Easley signed

[supafly]

I personally think that day 3 is a great time to get aggressive and take a few risks. The more picks, the better - some teams like the Raven's apparently follow a strategy of getting more picks (including signing FAs after June 1, and choosing to not overspend to keep replaceable players in order to accumulate comp picks) because the draft is such a crap shoot, thereby increasing the odds.

I don't have a problem with spending a day 3 pick (or UDFA signing) on a player who has great measurables, or guys who have slipped due to character or injury concerns. Alfonzo Dennard falls into the latter category, and I personally wish the Pats had been a bit more aggressive with guys like Vontaze Burfict, Colt Lyerla/AC Leonard, Da'Rick Rodgers and others. The cost is low, and the team can easily move on if these guys don't work out. The success rate will obviously be low (many of my favorite "moon shots" with incredible measurables haven't panned out, such as WR Dale Moss, DB Brandon Hardin, and DE/OLB Louis Nzegwu; DT Lawrence Okoye hasn't done anything either, but is still a work in progress), but a couple of hits can have a huge impact. I think the key is not over-reaching for measurables early on, particularly if other factors are lacking (the "Darius Heyward-Bey syndrome"), and being cautious of guys who seem to lack clear measurables, especially on day 1-2 (Ron Brace). Regardless of whether they pan out, I think that guys like Alfonzo Dennard (day 2 talent who slipped due to character issues), Nate Ebner (great measurables and ST value, with upside), Michael Buchanan (solid measurables and potential day 2 talent who slipped because of injury-related issues), Zach Moore (small school prospect with good size and measurables) and Jeremy Gallon (big time performer at the college level with excellent speed and explosiveness measurables) were all excellent late round picks. I would have liked to see the team make a run at day 3 guys with exceptional measurables like Kevin Pierre-Louis, John Urschel and Lonnie Ballentine, but you can't get them all.

Just to touch a bit further on your thoughts, I found it interesting that 47/48 seventh round picks last year saw their teams' active day rosters at some point in the season. That was definitely higher than I would have expected.

 

[supafly]

Hernandez hurt us when it comes to taking aboard players with run ins with the law. We used to take pride in fixing players like moss and Talib. That definitely prevented us from signing Kenny Britt. I think it makes no sense to be scared off from talent like Britt. Hernandez was a total psycho job. Much different from a Kenny Britt, Burfict, or young Moss who can fix their behavior. Hernandez was a rare and different case. In our disciplined system a player like Britt could have been a major steal. As could Lyerla. That is part of coaching staffs job. Its part of coaching up a young talent. Getting him to focus on football and work hard to straighten out players with legal trouble. In this era of free agency its as important to scout players in free agency as it is the draft. Its important to anticipate a player with talent who has underperformed due to lack of focus,lack of work as well as in bad systems and being utilized incorrectly. Or plain old bad coaching, leadership and motivation On his team, meaning bad teams like the jags, browns, dolphins, or raiders. We should have a thread discussing a talented player we can obtain cheap in FA or a trade who could be a pro bowl talent with us. I like Denarius Moore, Carl Nicks, and Tyson ALUALU to name a couple.

I think your post had some nice points, but I'm not sure that I would personally fully agree with the notion that we will definitely be shying away from any "rehabilitation projects" in the future.

After all, the team did bring in Kenny Britt for a workout/visit in the offseason. He just chose to sign somewhere else where he was more comfortable with old coach Jeff Fisher. I think if they were going to change their entire philosophy, we wouldn't even had brought him in for a look-see.

I agree that they may do some additional "due dilligence" in the future after the Hernandez fiasco though, so in that aspect they may choose to lean on the side of caution for any players they may be on the fence about.

Good point about taking all variables into account, such as the system fit, coaching, poor utilization, etc. I would expect Belichick to be well versed on that subject myself.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I live in Gainesville and I can tell you this good is as good as advertised. If those knees hold up and he doesn't sustain any other major injuries/setbacks, I can tell you we have that disruptive force we've been wanting in these parts for years now.