I didn't post specific thoughts after round 1, but I agreed with much of what Albert Breer wrote in his piece for the Globe.
I really liked the Pats first move to trade up from 44, surrendering a 6th rounder, to grab the consensus 2nd best TE in Rob Gronkowski. My only concern with this pick is Gronkowski's back. Todd McShay reported that he knew of 7 teams that failed him medically.
The trade down from 47 to 58 was great value for the Pats, but I have to wonder if we just missed out on Linval Joseph who went one pick earlier at 46 to the Giants. I would have loved to see Joseph at 47, but with him off the board, the trade down made sense to me.
The pick at 53 has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I remember watching a bunch of Florida clips prior to the '08 draft when it looked like Derrick Harvey could be a potential Patriot. Instead of Harvey, it was Cunningham who consistenly looked great on tape. I had to look up no.49 on the Gators roster and was surprised he was not even draft eligible yet A couple things on Cunningham: at his pro day he had a 10 yard time of 1.57 which was better than all the top DE/OLB's except Jason Worilds and his 35 inch vertical and 10'5 broad jump also were at or near the top of the class as well. The 4.92 forty is somewhat concerning, but he got injured running it and his 10 yard time and vertical jump suggest he's signifcantly faster than a 4.9 guy. Cunningham also was a captain at Florida for a year which brings me to the next pick.
The trade back from 58 to 62 was not good value on the trade chart, but it still made sense considering who the Patriots were targeting. Brandon Spikes was a team captain, and is the rare 6'3 250lb ILB that many have been looking for to play next to Mayo. I love his instincts, I love his ability to make plays, I love that a team as talented as Florida would still put him down on some passing downs to get after the QB. I worry about his speed. I have no doubt that his instincts will allow him to play quicker than that 5.03 forty time, but what happens in a 2-3 years when he runs a 5.10 or 5.15 forty? At some point you are too slow to play and Spikes comes in to the league with a lot of teams already believing that. I still think it was a pick worth making and I wouldn't be surprised if Spikes steps in from day 1 and has a big effect on our run defense.
Trading 89 to Carolina is a great move on paper. Turning a late 3rd rounder in to what likely will be a top half of the 2nd round pick in 2011 makes a lot of sense.
My biggest issue with the draft so far was the unwillingness(or inability) to get ahead of Denver late in the 3rd round to take Eric Decker. The only reason Decker was still on the board was his foot injury and the Patriots had a great opportunity to jump up and get a guy who could help this year at WR. I have read a lot of conflicting reports on Price and the most I've seen of him was at the Senior Bowl. It's not really a dig on Price as much as a small trade up ahead of the Broncos for Decker would have had me jumping off my couch.
The rest of the draft will probably determine whether this is a B or B plus draft in my mind, it's been pretty solid. I would have liked a WR I felt more confident in (Benn, Decker, Sanders, Williams) and I struggle with taking a CB in the first round. The ability to move around the draft to pick up additional picks and the dreaded (by some) "value" was a positive in my mind. I hope that at some point "value" means a big trade up for a difference maker, but I am not sure that guy was out there this year.
I think the theme of the draft has been character on defense. We've heard about the locker room problems and all the talk has been that the issues were on defense not offense. The 3 guys we took on defense have all been team leader types (I know Cunningham had an off field issue and Spikes gouged somones eye) who appear to make football a priority.
I really liked the Pats first move to trade up from 44, surrendering a 6th rounder, to grab the consensus 2nd best TE in Rob Gronkowski. My only concern with this pick is Gronkowski's back. Todd McShay reported that he knew of 7 teams that failed him medically.
The trade down from 47 to 58 was great value for the Pats, but I have to wonder if we just missed out on Linval Joseph who went one pick earlier at 46 to the Giants. I would have loved to see Joseph at 47, but with him off the board, the trade down made sense to me.
The pick at 53 has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I remember watching a bunch of Florida clips prior to the '08 draft when it looked like Derrick Harvey could be a potential Patriot. Instead of Harvey, it was Cunningham who consistenly looked great on tape. I had to look up no.49 on the Gators roster and was surprised he was not even draft eligible yet A couple things on Cunningham: at his pro day he had a 10 yard time of 1.57 which was better than all the top DE/OLB's except Jason Worilds and his 35 inch vertical and 10'5 broad jump also were at or near the top of the class as well. The 4.92 forty is somewhat concerning, but he got injured running it and his 10 yard time and vertical jump suggest he's signifcantly faster than a 4.9 guy. Cunningham also was a captain at Florida for a year which brings me to the next pick.
The trade back from 58 to 62 was not good value on the trade chart, but it still made sense considering who the Patriots were targeting. Brandon Spikes was a team captain, and is the rare 6'3 250lb ILB that many have been looking for to play next to Mayo. I love his instincts, I love his ability to make plays, I love that a team as talented as Florida would still put him down on some passing downs to get after the QB. I worry about his speed. I have no doubt that his instincts will allow him to play quicker than that 5.03 forty time, but what happens in a 2-3 years when he runs a 5.10 or 5.15 forty? At some point you are too slow to play and Spikes comes in to the league with a lot of teams already believing that. I still think it was a pick worth making and I wouldn't be surprised if Spikes steps in from day 1 and has a big effect on our run defense.
Trading 89 to Carolina is a great move on paper. Turning a late 3rd rounder in to what likely will be a top half of the 2nd round pick in 2011 makes a lot of sense.
My biggest issue with the draft so far was the unwillingness(or inability) to get ahead of Denver late in the 3rd round to take Eric Decker. The only reason Decker was still on the board was his foot injury and the Patriots had a great opportunity to jump up and get a guy who could help this year at WR. I have read a lot of conflicting reports on Price and the most I've seen of him was at the Senior Bowl. It's not really a dig on Price as much as a small trade up ahead of the Broncos for Decker would have had me jumping off my couch.
The rest of the draft will probably determine whether this is a B or B plus draft in my mind, it's been pretty solid. I would have liked a WR I felt more confident in (Benn, Decker, Sanders, Williams) and I struggle with taking a CB in the first round. The ability to move around the draft to pick up additional picks and the dreaded (by some) "value" was a positive in my mind. I hope that at some point "value" means a big trade up for a difference maker, but I am not sure that guy was out there this year.
I think the theme of the draft has been character on defense. We've heard about the locker room problems and all the talk has been that the issues were on defense not offense. The 3 guys we took on defense have all been team leader types (I know Cunningham had an off field issue and Spikes gouged somones eye) who appear to make football a priority.