Ras-I Dowling released

[Kontradiction]

Instead of Ryan Mallett barely outplaying Tim Tebow, we could have had Colin Kaepernick as Brady's successor. READ OPTION!!

That would have been awesome.

I would have rather had Russell Wilson.

As I'm sure the Jags, who selected a punter a few picks before Wilson went to the Seahawks, would have as well.

 

[50-yard-line]

I hate to nitpick a post because I don't want to be "that guy," but I really have to do it here as I couldn't even make it past this paragraph.

1. On what planet is a first round pick not great draft position? Any first round pick is a good pick. You should probably be able to say the same about the second round too. Bottom of first round is not bad draft position. That's just insanity.

2. If they were "just taking fliers" anyway (because apparently we give up after the top 10 picks...) they could bundle some picks and trade up into the great draft positions of which you speak.

I'm all for dismissing draft misses in rounds 4-7 because teams "take fliers" sometimes. But to start saying that about rounds 1 and 2 is criminal. If they are "taking fliers" at pick 33, someone should be outright fired.

1. By that measurement, almost every team has a great draft position. Give me a top-10 pick every year and I'll get better players than the guy drafting 25th. Not always - I mean drafting in the 20's got the Pats Hightower and Jones...which is awesome. But that was a thick draft year, unlike this year. I would love for the Pats to have had a shot at some of the offensive linemen who went early this year.

Someone should be outright fired? Think about what you just typed - it goes to the heart of my position on this. While you're doing that, compare the RESULTS of this team against any in the league.

If I were a GM of any other NFL franchise, I'd be hoping that you were Bob Kraft posting incognito.

The meaningful season ends for the majority of teams before December begins.

 

[Oswlek]

I didn't say it was unacceptable. I just said that, as a fan, I would like the hit rate to be higher. Wouldn't you?

Of course! I'm more than happy to point out mistakes, I just get a little huffy when people lose perspective of how the league overall drafts.

Why are people white knighting the Dowling choice? Dowling's a bust. It was a bad pick, and that happens. it doesn't make Dowling a bad person, the Patriots bad people or drafters, and it happened in an otherwise solid draft, so it's not as if this one miss is what that draft year is all about.

White knighting? :confused4:

 

[Observer]

The basic thing is that if you make a pick that is generally agreed to be suitable for that draft position and the guy doesn't pan out, you can say draft is a crapshoot and everyone makes errors, etc. But if you are going to make picks like Ras I which many cautioned on, or completely off the radar picks like Tavon then you are basically saying "I know something you don't". When these picks bust, you will get deservedly panned. That's just how it is.

 

[Oswlek]

The basic thing is that if you make a pick that is generally agreed to be suitable for that draft position and the guy doesn't pan out, you can say draft is a crapshoot and everyone makes errors, etc. But if you are going to make picks like Ras I which many cautioned on, or completely off the radar picks like Tavon then you are basically saying "I know something you don't". When these picks bust, you will get deservedly panned. That's just how it is.

Ras-I's college health issues weren't nearly as bad as people make them out to be. And he was a very good player, at times dominant.

And Bill has something like a 40% hit rate on players that are "off the radar" - pretty much the same as he and the rest of the league does with "on the radar" selections.

No one is saying that either pick was a good one, but your post ignores the more honest, global perspective.

 

[Claremonster]

I wish BB would have traded away the Ras I pick and drafted Sherman...but, hindsight is 20/20.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I really don't understand comments like this. Yes, he failed as a Patriot due to injuries. That makes him "weak ***ed" and gives him nothing but a future in bagging groceries? Even if he never another NFL paycheck again (which would surprise me), he graduated in three and a half years with a degree in sociology, which would seem to open at least a few doors for him in future endeavors.

A weird combination of insecurity, bitterness and envy. I generally think that people whose lives kinda suck enjoy opportunities like this to feel superior to an NFL player who spent his whole life working to get to the NFL and actually achieved that goal.

Times like this represent an extremely brief opportunity for anyone, no matter how inconsequential they are, to put a guy like Dowling 'in his place'. The funny thing is, even if he never plays another day in the NFL, Dowling has accomplished way more in his field than almost all of his detractors ever will in their own.

For the life of me, I'll never explain where people who spend half their workday posting on Patsfans get off calling an NFL player weak or lazy. If I had half the work ethic of the average NFL player, I'd probably be doing my actual job right now, instead of... you know, posting here.

 

[Banjo]

I wish BB would have traded away the Ras I pick and drafted Sherman...but, hindsight is 20/20.

Wouldn't have worked. Unlike Pete Carroll, BB doesn't endorse that PED crap!

 

[BradyFTW!]

Exactly, and that's my point.

The Patriots are never in a great draft position, even when they have a lot of picks. They're ALWAYS at the bottom of the first round, because they're ALWAYS in the hunt.

So they take fliers, sometimes based on health concerns, sometimes based on character issues, sometimes based on things they see in someone beyond the scouting reports. They do it with free agents and they do it with trades and with the draft.

