Grade the 2012 Patriots draft

[ctpatsfan77]

Last thought maybe for another place: why do these draftniks put any stock into these all-star games as indicators of what a kid could possibly do in the pros? They are entirely artificial and do not come close to he conditions of a crucial game in the NFL. Bowl games and big rivalry games with something on the line is where tape matters, not mismatches and beauty contest games.

Supposedly it's not the games themselves that matter, but rather the week of practices leading up to those games (since those all-star games are generally coached by NFL coaches). [As but one vivid example: it wasn't luck that the Patriots sent Scar to Houston for Vollmer's Pro Day; Scar had coached Vollmer at his all-star game!]

 

[mrscruff]

Meh bordering on Win considering the draft capital the Patriots had.

Chandler Jones B
Donta Hightower A-
Tavon Wilson C
Jake Bequette C+
Nate Ebner C
Alfonzo Dennard B
Jeremy Ebert B+

I like Chandler Jones but I am not too sure he will be the pass rushing freak that JPP or Aldon Smith are. I think he will be a solid OLB who will be asked to move forwards more than he will be asked to play in space. His best qualities (cited by Chandler Jones himself) are his quick hands and his play recognition so I think will be able to set the edge and be relied on in the run game. His length could be an asset in restrivting passing lanes and knocking down passes. His pass rush will be a work in progress.

Hightower gives the Pats amazing versatility and that will be his calling card.
Nice pick.

I have no problem with the 1st round strategy of using mid round picks to move up but I think BB particularly struggled getting what he wanted in 2nd round. It was a less than mediocre safety class and Harrison Smith was not 1st round talent and the rest of the safeties like George Iloka had real question marks. But what we do know is that outside of Barron and Smith, BB got his man in Tavon Wilson. They had their chance to pick any safety and chose Wilson. Maybe BB views him as a James Sanders type of reliable leader in the secondary.

But it was the trade to the Packers which signalled some problems with this draft class. They got poor value on both trades and seemed like acts of desperation. I suspect the Pats may have missed out on some prospects in the early 4th and 5th rounds having been handcuffed due to a lack of flexibility with their late round slots. Of course this is mere conjecture, but just my impression with the way things panned out.

Bequette has OK value in the 3rd and could be a decent rotational player a la Rob Ninkovich.

Nate Ebner is purely a developmental project like Malcolm Williiams so no real problem with that. Not in the seventh round.

I am less high on Alfonzo Dennard than others, but in the 7th round I can't complain. He was over valued as a top 60 pick, in my mind but if he contributes and adds some nasty to the secondary, what is there not to like.

Love the Ebert pick after seeing some footage of him. Would love for him to make the team and contribute somewhere down the line.

Despite some misgivings with some of these picks I am happy to see what they can do in training camp and ultimately help the Patriots in some capacity.

 

[sevengables_2207]

Got to give it a win. I had posted on Thursday right before the draft that I expected the Pats to trade out of the first entirely and the exact opposite happened.

I have no idea how the players they picked will work out until they get some game action under their belts, hence why I will not attach grades to the picks. I will say, however, that as a group, my initial impression of each player is that he seemingly brings big game experience, versatility, toughness, smarts, leadership, and TALENT to the roster.

If this group of defensive players can contribute to making this defense as difficult to decipher for opposing offenses as it was during the Super Bowl Championship years, then it immediately bumps up to an EPIC win, IMO.

 

[Joker]

Here's what super genius Peter King had to say about the Patriots 2000 draft..

"8. B-Minus New England. J.R. Redmond will be the every-down back by Oct. 1. Not bad for the 76th overall pick.

Here's the relevant part of Kiper's ability to judge talent in the 2000 draft...maybe all you "experts" who are going beserk calling the Patriots and BB stupid should read this...about 10,000 times..

2000

Overrated (30): This wasn't one of Kiper's better years. "Overrated" running back Mike Anderson became a surprise star in Denver, and WR Laveranues Coles has more than 500 career receptions. Also making this list: OL Chad Clifton, LB Na'il Diggs and LB Mark Simoneau.

Underrated (30): QB Chad Pennington was a favorite of Kiper's, and he came back strong from injury last year to answer many of his critics. Kiper also singled out QB Joe Hamilton, but not Tom Brady, one of the greatest draft sleepers ever. There are few other prominent names on this list, though DB Tyrone Carter did help win a Super Bowl for the Steelers.

