2007 draft

[Fencer]

Looking back at who was taken across the league in 2007, it seems likely that BB was right to hate that draft.

Further, actually getting a Pro Bowler out of that draft is quite an accomplishment.

On the other hand, saying that makes the Jets' haul in 2007 (Revis and Harris) look like one heck of a drafting job.

 

[Sciz]

Quick hits from Belichick radio interview - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

2. Depth of draft showed up late. Belichick seemed extremely pleased with the team’s draft picks through the top of the seventh round, expressing surprise that the team was able to pick up the quality of players like center Ted Larsen (sixth round, 205th overall) and offensive tackle Thomas Welch (seventh round, 208th overall) that late. “We’ve taken players that didn’t nearly have the grades that they had in the fourth round before, because the board [was] depleted,” he said. “Like in the ’07 draft, as an example.”

Yep, 7th rounders this draft better than 4th rounders in that draft!

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Good point. Even the top 15 was very sparse for good players.

1 JaMarcus Russell QB Louisiana State Oakland Raiders
2 Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech Detroit Lions
3 Joe Thomas OT Wisconsin Cleveland Browns
4 Gaines Adams DE Clemson Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5 Levi Brown OT Penn State Arizona Cardinals
6 LaRon Landry SS Louisiana State Washington Redskins
7 Adrian Peterson RB Oklahoma Minnesota Vikings
8 Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas Atlanta Falcons
9 Ted Ginn Jr. WR Ohio State Miami Dolphins
10 Amobi Okoye DT Louisville Houston Texans
11 Patrick Willis ILB Mississippi San Francisco 49ers
12 Marshawn Lynch RB California Buffalo Bills
13 Adam Carriker NT Nebraska St. Louis Rams
14 Darrelle Revis CB Pittsburgh New York Jets
15 Lawrence Timmons LB Florida State Pittsburgh Steelers[/B]
16 Justin Harrell DT Tennessee Green Bay Packers
17 Jarvis Moss DE Florida Denver Broncos
18 Leon Hall CB Michigan Cincinnati Bengals
19 Michael Griffin FS Texas Tennessee Titans
20 Aaron Ross CB Texas New York Giants
21 Reggie Nelson FS Florida Jacksonville Jaguars
22 Brady Quinn QB Notre Dame Cleveland Browns
23 Dwayne Bowe WR Louisiana State Kansas City Chiefs
24 Brandon Meriweather DB Miami (Fla.) New England Patriots
25 Jon Beason MLB Miami (Fla.) Carolina Panthers
26 Anthony Spencer OLB Purdue Dallas Cowboys
27 Robert Meachem WR Tennessee New Orleans Saints
28 Joe Staley OT Central Michigan San Francisco 49ers
29 Ben Grubbs G Auburn Baltimore Ravens
30 Craig Davis WR Louisiana State San Diego Chargers
31 Greg Olsen TE Miami (Fla.) Chicago Bears
32 Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio State Indianapolis Colts
2007 - Round 2
Sel # Player Position School Team
33 Alan Branch DT Michigan Arizona Cardinals
34 Paul Posluszny MLB Penn State Buffalo Bills
35 Arron Sears G Tennessee Tampa Bay Buccaneers
36 Kevin Kolb QB Houston Philadelphia Eagles
37 Eric Weddle SAF Utah San Diego Chargers
38 Zach Miller TE Arizona State Oakland Raiders
39 Justin Blalock G Texas Atlanta Falcons
40 John Beck QB Brigham Young Miami Dolphins
41 Chris Houston CB Arkansas Atlanta Falcons
42 Tony Ugoh T Arkansas Indianapolis Colts
43 Drew Stanton QB Michigan State Detroit Lions
44 Sidney Rice WR South Carolina Minnesota Vikings
45 Dwayne Jarrett WR USC Carolina Panthers
46 LaMarr Woodley LB Michigan Pittsburgh Steelers
47 David Harris ILB Michigan New York Jets
48 Justin Durant OLB Hampton Jacksonville Jaguars
49 Kenny Irons RB Auburn Cincinnati Bengals
50 Chris Henry RB Arizona Tennessee Titans
51 Steve Smith WR USC New York Giants
52 Brian Leonard RB Rutgers St. Louis Rams
53 Eric Wright CB Nevada-Las Vegas Cleveland Browns
54 Turk McBride DE Tennessee Kansas City Chiefs
55 Josh Wilson CB Maryland Seattle Seahawks
56 Tim Crowder DE Texas Denver Broncos
57 Victor Abiamiri DE Notre Dame Philadelphia Eagles
58 Ikaika Alama-Francis DE Hawaii Detroit Lions
59 Ryan Kalil C USC Carolina Panthers
60 Samson Satele C Hawaii Miami Dolphins
61 Gerald Alexander FS Boise State Detroit Lions
62 Dan Bazuin DE Central Michigan Chicago Bears
63 Brandon Jackson RB Nebraska Green Bay Packers
64 Sabby Piscitelli SAF Oregon State Tampa Bay Buccanee

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I'm sure Mel Kiper and the ESPN crew crowned "<Insert the most aggressive team in the draft here> for being bold and pulling the trigger on <insert bust players here>."

