Brace yourself for Shock: Could the Patriots go WR in the 1st round?

[upstater1]

People also better be ready to see the Patriots take a safety or a CB even if Talib is signed. Be prepared.

If Justin Gilbert, Fuller, Calvin Lowry, Hasean Dix or even Bradley Roby are there, don't shocked by yet another DB in the first round.

 

[VrabelJr]

You can't approach the draft in this way, if you do you end up with lesser player's across your roster because you placed need over the individual player's. That doesn't mean you ignore need but that you are flexible and address your needs with the best player's you can get at each point in the draft. If your first round board is gone, and it could be, then you try to trade back and get good value while staying true to your prospect rankings but if no deal is available then you take the BPA at a position you need.

I figured my brevity would come back to bite me. The amount of first round talent at a majority of the other positions means top players at non-deep positions will likely fall. Such position is DT/DE (maybe only a total of 4-5 first rounders at those two positions) as well as TE.

This means the greatest value will be in the players that fell due to other positions being "over" drafted.

 

[manxman2601]

People also better be ready to see the Patriots take a safety or a CB even if Talib is signed. Be prepared.

If Justin Gilbert, Fuller, Calvin Lowry, Hasean Dix or even Bradley Roby are there, don't shocked by yet another DB in the first round.

I will be 100% fine if they draft Kyle Fuller in the first round. Can play every position in the defensive backfield and tackles like a linebacker.

 

[ashley]

People also better be ready to see the Patriots take a safety or a CB even if Talib is signed. Be prepared.

If Justin Gilbert, Fuller, Calvin Lowry, Hasean Dix or even Bradley Roby are there, don't shocked by yet another DB in the first round.

If Justin Gilbert fell to us after his strong combine performance, I would grab him in a minute. I've seen him mocked recently in the top 10 though.

 

[IllegalContact]

Hopefully we don't draft one until the later rounds. If there is no value at tight end or the defensive line when we pick at 29, I would hope we trade back.

there is absolutely no point to drafting a WR late.....have you seen the roster? with what dobson, boyce, and thompkins did achieve last season, there is plenty of reason to continue to work with these 3 which means some late round guy is probably not going to see the light of day........the only pick to use on a WR that makes any sense at all (as a generalization) is the 1st round pick where an out of the box contributor may exist.

 

[Kontradiction]

I love Cooks and Beckham and am still iffy on Lee. That said, I would rather the team look for a vet in FA at WR. Nicks, Sanders, Cotchery, Tate, James Jones (my #1 target at the position). If they go WR in the first round, I'm loading the 12 guage and firing it at my TV.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

there is absolutely no point to drafting a WR late.....have you seen the roster? with what dobson, boyce, and thompkins did achieve last season, there is plenty of reason to continue to work with these 3 which means some late round guy is probably not going to see the light of day........the only pick to use on a WR that makes any sense at all (as a generalization) is the 1st round pick where an out of the box contributor may exist.

What I would say is that there's no point in drafting any WR with a lower grade than Dobson or Boyce at any point.

Given how deep WR is, if they feel that, say, Janis has the same grade as Dobson (not saying they do, not saying they're similar players, yada yada yada), and he's still available in the fourth round, I'd be perfectly fine with grabbing him.

 

[Kontradiction]

Ben Volin ✔ @BenVolin Texas A&M first round WR prospect RT @NFLCharean: Mike Evans just said he met with the Patriots yesterday and the 49ers today

Yeesh. I think Evans is going to be a beast in the NFL. But, please Bill, do not spend a first rounder on a WR. Go the FA route on that one.

 

[ashley]

Yeesh. I think Evans is going to be a beast in the NFL. But, please Bill, do not spend a first rounder on a WR. Go the FA route on that one.

Agreed, I'm hoping they are just doing their due diligence. Would like to hear more of the Pats meeting with prospects on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[mayoclinic]

Yeesh. I think Evans is going to be a beast in the NFL. But, please Bill, do not spend a first rounder on a WR. Go the FA route on that one.

Evans won't make it past 16, and could go top 10. Pats are just doing diligence, or making smoke, or both.

 

[patchick]

Evans won't make it past 16, and could go top 10. Pats are just doing diligence, or making smoke, or both.

...or filling their filing cabinet for when a draft disappointment is dangled as trade bait 3 years from now.

 

[Homeland Defense]

Wouldn't drafting a WR in the 1st round mean that the Pats don't have confidence in Dobson, Boyce, and Thomkins? I see free agency much more likely than 1st round.

 

[ripatsfan91]

If they do go receiver early, one of my favortie receivers from this class, Allen Robinson, is apparently having a great pro day. I wonder if we would drop to our second round pick though, 29 seems a little high for me.

 

[manxman2601]

If they do go receiver early, one of my favortie receivers from this class, Allen Robinson, is apparently having a great pro day. I wonder if we would drop to our second round pick though, 29 seems a little high for me.

