Bostonian1962
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2004
- Messages
- 3,096
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- 34
This goes out to my friends who rippped the Patriots in the draft because "they should have drafted for the defense". I'm glad you are not making the decisions.
You all saw the mock drafts I saw. There was alot of talk about all the time the Pats spent at Ohio State. Most had the Pats taking Carpenter. A few thought they coveted the Ohio State Safety, Whitner. Many had them taking Iowa's LB Greeway. I saw some saying Tye Hill. I saw one say Ernie Sims. I saw a couple peg Whimbley as the guy. I even saw Jason Allen and Cromarte mentioned as possible Pats picks.
NEWS FLASH: All of the above were gone when the Patriots picked first. Yes, Lawson was there, but he'll have to covert to OLB, and one of my draft pubs said about him "he's a non-factor against the run".
The Patriots were smart not to pick for need. They got, by some accounts, THE best running back (excluding Bush of course), THE best WR, and the best kicker. (Heck, Kiper had O'Callahan as the 4th best OT in the entire draft and look where the Pats got him.)
I don't buy those (like Ron Borges) who says they shouldn't have drafted a TE. They said that after the Watson pick and now we all love him. Face it, Graham and Watson were injured last year. Watson missed his whole rookie season. We lost Fauria to free agency. We needed another tight end. Why not get a good one? Thomas is a top rated TE with glue for hands, and reminds many of Novacek. If he's their top rated player, you don't go off your board for need, unless the grade is close. You'll get burned if you do.
I don't subscribe to the notion that the Patriots should grab the 17th rated OLB instead of the 3rd rated TE, because it's a perceived need.
That's how teams have always ended up having bad drafts. Give me an offensive player who's going to help the team over a defensive one that can't.
They drafted higher character, intellegent, leaders, who produced on the field. I would take their drafts of the last few years over any other team in the NFL, so clearly their way works.
P.S. - I'd love the next person that says "they should have drafted for defense" to list the player they would have had instead, and we can monitor how the two do. I say all of the above with alot of respect for the opposing position.
You all saw the mock drafts I saw. There was alot of talk about all the time the Pats spent at Ohio State. Most had the Pats taking Carpenter. A few thought they coveted the Ohio State Safety, Whitner. Many had them taking Iowa's LB Greeway. I saw some saying Tye Hill. I saw one say Ernie Sims. I saw a couple peg Whimbley as the guy. I even saw Jason Allen and Cromarte mentioned as possible Pats picks.
NEWS FLASH: All of the above were gone when the Patriots picked first. Yes, Lawson was there, but he'll have to covert to OLB, and one of my draft pubs said about him "he's a non-factor against the run".
The Patriots were smart not to pick for need. They got, by some accounts, THE best running back (excluding Bush of course), THE best WR, and the best kicker. (Heck, Kiper had O'Callahan as the 4th best OT in the entire draft and look where the Pats got him.)
I don't buy those (like Ron Borges) who says they shouldn't have drafted a TE. They said that after the Watson pick and now we all love him. Face it, Graham and Watson were injured last year. Watson missed his whole rookie season. We lost Fauria to free agency. We needed another tight end. Why not get a good one? Thomas is a top rated TE with glue for hands, and reminds many of Novacek. If he's their top rated player, you don't go off your board for need, unless the grade is close. You'll get burned if you do.
I don't subscribe to the notion that the Patriots should grab the 17th rated OLB instead of the 3rd rated TE, because it's a perceived need.
That's how teams have always ended up having bad drafts. Give me an offensive player who's going to help the team over a defensive one that can't.
They drafted higher character, intellegent, leaders, who produced on the field. I would take their drafts of the last few years over any other team in the NFL, so clearly their way works.
P.S. - I'd love the next person that says "they should have drafted for defense" to list the player they would have had instead, and we can monitor how the two do. I say all of the above with alot of respect for the opposing position.
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