Revisiting 2011 NFL Draft

[NG Pats Fan]

With Nate going on IR, it made me wonder. How does the 2011 draft rate for the patriots selections?

Nate is a good player. solid contributer. Was he a bust? No way. A stud? I would say no. Somewhere in the middle.

It's a travesty Oakland had to go out of the norm and actually have a decent 8-8 season compared to the 5-11 they had displayed the previous seasons. Had they gone 5-11 in 2010 we would have earned a top 5 pick instead of 17.

The 2011 class has established itself as one of the best, filled with superstars. In the grand scheme of things, while the patriots got some solid contributors, it's a shame we couldn't land one of the big guns that went in this draft. There were so many of them.

First round:



1 2 Denver Broncos Von Miller† LB Texas A&M Big 12
1 3 Buffalo Bills Marcell Dareus† DE Alabama SEC
1 4 Cincinnati Bengals A. J. Green† WR Georgia SEC
1 5 Arizona Cardinals Patrick Peterson† CB LSU SEC
1 6 Atlanta Falcons Julio Jones† WR Alabama SEC from Cleveland[R1 - 1]
1 7 San Francisco 49ers Aldon Smith† LB Missouri Big 12
1 9 Dallas Cowboys Tyron Smith† OT USC Pac-10
1 11 Houston Texans J. J. Watt† DE Wisconsin Big Ten
1 13 Detroit Lions Nick Fairley DT Auburn SEC
1 14 St. Louis Rams Robert Quinn† DE North Carolina ACC
1 15 Miami Dolphins Mike Pouncey† C Florida SEC
1 16 Washington Redskins Ryan Kerrigan† DE Purdue

These guys all went ahead of Solder. But man, some superstars here, I wonder if the patriots considered moving up a few spots at one point.

Also later in the first round

Muhammad Wilkerson
Cameron Heyward


2nd round:

Randall Cobb
Torrey Smith

3rd round:

Justin Houston
Demarco Murray

5th round

Richard Sherman

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Torrey smith the wr sucks

 

[Fencer]

It confuses me that Cameron Jordan, Cameron Heyward and Jordan Cameron were all in the same draft.

 

[ALP]

I would be willing to say that Solder stacks up pretty well against many of those first 16, plus was a need

Also, people are seriously understating how good Solder is....he is very much comparable to Matt Light, is very very good usually, except for say a couple times a year when he gets beat a few times

No player is going to be perfect, but if you don't take into account Solder's start last year (the whole OL sucked then, and he im assuming started cancer treatment around that time) and also factor in this last game a little less he has been solid both this season and last, and was a beast the season before, etc

Solder is possibly top 5 LT, and most definitely top 10 LT, and didn't Gugs even mention that he believes he is the best in the biz? I would prob put some merit in his words

y'all just dont see other teams play as frequently so all you have to go off of to gauge other teams' LTs is rep, and don't see their miscues like you see Solder's

 

[supafly]

I read in "War Room" that Belichick would have considered DAL LT Tyron Smith (#9 overall) with the top pick in the entire draft, that's how high he was on him. Personally, I don't believe that Solder can hold Smith's jock strap (not that he'd want to), although as you've said--he fit a need and had size.

I've never understood why we didn't take Mo Wilkerson at the end of the first round, since he can play inside/outside and has everything that BB has typically looked for in that type of size/position.

 

[farn]

Is Solder T Smith ? No. But last year proves you can win with Solder. And they have a great "at the minimum, reaching the AFCCG" thing going : so BB could have done far worse. No question that draft was stacked though.

 

[DarrylS]

Always viewed Solder as a B+ player,not flashy but steady, sometimes he needed help, he seemed to have problems against certain teams, but then again most teams had the same problem.. remember his predecessor Matt Light received similar criticism when he filled that role.

LT is a tough position, and probably the most important OL position for any team with a Right Handed QB... the blind side.

 

[slam]

I read in "War Room" that Belichick would have considered DAL LT Tyron Smith (#9 overall) with the top pick in the entire draft, that's how high he was on him. Personally, I don't believe that Solder can hold Smith's jock strap (not that he'd want to), although as you've said--he fit a need and had size.

I've never understood why we didn't take Mo Wilkerson at the end of the first round, since he can play inside/outside and has everything that BB has typically looked for in that type of size/position.

In reading Collision Low Crossers, it's clear there was risk in the Wlikerson pick. They weren't sure about his motivation but took the chance. It worked out for them, but it wasn't a slam dunk for them, either.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It confuses me that Cameron Jordan, Cameron Heyward and Jordan Cameron were all in the same draft.

I think Cameron Frye was taken in the 7th round. A little respect?

 

[Creative Username]

I'd say we did pretty well, in hindsight. The only three glaring picks I'd rather have other than Solder are:

Tyron Smith - might be the best LT in the league this side of Joe Thomas, and he's young. 24 compared to Solder's 27. To put it into even MORE perspective, the 'Boys drafted Zack Martin in the 2014 draft and he's actually OLDER than Smith by a month.

J.J. Watt - Indisputably the best defender in the league. I love Ninkovich and Chandler Jones as much as the next guy, but Watt is generational.

Richard Sherman - As much as I despise Sherman the person, I have to give credit to Sherman the CB. Dude's a stud in the secondary.