<Insert the most aggressive team here> is now feeling the effects of mega contracts given <insert draft busts here>, all while sacrificing their picks in later, better drafts.

 

[pats1]

Not quite the 2000 NBA Draft, but yeah, it wasn't good.

 

[Bledsoe11]

Looking back on it, we did very good to snag Moss, Welker, and Meriweather that year.

 

[Bledsoe11]

Also, we traded our second first rounder that year to the 49ers which turned out to be Mayo, so that was a good move too.

 

[Fencer]

Quick hits from Belichick radio interview - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston



Yep, 7th rounders this draft better than 4th rounders in that draft!

Yep, that's what I was keying off.

A few excellent players went high, of course -- Johnson, Willis, Revis, Petersen. But on the whole it was pretty sparse beginning to end.

Good thing there were attractive opportunities to trade picks for a pair of Pro Bowl WRs!

 

[ALP]

looking at the 1st two rounds i can count on two hands the number of players that have actually produced by now

 

[unoriginal]

On the other hand, saying that makes the Jets' haul in 2007 (Revis and Harris) look like one heck of a drafting job.

You don't have to say anything to make that draft look like one heck of a job. They moved up as high as they could to get all many talented players as possible, then claim all the low round picks we cut because there was no space for them. They basically drafted twice.

 

[BKBroiler]

looking at the 1st two rounds i can count on two hands the number of players that have actually produced by now

I think that statement is a little extreme as the number is higher than that. Now were there some horrendous picks in the first two rounds? Absolutely. However, the huge drop off in talent really starts in the third round (only a few players like Stewart Bradley, Mason Crosby, Mike Sims-Walker, Tanard Jackson, Doug Free, Tanard Jackson, Le-Ron McClain, Steve Breaston, Brett Celek, Brandon Siler, and Chinedum Ndukwe came from rounds 3-7).

Anyway, I've gone through and tried to objectively pull out the guys from these two rounds who have made a contribution to their team the past three years. Now do I think all of these guys are good players? No, there are a few I am not a fan of. In fact I think some may see their roles diminished going forward. Still based on their stats, all of these guys have either taken on an important role or have executed the role they were given (I also included Okoye because he seems to be improving and is still only 22 years old).

2007 - Round 1
2 Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech Detroit Lions
3 Joe Thomas OT Wisconsin Cleveland Browns
5 Levi Brown OT Penn State Arizona Cardinals
6 LaRon Landry SS Louisiana State Washington Redskins
7 Adrian Peterson RB Oklahoma Minnesota Vikings
8 Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas Atlanta Falcons
10 Amobi Okoye DT Louisville Houston Texans
11 Patrick Willis ILB Mississippi San Francisco 49ers
12 Marshawn Lynch RB California Buffalo Bills
14 Darrelle Revis CB Pittsburgh New York Jets
15 Lawrence Timmons LB Florida State Pittsburgh Steelers
18 Leon Hall CB Michigan Cincinnati Bengals
19 Michael Griffin FS Texas Tennessee Titans
21 Reggie Nelson FS Florida Jacksonville Jaguars
23 Dwayne Bowe WR Louisiana State Kansas City Chiefs
24 Brandon Meriweather DB Miami (Fla.) New England Patriots
25 Jon Beason MLB Miami (Fla.) Carolina Panthers
26 Anthony Spencer OLB Purdue Dallas Cowboys
27 Robert Meachem WR Tennessee New Orleans Saints
28 Joe Staley OT Central Michigan San Francisco 49ers
29 Ben Grubbs G Auburn Baltimore Ravens
31 Greg Olsen TE Miami (Fla.) Chicago Bears
32 Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio State Indianapolis Colts

