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Some random thoughts on the draft ....
1. I saw a friend yesterday who is also a long time Patriots season ticket holder. When he asked me what I thought was going to happen in the draft last night, I told him the following:
The point is no matter how much we as fans try to figure this out, we'll never be privy to the inside game. That's for the pros.
3. I'll be the first to admit that I never even heard of Devin McCourty before NE picked him last night. From what I've read, it seems he's a smart, tough, physical player. It's pretty revealing that a three year starter who was arguably Rutgers' best defensive player, was such a factor on special teams (especially kick coverage). That tells me that this guy LOVES football. That, coupled with his versatility, makes him attractive to BB.
4. FWIW, I think people had pretty much the same reaction to Ty Law and Logan Mankins when they were picked.
5. Much of the criticism I've seen here is that NE didn't address a need with this pick. This goes back to the age old debate about drafting for need versus picking the best player available. I think BB believes that the latter approach (best player available) is best in the long run. Given the hit or miss nature of the whole draft process, teams who draft for need are much more likely to reach (thereby reducing the probability of success) and will not fare as well over time.
Let's see what happen tonight and Saturday before we get too worked up. Oops, I guess I'm too late with that suggestion ...
1. I saw a friend yesterday who is also a long time Patriots season ticket holder. When he asked me what I thought was going to happen in the draft last night, I told him the following:
- whatever happens, people will overreact, especially with no more picks until Friday. (Deus Irae has made this point in other threads.)
- they will trade down to backfill some of the Derrick Burgess induced holes in their draft board
- they will pick someone you've probably never heard of who, in all likelihood, will turn out to be a pretty good football player.
2. In the world of the NFL draft, there are the professionals and there are the amateurs. - they will trade down to backfill some of the Derrick Burgess induced holes in their draft board
- they will pick someone you've probably never heard of who, in all likelihood, will turn out to be a pretty good football player.
The pros (GMs, coaches, scouts, etc.) make lots of mistakes - just look at the success rate for even the first 5 or 10 picks for each of the last several years.
Some amateurs (Kiper, McShay, Mayock and others) have turned the draft into a cottage industry. They speak with great authority on draft day, but in reality, they don't know all that much. If they were real talent evaluators, they'd be in the business instead of talking about it on cable television. Mayock is probably the most credible of this group. Otherwise, the only one who was worth a damn was the late Joel Buchsbaum.
Other amateurs include garden variety sportswriters who talk to a lot of the pros and then have to sift through the information, misinformation and disinformation. When the smoke clears, we generally see that they really don't know a whole lot more than many of the fans (including people on this board) who read and study whatever they can to form their own opinions.
Some amateurs (Kiper, McShay, Mayock and others) have turned the draft into a cottage industry. They speak with great authority on draft day, but in reality, they don't know all that much. If they were real talent evaluators, they'd be in the business instead of talking about it on cable television. Mayock is probably the most credible of this group. Otherwise, the only one who was worth a damn was the late Joel Buchsbaum.
Other amateurs include garden variety sportswriters who talk to a lot of the pros and then have to sift through the information, misinformation and disinformation. When the smoke clears, we generally see that they really don't know a whole lot more than many of the fans (including people on this board) who read and study whatever they can to form their own opinions.
The point is no matter how much we as fans try to figure this out, we'll never be privy to the inside game. That's for the pros.
3. I'll be the first to admit that I never even heard of Devin McCourty before NE picked him last night. From what I've read, it seems he's a smart, tough, physical player. It's pretty revealing that a three year starter who was arguably Rutgers' best defensive player, was such a factor on special teams (especially kick coverage). That tells me that this guy LOVES football. That, coupled with his versatility, makes him attractive to BB.
4. FWIW, I think people had pretty much the same reaction to Ty Law and Logan Mankins when they were picked.
5. Much of the criticism I've seen here is that NE didn't address a need with this pick. This goes back to the age old debate about drafting for need versus picking the best player available. I think BB believes that the latter approach (best player available) is best in the long run. Given the hit or miss nature of the whole draft process, teams who draft for need are much more likely to reach (thereby reducing the probability of success) and will not fare as well over time.
Let's see what happen tonight and Saturday before we get too worked up. Oops, I guess I'm too late with that suggestion ...
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