Grade our Draft

[Rhodey]

Grade: Incomplete

Once again this draft absolutely failed to solve the major problem of the Pats defense, a pass rush!

Of course, if Jason Taylor shows up at camp, this assertion will be entirely false. We'll see.

 

[DocE]

Here are my belated final draft thoughts(like anyone really was waiting for them). I had the draft as a B- going in to day 2 and the Patriots raised their grade to a B plus in my book).

Quick first day thoughts since I already posted them: We got my 3rd safety, though I was disappointed to miss out on Delmas. Brace provides great insurance for Wilfork and both Vince and Ron might play better with limited snaps. Darius Butler was my favorite pick of day 1 and I think he was the one pick you could honestly say was great value. Vollmer might have been a reach, but he has the rare combination of good measurables and an aggressive temperament, compared to Michael Roos by Dave Te'Thomas.

Day 2: Great trade with Jacksonville to pick up a 2010 2nd rounder and a 7th rounder this year. I liked the Brandon Tate pick as he's explosive and can play 2 of the 3 WR positions in the Pats offense in addition to being a dynamic returner. Next was another great trade getting a 2010 2nd rounder from Tennessee for our 3rd 3rd rounder. Ending the 3rd with Tyrone Mckenzie was another pick I liked, he's excelled at 3 different colleges which shows he's somewhat versatile in his skill set and BB has raved about him as a person. The first negative of the day came with the trade of Ellis Hobbs. I liked Hobbs and was disappointed to see him go for two 5th round picks. I think that's a short term loss for the Patriots in the return game and as competition at CB. Ellis was a guy who brought it every week and we've lost a lot of those guys this offseason (Ellis, Vrabel, Izzo, and probably Harrison). That said, I think it's pretty clear that the Pats were not going to make a competitive offer to him in free agency, so getting 2 picks for him now as opposed to maybe getting one comp pick in 2 years makes sense. If Hobbs cap room ends up going to signing/trading for a pass rusher, then it turns in to a good trade in my mind. The trade up in to the 4th round for Ohrnberger wasn't my favorite, but I like the player. He plays nasty and I feel the Patriots OLine could use more of that. My only question is: can he become a starter? Bussey in the 5th round was a guy I will readily admit I had to look up after he was drafted. He's a bit undersized liked Ohrnberger, but did battle from walk on to 3 year starter at Louisville. I just hope one of these 2 OL becomes a future starter because we've whiffed on a ton of late round Olineman lately. I would have liked to have seen the Patriots take one of the receiving TE's who kept falling down the board with one of the above picks. I'll group Pryor and Richard together because they both seem to be undersized 3-4 NT prospects (Richards may be able to play end, but he's just 6'2-6'3). I don't understand taking more NT's with Wilfork and Brace being roster locks, can we even keep one of these players in a best case scenario? Pryor is a guy who has a lot of talent and was considered a potential high pick early in his career, but he'll have to bulk up to play the Nose. Richards is a try hard guy who's really smart, but he seems to be an extreme longshot. I loved the Ingram pick in round 6. Long Snapper may be overlooked, but how often do you get a guy that has a good chance to have a 10 year career in round 6? I also like Edelman in round 7, though I am not sure he throws the ball well enough to be a real threat out of the wildcat in the same manner Pat White would. That said, this kid is insanely quick (ran a faster 3 cone at his pro day than anyone at the combine I believe) and not only played QB for Kent State but ran back punts and served as the personal punt protector. Lots of ways for Edelman to help the team and it doesn't sound like BB even knows where he will play him yet. If you get a chance, check out my "Day 2 thoughts" post. I mentioned some possibilities for the Patriots late Saturday night going in to day 2. I mentioned everyone they ended up picking except Bussey, Pryor, and Richard. Of course, I also said I didn't think they'd make all their picks and that they wouldn't take anymore DL .

I love what we got in this draft considering we also added 2 picks in round 2 next year in the process. I wish the Patriots would have added more players who could immediately help this team, but I am not convinced those players were available in this draft.

