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Why Jordan Richards is a Top 64 Pick in the Patriots' NFL


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PatSunday

Third String But Playing on Special Teams
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Here are a few quotes and my commentary on an article from February 2015. Belichick must have read the same article on his Super Bowl yacht.

No wonder Richards was projected later in the draft: "While other prospects left school to train full time... at pricey athletic academies in Southern California, Phoenix or South Florida, Richards trains while maintaining a full class schedule."

And because he attends Stanford and stayed in college during the draft, he was questioned if he would quit for a cushy day job if things got hard.

But he already has it harder than most college players. He studies at the gym, something Belichick must have loved. "On some days... he might bring his textbooks to the gym and pump out a few chapters between sessions."

He's humble and does not quit at anything. His worst GPA was actually in his first semester at Stanford. "In high school, you were one of the smartest kids. And at Stanford, you’re pretty much the dumbest kid", he said.

And he must have started in high school, since he got into Stanford in the first place.

In high school, he never left the field, as safety and running back. His dad was the coach of the high school freshman team. He was captain of the winning Div II title team.

In college, he never missed a game for four years, and became a starter as a sophomore when he was called Coach Richards by his teammates.

By senior year, Richards could play both safety positions, the nickel and dime defensive back spots and even was the team’s “disaster” cornerback.

“If we were on the road and had injuries at cornerback, we could plug him in there,” Stanford secondary coach Akina said.

He was so confident in his abilities that he stayed in college to finish his degree. In turn, the Patriots clearly targeted him in round two.

Stanford is not just a football college, and provides a world-famous education. As a student athlete, he took 100% advantage of both sides of the university.

Now that he's on the Patriots, we can expect him to take 100% advantage of the opportunities in Foxboro.

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article10886939.html
 
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Seems like a toy Belichick had to have...
Will be interesting to see what he becomes for Bill. We have not had that field intelligence combined with physicality at SS since Rodney.
 
We have not had that field intelligence combined with physicality at SS since Rodney.
People vastly underrate Rodney's on the field leadership in 2004. When Poole & Law went down and Asante, Gay, Poteat and couch roster guys like Earthwind Moreland were thrust into major roles, Rodney kept Geno Wilson and everybody else in line and in the right position.

By all accounts, Richards has that same ability and field presence.
 
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I look at things even simpler .... we have a coach-like, safety patrolling the middle to deep portion of the field (where his skillset is maximized) and we now have a 2nd coach-like, safety patrolling the middle to LOS area of the field (where his skillset is maximized).

Why anyone wouldn't be ecstatic about this development is beyond my comprehension ability.
 
Intelligence and leadership are two very important traits to have, particularly when it comes to the last line of defense.

The concerns seem to be with his speed from what I understand, so let's hope that isn't an issue that makes us regret the pick. For the 2015 year, Richards will likely be stuck on special teams.
 
You can't but admire his intelligence, work ethic and desire but at some point a lack of athletic ability will hold you back. He looks like the sort of player that Belichick will love in the locker room but to me he's James Sanders: hard worker, good team mate, decent against the run, bit of a liability in coverage.

He'll be a solid strong safety but I don't think he'll ever live up to his draft position. In other words a mid round pick - you want a bit more from no 64.

Now, I don't want this to sound like I'm writing him off. This is just my initial feeling based on the film I've seen the last two days. I'd love him to prove me wrong and become an impact safety.
 
Intelligence and leadership are two very important traits to have, particularly when it comes to the last line of defense.

The concerns seem to be with his speed from what I understand, so let's hope that isn't an issue that makes us regret the pick. For the 2015 year, Richards will likely be stuck on special teams.
That's what I m struggling with...for a SS (not FS) his 40, shuttle, 3 cone times were fine to above average. He has the pre-reqs.

Its game speed that matters.
 
Intelligence and leadership are two very important traits to have, particularly when it comes to the last line of defense.

But, nothing like an impressive Pro Day vertical!
 
I look at things even simpler .... we have a coach-like, safety patrolling the middle to deep portion of the field (where his skillset is maximized) and we now have a 2nd coach-like, safety patrolling the middle to LOS area of the field (where his skillset is maximized).

Why anyone wouldn't be ecstatic about this development is beyond my comprehension ability.

That reminds of the sort of "I told you so" quote someone could point back to on Collins. Got me excited!
 
Last year Cameron Fleming could not practice with the team until Stanford graduated.. this year Stanford graduates on June 14th... so Jordan will be behind on the football field.

Graduating from Stanford has one disadvantage..

The Patriots OTAs dates are as follows: May 27, May 29-30, June 2-3, June 5, June 9-10, June 12-13, and June 17-19.

