The Julio Jones trade, a year later (was: BB & Dimitroff)

[BlitzFritz]

I finished the War Room this holiday. I found the Julio Jones draft by Dimitroff as a very un-Patriot move, giving up 4 draft picks to move up for a cache player in the top ten. It just felt like a naive, fan-driven move. And when he asked BB for advice, BB said "I wouldnt do it". no shyte.

Anyway, I found myself thinking that

a) Jones is not all that. He's good but not enough to miss out this years 2nd and next years 1st.

b) The Falcons needed more depth and playmakers today. BB was probably right.

c) Their coach Mike Smith is okay. Not his best work today. Pioli and Dimitroff are learning that its one thing to control player personnel, its another to have an outstanding coach.

How many people were rooting FOR the Belichick disciple today? And who was rooting against him? (even tho it was the Giants).

-- FRITZ

 

[patsfan-1982]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Julio Jones was not even the best WR in the Draft so giveing up that much when that team had so many holes at DB and a ageing pass rush was Crazy, Jones could go on to put up big numbers for a long time but when you alredy have White and Gonzalez WR is just not a big a nuff need IMO to give up that much

 

[billdog3484]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

a) Jones is not all that. He's good but not enough to miss out this years 2nd and next years 1st.

blitzfritz...i dont know if youve watched a lot of the falcons games this year, but let me tell you. julio jones is incredible. he had hamstring issues this year, but when he was healthy he was impossible to guard. hes like calvin johnson but without the elite elite ball skills. hes amazing, i think only andre johnson, calvin johnson and larry fitz have the pure athletic playmaking WR skills as julio. whether it was worth it to give all that up is a different story, but julio is insanely good

 

[jah]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

I don't know if it's Mike Smith or the OC, but the Falcons play so conservative all the time and then when it's a 4th down, they just keep going for it even when it makes more sense to do the conservative thing and kick a field goal or punt.

 

[WelshPat]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

I don't know if it's Mike Smith or the OC, but the Falcons play so conservative all the time and then when it's a 4th down, they just keep going for it even when it makes more sense to do the conservative thing and kick a field goal or punt.

Its their OC who god only knows why is a head coaching candidate. Those 4th down plays were embarrassing!

As for TC would you be making this if they had got AJ Green? They offered the same deal to the Bengals to get Green. IMO Jones drops to many balls to be worth what they gave up. If they got Green then I think he would have been worth it.

 

[Sciz]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

That extra WR sure helped them score a ton of points today.

To use a holy bucket analogy, they used their resources to patch one hole in the bucket, when they would've been way better off sticking three $1 cent corks into it. They are a team that needs quantity more than quality right now.

PS, Ray Edwards had 3.5 sacks this season. He got a $30M/5yr contract. The Pats payed Anderson and Carter a total of around $4M and got 20 sacks. That's another move that hurt them a lot.

 

[pats63]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

can't understand why you go for it without turner in the line up. turner is a beast no doubt about it..

 

[BlitzFritz]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Julio Jones was not even the best WR in the Draft so giveing up that much when that team had so many holes at DB and a ageing pass rush was Crazy, Jones could go on to put up big numbers for a long time but when you alredy have White and Gonzalez WR is just not a big a nuff need IMO to give up that much

What did dimitroff learn in new England, if not to fall in love with a top 5 player and spend tons of draft picks on him??

that's what stumps me.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Jones actually is a great player probably worth a top 10 pick, but for ATL to give up all they did for a position they weren't really in need was iffy.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

I though the Falcons gave up too much. It's one thing to give up 2 late firsts for a player of his caliber, but 4 draft picks was boneheaded.

Make no mistake, Julio Jones had some incredible performances this season which were overshadowed by injuries. I'd say for a first year player he did excellent. 54 catches 959 yards and 8 tds. That's a pretty special season for someone that only played 13 games and is a rookie. He's only gonna get better.

Should work on staying healthy in the off season now that he knows what the grind of the nfl is like. I'd of given our 2 first last year to move up and get him.

 

[tobias funke]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

If War Room showed me nothing else, it's that Dimitroff was obsessed with the idea of having Jones on the team long before the draft.

I'm sure the guy is a special player, and will be even better as he matures, but the problem with the Falcons is that they can't get a yard when they need a yard, and haven't done anything about it.

Even something as simple as running a misdirection play on 4th and short could have helped them immensely in that game, but they've sorely underscouted their own team. All those picks devoted to Jones, and then they don't even use him when the season is on the line.

