What draft grade would you give the Patriots so far?

[50-yard-line]

I'll give them a C+ on the draft. it was a "meh" draft, they had terrible picks and I didn't expect much.

The plus comes form the trade down, which gave them some extra shots to take.

I'm honestly not sure who was left at 29 that could have pushed the grade higher. Of the receivers, they all seemed to have a huge red flag (Patterson has the most upside, but is a good shot to just flame out). Dobson and Boyce seem to fit as well as any of the others - really shocked they got two tough outside speedsters.

Collins could be huge...could be. Or could be nothing at all.

But I grade the whole off-season, which is four parts:
Retaining your players
Free agents
Draft
UDFA and late adds.

They did a good job retaining critical pieces in SeaBass and Talib...not so great regarding Welker. But still, solid.

I love some of the adds - Amendola, A. Wilson, Kelly and D. Jones.

Armstead and Vega are really draft picks - I wonder where Armstead would have gone if he was in this draft class?

They're going to add Abraham, it seems. If they do that, this has been a very, very good off-season.

This is a great organization and it shows year in and year out on the field. Every year, I'm watching football that matters (as a homer fan) in late January. I don't expect this year to be any different in that regard, except it might well go into early February yet again.

ps. Thank god this was a sucky draft, or SF would have cleaned house!

 

[kennyb]

Straight up A. Dobson great guy is a houdini with his body and doesnt drop balls. Collins a lb who can cover tackle rush? Awesome. Look at Rutgers cb tackling clinic. Needs a little work on finfing the ball but that will come. Pass on the safety reach. In bbwt. I also think Wilson has potential from last year. Just wish they hadn't traded low round picks on garbage.

 

[Username]

For what it's worth Pete Prisco gives our draft a B-

New England Patriots
Best pick: Getting Jamie Collins in the second round is a heck of a pick. This kid has a lot of talent and could end up being special.

Questionable move: I didn't like the second-round pick of receiver Aaron Dobson. I thought there were better options and he isn't a flyer, which they need.

Third-day gem: I like the choice of fourth-round pick Josh Boyce. He is a quality receiver who will help.

Analysis: The Patriots traded out of the first round for more picks and then landed a heck of a pick in Collins. They hit on a few others, but third-round safety Duron Harmon was a reach.

Grade: B-

Draft Grades: Don't like instant? Here are grades, like 'em or not - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

 

[NewFeep]

I gave last years draft a B at this same point but I would grade it an A now thanks to C. Jones, Dennard and Hightower. I think all three are core players by this time next year.. Obviously BB filled in all the glaring holes. It remains to be seen how the players pan out........

 

[Rob0729]

For what it's worth Pete Prisco gives our draft a B-




Draft Grades: Don't like instant? Here are grades, like 'em or not - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

Draft grades by the media is a joke. I think it is funny that Bengals are getting mostly As for their draft for like the 10th year in a row. I think their drafts have lived up to their A rank maybe two times.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Draft grades by the media is a joke. I think it is funny that Bengals are getting mostly As for their draft for like the 10th year in a row. I think their drafts have lived up to their A rank maybe two times.

Mel gave us a C+ saying we don't have a single guy who will be a starter this year...uhh we NEED Dobson to be a starter so he is wrong there

 

[mgteich]

Perhaps you would have felt better if Kiper were more precise with his words. We didn't draft one starting quality player. Also, it is not clear that Edelman or Jones won't start.

I think it somewhat silly to criticize because Dobson "has to start" so our draft must be rated better.

Mel gave us a C+ saying we don't have a single guy who will be a starter this year...uhh we NEED Dobson to be a starter so he is wrong there

 

[ausbacker]

Mel gave us a C+ saying we don't have a single guy who will be a starter this year...uhh we NEED Dobson to be a starter so he is wrong there

When it comes to draft opinions, Kiper Jr. isn't on the I'll skim through his musings read let alone a must read.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

When it comes to draft opinions, Kiper Jr. isn't on the I'll skim through his musings read let alone a must read.

i know. he is horrible

 

[Avenger]

a starter is just somebody that takes the first snap of the game, the way I project the Pats to use WRs is with a more diverse group of players splitting snaps. Collins will be a key role player, the Rutgers secondary will be quality depth.

 

[Metaphors]

Have to break down the picks to figure out a grade:

Value
Collins, Ryan and Boyce were picked in their projected range.
Dobson was a 1-2 round reach and Harmon was a 3-4 round reach.
Buchanan was a 3-4 round value and Beauharnais was a 2-3 round value.

Need
Addressed all perceived needs outside of interior OL.