 

[Ungeheuer]

Galloway is Dante Stallworth, at best

Are you saying that Chung is better than Rodney?? Chung will not start infront of neither Merriweather nor Sanders. Springs and Bodden have never played a down as Patriots, and the Pats system is very difficult and hard to pick up (sepecially for DBs). Plus no pas rush, they are going to need all 18 DBs they have to run down these guys! Who is going to be the captian of the Pats backfield making sure that everyone is on the same page as far as coverage is concerned? right now Sanders has the most starts as a Patriot!

So you're down on Springs and Bodden -- two longtime NFL veterans -- because the Pats' system is hard to pick up. According to that logic, NOBODY new would be able to help, right? According to that logic, the only way to improve the team defense is to draft someone more promising than, say, Patrick Chung, school him for at least a year, and then deploy him on the field. Apparently you can't win a Super Bowl, for instance, by dumping a long-time vet like Lawyer Milloy before week 1 and just sticking a rookie who's never played even a down at safety in his spot. Stuff like that never happens.

I think the Pats had an A- draft. I love the way Belichick goes about this process. It's almost like he's making a soup: you take some big guys, some fast guys, add in some raw athletes, shake it all up and stir. I watched the Pats last year and thought they were a good team, but what they lacked was something sort of indefinable -- some of the other teams were younger, bulkier, more frantic. The Super Bowl teams were more physically intimidating than last year's club. So BB goes out and he gets six big-ass young guys to really add fresh size and power to the two lines. They lacked a hitter in the defensive backfield: they get Chung. They lacked a playmaking athlete outside and get Butler. And I love the Edelman pick; that's exactly what you do with a 7th-round choice, take a flier on a high-upside athlete.

I think maybe he might have reached with a couple of those picks, especially Vollmer, but the basic plan I love. Throughout all these years the Pats have never had that big right tackle that other teams have; we've always won with overmatched hangers-on like Tom Ashworth, Brandon Gorin, Greg Randall, and so on. Kaczur was probably the best of the bunch, and even he wasn't that good. When the Pats needed a yard, they almost never ran right. It would be great if Vollmer panned out; it would really change the way this team looks on the field.

I have a nagging feeling the Tate pick is not going to work out, but I like the idea. And I love the Brace pick. It's one thing to have one huge nose tackle, but a team that has two can do a lot of great things. You can really tenderize an opposing offensive line with a pair of guys like Brace and Wilfork. The Pats' defensive line is now like the Red Sox pitching staff -- absurdly overstocked.

All in all the Pats got younger, faster, bigger, and more powerful. I hated the last two drafts, but this one I love.

 

[BritPat]

I like it. They didn't make any mistakes...Butler has great athletic ability and potential...one said his CB workout was the best they'd seen in many years....

I just don't know where they're going to put them all. I guess Wilfork wants too much money? You draft a guy in the 2nd round you envision him getting playing time.

Well well well.

What do we have here?

Surely not our resident troll, who's expressed his disgust in recent weeks over how we approached the Draft, PRAISING BB and co for their Day One picks last year?

Uh oh, that's you and captain stone brain caught out over the last couple of days.....

By the way, where's your mention of Brace being a reach and a wasted pick in your initial reaction to the Draft?

With the picks they had, they could have gotten the 3 defensive players and still drafted Oher. Unless tomorrow's draft pushes a lot of those picks into next year and/or upgrades at the very bottom of the draft, today will go down in my book as a failed draft due to a lost opportunity.

Deus, Deus, Deus....

Man, I really like you as a poster, not necessarily because of what you post, but more the way you try and back your arguments with facts and stats, and the way you stick to your guns even in the face of adversity....dead wrong here though fella.

Vollmer has outperformed Oher (and indeed most OT's in the league) by a fair old distance this season, and looks an absolute stud.

I would say B- so far. I would've given an A+ had Bill done the wise thing by choosing Barwin & Beatty instead of Brace & SeaBass.

He he, the poster that keeps on giving.

To go with your "ZOMG, I would have taken Matthews and I said so at the time" (when you didn't). Funny how you've not banged the drum about Barwin? Or is that because he's been pretty poor?

 

[Jimke]

Of course, if Jason Taylor shows up at camp, this assertion will be entirely false. We'll see.

In an earlier post, I compared Taylor to Lucy in Charlie Brown.

Taylor will let the Patriots romance him from March until late

July and then dump them for a minimum contract from the

Dolphins.