In fact, Kiper was CLUELESS about Tom Brady...which groups him into that group that includes just about every suds swilling yahoo with an internet connection and a draft list that thinks they "know things".

Kiper's success at making NFL picks is no better than that chicken in New Orleans that scratches out the Super Bowl winner every year...in fact, the chicken has a far better success rate.

 

[pork3]

And two teams between 48 and 62 had a 2nd round grade on him.

I'm seeing this all over the place on this forum. If someone can provide the source, that would be appreciated.

-Jamman

 

[Ring 6]

"Why don't you love me, Jenny?"

"I know everything there is to know about the shrimping bidness"..."fried shrimp, coconut shrimp, shrimp scampi, grilled shrimp............"

 

[Ring 6]

I voted epic win but after thinking about it more i say Win. Could have taken a real value pick at at 48, and Jones looks like a project. Wilson i'll have to see it to believe he was worth a second rnd pick. But i love the Jones Hightower Bequette Dennard picks.

Mayock calls Jones the best passrusher in the draft,and had him rated #9 overall.
I don't know why he would be considered a project.

 

[JackBauer]

Of all the picks, I think I like Bequette the best.

That's why you gave him a B?

 

[Ivan]

Mayock calls Jones the best passrusher in the draft,and had him rated #9 overall.
I don't know why he would be considered a project.

I don't know if "project" is the right way to phrase it but I do think the Patriots see Jones potential as more likely to be realized in his 2nd and 3rd seasons than right out of the gate, as opposed to Hightower who should start from day 1. Looking at Jones it appears that he will need some time to develop both physically and in terms of understanding complex schemes. Maybe they see it differently and feel like he could step right in but from a distance it seems to me like they see big time potential and weren't going to let is pass by.

 

[Ivan]

Mayock calls Jones the best passrusher in the draft,and had him rated #9 overall.
I don't know why he would be considered a project.

I think he played as a down lineman at Syracuse and I expect him to play more of an elephant role here and will need to learn OLB responsibilities.

 

[pdangle]

This draft hinges ENTIRELY on Tavon Wilson.

Seriously though, it's really all about picks #1 and pick #2 for me. I think we got impact players both.

After that, any picks that stick are gravy.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

WINNING

Very very curious about the Tavon outcome, but that makes, let's see -- ALL of us. I like out first, I love the Ebner pick and would love to see him plug in, the guys at the bottom, meh. But it's not like you can ever say "the seventh round of this draft really knocked my socks off" unless you're full of ****.

To me it's either an A+ or a B- depending on the Tavon pick. The A+ end would be "OMG they knew this HOW?" the B- end would be the disappointment factor. It's a crap shoot anyway, but the Pats don't like to follow herds... they like to lead them. So while in scheme the meme is "BB plays chess while everybody else plays checkers," in the draft it's more like "BB is playing texas hold 'em while everybody else is playing slots." Seems to make the money last longer, but in the end talk to me in 3 years.

 

[Ring 6]

I think he played as a down lineman at Syracuse and I expect him to play more of an elephant role here and will need to learn OLB responsibilities.

Lets say he plays 80% of the snaps as a rookie. Thats about 50 out 60 some in a game with a little rest, a reasonable expectation.
50-60% of our snaps are in sub. So he is playing pass rushing DE in nickel or dime (ie no learning invovled). So that is 30-35 of his 50 snaps.
That means he plays 15-20 snaps a game as a 34 OLB. No doubt on the majority of them his play will be to rush if its a pass, and play contain on a run.
The advanced concepts of playing OLB don't need to come that quickly for him to be a huge contributor.
Even if he never plays in the base, neither did Aldon Smith. Its a key 'starter' role.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't know if "project" is the right way to phrase it but I do think the Patriots see Jones potential as more likely to be realized in his 2nd and 3rd seasons than right out of the gate, as opposed to Hightower who should start from day 1. Looking at Jones it appears that he will need some time to develop both physically and in terms of understanding complex schemes. Maybe they see it differently and feel like he could step right in but from a distance it seems to me like they see big time potential and weren't going to let is pass by.

Why would they move up to pick him if he isn't ready to play?
I have seen nothing about him outside of the cautious opinions on this board that suggest he is anything but NFL ready.
Is it just the idea of position flexibilty? Because that is nothing.
He is a 266 lb DE/OLB, I don't think there is a lack of physical development.

