2014 draft priorities

[Brady6]

Next draft priorities

Sign Alex Mack for about 7.5M/year 5M first year cap hit.

Sign Scott Chandler TE Buffalo





Cut Wilfork, Connolly, Gregory, Soapanga, keep Kelley.

Let Wendell walk unless he's really cheap

Let Spikes Walk

resign Fletcher



not sure about Talib, depends on health and how much he costs.



Focus in draft on OL, TE, CB, a LB who can cover maybe instead of stand like a stone?,

I don't think Wilfork would be traveling with the team if he was going to be released in the offseason. He will restructure and he offers value in the locker room and on the sideline that as well as on the field the needs to be considered.

I'm not sure what the Tommy Kelly love is all about he will be 33 years old coming off a knee injury and 2 down years. I would cut him and use the money on Wilfork.

We will not replace 3/5 OL in one offseason that is crazy to even suggest. We also would not pay that much for an OC that insanity we didn't even pay Vollmer that much.

Wendell will be resigned for a low rate, Connolly will be released, Mankins will be restructured and Cannon will move to RG. They will draft a interior lineman in rounds 3-5 and bring in a handful of OL as UDFAs.

 

[Brady6]

Next draft priorities

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.

Hindsight 20/20 the best move would have been Harrison Smith instead of Hightower and Lavonte David or Zach Brown instead of Tavon Wilson.

Unfortunately you cannot redo a draft

 

[mgteich]

OK, I understand now.

Belichick either rated Swearinger much lower than you did, rated the need for a LB higher, or thought much more of Gregory than you did.

The "only reason to trade down"? I suspect that Belichick thought that 5 picks was simply insufficient and welcomed the opportunity to get four picks for one. I guess that he thought that four picks was more valuable that Elam or Cyprien.

In any case, the big question is how Belichick evaluated Swearinger.
===

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.

 

[Deus Irae]

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

I see nothing wrong with valuing the OL.

My only points were that calling Vollmer aging is a bit ahead of things, and that the team did have a backup for that ORT position. I've been calling for upgrades over Wendell and Connolly from the beginning, so I'm fully on board with the idea of bringing in legitimate OL talent.

 

[mgteich]

Hindsight is 100%. However, I agree that we had 2 major opportunities to bring in a wide receiver in the 2012 draft. Our choices in of Wilson and Bequette were pretty awful.

With regard to Gregory, it is precisely because we have McCourty that we do OK at safety with Gregory starting. However, I agree that we need to draft yet another safety to add to the kiddie corp (Harmon, Wilson, and Ebner).

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.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

I see nothing wrong with valuing the OL.

My only points were that calling Vollmer aging is a bit ahead of things, and that the team did have a backup for that ORT position. I've been calling for upgrades over Wendell and Connolly from the beginning, so I'm fully on board with the idea of bringing in legitimate OL talent.

Believe I said aging LG... IE: Mankins.

 

[Deus Irae]

OK, I understand now.

Belichick either rated Swearinger much lower than you did, rated the need for a LB higher, or thought much more of Gregory than you did.

The "only reason to trade down"? I suspect that Belichick thought that 5 picks was simply insufficient and welcomed the opportunity to get four picks for one. I guess that he thought that four picks was more valuable that Elam or Cyprien.

In any case, the big question is how Belichick evaluated Swearinger.
===

Belichick screwed up. He thought Adrian and Tavon Wilson, along with Harmon, would get the job done, and he got goo-goo eyes over a physical specimen to the point where he ignored talent at true need positions after pissing away a pick on that position in a down draft the year before. Most of us (yes, even we laymen who should never dare to question the great and powerful Oz) realized that the Wilsons were not the solution.

Gregory is who he's always been, which means he's a backup quality player. Cover LB could have been looked at later in the draft, or with a veteran prior to the draft, and the money saved by not signing A. Wilson would have made that easy. Ryan, Harmon, Boyce, Buchanan, Beauharnais.... Not exactly a list of irreplaceable 'must have' players.

And this wouldn't have been an issue if he hadn't blown it on T. Wilson the year before.

 

[Deus Irae]

Believe I said aging LG... IE: Mankins.

You did. I screwed up by merging my reply under Vollmer. :bricks:

Mea culpa on that. I think we probably agree overall, BTW. Although we may slightly disagree about the RT spot, my guess is that we'd both like to see another OT and upgrades/improved depth in the interior.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

You did. I screwed up by merging my reply under Vollmer. :bricks:

Mea culpa on that. I think we probably agree overall, BTW. Although we may slightly disagree about the RT spot, my guess is that we'd both like to see another OT and upgrades/improved depth in the interior.

