" argument changed when they signed Dillon and Stallworth. What is wrong with Nelson?

 

[SamBamsFan]

I wouldent...... Piscitelli??? Maybe weddle, but Piscitelli? The good patriot material argument changed when they signed Dillon and Stallworth. What is wrong with Nelson?

Good Patriot material in my mind is not just about charactor, it's about specific skill sets, intelligence & love of the game as well. Beyond being undersized here is what Scouts Inc on espn.com says:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?id=11367

" Lacks ideal size and strength. Is not capable of matching up in the box. Much better in coverage than in run support. He's frequently late in diagnosing the run. He shows good initial pop for his size but he's not overly strong as a tackler. He leads with his shoulder on most occasions and looks for the knockout blow. As a result, he puts his head down and fails to wrap up on too many occasions. He has struggled academically; there are concerns regarding his mental capacity and ability to get his teammates lined up from the safety position."

Bottom line. He's a good player. I just would not use one of my 1st round picks on him.

 

[sebman2112]

I think they're going to draft two safeties. One in the first, and one in the third, fourth, or fifth.

Maybe Griffin/Nelson/Meriweather in the first, and either Wendling, or Gattis in the third or fourth. Someone like Daren Stone in the later rounds would be a good option, as well. I do think the should draft two Safeties, though.

 

[SamBam39]

I'd love to see them land Nelson.
I think he'd be a great fit for this team and organization.
I think he'd bring that swagger that makes defenses great.
if they got him and poz it would be perfect but I think nelson will go too high.
school's out on him.

 

[danny88]

I think they're going to draft two safeties. One in the first, and one in the third, fourth, or fifth.

Maybe Griffin/Nelson/Meriweather in the first, and either Wendling, or Gattis in the third or fourth. Someone like Daren Stone in the later rounds would be a good option, as well. I do think the should draft two Safeties, though.

I like some of those picks. I would take the Hurricane over the Gator in the first round tho. Not sure if they would take 2 tho.

 

[danny88]

Good Patriot material in my mind is not just about charactor, it's about specific skill sets, intelligence & love of the game as well. Beyond being undersized here is what Scouts Inc on espn.com says:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?id=11367

" Lacks ideal size and strength. Is not capable of matching up in the box. Much better in coverage than in run support. He's frequently late in diagnosing the run. He shows good initial pop for his size but he's not overly strong as a tackler. He leads with his shoulder on most occasions and looks for the knockout blow. As a result, he puts his head down and fails to wrap up on too many occasions. He has struggled academically; there are concerns regarding his mental capacity and ability to get his teammates lined up from the safety position."

Bottom line. He's a good player. I just would not use one of my 1st round picks on him.

That's cool. Thank you for sharing your opinion with me.

 

[SamBamsFan]

I think they're going to draft two safeties. One in the first, and one in the third, fourth, or fifth.

Maybe Griffin/Nelson/Meriweather in the first, and either Wendling, or Gattis in the third or fourth. Someone like Daren Stone in the later rounds would be a good option, as well. I do think the should draft two Safeties, though.

I am curious to hear why you would think the Pats would do that? He said two years ago that he would never pay a rookie safety 1st round money. And why would we draft 2?

 

[SunnyDenmark]

I would have to agree that safety is right up there from a need point of view. I have heard valid arguments for need of LB and CB - but I feel currently (after signing of free agent linebacker Adalius Thomas), that safety is our biggest weakness at the moment. Harrison is the BEST - but an injury waiting to happen (I can never forget - why the heck was he playing in that final regular season game when he got re-injured?). Wilson is regressing, looks lost without Harrison on the field giving guidence - plus has been injured several times in the last few years. Sanders seems promising but not quite there yet. Hawkins is too slow and got beat bad several times last year. Mitchell is an unknown at this point and not quite young anymore.

Ergo - we need a young stud safety. To me the need is worthy of a #1 round pick unless the top 3 safeties are already gone by #24 / #28. You only had to see the difference Colts safety Bob Sanders made upon his return (or our Harrison) to know how valuable to a team a good safety is. We only have one good safety (Harrison) and his remaining playing days are numbered. Better to get a young stud safety in the draft NOW so he can learn from the best (Harrison) before he is retired.