 

[NEP4Life]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Well, here's the BB system, as far as I can tell...

1) Get your Brady (well, you'll probably never get a Brady, but at least get a franchise QB)
2) Protect him with a great O-line coached by a great O-line coach
3) Get your Mayo ... a 3 down, 50+ snap defensive anchor. Trade up to get him if necessary.
4) Trade up only for 3-down, 50+ effective snap players. Otherwise stay where you are or trade down for depth/more shots in the 2nd/3rd round. VALUE!
5) Play a 2-gap 3-4 but have lots of situational sub packages to take advantage of the JAGs you get with holes in their game. Favor giving up short-medium yardage over giving up big plays.
6) JAGs? Yes, JAGs, JAGs and more JAGs. UDFAs. Projects. Rehabs. Start lots of them on special teams and make them earn their spot. Bring in older players that might have some gas in the tank. Bring in younger players who never got a fair shot. Always sign to team-friendly deals so they can be easily cut.
7) Master situational football. Timeouts/2-point vs 1-point/challenges/4-minute/2-minute/go for it-punt/etc. Shockingly there are many current NFL teams that are completely clueless in this area.
8) There might be an 8, or others, but the first 7 are the keys I can think of right now.

Where do other teams go wrong? Instead of #2-#4, they go for "franchise" RBs and WRs who can't give them 50+ effective snaps a game. They waste their resources (dollars, coaching effort, practice time etc.) on players who only bring something to the table on half the number of snaps (or less) the team plays in a given phase of the game.

Points #1 and #6 are admittedly hard to get right, and partly a crap shoot, and typically you miss quite often in a crap shoot, and typically ownership doesn't want to accept that.

All IMHO.

 

[DaBruinz]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

I thought that Atlanta's biggest issue today with their 4th down attempts was that they telegraphed them so badly. Had they done anything but a dive up the middle, they'd have made every single one of them.

Their clock management was also poor to end the 1st half. How do you NOT use your timeouts when you have the ball with less than 1 minute left to play?

 

[jays52]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Dimitroff has built a playoff team, and given the initial season of his bold pick he is doing quite well. He's clearly a brilliant mind, and as someone who has read the book, I can't help but be a fan of his. I hope that his career proves that there is another way.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

4) Trade up only for 3-down, 50+ effective snap players. Otherwise stay where you are or trade down for depth/more shots in the 2nd/3rd round. VALUE!

I assume this applies only in the first round?

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Points #1 and #6 are admittedly hard to get right, and partly a crap shoot, and typically you miss quite often in a crap shoot, and typically ownership doesn't want to accept that.

The draft is a crap shoot, getting guys that have played in the league is more of a sure thing for BB, he knows more about what they can do in the NFL. His philosophy is to grab a guy that hes pretty sure can play in the league (ex Wilford, Mayo etc) with his first round picks and/or trade down and acquire more picks an increase your odds of finding someone that can follow his direction and be disciplined.

 

[resdubwhite]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Would not be surprised if the Falcons enquire about BJGE in the off season.

THey need someone to compliment Turner.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

I was against the original deal, but Jones was very productive and the least of the team's problems.

The big signing of Ray Edwards didn't pay off much in year 1. Maybe he'll be better next year, but so far, not good. I also think Dimitroff thought they were closer than they were. He felt they were one player away, but as it turns out, they're a lot of players away.

Since we're talking about the War Room, it reminded me of earlier in the book when they're talking about the Patriots' first SB victory, yet BB was already saying they'd need to turnover at least 20 roster spots. Meanwhile Dimitroff locked up the #1 seed last season, felt the loss to GB was a fluke, and went for broke instead of realizing the need to upgrade the starting OL, as well as DL depth.

 

[BlitzFritz]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Dimitroff locked up the #1 seed last season, felt the loss to GB was a fluke, and went for broke instead of realizing the need to upgrade the starting OL, as well as DL depth.

well put.

PS how could that roster have been set last year?? crazy


-- FRITZ

 

[Sfpat]

Re: BB advice to Dimitroff and today's loss

Its their OC who god only knows why is a head coaching candidate. Those 4th down plays were embarrassing!

As for TC would you be making this if they had got AJ Green? They offered the same deal to the Bengals to get Green. IMO Jones drops to many balls to be worth what they gave up. If they got Green then I think he would have been worth it.

Jerry Rice dropped a lot of balls his rookie season. He turned out fairly well.