Now I know that I left off a lot of players who are probably more talented than Solder (Pass rushing OLBs like Miller and Houston and big name WRs like Green, Cobb and Jones) but I strongly believe that if we had one of these players INSTEAD of Solder then TB12 might not have ring #4. Solder's strong play last year (excluding the first four games in which the entire O-Line was horrid) went largely unnoticed, and none of the pass rushers or WRs in that draft could arguably replace his importance to the team.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I would be willing to say that Solder stacks up pretty well against many of those first 16, plus was a need

Also, people are seriously understating how good Solder is....he is very much comparable to Matt Light, is very very good usually, except for say a couple times a year when he gets beat a few times

No player is going to be perfect, but if you don't take into account Solder's start last year (the whole OL sucked then, and he im assuming started cancer treatment around that time) and also factor in this last game a little less he has been solid both this season and last, and was a beast the season before, etc

Solder is possibly top 5 LT, and most definitely top 10 LT, and didn't Gugs even mention that he believes he is the best in the biz? I would prob put some merit in his words

y'all just dont see other teams play as frequently so all you have to go off of to gauge other teams' LTs is rep, and don't see their miscues like you see Solder's

Solder a top 5 LT? I think most would disagree with you. Evidence does not support This

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I'd say we did pretty well, in hindsight. The only three glaring picks I'd rather have other than Solder are:

Tyron Smith - might be the best LT in the league this side of Joe Thomas, and he's young. 24 compared to Solder's 27. To put it into even MORE perspective, the 'Boys drafted Zack Martin in the 2014 draft and he's actually OLDER than Smith by a month.

J.J. Watt - Indisputably the best defender in the league. I love Ninkovich and Chandler Jones as much as the next guy, but Watt is generational.

Richard Sherman - As much as I despise Sherman the person, I have to give credit to Sherman the CB. Dude's a stud in the secondary.

Now I know that I left off a lot of players who are probably more talented than Solder (Pass rushing OLBs like Miller and Houston and big name WRs like Green, Cobb and Jones) but I strongly believe that if we had one of these players INSTEAD of Solder then TB12 might not have ring #4. Solder's strong play last year (excluding the first four games in which the entire O-Line was horrid) went largely unnoticed, and none of the pass rushers or WRs in that draft could arguably replace his importance to the team.

We wouldn't have won ring number 4 if we had AJ Green or Von Miller?

That's outrageous. Combine Green with Gronk and Edelman, our offense is better than 07

 

[Fencer]

It's tempting to play woulda coulda shoulda with trade-up scenarios, since subsequent picks were a total bust (Dowling), a good player could however be replaced cheaply (Vereen), ditto (Ridley) and a guy who was traded for very little (Mallett).

 

[IllegalContact]

nothing.......no

NOTHING

is more out of whack than the pats drafting Darius Butler and Ron Brace with Connor Barwin still on the board

 

[Creative Username]

We wouldn't have won ring number 4 if we had AJ Green or Von Miller?

That's outrageous. Combine Green with Gronk and Edelman, our offense is better than 07

I don't disagree with your statement that Green, Gronk and Edelman would be a historic offense. But with Marcus Cannon protecting Brady's blindside? I think not.

Also, my rationale for not choosing Von Miller (or any of the other standout pass rushing OLBs) is that we already have outstanding linebackers (no one would dispute this). Who would get benched so that Miller could play? Jones? Collins? Hightower?

 

[glm]

nothing.......no

NOTHING

is more out of whack than the pats drafting Darius Butler and Ron Brace with Connor Barwin still on the board

So many shattered dreams

 

[IllegalContact]

high picks are great, but high picks can kill you

just think what else the jets could have had rather than mark sanchez and vernon gholston

 

[VrabelJr]

We wouldn't have won ring number 4 if we had AJ Green or Von Miller?

That's outrageous. Combine Green with Gronk and Edelman, our offense is better than 07

Law of Diminishing Returns

 

[VrabelJr]

2011 was still when I was really into being a draftnik so here's what I remember:

2010-11 college season started off like all seasons. JJ Watt was sort of well known but definitely a day two player. By the end of the year he shot up to the 1st round. No biggy, we have the Raiders pick. And then the Raiders decided to have a .500 year for some reason.

My binky, given where we tend to draft, was Cameron Heyward. Oakland's pick really landed at the end of the sweet spot of the 1st round. In the remaning 15 picks pretty much every OL has been a disappointment. Carimi and Watkins aren't even in the NFL anymore. Castonzo, Sherrod and Carpenter don't exactly dazzle anyone.

So that leaves just Wilkerson and Heyward as possible picks instead of Solder in my opinion. We still would need to take an OT on Day 2 and Orlando Franklin and Marcus Gilbert were the only one even worth considering.

Our team needs were different in 2011. It's really hard to nail a draft and Solder hasn't exactly been a slouch. I won't call him a Top 5 LT but I will say he is Top 10 which is more than enough when you have Tom Brady dropping back.

 

[Joey007]

Two things.

1. We had the misfortune of the Raiders being decent for once which kept up from the likes of JJ Watt. Just imagine if we could've landed him...

2. Another big miss on everyone's part was Justin Houston. It's crazy because I remember him dropping in the draft like crazy. And d%#*!@t I wanted the guy. It's a shame we didn't snatch him up late in the second. Pass rush was a need after all at the time.


No smudges on these 20/20 hindsight glasses I'm wearing.