For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder....

[DaBruinz]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

There are a multitude of reasons why many like Julian Edelman.

1) He was a 7th round draft choice who successfully made the conversion from QB in college to WR and ST in the pros. That's impressive.

2) He plays hard on every single snap. That can't be said for every player. For Edelman, he seems to give his all, even dispite his usual physical mismatches. We all remember the BAL playoff game, which led to all of the off season talk last yr (when WWW was hurt) in which some posters predicted an easy 100 catches for him in Welker's absence. Luckily, we didn't have to see that, but in 2009 he did have close to 40 catches. There's obvious potential there. Now if Edelman screws up future opportunites/larger sample size, I will be the first to admit that he should go.

3) He has versatility as a WR (albeit in a backup role due to the depth chart) and his punt returning talent is obvious. He's shifty, quick, can make guys miss. He has the potential to take it to the house on many of his touches. You may remember the week 17 game vs. MIA, but there have been some other nice punt returns too. Last yr the team averaged 15.3 yards per punt return when Edelman took over the duties.

4) He's extremely cheap, playing under a rookie contract. That's also very important.

5) He seems to have a good work ethic and people tend to like the underdog role. For all of the supposed "oft-injued" talk, Edelman has played in 26 of 32 possible games since being drafted. That includes 15 of 16 possible games last yr. So really, he was hurt for a few games during his rookie year. To me, that does not seem to be much reason for an "oft-injured" label.

6) He's young. 24 yrs old, and could be part of our future receiving core, especially if Welker is not re-signed (I certainly hope that Welker is re-signed). Regardless, there's really no reason NOT to keep him at this juncture.

IMG, Supafly. Be careful. Your stating opinion supported by facts. You might make Illegal Contact's head explode...

 

[Reckedtrek]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

Imagine what TSK would have called himself on Patsfans 8 years ago if he was a big fan of Randall Gay coming out of college then signed by NE?

I know... poor kid would have to call himself TheRandallKing"... Now THAT's embarrasing!

 

[captain stone]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

"With the 17th pick of the 1st round in the 2011 draft, the New England Patriots select:

Cameron Jordan, Defensive Lineman, from the University of California."

 

[patchick]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

"With the 17th pick of the 1st round in the 2011 draft, the New England Patriots select:

Cameron Jordan, Defensive Lineman, from the University of California."

True that -- Jordan was definitely the most called-for name at #17, and I'd say Prince Amukamara was probably 2nd. After them, the picture was muddled (but definitely no calls for Watkins!)

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

Oh, there are plenty I'm sure BB would like to do over! It's just weird to me how fixated people seem to be on Clay Matthews.

Kind of funny, too, that at the time opinions were wildly divided about which of half a dozen OLBs was the right choice, but now that Matthews is the ONLY one to have panned out, everybody knew all along he was a stud.

Exactly, people always seem to have selective memory on "who we really should have drafted all along." We can look back at 2003 and see we should have drafted Anquan Boldin instead of Bethel Johnson. We'll forget that Boldin would have also been a reach, considering the number of higher rated WRs available at the time. That's not important now because we know which players worked out.

Any time talk starts up on the "what ifs" pertaining to the draft, I always remember a Tom Brady interview from years back. (I think it was shortly after our 3rd championship) At one point, Tom was asked if he ever thought about what might have been had he been taken a couple spots before 199 by someone else. Tom said he may not be in the league right now. (again, this was sometime around 2004 I think) Tom Brady, the man that told Kraft he was the best decision the franchise ever made, the man that told his agent during his rookie season training camp to start looking for houses, the man that obviously has always been such a hard worker, admitted that another situation could have drastically changed his career.

It's easy to assume that a great player would be just as great playing for us. That's not always how it works.

 

[Triumph]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

Actually I am more upset,at least back then, over the move up and trade for Chad Jackson who we seemed to have a hard on for instead of sitting Pat and grabbing Greg Jennings,but who knew?

The Pats desperately needed a WR because Branch unexpectedly shot his way out of town. The other top choice was Santurdio Holmes.

Jackson was bad, but Moroney was worse and the biggest Bust so far.

 

[Triumph]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

Good thing we went with who we did, if only to keep TSK from instead being TheWatkinsKing, which doesn't really have the same ring to it.

But DannyBoy does and theres even a song.

 

[ay-yo]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

Jackson was bad, but Moroney was worse and the biggest Bust so far.

How so? Sure Maroney wasn't great but at least got a few years of production and a 4th round pick out of him. We got nothing out of Jackson.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

1) He was a 7th round draft choice who successfully made the conversion from QB in college to WR and ST in the pros. That's impressive.

