So you keep us waiting for hours on draft day with anticipation even though we all know that draft pick is getting traded or swapped for 2 2nd round picks.. yea Value. The next day, the so-called football experts rave about how BB is a genius. Part of me wants to believe that and his record from part years supports his case. (how long is this part record card is going to last? does it have an expiration date? yea he has SB rings but how long can you use that to make up for his draft woes?)
So now you got all your "value"d 2nd and 3rd round draft picks... quantity over quality (when is that ever a good thing??)
The best analogy I could come up with is someone who's been given $25k to buy a new car. He browses the lot, tests drives a couple but then says "nah Im just going to buy to used cars for $12.5k. I will end up with two cars instead of one and odds are that one of them will last and give me good production"
Both cars sh%t the bed and you end up with nothing (I wanted to use another expression but I dont want to get banned)
I think what happened this weekend with the roster cuts is a blessing... maybe they ll realize "HEY what we are doing here just aint working"
because the philosophy that they have been preaching for the past 3-4 drafts got a pretty good smack.
McKenzie, Burgess.... three draft picks (including 2 3rd rounders) gone bye bye!!!!
what if they just drafted where they were... you could probably have Rey Maualuga, Clay Mathews as your LBs... that is just a sample. Im sure I could find more players they missed out on by trading down.
Yea I know they've hit on some players(edelman, volmer..etc) and they've stayed pretty competitive but we are not talking about the freaking Detriot lions here... we r talking about a super bowl contender team. Staying competitive isnt good enough (maybe they r trying to change our perception) but keep in mind you still have one of the best quarterbacks on that team and I dont think they are giving him a good chance to win another ring.
They've missed on some draft picks so bad, look where the defense is right now. Dont tell me they are going to get better throughout the year... the talent just isnt there. Look at the LB and DE's depth chart... actually you will find something positive... VALUE... and tons of it but last time I checked Value cant sack the quarterback and cant cover wide receivers.
Value... please!!!
It seems to me that you and others like you have completely unrealistic expectations. I think you go overboard in your criticisms whenever a draft pick doesn't pan out. That's the nature of the business. It's really not any different for any other team in the league. They all have misses.
What you need to understand is that our scouting department and front office had some turnover starting with when we lost Demitrioff to the Falcons. We had enjoyed a solid run of good drafts and other teams took some of our scouts.
In 2007 we traded for Moss and Welker and only ended up with one pick in the first four or five rounds. It never makes any sense to me why the 2007 draft is looked at like a failure. We came out of that draft as the biggest WINNERS in the league and oh, by the way, we went 16-0 and dominated the league thanks to those two players we added on draft day.
2008 appears like a relatively weak draft but its still to early to tell. Wheatley, Wilhite, Mayo, and Guyton (UDFA) are still on the team and Crable is back on the P.S. If Wheatley and Guyton continue to develop and start putting it together then that draft class actually wasn't so bad. If Crable ever gets healthy and contributes that would actually make that a good draft and keep in mind we lost a 1st rounder that year.
2009 still appears to be a strong draft, even with McKenzie getting cut. I really don't know how you can criticize the 2009 draft class at this point.
2010 just happened so no one can analyze it at this point. Those who criticized the McCourty pick said we didn't need a CB. I'd say they look kind of foolish right now with Bodden going to IR. Score another one for Belichick's crystal ball.
While we've certainly had our misses and they're easy to point out, have you even looked at how other teams have fared? It seems like the critics always forget that step. It seems like they expect BB to have an 80-90% success rate. Sorry people, but that kind of success rate just doesn't exist....Not when it comes to the NFL draft.
Ultimately, the product needs to be evaluated by what it does on the field. Crying about it before week one is more than just premature, its foolish. Perhaps you're spending too much time listening to the media. Those people are ALWAYS wrong. Turn the channel already. We're going to have a fun team this year. They'll be flawed, especially on the defensive side but overall, we're in store for a very entertaining season. The talent surrounding Brady might be better than it was in 2007. I expect that we're going to see quite a few shootouts and when the dust settles we will once again be AFC East Champions and if the young guys come through on the defensive side, who knows, maybe a whole lot more.
Cheer up! We're the f.cking Patriots! No fan base has it any better than us.