 

[condon84]

Love our draft. The only thing keeping it from an "Epic Win" vote from me are our 2nd round decisions. Not that I don't think Tavon or the players we got from our trade in the 2nd round are going to work out, it's the value of what we got on those particular picks is what I didn't like. It just didn't seem like a BB maximized value pick to me.

In the past, BB has traded back when Mayo was available, same with McCourty, and Hernandez. When Chung was picked in the first round we traded back twice before finally selecting him and maximized the value of that pick. And the pick we traded was even worse as far as the value we got. Some was just off in the second round as far as the value of what we got.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I voted WTF because as someone who has never heard of any of these college players except Luck and RG3 my view is shaped by draftniks whose reaction was closest to WTF with my man Wilson in the 2nd and the inexplicable 2nd round trade down.

Posted this on MyFace to a bunch of friends, mainly Patriots fans like Miguel...

"Each year it borders on dark comedy as I watch the well informed, well researched draftniks here and elsewhere go into absolute nuclear meltdown as BB trashes the draft process by taking unknowns and making inexplicable draft trades. As the draft goes on, hilarity ensues, cigars get thrown, TVs slammed off and all kinds of frustration.

It's as if Belichick is issuing a special GFY to Patsfan draftniks this year,

I love the smell of burning draftniks in the morning. I know it's wrong but I do love it so."

 

[reflexblue]

I voted WTF because as someone who has never heard of any of these college players except Luck and RG3 my view is shaped by draftniks whose reaction was closest to WTF with my man Wilson in the 2nd and the inexplicable 2nd round trade down.

Posted this on MyFace to a bunch of friends, mainly Patriots fans like Miguel...

"Each year it borders on dark comedy as I watch the well informed, well researched draftniks here and elsewhere go into absolute nuclear meltdown as BB trashes the draft process by taking unknowns and making inexplicable draft trades. As the draft goes on, hilarity ensues, cigars get thrown, TVs slammed off and all kinds of frustration.

It's as if Belichick is issuing a special GFY to Patsfan draftniks this year,

I love the smell of burning draftniks in the morning. I know it's wrong but I do love it so."

Ha, that is really funny, how BB screws with everybody. You know what was even funnier? How he Fired almost the entire defensive backfield that he drafted last season after screwing the draftnicks over the last four or five seasons that was a real knee slapper.

 

[PATSNUTme]

I voted WTF because as someone who has never heard of any of these college players except Luck and RG3 my view is shaped by draftniks whose reaction was closest to WTF with my man Wilson in the 2nd and the inexplicable 2nd round trade down.

Posted this on MyFace to a bunch of friends, mainly Patriots fans like Miguel...

"Each year it borders on dark comedy as I watch the well informed, well researched draftniks here and elsewhere go into absolute nuclear meltdown as BB trashes the draft process by taking unknowns and making inexplicable draft trades. As the draft goes on, hilarity ensues, cigars get thrown, TVs slammed off and all kinds of frustration.

It's as if Belichick is issuing a special GFY to Patsfan draftniks this year,

I love the smell of burning draftniks in the morning. I know it's wrong but I do love it so."

You wrote that on your face?

 

[ay-yo]

Love our draft. The only thing keeping it from an "Epic Win" vote from me are our 2nd round decisions. Not that I don't think Tavon or the players we got from our trade in the 2nd round are going to work out, it's the value of what we got on those particular picks is what I didn't like. It just didn't seem like a BB maximized value pick to me.

In the past, BB has traded back when Mayo was available, same with McCourty, and Hernandez. When Chung was picked in the first round we traded back twice before finally selecting him and maximized the value of that pick. And the pick we traded was even worse as far as the value we got. Some was just off in the second round as far as the value of what we got.

I agree that Wilson was not a value pick. Could have traded back and still gotten a similar player plus another pick or a future pick. Wilson or Brandon Taylor (73), Trumaine Johnson (65), Brandon Hardin (79), Casey Hayward (62). We could have moved back 10 or more spots and still gotten a guy we liked.

I was fine with the Bequette pick though. Looking through the 4th round there was really only 1 other DE that had similar height and weight. Bequette was likely rated significantly higher than the next DE on our board.

 

[aurakilla]

regardless of what people think, I really think this is one of the best off seasons
I`ve witnessed as a pats fan.