Opportunity
Moved down and still got targeted players.
Unable to acquire any 2014 picks.

So I see 2 negatives in the assessment. What could the Pats have done differently?

Dobson -> Keenan Allen
Harmon -> Phillip Thomas

If the Pats had made these moves instead, they would have universally been graded B+ or above. So the difference between a very good to great draft is the difference between these players. The distinctions between Dobson and Allen have been discussed elsewhere so I won't rehash except to say that Dobson has the long speed that the Pats need and Allen can't provide.

So it really comes down to Harmon vs. Thomas. The key here is that Harmon wasn't invited to the Combine or any of the major all-star games. The one game he was invited to resulted in the following analysis:

The safety group had some nice upside as well. The most impressive of the safeties was Rutgers’ Duron Harmon. He was easily the best athlete at the position and his breaking ability and fluid hips were very impressive. He came in at 6-0 and 198 pounds and shows very good feet and explosiveness. On one play during team he sprinted from the opposite hash to cover a drag route and came close to intercepting a pass thrown out in front of the receiver. On another short hand off play he came flying up from about 12 yards deep to stick the running back at the line of scrimmage. He definitely plays faster than his estimated 4.6 speed.

What if he had done that at the Senior Bowl? As for his speed, he was credited with a 4.45 at his pro day. Imagine if he had thrown that out at the Combine. He played in the same conference as the much-talked-about Shamarko Thomas and he was a 2-time all-conference safety.

So why wasn't Harmon on anybody's radar? No idea. But does it seem like anybody looked at him and graded him based on production, measurables and intangibles? It really seems like he just never got evaluated and everyone just gave him an undrafted grade. Does anyone have a negative write-up describing his lack of production or inadequate skill set? I haven't seen one.

So the only criticism of Harmon is that nobody would have drafted him so he certainly would have been available in the 7th. If he is better than his (lack of) scouting would indicate, there is at least one coach in Tampa that would know that and certainly not let him slide that late.

My grade for the Pats in this draft is a B-. There were a couple of teams that were able to trade out of this draft (a poor one) and into the next (looks to be much better). They sure seemed to be trying to trade out of #91 and being that close to the end of day 2 makes it difficult. So I understand it but I grade based on results and not on empathy. As for the players themselves, I think they did a solid B+ to A- job which is about as good as can be expected in this draft class.

 

[M_A]

I really like the Harmon pick, I had him really high on my draft board. Sure it might have been a reach, but just because they reached a little on one draft doesn't mean that it's a total bust. He's got great leadership skills, I don't know why people thought he would go un-drafted.

Dobson is a stud, Collins will be great, and I think that both our 7th round picks will be able to help us out this year. I think BB had a great draft.

 

[Kontradiction]

Have to break down the picks to figure out a grade:

Value
Collins, Ryan and Boyce were picked in their projected range.
Dobson was a 1-2 round reach and Harmon was a 3-4 round reach.
Buchanan was a 3-4 round value and Beauharnais was a 2-3 round value.

Need
Addressed all perceived needs outside of interior OL.

Opportunity
Moved down and still got targeted players.
Unable to acquire any 2014 picks.

So I see 2 negatives in the assessment. What could the Pats have done differently?

Dobson -> Keenan Allen
Harmon -> Phillip Thomas

If the Pats had made these moves instead, they would have universally been graded B+ or above. So the difference between a very good to great draft is the difference between these players. The distinctions between Dobson and Allen have been discussed elsewhere so I won't rehash except to say that Dobson has the long speed that the Pats need and Allen can't provide.

So it really comes down to Harmon vs. Thomas. The key here is that Harmon wasn't invited to the Combine or any of the major all-star games. The one game he was invited to resulted in the following analysis:



What if he had done that at the Senior Bowl? As for his speed, he was credited with a 4.45 at his pro day. Imagine if he had thrown that out at the Combine. He played in the same conference as the much-talked-about Shamarko Thomas and he was a 2-time all-conference safety.

So why wasn't Harmon on anybody's radar? No idea. But does it seem like anybody looked at him and graded him based on production, measurables and intangibles? It really seems like he just never got evaluated and everyone just gave him an undrafted grade. Does anyone have a negative write-up describing his lack of production or inadequate skill set? I haven't seen one.

So the only criticism of Harmon is that nobody would have drafted him so he certainly would have been available in the 7th. If he is better than his (lack of) scouting would indicate, there is at least one coach in Tampa that would know that and certainly not let him slide that late.

