2014 draft priorities

[varjao]

About RB, all comes down to Ridley and Vereen , the other 2 are depth and nothing more than that, they can't carry the load.

I'm done with Ridley, I think they should trade him as long as he still have value on the market, I think they can get a 3rd round pick for him but one more fumble this season and forget it. With this pick address his replacement.

Vereen must stay, but he's no explosive back, he slips in the trenches, has some ability to get a first down and nothing much more than that. He's more a receiver right now than a pure back.

See I get the point BB does not value the position that much and we are doing fine with average guys all this years but that could be a reason for falling down early. A top RB would help Brady a lot, he's not a young player, can't throw the ball 50 times a game every game. Look what this Eddie lacy is doing in Green Bay.

Ridley has the tools I simply can't trust him anymore but let's see.

 

[meatface]

Sure, we're fine at running back if we re-sign Blount (2014 UFA), extend Ridley (015 UFA) and extend Vereen (2015 UFA).

Otherwise, we need to make an addition.

I really doubt that they will extend Ridley, I'm not saying they will cut him but they will likely play next season out to see how he does and then make a decision about his future with the team.

 

[varjao]

I really doubt that they will extend Ridley, I'm not saying they will cut him but they will likely play next season out to see how he does and then make a decision about his future with the team.

The only way I see him being extended is a season with 1500 yards, 10+ TDs and 0 fumble.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

You mean like when they took Solder in the 1st round?

And in the mean time they signed their LG and RT to large contracts.

The aging LG and the injury-prone RT? Yeah, wouldn't want to keep developing backups for them. Then there's the undrafted center and the revolving door at RG. And now Solder could potentially be a candidate for early retirement due to concussion.

Always be prepared on the offensive line.

 

[Deus Irae]

The aging LG and the injury-prone RT? Yeah, wouldn't want to keep developing backups for them. Then there's the undrafted center and the revolving door at RG. And now Solder could potentially be a candidate for early retirement due to concussion.

Always be prepared on the offensive line.

Vollmer's 29, not 34, and his backup is Cannon, so I'm not seeing your point there. Center and RG have been an issue since they let Koppen go, so I'm with you there.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I want a good TE to go with gronk

 

[chasa]

its definitely all about the lines offensive and defensive, and maybe a mid round TE.
If we have trouble keeping talib we would need another CB.

I dont want to see any WR or RB, we can pick up an UDFA QB to replace mallett who will probably sign with cleveland, tampa, or oakland.

Ridley is not being extended unless he has a magnificent year in 2014, as of right now hes averaging under 800 yards a year or 54 per game, thats not franchize running back numbers for a guy who doesn't do any catching out of the backfield. people like to hype him up, but hes really just an okay back with one okay to good year.

 

[BradyFTW!]

DT, CB, C/G and TE stand out as the four most glaring positions of need. Safety is probably a need too, but not quite as badly as the aforementioned positions.

 

[mgteich]

We all want to extend Vereen.

Beyond that, we need 4-5 running backs for 2015. One needs to be a serious contributor.

I agree that we pick up a cheap free agent; we always do.

We need to remember that it takes a year for someone to fully learn our system, so we need to start the training in 2014.

likely have to pick up another selection at RB, but I don't necessarily think it needs to be in 2014. We could also go the cheap free agent or UDFA route too.

 

[mgteich]

While I agree with your top 3 areas of need with no re-signs, safety is a serious need if you want to cut Gregory like most folks here. Starting Harmon, with Tavon Wilson and Ebner as the backups doesn't work for me.

At very least we will keep Gregory and try again in the draft. The alternative is to pay for a top dollar free agent and cut Gregory.

DT, CB, C/G and TE stand out as the four most glaring positions of need. Safety is probably a need too, but not quite as badly as the aforementioned positions.

 

[Deus Irae]

While I agree with your top 3 areas of need with no re-signs, safety is a serious need if you want to cut Gregory like most folks here. Starting Harmon, with Tavon Wilson and Ebner as the backups doesn't work for me.

At very least we will keep Gregory and try again in the draft. The alternative is to pay for a top dollar free agent and cut Gregory.