Hey, no problem, I read things too fast sometimes, too.

Yeah, I've been 'pounding the table', so to speak, about getting better offensive linemen at least for the last three years. I was hoping they'd go for Sullivan a few years ago. He would have been a solid replacement for Koppen.

 

[mgteich]

I don't like your plan at all. Even if everything works, you aren't in great shape. I see now point in cutting Connolly.

SOLDER - recovering from concussions.
MANKINS - I suppose you could restructure; I wouldn't. He has no reason to take less $.
WENDELL - Why would he sign for a low rate? He would just go elsewhere as Koppen did.
CANNON - He isn't as good at OG as Connolly or he'd be playing more this year.
VOLLMER - Our injury prone star need a quality backup; Cannon has served well.
BACKUPS - Are you counting on mid-rounders and JAG free agents as backups.
===========================

A DIFFERENT PLAN
1) Use a high draft choice ( 1-3) on a center or guard.
2) Keep at least one of Connolly and Wendell, preferably both.
3) Keep Cannon at backup OT where he is certainly needed.
4) Sign our annual veteran of the year (or re-sign Svitek).

TO PUT IN ANOTHER WAY

TACKLES: Solder, Vollmer, Svitek or another veteran

INTERIOR - Mankins, top rookie, Connolly, Wendell or other vet center, Kline

SWING - Cannon

We will not replace 3/5 OL in one offseason that is crazy to even suggest. We also would not pay that much for an OC that insanity we didn't even pay Vollmer that much.

Wendell will be resigned for a low rate, Connolly will be released, Mankins will be restructured and Cannon will move to RG. They will draft a interior lineman in rounds 3-5 and bring in a handful of OL as UDFAs.

 

[iapatsfan]

I think we need some more 260-270lb LBs that can't cover anyone. That seems like a brilliant choice in today's NFL. It is 1990 isn't it?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Words.

I couldn't remember why I had iapatsfan on ignore.

Then I hit "View post" and remembered.

 

[supafly]

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.

As we all know, mg--anything is possible when it comes to personnel moves, so I suppose there is a chance that RB is targeted in the top 1-3 rounds. My point however, is that we can "get by" for the 2014 season pretty easily, not to mention replace/bring in that RB that you want to give a one year cushion to, without spending a top 1-3 draft pick on him.

I would think that CB/S, OL, DL, and TE are all much bigger priorities myself, and that RB can be had with a late round pick/UDFA/small signing free agent. In other words, I don't see the need to address it as much as you may, but that's simply a difference of opinions. I see addressing RB just the same as addressing QB, we know there will be one taken somewhere, somehow due to Mallett leaving at the end of 2014; we just don't assume wasting a valuable draft pick on it.

 

[ausbacker]

Belichick screwed up. He thought Adrian and Tavon Wilson, along with Harmon, would get the job done, and he got goo-goo eyes over a physical specimen to the point where he ignored talent at true need positions after pissing away a pick on that position in a down draft the year before. Most of us (yes, even we laymen who should never dare to question the great and powerful Oz) realized that the Wilsons were not the solution.

Gregory is who he's always been, which means he's a backup quality player. Cover LB could have been looked at later in the draft, or with a veteran prior to the draft, and the money saved by not signing A. Wilson would have made that easy. Ryan, Harmon, Boyce, Buchanan, Beauharnais.... Not exactly a list of irreplaceable 'must have' players.

And this wouldn't have been an issue if he hadn't blown it on T. Wilson the year before.

I have no idea why you're still thumping on about Swearinger. He's hardly set the world on fire this season. I'm at perfect ease with the Patriots selecting Harmon. The real fault lies in playing Gregory ahead of Harmon. My personal preference is to suffer through rookie issues ahead of JAG status.

 

[BritPat]

Swearinger has been an absolute disaster. There was a reason we passed on him, and it's plainly obvious why - he sucks.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't like your plan at all. Even if everything works, you aren't in great shape. I see now point in cutting Connolly.

