Pats approach to Pro Day scouting

[jmt57]

I noticed this headline in the links to Patriots Media News above. And while some of those articles are either old news or clickbait, I have to admit this column is an eye-opener - and not in a good way.

Patriots' Approach To Scouting Top NFL Draft Prospects Feels Odd

The Patriots are sending quite to contingent to USC on Wednesday, despite other high-level schools also hosting their pro days.

nesn.com

Apparently USC, Texas, Alabama and Ohio State from simultaneously hosting their pro days Wednesday - which is obviously not ideal for any of the 32 NFL teams. The obvious solution would be to split the coaches/scouts/front office up, so the Patriots have a presence at each of these events, right?

No. In fact it is exactly the opposite: they are putting all their eggs into one basket.

New England will have de facto general manager Eliot Wolf, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney all at USC today to watch Caleb Williams, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo will not be in attendance but will join that same group at Michigan, North Carolina and LSU’s pro days.​

What exactly is the point of having Wolf, Van Pelt and McCartney all out at USC to watch Caleb Williams? Are they planning an attempt to trade up? Do they think Williams is going to slip to #3? Yes, USC has other quality players to look at too - but not to the extent the three schools don't rate a single Pats staff member.


The article goes on to compile some of the players the Patriots will not be seeing at their Pro Days - and it is kind of a head scratcher of a list.
The number in parenthesis represents the current consensus among all mock drafts of when that player will be drafted. Thirteen are projected to go in the first two rounds.

- Texas WR Adonai Mitchell (32)
- Texas WR Xavier Worthy (37)
- Texas TE Ja’Tavion Sanders (49)
- Texas DL Byron Murphy (16)
- Texas DL T’Vondre Sweat (45)
- Texas ED Dallas Turner (8)
- Texas RB Jonathan Brooks (56)
- Texas OT Christian Jones (124)
- Texas LB Jaylan Ford (161)
- Texas WR Jordan Whittington (213)
- Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry (22)
- Alabama CB Terrion Arnold (13)
- Alabama OT JC Latham (14)
- Alabama ED Chris Braswell (40)
- Alabama DL Justin Eboigbe (125)
- Alabama WR Jermaine Burton (83)
- Alabama RB Jase McClellan (214)
- Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (4)
- Ohio State DL Michael Hall Jr. (64)
- Ohio State TE Cade Stover (87)
- Ohio State LB Tommy Eichenberg (121)
- Ohio State CB Josh proctor (230)

 

[Steve102]

I noticed this headline in the links to Patriots Media News above. And while some of those articles are either old news or clickbait, I have to admit this column is an eye-opener - and not in a good way.

Patriots' Approach To Scouting Top NFL Draft Prospects Feels Odd

The Patriots are sending quite to contingent to USC on Wednesday, despite other high-level schools also hosting their pro days.

nesn.com

Apparently USC, Texas, Alabama and Ohio State from simultaneously hosting their pro days Wednesday - which is obviously not ideal for any of the 32 NFL teams. The obvious solution would be to split the coaches/scouts/front office up, so the Patriots have a presence at each of these events, right?

No. In fact it is exactly the opposite: they are putting all their eggs into one basket.

New England will have de facto general manager Eliot Wolf, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney all at USC today to watch Caleb Williams, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo will not be in attendance but will join that same group at Michigan, North Carolina and LSU’s pro days.​

What exactly is the point of having Wolf, Van Pelt and McCartney all out at USC to watch Caleb Williams? Are they planning an attempt to trade up? Do they think Williams is going to slip to #3?


The article goes on to compile some of the players the Patriots will not be seeing at their Pro Days - and it is kind of a head scratcher of a list.
The number in parenthesis represents the current consensus among all mock drafts of when that player will be drafted. Thirteen are projected to go in the first two rounds.

- Texas WR Adonai Mitchell (32)
- Texas WR Xavier Worthy (37)
- Texas TE Ja’Tavion Sanders (49)
- Texas DL Byron Murphy (16)
- Texas DL T’Vondre Sweat (45)
- Texas ED Dallas Turner (8)
- Texas RB Jonathan Brooks (56)
- Texas OT Christian Jones (124)
- Texas LB Jaylan Ford (161)
- Texas WR Jordan Whittington (213)
- Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry (22)
- Alabama CB Terrion Arnold (13)
- Alabama OT JC Latham (14)
- Alabama ED Chris Braswell (40)
- Alabama DL Justin Eboigbe (125)
- Alabama WR Jermaine Burton (83)
- Alabama RB Jase McClellan (214)
- Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (4)
- Ohio State DL Michael Hall Jr. (64)
- Ohio State TE Cade Stover (87)
- Ohio State LB Tommy Eichenberg (121)
- Ohio State CB Josh proctor (230)

Marshawn Lloyd and Brendan Rice say hello.

My guess is they feel they have enough on those other guys to warrant not attending. Maybe? I know there's a lot of needs, but I am really hoping T'vondre Sweat somehow falls to them. I like Christian Jones, too.

