One Draft Away!!!

[TriplecHamp]

Defense Defense Defense....WR and OG too
Pat Person please!

 

[Marqui]

As far as pass defense goes, the importance of a great pass rush >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the importance of a great secondary (don't believe me then look at the Steelers who have nothing in the secondary outside of Polamolu). Next year when Bodden is healthy, and when Butler can get comfortable in the nickel role, the core of Bodden/McCourty/Butler/Wilhite/Wheatley/Arrington at corner and Meriweather + Chung at safety will suffice just fine in the secondary if they fix the issues at DE and OLB. The front 7 needs to be addressed with 1 of the 2 first round picks and 1 of the 2 second round picks IMO.

This post is correct.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

...I think we are just 4-6 players short of a new Dynasty. I know thats all next year,,and i dont really know how far we will go this season,,but keep that thought in the back of your mind and it will cheer you up.
My prediction for this season was 11-5,,and i still stick to it because in this Offense and Bill we trust.
The future is bright,,the future is The New England Patriots. Ameen.
Peace. Abdul

If the assumption is that the team that is "One Draft Away" is still built around Tom Brady, remember we don't have "forever" to wait. He's 33 and, by all precedents, has three or four seasons left where he can reasonably be expected to play at the highest level. With an impending strike and the loss of next season, we're getting to the point where "the future is now."

The average retirement age for an SB era QB in Canton is 37. Only Elway won a Super Bowl after the age of 35. So, "One Draft Away," with the assumption that it will take a season or two for that "Draft" to be fully productive, is not the best way to be thinking, IMHO.

 

[Teenuh]

The Raiders lost to the Cardinals. Even as an away game that has to get you excited. The Raiders pick could be really high and if there is a Rookie Draft Salary Cap then the high Raider's pick will be worth even more. I would not be surprised if we end up with 3 1st round picks or 3 2nd round picks, if BB trades down.

I'd prefer the 3 first rounders: A RB, CB and maybe a pass rusher.

 

[Teenuh]

If the assumption is that the team that is "One Draft Away" is still built around Tom Brady, remember we don't have "forever" to wait. He's 33 and, by all precedents, has three or four seasons left where he can reasonably be expected to play at the highest level. With an impending strike and the loss of next season, we're getting to the point where "the future is now."

The average retirement age for an SB era QB in Canton is 37. Only Elway won a Super Bowl after the age of 35. So, "One Draft Away," with the assumption that it will take a season or two for that "Draft" to be fully productive, is not the best way to be thinking, IMHO.

I think Brady and Manning will be more like Kurt Warner than Brett Farvre when they get to that age. I predict both will be elite QBs even in their late thirties.

 

[The_Riddler]

Don't forget about the Carolina pick which right now, will be at the very, very top of round 2.

 

[OldNEPatsFan]

Next years draft by itself will not make this an elite team again. They will also have to make some good off season FA acquisitions. This team will need upgrades at DE, OLB, WR, RB, OT, OG, and C.

 

[JMarr]

Been a while dear friends since i posted a new thread,,but this has been on my mind ever since we beat the Bengals. All ive been reading on many threads is how weak our young D looks and some even being very negative of the Team. Well not me,,i have been sleeping so good even after our loss to the Jets,,{ not exactly} but felt good on how we moved the ball in the first half of that loss and now after 3 games,,,are we not one Draft away from becoming a GREAT Team ?
With two 1st Rounders and two 2nd Rounders plus multiple picks,,,,dont we look scary ?
Our O look great,,our young TEs scare the hell of everyone,,,plus our young D will be just fine come November,,mark my words.
Once i looked at this,, i took heart and said who else in the NFL can be so lucky to have BB and TB and be in this HUGE potential for the future ! I think we are just 4-6 players short of a new Dynasty. I know thats all next year,,and i dont really know how far we will go this season,,but keep that thought in the back of your mind and it will cheer you up.
My prediction for this season was 11-5,,and i still stick to it because in this Offense and Bill we trust.
The future is bright,,the future is The New England Patriots. Ameen.
Peace. Abdul

WOW. You must make a mean pitcher of koolaide. The way things stand right now, "torched" is way too mild of a word to describe what's going to happen to our defense when we play good offensive teams.

Ninko--Garbage. BB should be fined if he ever plays this guy except on ST's

Tully--JAG. Always thought people were getting way too excited about his 8.5 or whatever sacks last year. Can't set the edge to save his life. Overrated.

Merriweather--not looking good at all. We might have the defensive version of Lawrence Maroney on our hands. Way overrated IMO

Mayo--Usually adequately does his job. Nothing more.

Guyton--Garbage. Yet another player overrated on this board. Yet another of the Fab Four (led by AD) who was sent home for being late last season. A player who started last year only because BB literally did not have a choice.

Wright--Has been okay, but will wear down by midseason. Write it down.

Sanders--shocked to see how badly he played last week. All signs point to deterioration of whatever physical skills he once had.

Chung--great potential but very inconsistent at this point. Looks like Rodney one game, then just gets easily trapped and abused by the opposing OC the next.

McCourty--Rookie. Looks good so far but will get burned far more often than people around here are going to like. Same for Spikes.

