Instant Reaction: Your Patriots 2023 Draft Grade

[Steve102]

 

[Pape]

Spoiler

 

[Sfpat]

I saw the Walter Football one - makes no sense.
Pretty much every other list, look at the numbers on the top 5 prospects, which include Ryland. He had the highest touchback %. His FG and XP % was as good or better than any of them, except for Moody.

Moody had an insanely good year, but Ryland had good year after year. He's got a monster leg.
At the combine, his kicking made the rest look bad. Maybe he wasn't number 1, maybe some of hte others, like the kid from Georgia will turn out better. But to not have him in the top 10 is really weird. He kicks in bad weather, hits game-winners regularly, hits it high and long on kickoffs with a 70% touchback rate.
Walter missed this badly. Only six kickers were invited to the combine, and of them, the consensus top three were Moody, Ryland, and Podesny in that order. We're talking a 5-year kicker here, like Moody - this is a good pick. If all were on the board, I still probably would have gone Ryland over Moody, just because Moody's year was so exceptional, even for Moody. I'd have been happy with either.

Someone was taking Walter Football seriously?

 

[Pape]

Someone was taking Walter Football seriously?

Me.

Got a problem with that?

 

[Sfpat]

No problem, but IMO, Walter Football is fun reading, but their rankings are nothing special and their mock drafts are a joke. They have no clue on team needs and at best just mimic the status quo. One of their last mocks has the Pats taking like 7 DEs/LBs.

 

[Steve102]

Spoiler

 

[rochrist]

Well, no, you wouldn't be giving up 46, because in the scenario I laid out, they kept 46 for White.

Here's the value chart: 2023 NFL Trade Value Chart

If you wanted to get 55, you need 350 points. So let's say you gave up 112, which is 70, you need 280 still. Their R3 at 76 is 210, you're still short 70, so it's going to take another 4th. 107 is 80, so that works, or 117 at 60 points and 192, which is 13 points. So...

The pats trade R3 (76), 2 R4s (107 and 112) or 76, 112, 117 and R6 192 to KC to get pick 55 and select ________________. That's assuming the KC doesn't tell them to eff off on 107, 112 and 117 and demand a 2 next year. Either way, you'd better be damned sure that the guy at 55 is a dude. If you wanted to go higher into the 30's or 40's it's even more. So if we are hearing that no one wants your ****ty 100-120 picks, how are you going up to the end of R2?

Moving up 3-4 spots is one thing, but moving up from one round to another round costs a lot. You best be in love with player X and he better be a lock to contribute at a high level.

And you best have a team interested in doing it.

 

[duc359]

My delayed reaction to the draft:
After watching so many Patriots drafts, I have tried to learn to not get upset when Bill strays from consensus. My immediate reaction is always to be annoyed, but over time Bill's drafting record stands up pretty well against consensus. It doesn't really seem like that because when the team misses by going away from consensus it really stands out.

Kiper has never made a dime from a NFL team. Kiper said Vollmer was a 5th round talent at best when BB took him. Please.

Damien Harris, 2019: 4 carries for 12 yards.

That was my point, w/o actually saying Harris had a worse debut to avoid being snarky.

 

[Steve102]

Someone was taking Walter Football seriously?

I don't hate Walter Football, there's some interesting player write ups. I don't take any of the mocks that serious. If they all were really experts, they'd be working for an NFL team. I give @BaconGrundleCandy more cred than the media. He does his out of passion. They do theirs to garner clicks.

 

[duc359]

thats part of the whole point... we had ammo to move up. didnt use it

I see TE as a need. I still see offensive weapons as a need.

Its the cost of missed opportunities that I rue

It takes two to make a deal.

There is no single answer to last years offense. Add T Higgins and do nothing else, it wouldn't be much different. Add a Coach that can see Mac is an accurate rhythm type passer, add road graders at G, and the formula is play action, short drops, pound the ball, TOP offense. We could have spent every pick on skill offense and TE, and still have no way to match KC. It's a loser. Fix ST - double check, get two prime players - and at positions of need now (CB), and next year (no way we break the bank for Uche next year if he gets 10+ sacks this year).

The goal is for this year and setting up for '24 and '25 - not making Kiper happy and having an explosive X, we can't throw deep too because the OL can't protect Mac in long running plays.

Also there will be more than the average amount of salary dumps - in part fueled by a better draft next year, and over spending on QB's, etc. - so we bag Higgins for a 3rd going to 2nd for time on field in '23, and a 3 or 4 in '24, and sign him for 5 years - after we deal/cut/renegotiate Brown and renegotiate Henry. Doubtful, but BB is considering everything.

Also the dead cap hits they have taken this off season shows to me they are dead serious to improve the roster, and take the pain.

 

[Pape]

It takes two to make a deal.

