Ranking the Pats' "Top Five" needs...

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

I tried to pick out draft prospects we might have a shot at...
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Linebacker - Need to get younger...draft would be the place to go...

Top Draft Prospects:
1. Ernie Sims, FSU
2. Chad Greenway, Iowa
3. A.J. Hawk, OSU
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Wide Reciever - Need to replace Givens, but this doesn't necessarily have to be done in the draft. Could wait until June 1 cuts...

Top Draft Prospects:
1. Santonio Holmes, OSU.
2. Sinorice Moss, Miami
3. Chad Jackson, UF
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Cornerback - I actually don't think we're in that bad of shape here, with Samuel, Hobbs, Warfield, Gay & Poteat, but a nice shutdown corner for the future can't hurt!

Top Draft Prospects:
1. Tye Hill, Clemson
2. Richard Marshall, Fresno State
3. Jimmy Williams, Virginia Tech

*Ashton Youboty, Ohio State

*(Got to put him on there, just so when he gets an INT, Gil Santos can say, "Shake Youboty!")
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Offensive Line - Lumping tackles and guards together here because New England seems to like players who can be flexible and play either position...

Top Draft Prospects:
1. Marcus McNeill, Auburn
2. Eric Winston, Miami
3. Davin Joseph, Oklahoma
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Running Back - I still think Corey Dillon has a few good years left (2? 3?), but conventional wisdom says his train is pulling up to the station, so to indulge that school, it's time to start grooming his replacement. Damn shame Cedric Cobbs couldn't fulfill his potential!

LenDale White may be there, but something tells me he's not a "Belichick-type" of guy!

Laurence Maroney played in the Divsion I's top ranked rushing offense (Minnesota) for most of the season in '05! Don't know much about him, but my buddy Dave is a huge Penn State / Big Ten fan and he says Maroney's the real deal!

Top Draft Prospects:
1. Laurence Maroney, Minnesota
2. Leon Washington, FSU
3. Gerald Riggs, Tennessee
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Thoughts?

ADPF

 

[PonyExpress]

1. #1 cornerback
2. #2 wide receiver
3. quick running back
4. pass rushing OLB
5. kick returner

 

[Flying Fungi]

1. Dl
2. Lb
3. Wr
4. Ol
5. K

 

[DB15]

armen you have no idea what your talking about... you just threw out names there... half of them will be gone before the pats picks and two some of those players are not patriot types

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

My 5 top needs, in no particular order:

WR, RB, SS, OLB, PK.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Patriots filled either WR, RB or OLB need with pick 21.

In this case my personal favourites to fill these 3 positions, at the 21 spot, would be:

WR - Santonio Holmes
RB - DeAngelo Williams
OLB - Manny Lawson

 

[Pats726]

I still like Carpenter at 21....and think there are plenty of good ones in later rounds in positions...Maybe a CB OL..in 2nd 3rd...later rounds for WR and RB...

 

[the taildragger]

i'm not as worried about CB as most given our current depth there -- no "shutdowns" to be sure but I think the position is a bit overrated in general. The defense at the end of 04 and 05 proves BB's theory that defensive strength goes from the front to the back not the other way around. If a solid front seven takes most of the tackling burden off your DBs you can get away with smaller shiftier guys who don't break the bank.

a givens replacement will be an obvious priority even with the expanded role that Watson is likely to take in '06...givens wasn't irreplaceable but it's such a key role in this scheme and will take time to build a solid rapport with TB. I'm much more concerned with this hole than the ones vacated by AV or WM.

another impact LB and depth at LB are definitely key. Reiss has "assumed" that BB is penciling in Vrabel as the outside guy and going into the draft accordingly -- an unwise assumption given that Vrabel can fill in where needed...I doubt they slot Vrabel anywhere until AFTER the draft...and I have a feeling they'd like to keep him INSIDE if possible.

As important to our scheme as protection is I always like to see OL drafted high (I know they're boring picks ). You can get the premium OL on a relatively cheap cost basis. Awesome to see Mankins transition as well as he is and Kaczur is the obvious choice for RT...but there's still a couple big question marks at LT and C. Scar has been perhaps the second best coach on the team for the past five years, but this notion that he's a miracle worker is unrealistic...Scar was the same coach with Bledsoe's line but that didn't help keep him off his ass...the reality is that our QB makes Scar look like a miracle worker.

They know more than we do on the Light/Koppen injuries, but I can see them going after a young insurance guy with versatility who could play on either side or at a couple of spots. If we can buy TB another half second we'd be unstoppable regardless of who the receivers are...and as bill simmons said, you can't expect no.12 to keep getting up from all those hits, one of these days he's just not getting up...please knock on wood if you're reading this!

 

[JoeSixPat]

You might want to clarify how you want people to rank the needs

For this season? For the future? Based on what order we should draft for those needs?

My point is that for various positions and for various needs, one would need to rank the need for the present and the future, based upon how the draft can or can't help you address those needs.

For example - we probably already have our starting secondary on the roster - but drafting a young, fast, tall CB can pay big dividends and can be much cheaper than paying a FA in the future.