Butler--will get better, but as of right now the '85 Bears would have gone 8-8 had they had our RCB situation. Unbelievably major problem.

"Chemistry/cohesion"--don't see it at all yet. The most disturbing thing of all is that most of these guys so far have played like they didn't seem to care much.

Oh, and
KC + Haley with Weiss/Crennel = 3-0

NE+BB with average to below average "coordinators" = 2-1 (1-2 had we played any other team in the league besides Buffalo)

 

[BennyBledsoe]

In Bill We Trust and all but... he's not getting any younger, either.

The age factor can't be discounted as he quietly approaches 60. No coach except Vermeil has won a Super Bowl past that age at 63 years of age.

For whatever reason, it's a big barrier. If there's a coach who can break it, I wouldn't doubt Belichick's ability to do so but the time will come when the Pats have to find a new genius to lead the team.

And a new quarterback.

Is Tommy's age 34 year the right year to draft his eventual successor (a la Aaron Rodgers)? We'll have the picks to get a good one if one's available and with hopefully a new rookie salary cap, it might even be affordable.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Been a while dear friends since i posted a new thread,,but this has been on my mind ever since we beat the Bengals. All ive been reading on many threads is how weak our young D looks and some even being very negative of the Team. Well not me,,i have been sleeping so good even after our loss to the Jets,,{ not exactly} but felt good on how we moved the ball in the first half of that loss and now after 3 games,,,are we not one Draft away from becoming a GREAT Team ?
With two 1st Rounders and two 2nd Rounders plus multiple picks,,,,dont we look scary ?
Our O look great,,our young TEs scare the hell of everyone,,,plus our young D will be just fine come November,,mark my words.
Once i looked at this,, i took heart and said who else in the NFL can be so lucky to have BB and TB and be in this HUGE potential for the future ! I think we are just 4-6 players short of a new Dynasty. I know thats all next year,,and i dont really know how far we will go this season,,but keep that thought in the back of your mind and it will cheer you up.
My prediction for this season was 11-5,,and i still stick to it because in this Offense and Bill we trust.
The future is bright,,the future is The New England Patriots. Ameen.
Peace. Abdul

Money reserved for Mankins and not spent, would allow the Pats to resign Seymour for that Veteran leadership job.

And it would be even better to use Oaklands Top 5 pick, on a next Willie McGinnest as a very expensive rental fee for his services for two years. Than OL 1 and OL 2 and RB is all that is needed.

Bodden, Warren fill problems, and Connoly is performing pretty well in place of Mankins.

Al Davis would go apoplectic.

 

[stinkypete]

McCourty--Rookie. Looks good so far but will get burned far more often than people around here are going to like. Same for Spikes.

Butler--will get better, but as of right now the '85 Bears would have gone 8-8 had they had our RCB situation. Unbelievably major problem.
[/B]

Are you suggesting that a team's starting CBs contribute a 7 game swing in the standings?

 

[zoostation]

Butler--will get better, but as of right now the '85 Bears would have gone 8-8 had they had our RCB situation. Unbelievably major problem.

The 85 Bears would have won 12 games with no RCB

 

[shmessy]

WOW. You must make a mean pitcher of koolaide. The way things stand right now, "torched" is way too mild of a word to describe what's going to happen to our defense when we play good offensive teams.

Ninko--Garbage. BB should be fined if he ever plays this guy except on ST's

Tully--JAG. Always thought people were getting way too excited about his 8.5 or whatever sacks last year. Can't set the edge to save his life. Overrated.

Merriweather--not looking good at all. We might have the defensive version of Lawrence Maroney on our hands. Way overrated IMO

Mayo--Usually adequately does his job. Nothing more.

Guyton--Garbage. Yet another player overrated on this board. Yet another of the Fab Four (led by AD) who was sent home for being late last season. A player who started last year only because BB literally did not have a choice.

Wright--Has been okay, but will wear down by midseason. Write it down.

Sanders--shocked to see how badly he played last week. All signs point to deterioration of whatever physical skills he once had.

Chung--great potential but very inconsistent at this point. Looks like Rodney one game, then just gets easily trapped and abused by the opposing OC the next.

McCourty--Rookie. Looks good so far but will get burned far more often than people around here are going to like. Same for Spikes.

Butler--will get better, but as of right now the '85 Bears would have gone 8-8 had they had our RCB situation. Unbelievably major problem.

"Chemistry/cohesion"--don't see it at all yet. The most disturbing thing of all is that most of these guys so far have played like they didn't seem to care much.

Oh, and
KC + Haley with Weiss/Crennel = 3-0

NE+BB with average to below average "coordinators" = 2-1 (1-2 had we played any other team in the league besides Buffalo)

JMARR, before you get too carried away with the Chiefs, they have played teams that are a combined 1-8 so far this year.

But it's always fun to watch some fans judge based on the first three games of a season. I'm sure you were interesting to read in 2001 and 2003 also!

How many times, over the past 5 months have we heard "This young defense won't jell until probably the 10th or 11th game". You expected to see a cohesive D right out of the box????