There is no single answer to last years offense. Add T Higgins and do nothing else, it wouldn't be much different. Add a Coach that can see Mac is an accurate rhythm type passer, add road graders at G, and the formula is play action, short drops, pound the ball, TOP offense. We could have spent every pick on skill offense and TE, and still have no way to match KC. It's a loser. Fix ST - double check, get two prime players - and at positions of need now (CB), and next year (no way we break the bank for Uche next year if he gets 10+ sacks this year).

The goal is for this year and setting up for '24 and '25 - not making Kiper happy and having an explosive X, we can't throw deep too because the OL can't protect Mac in long running plays.

Also there will be more than the average amount of salary dumps - in part fueled by a better draft next year, and over spending on QB's, etc. - so we bag Higgins for a 3rd going to 2nd for time on field in '23, and a 3 or 4 in '24, and sign him for 5 years - after we deal/cut/renegotiate Brown and renegotiate Henry. Doubtful, but BB is considering everything.

Also the dead cap hits they have taken this off season shows to me they are dead serious to improve the roster, and take the pain.

I understand what you are saying... It's completely rational without the rancor some people can't seem to post without, so I appreciate your response...

Every draft slot is open for trade... Every single one, with the sole exception of 1 overall when there is a consensus 1 overall... It all depends on what you are willing to pay...

There are absolutely team needs the the front office sees that I don't... But then there are some that are glaring... So the whole concept of roster building, which comes hand in hand with cap management, may look different from person to person...

I fundamentally disagree that this year is being written off with the minds eye focused on 24 and 25... Business has never been run like that before while BB has been here... It's all about competition in the now... Not every decision made works out but with certainty you can assume that BB and co are trying to compete this year...

There will be cap casualties that we can use to bolster our roster with, but what is more likely to happen? A quality defensive player being cut loose or a non-running back quality offensive skill position player? In today's NFL, it's an easy question to answer,..

To me that's why the cost of missed opportunity is so dear... We had the ammo this year to make moves to take advantage of that, and we didn't.. my two cents at any rate, ymmv

 

[Bill Lee]

By definition, these guys all were first rounders.

 

[duc359]

I understand what you are saying... It's completely rational without the rancor some people can't seem to post without, so I appreciate your response...

Every draft slot is open for trade... Every single one, with the sole exception of 1 overall when there is a consensus 1 overall... It all depends on what you are willing to pay...

There are absolutely team needs the the front office sees that I don't... But then there are some that are glaring... So the whole concept of roster building, which comes hand in hand with cap management, may look different from person to person...

I fundamentally disagree that this year is being written off with the minds eye focused on 24 and 25... Business has never been run like that before while BB has been here... It's all about competition in the now... Not every decision made works out but with certainty you can assume that BB and co are trying to compete this year...

There will be cap casualties that we can use to bolster our roster with, but what is more likely to happen? A quality defensive player being cut loose or a non-running back quality offensive skill position player? In today's NFL, it's an easy question to answer,..

To me that's why the cost of missed opportunity is so dear... We had the ammo this year to make moves to take advantage of that, and we didn't.. my two cents at any rate, ymmv

You are welcome.

I didn't say that they should forget this year, but you cannot just draft for this year and forget all the guys going FA next year. Needs must pass through opportunity to get results. Projecting the team to be in the AFCG this year is a pleasant diversion, but it isn't happening.

We need an X WR, this years draft was very heavy in slots. Only one WR graded out as a 1st rounder above #20, and maybe 3 more by #45. Look at the reaches - BB is no lemming.

BB makes more trades than anyone. Didn't Groh indicate that teams were generally not interested in trade downs? BB would I'm quite sure have been willing to trade up or out to next year if he got an offer he liked - besides the Jets deal. It takes two.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

This!

 

[n6249c]

This!

Sounds like a special case effect of Dunning Kruger Syndrome.

 

[mgteich]

Grades might be higher if we traded up for Boutte in the 4th and drafted the kicker in the 6th.

 

[Salsalife]

Devante Parker, Juju Smith, Gisekey, Tyquan, Bourne Stevenson. Is this league scared of the Patriots offense? Hahahahahaha. 7-10 this year. Can't score, just dam great again......

 

[*ChungFu*]

Devante Parker, Juju Smith, Gisekey, Tyquan, Bourne Stevenson. Is this league scared of the Patriots offense? Hahahahahaha. 7-10 this year. Can't score, just dam great again......

No professional athletes are "scared" of other athletes. That is a fan fiction.
They don't spend sleepless nights worrying and don't care about much more than their own performance..... regardless of the opponent.

 

[Salsalife]

Devante Parker, Juju Smith, Gisekey, Bourne. are you scared.

No professional athletes are "scared" of other athletes. That is a fan fiction.
They don't spend sleepless nights worrying and don't care about much more than their own performance..... regardless of the opponen

 

[Salsalife]

Devante Parker, Juju Smith, Gisekey, Bourne. are you scared.

Really??? That's all you got?