SOLDER - recovering from concussions.
MANKINS - I suppose you could restructure; I wouldn't. He has no reason to take less $.
WENDELL - Why would he sign for a low rate? He would just go elsewhere as Koppen did.
CANNON - He isn't as good at OG as Connolly or he'd be playing more this year.
VOLLMER - Our injury prone star need a quality backup; Cannon has served well.
BACKUPS - Are you counting on mid-rounders and JAG free agents as backups.
===========================

A DIFFERENT PLAN
1) Use a high draft choice ( 1-3) on a center or guard.
2) Keep at least one of Connolly and Wendell, preferably both.
3) Keep Cannon at backup OT where he is certainly needed.
4) Sign our annual veteran of the year (or re-sign Svitek).

TO PUT IN ANOTHER WAY

TACKLES: Solder, Vollmer, Svitek or another veteran

INTERIOR - Mankins, top rookie, Connolly, Wendell or other vet center, Kline

SWING - Cannon

Koppen didnt go elsewhere he was cut, losing a camp competiton for a job. Otherwise :agree:

 

[JackBauer]

Swearinger has been an absolute disaster. There was a reason we passed on him, and it's plainly obvious why - he sucks.

Absolutely. But if you're wedded to your original position that the Collins pick was a bad one, you're pretty much forced to take some liberties with your alternate case scenario.

 

[mgteich]

Perhaps we simply have different views of the draft. I think of the draft of consisting of at most one emergency need and the rest focused on the future rather than the current year.

I agree that we can get by at running back in 2014. My point is that if we will NEED a running in 2015, then the time to draft him is in 2013. Perhaps you are simply saying that 4th-7th draft choices are the level needed for this position. For me, that depends on who is available early. We have lots of needs as always. Many will be met by re-signings; many will be met by signing free agents. The draft is NOT the place to find our 2014 starters (except perhaps for one). It is a place to find future starters.

I agree that the situation is similar to quarterback. However, I don't think that we need to use a top 3 pick to find our 2015 backup quarterback. Belichick may or may not disagree. I do believe that it is reasonable to consider one of our two 2015 running back as worth a top pick in 2014.

As we all know, mg--anything is possible when it comes to personnel moves, so I suppose there is a chance that RB is targeted in the top 1-3 rounds. My point however, is that we can "get by" for the 2014 season pretty easily, not to mention replace/bring in that RB that you want to give a one year cushion to, without spending a top 1-3 draft pick on him.

I would think that CB/S, OL, DL, and TE are all much bigger priorities myself, and that RB can be had with a late round pick/UDFA/small signing free agent. In other words, I don't see the need to address it as much as you may, but that's simply a difference of opinions. I see addressing RB just the same as addressing QB, we know there will be one taken somewhere, somehow due to Mallett leaving at the end of 2014; we just don't assume wasting a valuable draft pick on it.

 

[mgteich]

Folks keep on listing DL as a TOP priority. I don't understand. We just extended Ninkovich.
Our DE's are Ninkovich, Jones and Buchanan. Our DT's are Wilfork/Kelly, Jones, Siliga. Armstead and Vellano.

Yes, we NEED a passing rushing stud at DE. So does everyone else in the NFL. Perhaps we might draft one if we had a top 15 draft choice.

There is little mention of linebacker. We have Mayo, Hightower and Collins for 2014. At least one more seems indicated.

As we all know, mg--anything is possible when it comes to personnel moves, so I suppose there is a chance that RB is targeted in the top 1-3 rounds. My point however, is that we can "get by" for the 2014 season pretty easily, not to mention replace/bring in that RB that you want to give a one year cushion to, without spending a top 1-3 draft pick on him.

I would think that CB/S, OL, DL, and TE are all much bigger priorities myself, and that RB can be had with a late round pick/UDFA/small signing free agent. In other words, I don't see the need to address it as much as you may, but that's simply a difference of opinions. I see addressing RB just the same as addressing QB, we know there will be one taken somewhere, somehow due to Mallett leaving at the end of 2014; we just don't assume wasting a valuable draft pick on it.

 

[patsfan-1982]

I see OL as the #1 need C and RG. if Kelly and wilfork are both back with Chris Jones and Joe Vellano then DT will not be a big need they could just add a vet or a jag for dept,

#1 OL
#2 ILB
#3 TE
#4 S
#5 CB

that's the way I see the pats top 5 needs heading into the Draft, I would not mind seeing the first two picks be C and G and we don't know if spikes will be back and even if he is they need a ILB that can cover, a pass catching TE dose not need to be a star a guy that can get 30 rec per season and can step up and have a nice game if Gronk cant go. CB and S will always be on the pats list but that's the way I would like to see the Draft go