2007 - Round 2
Sel # Player Position School Team
34 Paul Posluszny MLB Penn State Buffalo Bills
36 Kevin Kolb QB Houston Philadelphia Eagles
37 Eric Weddle SAF Utah San Diego Chargers
38 Zach Miller TE Arizona State Oakland Raiders
39 Justin Blalock G Texas Atlanta Falcons
44 Sidney Rice WR South Carolina Minnesota Vikings
46 LaMarr Woodley LB Michigan Pittsburgh Steelers
47 David Harris ILB Michigan New York Jets
48 Justin Durant OLB Hampton Jacksonville Jaguars
51 Steve Smith WR USC New York Giants
53 Eric Wright CB Nevada-Las Vegas Cleveland Browns
55 Josh Wilson CB Maryland Seattle Seahawks
59 Ryan Kalil C USC Carolina Panthers
60 Samson Satele C Hawaii Miami Dolphins
64 Sabby Piscitelli SAF Oregon State Tampa Bay Buccaneers

 

[mcmurtry86]

8 Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas Atlanta Falcons
10 Amobi Okoye DT Louisville Houston Texans
12 Marshawn Lynch RB California Buffalo Bills
21 Reggie Nelson FS Florida Jacksonville Jaguars
27 Robert Meachem WR Tennessee New Orleans Saints
32 Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio State Indianapolis Colts
36 Kevin Kolb QB Houston Philadelphia Eagles
60 Samson Satele C Hawaii Miami Dolphins
64 Sabby Piscitelli SAF Oregon State Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Being very generous here. Anderson is a total bust. Okoye has been regressing since his rookie season, Lynch has been ok but the Bills want to dump him already, Nelson has a lot of tackles but has been fairly bad, Meachem and Gonzalez have both had one decent year, one bad year and one injured year, Kolb hasn't done anything, Satele was traded to Oakland and Piscitelli is one of the worst starters at any position in the NFL.

If these guys were 3rd or 4th rounders, maybe some of them could be "successes" but as top 64 picks? No way. Seems more like you made this list based on name recognition rather than the way they have looked in games. In no way have they "taken on an important role or have executed the role they were given". None of them have lived up to their draft status, which is really the issue in question

 

[Patriot 37]

Being very generous here. Anderson is a total bust. Okoye has been regressing since his rookie season, Lynch has been ok but the Bills want to dump him already, Nelson has a lot of tackles but has been fairly bad, Meachem and Gonzalez have both had one decent year, one bad year and one injured year, Kolb hasn't done anything, Satele was traded to Oakland and Piscitelli is one of the worst starters at any position in the NFL.

If these guys were 3rd or 4th rounders, maybe some of them could be "successes" but as top 64 picks? No way. Seems more like you made this list based on name recognition rather than the way they have looked in games. In no way have they "taken on an important role or have executed the role they were given". None of them have lived up to their draft status, which is really the issue in question

Excellent points ! This whole thing of calculating the percentage of starters from a certain draft that Felger and others have been ripping the Pats over is idiotic. Satele started for a year, sucked and the Phins had to spend big $ on Jake Grove to replace him. I would rather have Wes Welker and the 350 catches in 3 years.

The bottom line the 2007 draft was a great sucess Moss, Welker Merriwether. The fact that some of the late picks didn't make the team is at least partially because the team was stacked and there weren't a lot of jobs open.

 

[Fencer]

Being very generous here. Anderson is a total bust. Okoye has been regressing since his rookie season, Lynch has been ok but the Bills want to dump him already, Nelson has a lot of tackles but has been fairly bad, Meachem and Gonzalez have both had one decent year, one bad year and one injured year, Kolb hasn't done anything, Satele was traded to Oakland and Piscitelli is one of the worst starters at any position in the NFL.

If these guys were 3rd or 4th rounders, maybe some of them could be "successes" but as top 64 picks? No way. Seems more like you made this list based on name recognition rather than the way they have looked in games. In no way have they "taken on an important role or have executed the role they were given". None of them have lived up to their draft status, which is really the issue in question

You're being unfair to Kolb, given the judgment Philly just made about him, unless you think Michael Vick is the next Philly starter.

 

[mcmurtry86]

You're being unfair to Kolb, given the judgment Philly just made about him, unless you think Michael Vick is the next Philly starter.

Kevin Kolb has started 2 games and has thrown 96 passes, 4 TDs and 7 INTs. Regardless of "the judgment Philly has made about him" he hasn't PROVEN anything. Unless we're going to start defining draft pick success as "guys who look average in very limited regular season work".

If the Pats anointed Terrence Wheatley to be their starter at CB, would you say he was a successful pick? After all, he had 2 solid games as a starter (2008 vs. Indy and 2009 vs. Atlanta)

The guy could be the next Brady or he could be the next Zolak or he could be the next Hugh Millen. Nobody knows.