I know one can say similar things about depth on LB's and CB's but our overall group of LB's and CB's are not as weak as is Pats safeties when one compares them to other teams in the league. And as we know, offenses prey on the weaknesses of the opposing defenses. I would hope the Pats take a safety with #24 or #28 unless of the top 4 LB's or CB's has fallen to them at 24 and 28.

P.S. Also another reason is that E. Wilsons and A. Hawkins contracts are up end of '07 season. Do you really want to re-sign Wilson to a big money deal he will probably get from another team? Need to draft some yound talent NOW

 

[DaBruinz]

I wouldent...... Piscitelli ??? Maybe Weddle, but Piscitelli? The good "patriot material" argument changed when they signed Dillon and Stallworth. What is wrong with Nelson?

Its about VALUE.

Piscatelli rates as ver goof value for the 3rd or 4th round. As does John Wendling.

 

[TheSeymonsta]

but our overall group of LB's and CB's are not as weak as is Pats safeties when one compares them to other teams in the league.
.

I most definately disagree with this. Thomas replaces Willie.

Thomas, Bruschi, Colvin and Vrabel is all we have with garbage for depth on the bench.

4 LB spots with 4 LB's=No Depth

And as we know, offenses prey on the weaknesses of the opposing defenses.

Which is exactly what the Colts did to us in the AFCC game. They preyed on our weakness at LB by using TE's to kill us.

 

[holyredeemer]

Im getting mixed emotions from this draft. On one hand I see it like this. We have two very critical positions of need and two first rd draft picks. Lets do the obvious thing and draft a stud lb and a stud safety. On the other hand I see it like this. BB and Pioli never do the obvious. They see a far larger picture that we will never see mainly due to our lack of insider knowledge.
When it is all said and done, I think the Pats will end up drafting a tweener LB. One with alot of speed and good coverage skills, but a bit undersized for our current LB corps. And, if we dont trade away our 2nd first, I think we'll end up drafting a CB. Two LB's in rd. one would be nice, but I just dont see that happening. Also, I wouldnt be at all surprised if the pats used a high pick on an OL. Now, Im not saying this is what I want. Just what I think is going to happen.

 

[bradmahn]

I think LB is the most important area of need at this point in time. I look at it a couple different ways; there are two safety spots on the field in the base defense. For this year we have an excellent SS when healthy in Rodney, and two very capable backups in Sanders and Hawkins. We also have a good FS in Eugene Wilson, who, with a capable supporting cast, has shown he can produce at a high level. Hawkins, Gay and Scott can also fill in if Wilson is injured. The starters are there, and the back ups are too.

For the four LB spots we have four LBs, Colvin, Vrabel, Bruschi, and Thomas, with Bruschi being the only really true ILB. Vrabel and Thomas can play there, but their skills as pass rushers are better suited on the outside. If the Pats bring in another ILB, with two being the best case scenario, it would also provide depth.

The starters aren't even set with the LBs, and depth is a huge concern. As opposed to the starters being ready with more than capable depth at the safety positions.

 

[nickw308810]

I believe that LB is still our number 1 need, but BB has shown so far that he is unwilling to use a high pick on an LB, because he feels it will take them too long to grasp our system. Of course this could change, but I feel that it is most likely either 2 DBs are drafted, or 1 DB and another position, such as OL or even the dreaded TE pick. When talking about Safeties, I don't see how anyone can leave Brandon Merriweather's name out of the discussion. The kid is a player and a leader, and because of two dumb instances, everyone hates him. They shouldn't, because if he comes to New England he will have one heck of a career.

 

[patchick]

This probably doesn't sound like something the Patriots would say, but we NEED to draft Griffin, Nelson, or Landry.

I'm with you on the premise...whether it's a higher priority than LB I don't much care, we need to find our future at both positions. James Sanders is the only safety on the roster we can count on being around in 2008.

But I disagree that it must be one of those 3 players. There's a deep well of quality safeties in the draft, without any sudden dropoff. Meriweather is a wild card, then you have Weddle right behind the top guys, Gattis right behind him, etc.

 

[maverick4]

P.S. Also another reason is that E. Wilsons and A. Hawkins contracts are up end of '07 season. Do you really want to re-sign Wilson to a big money deal he will probably get from another team? Need to draft some yound talent NOW

Great point. Our safeties are in their last year, do we pay them big money later, or draft a young stud to groom?