I agree it does seem weird.

 

[AQPE]

 

[PowerRunRevival]

The pro days should be such a small portion of the draft process it doesn’t really matter to me either way.

 

[Joey007]

View attachment 57170

I’m just gonna bring up burning cash references out of context all season

 

[Joey007]

The pro days should be such a small portion of the draft process it doesn’t really matter to me either way.

It’s more useful for players who did not participate in the combine, or had a poor combine performance, to check off a few boxes for teams with concerns.

 

[jmt57]

Marshawn Lloyd and Brendan Rice say hello.

My guess is they feel they have enough on those other guys to warrant not attending. Maybe? I know there's a lot of needs, but I am really hoping T'vondre Sweat somehow falls to them. I like Christian Jones, too.

I agree it does seem weird.

Yeah, I am going to edit that portion. Obviously there are players at USC other than Williams worth taking a look at.

I just found it odd the team has zero presence at those three other Pro Days, given that they are high quality programs with high profile players.

It's not as if the front office has so many years of relevant, proven experience at drafting that they can ignore these Pro Day opportunities,in my opinion.

 

[Sicilian]

My guess: They're taking a QB at #3 overall, and are just making REALLY sure they know which order they prefer the top four guys in (Williams, Maye, Daniels, McCarthy). For that reason, the most important decision makers are going to be at the pro days for those QBs. And it doesn't seem coincidental that the one Mayo is going to miss is the guy who they're 99% unlikely to have available to them anyway.

Basically, they know that if they have the option between two of those four guys, and they choose the wrong one, none of their other decisions in the subsequent rounds are going to be enough to keep their jobs in all likelihood. So they're making sure they get that right and then going from there.

Also, as some have mentioned, not much is going to happen at a pro day that's going to make them completely change their mind on a player. Maybe it tweaks their order of preference, but if they liked or didn't like a guy before, that's probably not going to change because they saw him in a practice that he got to personally coordinate.

 

[jmt57]

View attachment 57170

Lol, yeah that's it; how could I forget? The entire front office is too busy wheeling and dealing with free agents!

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Do we know that Highsmith, Cargile, or Williams won’t be at any of the others? I highly doubt that.

Pats do have actual scouts

 

[holyredeemer]

There’s no way in hell this team has a chance of trading up and getting Caleb Williams. What a joke.

 

[signbabybrady]

There’s no way in hell this team has a chance of trading up and getting Caleb Williams. What a joke.

Screw it what else do we have to do until the end of April I'm going to choose to believe that this means we are considering Caleb. How sick would it be if we trade up to 1. Lol.

 

[Ross12]

Do we know that Highsmith, Cargile, or Williams won’t be at any of the others? I highly doubt that.

Pats do have actual scouts

Right, the quote only says that the de facto GM, OC and QB coach will be at USC. What about all other position coaches? Scouts? Front office execs? They're not mentioned. Surely they could be going to the other Pro Days at Alabama and Texas?

 

[Twentytothree]

My guess: They're taking a QB at #3 overall, and are just making REALLY sure they know which order they prefer the top four guys in (Williams, Maye, Daniels, McCarthy). For that reason, the most important decision makers are going to be at the pro days for those QBs. And it doesn't seem coincidental that the one Mayo is going to miss is the guy who they're 99% unlikely to have available to them anyway.

Agree completely - the (rather stupid) article itself says "The Patriots undoubtedly will have representation at all pro days". It makes complete sense to have all top decision makers be as informed about the four top QBs as possible. That is by far the most critical decision they will have to make.

 

[Twentytothree]

Right, the quote only says that the de facto GM, OC and QB coach will be at USC. What about all other position coaches? Scouts? Front office execs? They're not mentioned. Surely they could be going to the other Pro Days at Alabama and Texas?

From the article: "The Patriots undoubtedly will have representation at all pro days". Clickbait.

 

[Rob0729]

This could be why. A lot of the time, teams send their higher ups to Pro Day to make deals.

 

[Ross12]

 

[hornetfb85]

I can totally see this scenario playing out:
We mortgage our draft capital for Caleb Williams. He then pulls an Elway or Eli and refuses to play here. We then have to trade him for a 3rd and a backup guard with potential.

 

[State]

The pro days should be such a small portion of the draft process it doesn’t really matter to me either way.

Generally you’re right. Some exceptions. Guys who weren’t invited to the Combine can shine. That’s what happened at Michigan State’s pro day 3or 4 years ago. TE Matt Sokol, who hadn’t done much in the field except block, really showed off good athleticism. This opened scours’ eyes.

The other is QB play. I remember Belichick being unimpressed with Corky at his Bama pro day.

Much as he would have been impressed by South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler, who showed off elite arm talent. This is a guy who is a second day pick. Except some team may have seen the second coming if Pat Mahomes.

 

[PatsFan2]

This could be why. A lot of the time, teams send their higher ups to Pro Day to make deals.

Seems like they are reading this board so credibility takes a hit.