Nfl network path to draft on Pats

[Warren94]

Tanard Jackson CB/S Syracuse



STRENGTHS

Tanard is a solid CB with good speed and size to play his position at the next level. He is very smart and shows leadership qualities. Tanard is an excellent tackler and because of this and his leadership skills, he could easily play more than one DB position. Tanard looks like he has the size and bulk to handle coverage on RB’s out of the backfield, TE’s that run down the slot, and the bigger WR’s that all the teams seem to have now. He shows strong hands to intercept the ball and very good north-south speed and burst. Because of Tanard’s versatility, I’m sure once he starts to work out that teams are going to be very interested in drafting him. Tanard reminds me a lot of Henry Jones a former cover safety for the Buffalo Bills.



NEEDS TO IMPROVE

Tanard does not posses the quick twitch skills that are need to cover all kinds of WR’s at the next level but he can cover and will be a good zone CB or maybe an impact FS. His change of direction skills are a little slow and he can be beat deep but has the speed to tackle most WR’s from behind. WR’s who run double move routes will always be a problem for Tanard to deal with athletically but as soon as he gains experience he should be able to handle defending that route better then he does right now.



TALENT BOARD ROUND: 2

Tanard is a very good player and what he lacks in natural cover skills he makes up for with intelligence and instincts. You can draft him and keep him as a CB but I think he would impact more from the FS position. At that position you can take better advantage of his leadership skills and his straight line speed and burst. As you get closer to your end zone he can take that bigger player TE or WR and cover him man to man with out any problems. This kid is a quality kid and his versatility might push him into the later part of the first round. That would not surprise me at all. Learning a new position makes his LTI a little longer but the truth is picking him in the first round would be a smart pick for anybody needing DB help.

He is the guy I want them to Draft

 

[primetime]

=========================================
The draft is crapshoot and it is rare that a PROJECTED all-pro drops to 24.
==========================================

Ed Reed was drafted at #24. He's the best safety (defensive player) in the league.

 

[DaBruinz]

Ed Reed was drafted at #24. He's the best safety (defensive player) in the league.

Good job at validating MG's point for him.

 

[Fencer]

Some people on the draft board think we're OK at Safety. We aren't. Nelson may be a pipe dream but I'd happily take Michael Griffin at #28.

I agree with you completely.

I hate it when that happens.

Well, actually, I have some above-the-neck concerns about Nelson. Whew. The agreement isn't complete.

 

[primetime]

Tanard Jackson reminds me of another guy with the same initials who the Patriots drafted from Syracuse awhile back. I'd pass and go after a stud like Nelson, Merriweather, or Griffin.

 

[Fencer]

The people who want a safety don't seem to understand that we have 8 safeties now and had one, only ONE, (Sanders) for the second half of the AFCCG. (We ended up playing Rashad Baker. Who ???)

There are those that say neither Sanders nor Hawkins nor Gay nor Scott are great safeties. But they aren't our starters. Harrison and Wilson are, but they were injured.

They say we need a repalcement for Harrison who is getting old. Therefore they diss Sanders, and want somebody who is 6-0+ and 210 +. Ideally they seek a Harrison clone of 6-1 220.

The draft has such players. Eric Weddle 6-0 210, Sabby Piscatelli 6-2 225, Fred Roach 6-3 225, and John Welding 6-3 222. All of these guys are NOT First Round draft picks.

All or most will be available in the third round, and can be obtained by trading our third and a sixth for an earlier third to position, if desired.

I see no reason to be drafting Safeties in Round 1. I do see a need to draft LBs and CBs are the athletes, who don't last too long. But CB is not a need pick either; merely the useful choice.

And who of those "eight" safeties do you think both will and should start for the Pats in two years? Rodney? If so, then not for much longer than that. Wilson? Likely gone after this season. Hawkins? Scott? Very unlikely to get better from their current level. Sanders? You really think his pass coverage will improve that much from here on out? Andrews? I'm not exactly relying on his development ...

The second-best safety on the team may now be Adalius Thomas.

 

[Warren94]

too true. I just find it hard to believe Merriweather will be drafted by New England. Secondly Griffin is Over-rated. I do agree Nelson is going to be a good Safety, but I feel he will go to the Jags.

 

[sebman2112]

Yes the Patriots need a safety, or two. This fact should be obvious.
Harrison is gettting toward the end, and hasn't been able to stay on the field lately. While I love the guy that is the cold trueth, and Rodney even said he will not know for sure about coming back until July.
Hawkins: toward the end of the season seemed to start missing assignments, and started showing his age (he lost a step).
Eugene Wilson was once a good, solid FS, but he hasn't perfomed at that level for two years, and has been battling injury for the past two years, as well. Wilson is also at the end of his contract, so he is likely gone after '07. Chad Scott is a CB/FS but he is also getting old, and has been fighting injuries the past two years. the only young starting quality safety NE has is Sanders, who showed signs of development in '06, but he also has some durability problems. Really, the only starting quality safety who will likely be on the roster past '07 is Sanders.
I like Willie Andrews, but he hasn't shown any signs of developing into a good safety, and NE originally drafted him more for his return skills. The problem was Maroney, and Hobbs are better returners.

Yea.....they need safeties.

 

[JDP111]

The people who want a safety don't seem to understand that we have 8 safeties now and had one, only ONE, (Sanders) for the second half of the AFCCG. (We ended up playing Rashad Baker. Who ???)