WR is still a huge need - but does history suggest the draft is the best place to find one? There is often value later in the draft but usually they all take a year or more to develop, causing some to drop WRs down the Patriots draft board.

Value for RB too can be found later in the draft, although this is a big priority for the future (and hopefully not the present).

My top "need" is a WR but I wouldn't suggest we use a first round pick on that.

For me, first round picks are used for as close to a "sure thing" as possible, regardless of the position. After that I begin to work in my team needs with the talent available.


So as far as the draft is concerned, I find my top round "value" is most likely on Defense - a LB or CB.

In rounds 2-4 I look at RBs & WRs even though I have WR ranked as a higher "need" than Defense.

Later rounds wind up being a "best player available" scenario, with a preferred Kicker being taken in the 6th or 7th, even though that is still a high need

 

[Joker]

Joe Six Pat may as well be my clone...100% agreement

 

[DocAdkinsDiet]

Ya, there is no way in hell the Pats have a shot at grabbing Hawk or Jackson or guys like that. They will be long gone by the time we get to #21. I still think Carpenter is our best choice. This is my ranking:
1. LB
2. TE
3. RB
4. WR
5. OL

 

[14thDragon]

I don't know,

I would say our needs are

1 - ILB: Tedy and Vrable are a good tandem, but we need a big run stuffer to shore up the run defense.

2 - OLB: Going into the season with only TBC and Colvin on the wings will let quarter backs eat us alive.

3 - WR: Branch said it himself, in double and triple coverage, he will be shut down.

4 - C: Koppen has had a major injury that is tough to recover from as well as being near the end of his contract. A new project for the O-line is a thing to start now.

5 - CB: A good physical shutdown corner to take up the slack when the injury bug returns.

 

[ilduce06410]

can carpenter walk in and start?

I still like Carpenter at 21....and think there are plenty of good ones in later rounds in positions...Maybe a CB OL..in 2nd 3rd...later rounds for WR and RB...

for that matter, can greenway?
IMHO 1st round picks should have forced their way into starting lineups by midseason. since 1999, we've had wilfork, ty warren, ben watson,daniel graham, richard seymour, damien woody. for me, if the 1st round pick can't make the starting lineup by midseason the player shouldn't have been picked so high.
carpenter & greenway both look good to me---but what's up with claridge? is there actually a need at OLB?

 

[CrazyDave]

Hmmm... let's see.
!. LB
2. WR - though I'm not sure if this will be a day 1 pick, or adressed at all through the draft.
3. S - with Rodney's status unknown, i'm not comfortable with our depth at SS.
4. DE - I would not be surprised at all to see a DE taken on day 1.Behind Seymour and Warren you have Green and Hill. Not sure what's up with Hill, but with Seymour's contract status, it might be prudent.
5. RB - with so many good ones this year, I don't see why they would'nt grab one.

 

[patsox23]

Ya, there is no way in hell the Pats have a shot at grabbing Hawk or Jackson or guys like that. They will be long gone by the time we get to #21. I still think Carpenter is our best choice. This is my ranking:
1. LB
2. TE
3. RB
4. WR
5. OL

I'm not sure how you can have TE as your 2nd priority. We have two VERY GOOD ones right now. I see an heir apparent to Dillon and a #2 WR as far more important than landing a 3rd TE (or even a replacement for Graham in case he leaves in 2007).

Now, if you're arguing that there's great VALUE at TE, then I get your point, but it still can't possibly be #2 in terms of team need.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

armen you have no idea what your talking about... you just threw out names there... half of them will be gone before the pats picks and two some of those players are not patriot types

Gosh, how do you REALLY feel?

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

armen you have no idea what your talking about... you just threw out names there... half of them will be gone before the pats picks and two some of those players are not patriot types

And now that I've recovered from your total rudeness a little, I wasn't ranking Patriots' draft picks, I was ranking who I thought were the top prospects in the draft at that position, hence the header above thier names that says: "Top Draft Prospects"...

I said the Pats MIGHT have a shot at them...

The more succinct purpose of the post was to rank the Patriots pressing needs by position.

By the way, you should head the advice of Oprah Winfrey, who said: "Say you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean..."

ADPF

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

You might want to clarify how you want people to rank the needs

For this season? For the future? Based on what order we should draft for those needs?

Basically, I was thinking right now, for this season, but if someone wanted to go a little deeper and project into the future, that would be cool reading, too...

 

[Boston Boxer]

Armen...are you going soft.? Just tell him to stuff it up his ass

 

[ilduce06410]

bingo. in what order?

1. #1 cornerback
2. #2 wide receiver
3. quick running back
4. pass rushing OLB
5. kick returner

belichick may have already walked away from this line of thinking.
the team could use a true fullback. RT remains a mystery, even with the arrival of kaczur.
still need someone to take a crack at ted johnson's role.
there are a couple of bruschi-type maniac ILBs out nthere.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

Armen...are you going soft.? Just tell him to stuff it up his ass

I'm trying out this new "kinder, gentler me" thing!