The Patriots' 2013 "extra draft picks"

[Schmo]

-Dane Fletcher: seems like a great dude, but he is right there with Tracy White/Koutivides/Tarpinian - end of the roster LB who has to perform well on special teams to stay on the roster. No guarantee he even makes the 53 out of camp next year (especially coming off of injury).

I would say Fletcher is closer to the top of the roster. He has been injured so much, the main question is if he is still the same player. He's on the same wagon as Dowling.... a starting calibur player that we can't afford giving an opening day roster spot to if he keeps getting injured.

 

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

1. money wasted
2. roster spot
3. possibly having a dead guy on your conscience
4. lawsuit

Valid points, I can understand where you are coming from. Seeing him play in Canada would make people more comfortable. But I would think if he were as talented as people have made him out to be he would have latched on as an UDFA or at least just given a try-out in mini-camp. There would most likely have been language in the contract to avoid the lawsuit part.

And regarding the wasted money/roster spot, those risks are still present.

 

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

I would say Fletcher is closer to the top of the roster. He has been injured so much, the main question is if he is still the same player. He's on the same wagon as Dowling.... a starting calibur player that we can't afford giving an opening day roster spot to if he keeps getting injured.

Agreed on the 'they can't waste a roster spot if he keeps getting injured."

But, how about we say Fletcher(pre-injury) was around spot 44-48, rather than 50-53. Until we see what he can do post-injury, no way to tell where is right now. Also, what have you seen from Dowling that makes you think he is a starting caliber player? He's tall and athletic looking. That's about all we know of him from his tenure here.

I'm just not a Dowling fan at all, don't think he will do anything for the Pats. At least Darius Butler got on the field for the Pats.

 

[Deus Irae]

Valid points, I can understand where you are coming from. Seeing him play in Canada would make people more comfortable. But I would think if he were as talented as people have made him out to be he would have latched on as an UDFA or at least just given a try-out in mini-camp. There would most likely have been language in the contract to avoid the lawsuit part.

And regarding the wasted money/roster spot, those risks are still present.

He has now demonstrated

Talent
Health

and is a much lower risk to sign. If signing him last year had been a no-brainer, or even a lesser issue, someone would have done it the moment the draft was over. 32 NFL teams said thanks, but no thanks.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

1. money wasted
2. roster spot
3. possibly having a dead guy on your conscience
4. lawsuit

"Why didn't anyone sign him last year as an UDFA and stash him on IR for a year?"

It would actually be the NFI list, but whatever.

My point is, if you think he's a good talent, and you're a team like, say, Cincinnati that has tons of cap room, why not—again, knowing that he won't be on the field in 2012? If he doesn't recover his old form, it's no worse than what happened with, say, Tyrone McKenzie.

 

[Deus Irae]

"...and stash him on IR for a year?"

It would actually be the NFI list, but whatever.

See the Ballard situation for why you don't just try slipping players onto the IR list if you think there might be any interest in the player....

My point is, if you think he's a good talent, and you're a team like, say, Cincinnati that has tons of cap room, why not—again, knowing that he won't be on the field in 2012? If he doesn't recover his old form, it's no worse than what happened with, say, Tyrone McKenzie.

Again, 32 teams passed on the idea. There was an issue beyond him missing time because of injury. Let me point this out again, since it seems to keep going past people.....

The guy was coming off of a heart attack. His college had refused to even let him train or practice at the team facilities.

I hope that helps.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

See the Ballard situation for why you don't just try slipping players onto the IR list if you think there might be any interest in the player....

No, see the Ballard situation for why you don't just try slipping players onto the IR list during training camp or the offseason. The mistake the Giants made was not that they did it, but that they did it too soon. (There's a point beyond which players placed on IR do not need to be exposed to waivers.)

 

[tonyto3690]

I'm incredibly excited to see Ballard. He's a younger, more athletic, better pass catching option than Crumpler was for us in 2010. Crumpler was likely the superior blocker but Ballard is close behind.

The "issue" or reason we haven't been able to fully take advantage of 3TE sets is because Crumpler and Solder are mediocre pass catchers. Ballard can actually catch the ball and create space.

Gronkowski and Ballard on the line. Lloyd and Hernandez out wide. Ridley lined up behind Brady who is under center.

Play the base set and we can audible to a spread offense with 4 receivers or even an empty set with Ridley/Vereen running a route.

Play the nickel and we run. This is the key because Hernandez is an average blocker and like the Ravens/Cardinals who just played a heavy nickel, we couldn't effectively run against it. With Ballard instead of Hernandez on the line, our rush blocking will be significantly better.


It also gives us the ability to run a goal line set with all the personnel already on the field.


Jumbo Spread is the future of the NFL.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

See the Ballard situation for why you don't just try slipping players onto the IR list if you think there might be any interest in the player....



Again, 32 teams passed on the idea. There was an issue beyond him missing time because of injury. Let me point this out again, since it seems to keep going past people.....

The guy was coming off of a heart attack. His college had refused to even let him train or practice at the team facilities.

I hope that helps.

Imagine ESPN et. al. with BB kills player screaming headlines were he to have stroked out in camp last year. Pats would have been accused of exploiting a sick player.

 

[Deus Irae]

No, see the Ballard situation for why you don't just try slipping players onto the IR list during training camp or the offseason. The mistake the Giants made was not that they did it, but that they did it too soon. (There's a point beyond which players placed on IR do not need to be exposed to waivers.)

That point is after you've carried the player through camp. Again, it's a roster spot. Look, I'm sorry you can't accept that 32 NFL teams, and his own college team, had damned good reason not to touch this guy right after the heart attack, but it is what it is. He had to leave the country to get his opportunity, and the reason for that is not that this was no big deal.

Boston fans know this all too well, given what we went through with the Reggie Lewis and Len Bias situations. We'd prefer not to have our players dropping dead on us if it can be avoided.

 

[Deus Irae]

Imagine ESPN et. al. with BB kills player screaming headlines were he to have stroked out in camp last year. Pats would have been accused of exploiting a sick player.

Hell, I'd have thought people would just think back to the Corey Stringer incident. Memories seem to be short around here, for everything except Patriots failings.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

That point is after you've carried the player through camp. Again, it's a roster spot. Look, I'm sorry you can't accept that 32 NFL teams, and his own college team, had damned good reason not to touch this guy right after the heart attack, but it is what it is. He had to leave the country to get his opportunity, and the reason for that is not that this was no big deal.

Boston fans know this all too well, given what we went through with the Reggie Lewis and Len Bias situations. We'd prefer not to have our players dropping dead on us if it can be avoided.

I'm not arguing that the Patriots (or anyone else) made a mistake by not signing him.

I'm simply saying that, in the grand scheme of things, if a team felt that the risk was sufficiently low, signing him last year, and letting him recuperate on PUP/IR/whatever might not have been a bad idea.

And, FWIW, let's not forget that Tedy Bruschi was playing football less than a year after suffering a stroke.