 

[VOODOOZF]

Been a while dear friends since i posted a new thread,,but this has been on my mind ever since we beat the Bengals. All ive been reading on many threads is how weak our young D looks and some even being very negative of the Team. Well not me,,i have been sleeping so good even after our loss to the Jets,,{ not exactly} but felt good on how we moved the ball in the first half of that loss and now after 3 games,,,are we not one Draft away from becoming a GREAT Team ?
With two 1st Rounders and two 2nd Rounders plus multiple picks,,,,dont we look scary ?
Our O look great,,our young TEs scare the hell of everyone,,,plus our young D will be just fine come November,,mark my words.
Once i looked at this,, i took heart and said who else in the NFL can be so lucky to have BB and TB and be in this HUGE potential for the future ! I think we are just 4-6 players short of a new Dynasty. I know thats all next year,,and i dont really know how far we will go this season,,but keep that thought in the back of your mind and it will cheer you up.
My prediction for this season was 11-5,,and i still stick to it because in this Offense and Bill we trust.
The future is bright,,the future is The New England Patriots. Ameen.
Peace. Abdul

There is potential in next years draft assuming that a) they don't trade down b) they hit on those picks.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I think Brady and Manning will be more like Kurt Warner than Brett Farvre when they get to that age. I predict both will be elite QBs even in their late thirties.

From your lips to God's ears, but with one season-ending injury and hundreds of hits already taking a toll on his body, I'm more inclined to focus on the next three or four years.

 

[Simkin]

Well right now the Raiders look very nice, they are young but talented and they are in a poor division . IMO they are gonna end close .500 or so, cause they have easy W with teams that ll probably tank . I ll sign a top 15 pick right now .

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

You expected to see a cohesive D right out of the box????

Looking at the board the past 2 weeks, you'd think that people were expecting just that.

As a person who drinks ALOT of kool-aid, I still think they will be much improved by week 10. Though, injuries could derail my prediction.

 

[UofApatsfan]

I don't get why so many people want NE to pick a RB in the 1st round with Laurence Maroney fresh in everyone's mind. Maybe there aren't very many RBs taken in the 1st round that turn out to be massive busts who are out of the NFL within 4 years of being drafted, but outside of Chris Johnson, Stephen Jackson and AP I can't think of a RB who proved worthy of the 1st rounder he was taken with recently. The other red flag is how early they peak. Reggie Bush has gotten worse every year since his rookie year, Joe Addai had a huge 2nd season then fell off, DeAngelo Williams is showing similar decline, Marshawn Lynch had two good years and is now irrelevant, the list goes on.

Faulk, Morris and Taylor will all be free agents, so they wont have to worry about money already locked up at the position. Rather than waste an early pick on one, sign 2-3 free agent RBs who won't cost much but have shown they can produce behind a good O-line (Mike Bell, Jerious Norwood, Michael Bush, Kevin Smith, Jerome Harrison are all potential examples of this as 2011 free agents), use a 3rd or 4th rounder on a RB who might be higher had his team gotten more coverage (there's one of these every year), and then sign another rookie RB who went undrafted. Let those 5 or so guys compete in training camp, and go from there.

 

[MustaphaM0nd]

I don't get why so many people want NE to pick a RB in the 1st round with Laurence Maroney fresh in everyone's mind. Maybe there aren't very many RBs taken in the 1st round that turn out to be massive busts who are out of the NFL within 4 years of being drafted, but outside of Chris Johnson, Stephen Jackson and AP I can't think of a RB who proved worthy of the 1st rounder he was taken with recently. The other red flag is how early they peak. Reggie Bush has gotten worse every year since his rookie year, Joe Addai had a huge 2nd season then fell off, DeAngelo Williams is showing similar decline, Marshawn Lynch had two good years and is now irrelevant, the list goes on.

Faulk, Morris and Taylor will all be free agents, so they wont have to worry about money already locked up at the position. Rather than waste an early pick on one, sign 2-3 free agent RBs who won't cost much but have shown they can produce behind a good O-line (Mike Bell, Jerious Norwood, Michael Bush, Kevin Smith, Jerome Harrison are all potential examples of this as 2011 free agents), use a 3rd or 4th rounder on a RB who might be higher had his team gotten more coverage (there's one of these every year), and then sign another rookie RB who went undrafted. Let those 5 or so guys compete in training camp, and go from there.

This.

I understand Ingram is special, but we have needs, and we should draft. The difference between a defense with 10 starting-caliber guys and 11 starting-caliber guys is HUGE. Right now, we have something like 8 or 9.
Given our draft position, and the relative embarrassment of 3-4 talent available this year, we have no excuses not to draft an OLB and a DE in the first two rounds.

You can get servicable guys all over the board as we do, but theres only one place you can expect a 3 down athlete who is complete package.

 

[JFK]

Our O-Line has maybe 1 good year left together. Neal is in his last year. Light I believe is in his last year on his contract. Koppen is 31...We definitely need Mankins back. Our best RB not 30+years old is BJGE. K-Faulk may be done..We need Butler to boom. We need to improve our DE. We need Ty Warren not to be rusty next year. We need Meriweather to get improve his IQ. We can get better but we can never be a perfect team. We are not One draft away.