Yes he has. 42" Vert, 11' BJ and a sub 4.50 forty. It's interesting that the Pats have had contact with every first WR save Watkins but haven't with Robinson. Does that mean they're interested in Robinson and are concealing that interest (or already have enough info from BOB) or does it mean that they don't value him as highly as the others?

Anyway, that pro day makes him interesting. I know Merrill will say that he already was and fair play to him on that score.

 

[patfanken]

I figured my brevity would come back to bite me. The amount of first round talent at a majority of the other positions means top players at non-deep positions will likely fall. Such position is DT/DE (maybe only a total of 4-5 first rounders at those two positions) as well as TE.

This means the greatest value will be in the players that fell due to other positions being "over" drafted.

Once you get past the top 7 players, the next 40-60 (depending on the year), will have very similar grades. There will be a lot of players picked in round 2 who will have the same grades as those picked in round one.

But once again the WR position is vastly over valued. Time and time again its been proven that drafting WR's high rarely impacts the success of a team. Just name the 10 best WR's in the game, and you'll find most of them play for teams who DON'T play in January. YET, still teams continue to persist in using high picks on these players. And fans like lemmings running toward a cliff, insist on their teams follow this PROVEN failed approach to winning.

Having great WR's is a nice luxury, but not needed to win. No team has won more than the Patriots over the last 13 years. Yet the Pats have had only ONE so called "great WR" in all that time, and THAT was for just 2 full seasons at the END of a HOF career. Welker could be also considered a "great WR", but Edelman's similar success makes me wonder if it was less about Welker's greatness, and more about being a good player in a great system, with the right QB.

Thus for about the hundredth time, I will opine that taking ANY WR in the first round is madness. Yet sadly, (because we should know better from our own recent experience). this WR thread will persist, and many others will follow, both here an on the main board. The national obsession with WR's will continue. I just thank GOD that BB is NOT a part of it.

 

[manxman2601]

Yes he has. 42" Vert, 11' BJ and a sub 4.50 forty. It's interesting that the Pats have had contact with every first WR save Watkins but haven't with Robinson. Does that mean they're interested in Robinson and are concealing that interest (or already have enough info from BOB) or does it mean that they don't value him as highly as the others?

Anyway, that pro day makes him interesting. I know Merrill will say that he already was and fair play to him on that score.

OK, just saw that he also had a 6.5 3-cone. He's just moved from "interesting" to "bloody likely"! The interest they've shown in WRs, the Penn State connection, those athletic numbers and his production/leadership in that offense does seem to be a confluence of events. Back to the film room for me.

 

[BobDigital]

The only WR I have interest at taking at 29 that could possibly be there is Lee.

Lee to me is currently being underrated. He entered this draft as the 3rd best WR and is now ranked as the 5th by some but I do not agree. I still think he is solidly in that 3rd spot. The thing about Lee that I absolutely love is his ability to get off the line against press man cover that he showed in college. His short area burst and deceiving physically are what sticks out.

I think his game would transition well to nfl playoffs. He unlike the other 2 guys (Cooks & O'Dell) is less finesse IMO.

I would not mind taking him @29 even though I usually don't value WRs that high cause I think he can be a true #1 in the NFL and even though I think a true elite CB can shut him down that fact is he is good enough to demand that guy cover him which is an advantage too.


EDIT: Also just to be clear, all the above being true I am not saying Lee is my favorite prospect in our range. There are a fair amount of players I would take over him first that can/should fall to us. He is maybe my 6th or 7th favorite prospect in our realistic range.

 

[varjao]

I don't believe, I think it's more probable to draft a TE in the first round (what is also very unlikely) than a WR.

Last year there was a huge need for WR's and that draft class was also stacked of great players, and still BB didn't pull the trigger. This year? not at all.

 

[mayoclinic]

If they do go receiver early, one of my favortie receivers from this class, Allen Robinson, is apparently having a great pro day. I wonder if we would drop to our second round pick though, 29 seems a little high for me.

Yes he has. 42" Vert, 11' BJ and a sub 4.50 forty. It's interesting that the Pats have had contact with every first WR save Watkins but haven't with Robinson. Does that mean they're interested in Robinson and are concealing that interest (or already have enough info from BOB) or does it mean that they don't value him as highly as the others?

Anyway, that pro day makes him interesting. I know Merrill will say that he already was and fair play to him on that score.

OK, just saw that he also had a 6.5 3-cone. He's just moved from "interesting" to "bloody likely"! The interest they've shown in WRs, the Penn State connection, those athletic numbers and his production/leadership in that offense does seem to be a confluence of events. Back to the film room for me.

I'll be thrilled to so those numbers push Robinson into the top 28 picks.

 

[manxman2601]

I'll be thrilled to so those numbers push Robinson into the top 28 picks.

Don't get too excited. It won't push him ahead of Donald.