AndyJohnson said:
And as I watched the clock tick, I came to the realization that BB was not going to pick Lawson.
BBs board seems very different than everyone elses. We have now seen:
Graham
Wastson
Maroney
Wilfork (there is no way that it was needed to move Warren off NT)
Mankins
as guys that really were not need that BB saw value and pounced.
I think your definition of "need" needs to be revised some. On a good team, you can argue that no position is really a position of "need". It comes down to where can the team be upgraded best, based on the available players. That's what "need" is. Likely BB's evaluation of one or more of the young LBs on the Pats, whom we haven't been able to see in action much, convinced him that drafting an LB wouldn't be as much of an improvement as many of us were thinking. Probably TBC or another young LB is coming along much better than most of us think, in BB's eyes.
I'd argue that all of those players you list above were "needs" to a degree. Last year improving our OL was a big need, especially after the recent departures of Andruzzi and Woody. Mankins was a clear upgrade. BB likes running two TE sets with TEs who can both block and play a strong role in the passing game as receivers. He loves TEs who are hard for LBs to matchup against - so both Graham and Watson (and David Thomas this year) are needs in that they can improve the team.
A NT was a huge need after the departure of Ted washington, so Wilfork was definitely a need pick.
For Maroney, BB is aware of father time, and felt a need to get younger at the RB position. He seems to prefer being able to bring in young players before the departure of the older veterans when possible, to gradually work them into the system. Many of us saw RB as a need, although many (including myself) thought LB was a bigger need - but I'm guessing that the development of one of the younger players has convinced BB otherwise.
In the future in predicting BB drafts, I think the answer will always be the guy he has rated higher than the consensus, or the guy who plays a positin other teams did not grab up.
I think those elements come into play, but I think if you try to narrow his decision making down to any one or two elements, you'll be wrong. He seems to base his decision on who he can get that will improve the team the most - which is influenced by team needs, overall team philosophy, near-future needs, individual player ratings, etc.. What positions other teams are drafting influences who is available, so certainly has to come into play.
Of course he also saw NO value when traded the pick that Bmore used for Boller, and ended up with extra picks that he used to find the value he saw.
I don't think that's the case. I think he either wanted Wilson, or had a few CBs rated the same, and figured he could trade back and still get one of them.
Finally, does anyone think Faulk may be on the way out? I have a suspision that his fumble in the playoff game was his ticket out of town. Its no surprise to me that when we lost because a RB and KR fumbled within a minute of each other causing a very close game to turn into a not so close one, that BB picks a guy he calls a great KR and he also happens to be aRB who will need at least backup carries.
IMO, the biggest "mistake" in that game, as far as costing us, was Brady throwing an INT in the endzone that was returned almost for a TD. Essentially a 14 point swing. Do you think Brady is on the way out of town because of that one play? I don't think BB is the type of person who will evaluate a player based entirely on one play.
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