Corey Dillon was a troublemaker.
Ditto LaGarrett Blount.
Moss was washed up.
Kelly is over-the-hill.
Welker wasn't worth what they paid.
Gronk was a health concern.
Dowling a health concern.
Wilson drafted too high.

And on and on. Some work out, others don't. The thing is, the Pats DO NOT draft high enough to take "safe" picks to continue to fill out every position. Teams like the Seahawks rise to prominence now because they've been drafting in the top of the first round for the last decade. The Colts' future is bright because they were the worst team in football in a year when a generational QB was coming out.

Yet without all of that, the Pats continue to win, and it's not just Brady. There's a reason why the last 5 guys cut from the Pats each year get snapped up.

So sure, call it out when they screw, but pretending that you're somehow "giving it" to BB is pathetic. And wallowing in misery over a sports franchise where every post is wah effing wah...I mean, really?

And when they do get a high draft pick, and take Jerod Mayo, half the board *****es about it because he's not future star like Keith Rivers.

If Rivers had turned out to be even an arguably superior player, we'd never hear the end of it. But since time has proven the Patriots right, I doubt there's a single poster on Patsfans who will ever admit to having held that opinion.

This is what most of the draft critics on this forum do. If they disagree with Belichick 10 times, and hindsight proves that they would have picked the better player just one of those times, then that's the only instance that you'll ever hear about.

OTOH, we have a few people who are pretty open about the times that they got it right and the times that they got it wrong, and in both cases can articulate why they had the opinion that they had at the time that the pick was made. If that evaluation turns out to be prescient, then you have actual insight on your hands.

 

[Oswlek]

And when they do get a high draft pick, and take someone like Jerod Mayo, half the board *****es about it because he's not future star like Keith Rivers.

And as Patchick pointed out earlier, Mayo was not predicted by any predraft publication to go any higher than 29th, making him the biggest "reach" of NE's tenure, by a huge margin.

I have no objection at all to someone patting themselves on the back with a "I worried about his injury history and thought he might no pan out." comment. It is the "how could Bill have been SO STUPID!? Everyone knew Ras-I would be a failure!!!!!" rhetoric that I find asinine.

He failed, and he failed due to his biggest red flag. Bummer, but c'est la vie.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Ras-I Dowling released

Instead of Ryan Mallett barely outplaying Tim Tebow, we could have had Colin Kaepernick as Brady's successor. READ OPTION!!

That would have been awesome.

I'm not sure of that, Kaepernick has had a very small sample size in the NFL, I'm not sold on him personally.

Also it's hard to determine who is better when one has had an opportunity to start and another hasn't. It appears Kaepernick is the better QB but they aren't an apple to apple comparison right now.

 

[Claremonster]

Wouldn't have worked. Unlike Pete Carroll, BB doesn't endorse that PED crap!

AHern came here...

 

[MrNathanDrake]

And as Patchick pointed out earlier, Mayo was not predicted by any predraft publication to go any higher than 29th, making him the biggest "reach" of NE's tenure, by a huge margin.

I have no objection at all to someone patting themselves on the back with a "I worried about his injury history and thought he might no pan out." comment. It is the "how could Bill have been SO STUPID!? Everyone knew Ras-I would be a failure!!!!!" rhetoric that I find asinine.

He failed, and he failed due to his biggest red flag. Bummer, but c'est la vie.

Bull*****.

Many predicted Mayo would go to the Lions that year, who I believe had the 15th pick

 

[ATippett56]

And as Patchick pointed out earlier, Mayo was not predicted by any predraft publication to go any higher than 29th, making him the biggest "reach" of NE's tenure, by a huge margin.

Oh really?

*Jerod Mayo | Tennessee, ILB : 2008 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile

 

[ATippett56]

Kaepernick actually has a worse QB rating as Tebow this preseason.

Oh really?

NFL Stats - CBSSports.com

Kaepernick - 95.7
Tebow - 17.7

Tim Tebow is DEAD LAST in passer rating this preseason.

 

[Oswlek]

Bull*****.

Many predicted Mayo would go to the Lions that year, who I believe had the 15th pick

You didn't read the post did you?

FWIW, grabbing a player at 10 whose highest projection is 15 is still a comparable reach to guys like Wilson and Harmon, if the draft chart is to be taken at face value.

Oh, and way to completely miss the point of the post! :rocker::bricks:

 

[Oswlek]

Oh really?

*Jerod Mayo*|*Tennessee,*ILB*:*2008 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile

I was just going by Patchick's research.

EDIT: Clicking through to the page, this is something that appeared post-draft and I can't find where his predicted position was. Am I overlooking something?

 

[ATippett56]

I was just going by Patchick's research.

NFLDraftScout for your future needs.

 

[Oswlek]

NFLDraftScout for your future needs.

Thanks, see the edit above though, please.

 

[ATippett56]

I was just going by Patchick's research.

EDIT: Clicking through to the page, this is something that appeared post-draft and I can't find where his predicted position was. Am I overlooking something?

Rated 23rd overall/2504 total