Player for player 2007 could go down as the worst draft since 1982, and when you're pulling examples like Satele, Kolb, Piscatelli as anything other than "marginal" picks (to this point) it's a bit of a stretch to say it was anything other than a bad year. Every draft has a few good players (1982 had Marcus Allen, Andre Tippett, Mark Duper and a few other solid but not elite players) and a decent middle class but what separates the "good" drafts from the "bad" are the number of players who contribute very little compared to those who contribute a lot.

 

[BKBroiler]

Being very generous here. Anderson is a total bust. Okoye has been regressing since his rookie season, Lynch has been ok but the Bills want to dump him already, Nelson has a lot of tackles but has been fairly bad, Meachem and Gonzalez have both had one decent year, one bad year and one injured year, Kolb hasn't done anything, Satele was traded to Oakland and Piscitelli is one of the worst starters at any position in the NFL.

If these guys were 3rd or 4th rounders, maybe some of them could be "successes" but as top 64 picks? No way. Seems more like you made this list based on name recognition rather than the way they have looked in games. In no way have they "taken on an important role or have executed the role they were given". None of them have lived up to their draft status, which is really the issue in question

I would like to see what year you would consider to be bad for Gonzalez? His first two years he was fairly productive for a young WR especially when conventional thinking is that it normally takes three years for a receiver to start producing. Last year would have been his third year, and it was pretty widely speculated that he was going to play a large role for the Colts until he got hurt in the first game.

Continuing with the three year adjustment period for receivers, Meachem's career so far seems to be a perfect example for this thinking. He's improved every year in the league and has become an extremely reliable target for the Saints. If your going to ding Meachem for two unproductive years while adjusting to the NFL, then you'd have to do the same to Sidney Rice since he also had two fairly unproductive years before breaking out last year. The only reason why Meachem didn't have better stats last year was because he plays for a team who likes to spread the ball around to a bunch of different weapons instead of a team like the Vikings who utilize fewer targets.

I'll give you that Anderson has been a bust for the 8th pick, but he still looks like he'll stick around the league for a long time as the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th best d-lineman on a team.

So even if you take a few guys out like Piscatelli, Anderson, Okoye, and Satele, then you still have over thirty players from the first two rounds who are solid contributors, which is pretty much in line with most other drafts.

Kevin Kolb has started 2 games and has thrown 96 passes, 4 TDs and 7 INTs. Regardless of "the judgment Philly has made about him" he hasn't PROVEN anything. Unless we're going to start defining draft pick success as "guys who look average in very limited regular season work".

If the Pats anointed Terrence Wheatley to be their starter at CB, would you say he was a successful pick? After all, he had 2 solid games as a starter (2008 vs. Indy and 2009 vs. Atlanta)

The guy could be the next Brady or he could be the next Zolak or he could be the next Hugh Millen. Nobody knows.

Player for player 2007 could go down as the worst draft since 1982, and when you're pulling examples like Satele, Kolb, Piscatelli as anything other than "marginal" picks (to this point) it's a bit of a stretch to say it was anything other than a bad year. Every draft has a few good players (1982 had Marcus Allen, Andre Tippett, Mark Duper and a few other solid but not elite players) and a decent middle class but what separates the "good" drafts from the "bad" are the number of players who contribute very little compared to those who contribute a lot.

I love how you try to discredit the inclusion of Kolb in this list by saying he's thrown 4 TD's to 7 Int's. Yes those are his stats for his three year career, but 4 of those picks came in 2008 when he was playing in mop up time. How about you quote his stats for 2009. In 2009 he was 62 of 96 for 741 yds with 4 TD's and 3 Int's in 2 starts throwing for over 300 yds in each. Plus his team just traded away an All-Pro because of the potential Kolb has shown.

Also, the reason of my first list was to show that the FIRST TWO rounds of the 2007 draft weren't horrible like most people try to constantly claim and to prove the poster who said that there are fewer than ten players from this draft that are productive wrong. The talent in those two rounds was basically par for most drafts. If you read back to my original post, you'll even see that I agree that the depth of the draft from there on was unbelievably bad.

 

[jeffbiologist]

Before you walk hand in hand there why dont we take a look back at what the mood was on the board and see what people had to say about the draft. I recall going into the draft with a bunch of old LBs. Bruschi post stroke. I think most on here would agree that passing on Beason was a simple yet obvious mistake. Meriweather didnt play that year, just imagine for a moment Beason being here. We have alot more options at #8 in 08. Trader Bill could have turned the roster over faster in a 08 trade down so this transition would be more gradual...and then maybe we take a chance on a guy like Bryant. Dont get me wrong, I'm not a Bryant guy, but I was dancing that day in 07 when we landed Moss!