The Patriots will neither draft or sign a good pass rusher and

their 2010 defense will be even worse than the 2009 edition.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

Grade: Incomplete

Once again this draft absolutely failed to solve the major problem of the Pats defense, a pass rush! I could see trading down from #23, because there was no one left, but two teams got #1s next year for 2nd round picks, and all the Pats got were a couple of 3rds (which they turned into 2nds). I was wondering how many CBs they were going to have, until of course they gave away Ellis to the Iggles. The Pats will start next year without a single CB who has ever started a game for the Pats.

Not one guy drafted yesterday will start week #1 (aside from the long snapper), this team is worse than it was last year, and worse than it was two years ago.

I like Brace, but the fact that they traded up to get him worries me about Vince's status.
I'm not sold on Butler, quick name a single starting QB in the Big East? Anyone?

The tackle was at the very least a 2 round reach (if not more), and it is not like they didn't have the picks to get him later on.

They traded a starting CB, and the best KO return guy in the league for a pair of 5th round picks, and they gave them away for another lineman reach.

The only pick that intrigues me is the pot smoker, he is supposed to be a return specialist (which doesn't require a large cranium), of course, he will be PUPed for the year, so we won't know about him unitl next year.

I did like trading the two 3s for 2 2s next year (although i thought they would get at least one extra #1).


Things that should REALLY worry you...

IF Vince is "close to re-signing" why did the Pats trade up to draft a Nose tackle (When they have already re-signed Wright this off-season). And why did they draft 2 more Nose Tackles after that?

Who is going to play OLB??? (and don't say Woods)
Thomas is one, who is the other? Crable?? I can only hope that the non-drafting of an OLB means that a Jason Taylor/Julius Peppers is coming.

In the end, I was sitting in church listening to a long winded blowhard of a Priest quiz 8 year olds about Jesus, all the while watching the draft unfold via Mrs FTW's blackberry (which she did not notice that I pilfered and was watching until half way through the dinner after the communion!) cursing in church!

Lets face it, this draft did absolutely NOTHING for the offense this year, and made the defense worse (less Hobbs and Vrabel), the only real improvement was the drafting of a long snapper.

Jesus, aside from Vollmer, I was pretty much spot on here, no pass rush, nobody to play OLB, Galloway will suck, Chung will not break into the starting line-up, and the Pats will miss Ellis in the return game.....

(now my arm hurts from trying to pat myslef on the back)

 

[BritPat]

To be fair, we didn't need anyone to start at OLB because we didn't play 3-4., It's been Burgess and Green/TBC most of the year.

And your concerns about the CB position were unfounded.

This is probably the best set we've had, well, ever, in the BB era.

 

[Jimke]

To be fair, we didn't need anyone to start at OLB because we didn't play 3-4., It's been Burgess and Green/TBC most of the year.

And your concerns about the CB position were unfounded.

This is probably the best set we've had, well, ever, in the BB era.

Ty Law and Tyrone Poole were pretty darn good.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Brit,

How has Barwin been "poor?"

 

[BritPat]

Brit,

How has Barwin been "poor?"

From what I've seen of the Texans he's struggled getting a good rush and has been very poor against the run. Something he didn't struggle with in College.

He'll get better though, of that I have no doubts.

 

[mgteich]

Also Ty and O-T-I-S.

Ty Law and Tyrone Poole were pretty darn good.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

To be fair, we didn't need anyone to start at OLB because we didn't play 3-4., It's been Burgess and Green/TBC most of the year.

And your concerns about the CB position were unfounded.

This is probably the best set we've had, well, ever, in the BB era.

You must be smoking something pretty good? 2003's secondary was easily the best in Patriots history. Look it up.

 

[captain stone]

Uh oh, that's you and captain stone brain caught out over the last couple of days.....




He he, the poster that keeps on giving.

To go with your "ZOMG, I would have taken Matthews and I said so at the time" (when you didn't). Funny how you've not banged the drum about Barwin? Or is that because he's been pretty poor?

What are you talking about? I never, not once, suggested drafting Clay Matthews at 26. As for Connor Barwin (or Clint Sintim, or Everette Brown) over Ron Brace - those of us who can actually think for themselves, as opposed to those of you who wait for the HOF HC of the NEP to give you your opinion, would make that choice even more confidently today than 8 months earlier. But thanks for making me look good; I appreciate it.