My grade for the Pats in this draft is a B-. There were a couple of teams that were able to trade out of this draft (a poor one) and into the next (looks to be much better). They sure seemed to be trying to trade out of #91 and being that close to the end of day 2 makes it difficult. So I understand it but I grade based on results and not on empathy. As for the players themselves, I think they did a solid B+ to A- job which is about as good as can be expected in this draft class.

He sounded like a high upside unkown player. You can usually find those guys in the 7th round or as UDFA's. The fact that he may have high upside doesn't change the fact that he was still an epic reach in the third round. I wish nothing but the best for the kid, but the third round selection was a poor choice in an otherwise decent draft, at least IMO, for the team.

 

[50-yard-line]

I wonder...if the Pats fourth pick had been Boyce and fifth pick had been Harmon, would the reactions and grades of the draft be different?

Or if they had grabbed Boyce in the third and Buchanon in the fourth, then Harmon in the 7th?

 

[Ivan]

I wonder...if the Pats fourth pick had been Boyce and fifth pick had been Harmon, would the reactions and grades of the draft be different?

Or if they had grabbed Boyce in the third and Buchanon in the fourth, then Harmon in the 7th?

Good point, people always have less of a problem with picks if they follow the generic consensus of Kiper and his minions.

 

[patsfan13]

If the guy is at the top of your board you should take him if no why bother having a board in the first place.

The Pats have a scouting dept they evaluate all the players on their board they draft players according the the value assigned to the players on THEIR board.

 

[Kontradiction]

If the guy is at the top of your board you should take him if no why bother having a board in the first place.

The Pats have a scouting dept they evaluate all the players on their board they draft players according the the value assigned to the players on THEIR board.

I keep seeing this as a reason for reaches like Wilson and Harmon. If this is the case, then why did it take them so long to draft Brady, given that they said in the past that he was always the top quarterback on their board?

 

[Rob0729]

I wonder...if the Pats fourth pick had been Boyce and fifth pick had been Harmon, would the reactions and grades of the draft be different?

Or if they had grabbed Boyce in the third and Buchanon in the fourth, then Harmon in the 7th?

The funny thing is if the Pats snagged Buchanon in the fourth (where many had him projected) and Harmon in the seventh, the Pats' draft probably jumps a grade in most media people's draft grades. Same exact draft results just drafted in a different order which would change the perception of this draft.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I've gotta say, after watching some Logan Ryan highlights, I'm not optimistic about him at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u16xhNN8mqQ

Seems to get beat pretty often and commit a lot of what will be easy PI calls in the NFL. Do not like this pick.

Conversely, the more that I see out of Collins, the more that I like him. He can seriously bring it off the edge. My only concern is that Conference USA competition makes him look more athletic than he is, but that's what measurables are for. I don't care how raw anyone thinks he is, he'll be a meaningful contributor as a rookie. Looks like an x-factor type athlete; the kind of guy that we didn't really have in our front 7 until Jones and Hightower were drafted last year. Now it looks like we have three.

I see Dobson in a similar light. He's exactly what we need, and while it remains to be seen how he can hold up against elite competition, there's reason to be optimistic.

In total, I'm a fan of the Collins, Dobson, Boyce and Buchanan picks. Signing Moe as an UDFA was pretty cool, too - wouldn't be shocked if he ends up making the team. If the 3rd round hadn't happened, I'd happy give this draft an instant grade of A- (acknowledging full well that grading drafts the day after they happen is stupidity at its fines).

Unfortunately, the third round did happen, and it included a pick that I disliked and a guy who seems promising but likely would have been available several rounds later (and even if not, so what? Is his potential that far into the "can't miss" territory?). Reminds me quite a bit of the Tavon Wilson situation lats year, hopefully with better results. Even if it was a reach, I don't intrinsically hate the Harmon pick, and in fact I'm already more optimistic for him than I am for Ryan.

Those two picks turn an otherwise good draft into a C+ or so, IMO. I am worried that we'll end up remembering this as the draft where one or two guys pan out, and if it's Andre Dobson, we'll remember that we could have just taken Justin Hunter at 29, or Keenan Allen later. If it's Jamie Collins, we'll remember that we could have just taken Tank Carradine at 29.

 

[TriplecHamp]

I've gotta say, after watching some Logan Ryan highlights, I'm not optimistic about him at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u16xhNN8mqQ

Seems to get beat pretty often and commit a lot of what will be easy PI calls in the NFL. Do not like this pick.

I said it in another thread, he's McCourty without his speed. Much better zone corner than man and he's better closing on things in front of him than playing the ball over the top. He could come out and play like McCourty did his rookie year or he could play like McCourty did year 2.