The mandatory minicamp will last from June 17 to June 19.
 
you want a bit more from no 64

If I can get an immediate contributor on special teams, a solid rotational/backup, and a potential starter in the first couple years from #64, I'm happy as a clam...

The fact that Mel Kiper doesn't put value on leadership and intelligence isn't something I concern myself with. I can honestly say I haven't heard one word of Kiper's or Mayock's pontifications this year. Their "draft grades" are simply irrelevant to the way the Patriots build a roster. Always has been; just took a few years for me to figure it out.
 
A good sign is that he's been improving every year, learning many defensive roles this past year.

Sure, maybe he reached his physical peak at 22, just like slow and skinny Tom Brady. Maybe he truly reached his maxima and his academics at Stanford are a way to distract from that.

On the other hand, he should continue to improve as a full-time athlete and leader on the field.
 
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He can be Einstein on the field, it is all moot if he can't keep up with the freaks he'll face. I get why people defend this pick, intangibles and leadership are great traits. I just hope he is able to match all that with the physical part of the game.

Don't like the pick, he would have been there at the 3rd round, there were tons of better prospects. However, i trust BB to develop players. We shall see
 
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You can't but admire his intelligence, work ethic and desire but at some point a lack of athletic ability will hold you back. He looks like the sort of player that Belichick will love in the locker room but to me he's James Sanders: hard worker, good team mate, decent against the run, bit of a liability in coverage.

He'll be a solid strong safety but I don't think he'll ever live up to his draft position. In other words a mid round pick - you want a bit more from no 64.

Now, I don't want this to sound like I'm writing him off. This is just my initial feeling based on the film I've seen the last two days. I'd love him to prove me wrong and become an impact safety.

Like every draft pick, there are guys who do better than expected and guys who don't. But according to Chase Stuart's draft value chart, the 64 spot historically returns a career AV of 8.1. That's someone like Ashton Youboty or Asher Allen or Alphonso Smith in terms of career AV. I know what you mean about James Sanders, but bear in mind Sanders had a nice career generating 30 career AV, or the average career of the 2nd overall pick. So if Richards has that kind of career, he'd be well above average.

Maybe he won't be a HOFer which is what I think we're hoping for with every 2nd round pick, but it's important to keep historical averages in mind. 8.1, Asher Allen, beat that and he beats the average. If he falls short of the HOF, that doesn't make it a bust or a bad pick, and I gladly take a James Sanders type career over the Ron Brace/Ras-I Dowling type picks.
 
He can be Einstein on the field, it is all moot if he can't keep up with the freaks he'll face. I get why people defend this pick, intangibles and leadership are great traits. I just hope he is able to match all that with the physical part of the game.

Don't like the pick, he would have been there at the 3rd round, there was tons of better prospects. However, i trust BB to develop players. We shall see

You don't know that, all it takes is one other team.
 
It seems that Belichick has drafted an upgrade over Wilson. It just seems a shame to use #64 to get this upgrade.

However, I keep reminding myself that we drafted Jackson at 64 and Roberts at 111.
 
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It seems that Belichick has drafted an upgrade over Wilson. It just seems a shame to use #64 to get this upgrade.

However, I keep reminding myself that we drafted Jackson at 64 and Roberts at 111.

I don't know if we have any clue yet as to whether or not he'll be a defensive upgrade from Tavon Wilson.

As I've pointed out many times, Wilson led the entire team in special teams reps last season, so I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.
 
It seems that Belichick has drafted an upgrade over Wilson.

He's drafted a pretty good player then.

Tavon Wilson gets a lot of flack on here and it's mostly undeserved. He's great on Special Teams and it slipped everyone's attention but look at this chart on coverage stats:

yards.jpg


In 112 passing downs the man he was covering was only targeted 12 times and caught the ball half of the time from there

Chart from here: http://nesn.com/2014/12/darrelle-revis-shines-in-patriots-2014-season-long-pass-coverage-stats/

Also of note: Duron Harmon gave up 0 catches and got an INT on 2 targets in 214 passing downs which is quite frankly insane.
 
You don't know that, all it takes is one other team.
Then we could have drafted someone with equal value/ability later. I truly dislike reaches for need (and i'm not even gonna discuss if S is a need or not). Now a good comeback would be to say "Oh, but you don't know if he was a reach on BB's big board"

Then I will say this: BB could be wrong. I think he was, in this particular case, just like in Wilson's pick a few year ago. I know such words are not said often, thankfully, but it does happen on occasion

I do love BB's ability to coach. If there is someone who can turn anyone into a beast, it's the Hoodie. But as of now, 1 day after the draft, I am not a fan of the pick. Plenty of time to change my mind.
 
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