This wouldn't even be an issue if BB hadn't tried to outthink the room in round 2 of the past 2 drafts. If he'd just gone chalk (WR/LB in 2012, S in 2013), this team's situation would be much better, both now and moving forward.

 

[mgteich]

I'm sorry that you are so upset that Belichick chose to draft DE Chandler Jones instead of your favorite wide receiver in 2012.

I agree that Belichick has not done well in securing safeties. However, McCourty-Gregory has not been our weakness.

This wouldn't even be an issue if BB hadn't tried to outthink the room in round 2 of the past 2 drafts. If he'd just gone chalk (WR/LB in 2012, S in 2013), this team's situation would be much better, both now and moving forward.

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm sorry that you are so upset that Belichick chose to draft DE Chandler Jones instead of your favorite wide receiver in 2012.

I agree that Belichick has not done well in securing safeties. However, McCourty-Gregory has not been our weakness.

When did Chandler Jones magically become a 2nd round pick rather than a 1st?

 

[Brady6]

We all want to extend Vereen.

The legend that is Shane Vereen is ramped on this board. I think Vereen is a very good player so please don’t get me wrong when I say this – Vereen has not done anything that says to me “we all want to resign him” he has had 4-5 big games in 3 season in the NFL, he has missed a ton of time due to injuries and for the better part of 2 season was an afterthought. He has flashed but he has a lot to prove over the next season plus before I sit here and say I want to resign him, right now I would resign Ridley who has 1500+ more total yards and 13 more touchdowns in his first 3 seasons than Shane Vereen.

 

[mgteich]

My bad. I missed your reference to the 2nd round.

I suspect that even with a 2012 WR in place of Wilson, Belichick would still have drafted Dobson rather than a safety in the second round. Drafting Dobson would certainly not be considered "out-thinking the room).

When did Chandler Jones magically become a 2nd round pick rather than a 1st?

 

[Brady6]

I'm sorry that you are so upset that Belichick chose to draft DE Chandler Jones instead of your favorite wide receiver in 2012.

I agree that Belichick has not done well in securing safeties. However, McCourty-Gregory has not been our weakness.

McCourty being a top 1-3 safety in the NFL covers up a lot of deficiencies of Gregory, if we ever lost McCourty you would see the flaws of Gregory and they certainly would be a problem.

The biggest misstep of the 2012 draft was taking Bequette at 90 with TY Hilton still on the board. Knowing that Welker could walk at the end of the season last season it would have been smart to draft an heir apparent.

 

[Deus Irae]

My bad. I missed your reference to the 2nd round.

I suspect that even with a 2012 WR in place of Wilson, Belichick would still have drafted Dobson rather than a safety in the second round. Drafting Dobson would certainly not be considered "out-thinking the room).

Are you trying to miss the obvious? First Jones, now Collins....

 

[mgteich]

Who would you have drafted in the place of Collins. No safety was rated nearly that highly.
Once Cyprien was gone at 33, I didn't expect a safety for a couple of rounds. Would your really have drafted Swearinger so highly.

Are you trying to miss the obvious? First Jones, now Collins....

 

[Deus Irae]

Who would you have drafted in the place of Collins. No safety was rated nearly that highly.
Once Cyprien was gone at 33, I didn't expect a safety for a couple of rounds. Would your really have drafted Swearinger so highly.

Of course I would have drafted a safety there. I was on that train well before the draft. The only reason it would have made any sense to trade down and lose Elam/Cyprien would have been if he'd dropped down and gotten Swearinger while still getting extra picks.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Vollmer's 29, not 34, and his backup is Cannon, so I'm not seeing your point there. Center and RG have been an issue since they let Koppen go, so I'm with you there.

Vollmer's also started missing more and more time since he was drafted. I'm not knocking the guy but when you're a big guy and you start getting injured... well, it starts to snowball. And Cannon's also had some injury problems. Now with Solder out, the team is incredibly thin at tackle. Offensive linemen need time to develop (except in rare, exceptional cases like Joe Thomas). But hey, I'm a former offensive lineman myself, so maybe I overvalue those guys