There are those that say neither Sanders nor Hawkins nor Gay nor Scott are great safeties. But they aren't our starters. Harrison and Wilson are, but they were injured.

They say we need a repalcement for Harrison who is getting old. Therefore they diss Sanders, and want somebody who is 6-0+ and 210 +. Ideally they seek a Harrison clone of 6-1 220.

The draft has such players. Eric Weddle 6-0 210, Sabby Piscatelli 6-2 225, Fred Roach 6-3 225, and John Welding 6-3 222. All of these guys are NOT First Round draft picks.

All or most will be available in the third round, and can be obtained by trading our third and a sixth for an earlier third to position, if desired.

I see no reason to be drafting Safeties in Round 1. I do see a need to draft LBs and CBs are the athletes, who don't last too long. But CB is not a need pick either; merely the useful choice.

We need a Safety. Eugene Wilson may start, but in all honesty----he sucks. He's better than the guys behind him, but that's not saying much. Draft a safety then move Eugene where he should be- at CB.

 

[patsfan55]

Hawkins is not oK, at the end of the year his lack of speed was evident. Sanders will be a decent player not great

hawkins really disapointed me at the end of the yr and in the playoffs
granted our safeties played like crap with backups in there
but it seems like geno and rodney are missing a lot of time lately
plus geno has not made a single big play in yrs and rodney is def nearing the end
we need big time playmakers at the safety position

 

[salty]

You can count me in on believing we need a big upgrade at safety as well. Rodney is old and brittle and Eugene Wilson hasn't done anything since 2004 (sorry to be harsh, but I don't want to sugarcoat).

Sanders is probably a viable option, but Hawkins was terrible, IMO. The two of them were caught way out of position a number of times last year. Sanders would be OK (maybe even good) if he were to play with another safety that actually could cover somebody.

So basically, we need a free safety.

 

[patsfan55]

You can count me in on believing we need a big upgrade at safety as well. Rodney is old and brittle and Eugene Wilson hasn't done anything since 2004 (sorry to be harsh, but I don't want to sugarcoat).

Sanders is probably a viable option, but Hawkins was terrible, IMO. The two of them were caught way out of position a number of times last year. Sanders would be OK (maybe even good) if he were to play with another safety that actually could cover somebody.

So basically, we need a free safety.

one of ur better posts
no need to sugarcoat
geno has not been a playmaker for a while now
and hawkins was terrible at the end of the season
i brought this point up months ago and a lot took offense to it
sanders is a decent backup
maybe he could continue to improve his game and eventually become a viable starter, but he isnt quite there yet

 

[JackBauer]

sanders is a decent backup
maybe he could continue to improve his game and eventually become a viable starter, but he isnt quite there yet

Do you have anything to substantiate this claim?

Sanders played consistently well after the Denver game and is the future starter at SS, IMO.

 

[patsfan55]

Do you have anything to substantiate this claim?

Sanders played consistently well after the Denver game and is the future starter at SS, IMO.

FUTURE starter
maybe
but as of now he is not playing at a high level

 

[JackBauer]

We need a Safety. Eugene Wilson may start, but in all honesty----he sucks. He's better than the guys behind him, but that's not saying much. Draft a safety then move Eugene where he should be- at CB.

So you're going to say Geno sucks at S and then advocate moving him to CB, where by all accounts he was even WORSE? The mind boggles.

For the record, when healthy, I think Geno is a good safety. I would still draft a FS because it's too much of a risk and Hawkins should never be expected to start for any long period of time.

 

[JackBauer]

FUTURE starter
maybe
but as of now he is not playing at a high level

Like I said, do you have any evidence to support this claim? Just because you say something doesn't make it so.

 

[holyredeemer]

Secondly Griffin is Over-rated. I do agree Nelson is going to be a good Safety, but I feel he will go to the Jags.

Alright. Please elaborate on why Michael Griffin is over rated. You cant just say that and just leave it there to hang out and dry. Why is Griffin overrated, and what makes you think Nelson is going to be soooo much better?

 

[patpatriot]

People keep dissing Wilson saying he hasn't made any big plays in the past 2 years but it's kind of hard to make plays when you are either injured or on IR isn't it? The very same people want to get Atlanta's Wilson ...Hartwell. Do we need new safeties?...Hell yeah! Put me down for Jackson and Sabby. Just don't keep dissing Wilson please!

 

[captain stone]

and hawkins was terrible at the end of the season

For instance: with < 1 min. in the AFCC, PayATon overthrows Dallas Clark as Ty Warren runs into him. The ball lands near the 10-yard line, seemingly at the feet of Hawkins. Why the eff didn't he dive for the INT?

The overhaul of the Safety position needs to begin with this draft. A good start, besides LaRon Landry, would be FS Michael Griffin - smart, solid family, productive, blocks punts, and had a terrific combine.

 

[Remix 6]

For instance: with < 1 min. in the AFCC, PayATon overthrows Dallas Clark as Ty Warren runs into him. The ball lands near the 10-yard line, seemingly at the feet of Hawkins. Why the eff didn't he dive for the INT?

The overhaul of the Safety position needs to begin with this draft. A good start, besides LaRon Landry, would be FS Michael Griffin - smart, solid family, productive, blocks punts, and had a terrific combine.

-got beat by Cotchery..he was SLOW FOOTED

-nearly got beat for a TD against Chargers but his feet were slightly out