You forgot the most important thing . . . he actually managed to score a PR touchdown in his first preseason game. The Pats had gone something like eight years without a PR touchdown at that point.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

How so? Sure Maroney wasn't great but at least got a few years of production and a 4th round pick out of him. We got nothing out of Jackson.

Jackson's career was derailed by injuries, too, although I'm still trying to figure out how he wasn't able to break out when Brady had to throw to Reche Caldwell.

 

[captain stone]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

True that -- Jordan was definitely the most called-for name at #17, and I'd say Prince Amukamara was probably 2nd. After them, the picture was muddled (but definitely no calls for Watkins!)

No calls for Watkins from here, either...though I don't think I would've taken the Prince at 17 had Jordan already been gone. Too much $$ for one position. Now if both Solder & Derek Sherrod were unavailable at 28/33, I would not have hesitated to take Watkins at that spot. (BTW, it appears that Sherrod was inactive for last night's game.)

 

[patchick]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

No calls for Watkins from here, either...though I don't think I would've taken the Prince at 17 had Jordan already been gone. Too much $$ for one position. Now if both Solder & Derek Sherrod were unavailable at 28/33, I would not have hesitated to take Watkins at that spot. (BTW, it appears that Sherrod was inactive for last night's game.)

I think the Amukamara crowd felt that by #17 it would be worth using him at safety. Of course, he's out for the season now, so like Vereen vs. Mikel LeShoure the wisdom of passing on him won't be clear any time soon.

 

[Keyser Söze]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

Eagles bench Watkins for recent signee DeVan

Well from early indications it appears Belichick has once again proven he can pick the right player from 2 players who were highly regarded and one of which was expected to protect Brady for several years.

Danny Watkins was projected by many to be a sure fire star on the OL but when Solder was chosen at #17 some thought it was the wrong choice and Watkins was the better player.

Now the Eagles who took Watkins in the early 1st round have benched him in favor of a scrub fresh off the waiver wire and coming from a decently run organization like the Eagles to bench a guy that was that highly heralded must mean he really stinks.

For a player to say he is 'overwhelmed' by the NFL level as a rookie tells me he is a bit confused and possibly can't handle the job or the playbook ect:.

I think Solder has shown flashes of being a good player for the near future....I wouldn't bet the same on Watkins.

I laughed out loud, especially after Bustler and Meriweather were just cut. Brace and Cunningham will soon follow.

 

[JackBauer]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

I laughed out loud, especially after Bustler and Meriweather were just cut. Brace and Cunningham will soon follow.

That's the spirit!

What on earth leads you to believe Cunningham will be cut?

 

[captain stone]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

We can look back at 2003 and see we should have drafted Anquan Boldin instead of Bethel Johnson. We'll forget that Boldin would have also been a reach, considering the number of higher rated WRs available at the time.

I remember wanting Kelley Washington at that spot, instead of both BJ & Boldin.

What was worse about the BJ pick is that Bill traded up 5 spots, at the cost of the #120 pick, for someone almost universally regarded as a 4th/5th-round value.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

That's the spirit!

What on earth leads you to believe Cunningham will be cut?

He is so stinking slow and lacks explosion. He is as sudden as a fire hydrant.

But back to OT, I think the decision at #17 was Costanzo or Solder. I would have gone with Costanzo,and still think so.

I will watch closely how Costanzo does this year.

 

[Frick]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

No didn't want Watkins, wanted Will Rackley OG/T Lehigh with Vereen's pick.
Also would have taken Cannon as well. I belived BJGE,Woodhead, 1 drafted runner and Faulk,Morris or a UDFA would have sufficed this year and given us more stability on o-line. Next year complete o-line with Brewster C OSU.

I believe Rackley would have been better at protecting Tom & opening holes for the RBS. Bill drafted Solder so he & Vollmer would be bookends of the future, so I can live with that but should have gone after Rackley IMHO.

 

[captain stone]

Re: For those who thought BB should have chosen Danny Watkins instead of Nate Solder.

I think the Amukamara crowd felt that by #17 it would be worth using him at safety. Of course, he's out for the season now, so like Vereen vs. Mikel LeShoure the wisdom of passing on him won't be clear any time soon.

Amukamara at FS...interesting.

BTW, though folks in Philly understand that Watkins lost his starting RG spot to someone already very familiar with Howard Mudd's blocking system, even people such as Ray Didinger, as knowledgable & experienced as they come, have expressed concern today that Watkins wasn't even active v. the Rams.