What are the chances of trading up in this year's draft?

[KillEM]

With a lot of picks in this years draft, and not many needs to fill... What are the chances?


It becoming VERY clear that our pash rush is even worst than our secondary (which has looked pretty good, except for Deltha ONeal)


Assuming we end up with a pick in the 20+... could we trade up and get a OLB pass rush demon like Orakpo or Selvie at #10? What would we have to give up?

This years 1st rd and possibly our later 2nd or 3rd rd pick?

This makes the most sense to me as our only needs are really OLB and OT... we have Mayo and Guyton at ILB, who are both young studs.

RT can be addressed in rd2, as RT's are not usually 1st round selections.
CB/S can be addressed in rd3.

 

[Tyler.Durden]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Lots of teams will be looking to deal top picks because of how much money teams are having to pay them. Pats are unlikely to trade up imo. We may trade for a player already in the league with a track record.

BB hates paying these rookies pro-bowl contracts without ever playing a snap in the nfl.

 

[BritPat]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

With a lot of picks in this years draft, and not many needs to fill... What are the chances?


It becoming VERY clear that our pash rush is even worst than our secondary (which has looked pretty good, except for Deltha ONeal)


Assuming we end up with a pick in the 20+... could we trade up and get a OLB pass rush demon like Orakpo or Selvie at #10? What would we have to give up?

This years 1st rd and possibly our later 2nd or 3rd rd pick?

This makes the most sense to me as our only needs are really OLB and OT... we have Mayo and Guyton at ILB, who are both young studs.

RT can be addressed in rd2, as RT's are not usually 1st round selections.
CB/S can be addressed in rd3.

I disagree. As well as OT and OLB worries, I'd say we need a TE, maybe some secondary help (Rodney might be done, and you can never have enough good cornerbacks) and possibly a running back depending on the situation come FA time. Maroney isn't exactly setting the world alight, and Jordan is only on a one year deal.

I'd also say we need some youth at OG/C too.

 

[BritPat]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Also, about trading up - The Jags gave up two 3rds and a 4th to move from 26 to 8 to pick Derrick Harvey, so your assessment of white we might need to give up is probably not far off.

 

[KillEM]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

I disagree. As well as OT and OLB worries, I'd say we need a TE, maybe some secondary help (Rodney might be done, and you can never have enough good cornerbacks) and possibly a running back depending on the situation come FA time. Maroney isn't exactly setting the world alight, and Jordan is only on a one year deal.

I'd also say we need some youth at OG/C too.

Yeah, Let's take ANOTHER TE in the 1st rd

Mindaswell spend our next 5 picks on FullBacks and Long Snappers.

 

[Fencer]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

I don't agree that we're low on needs. They include but are not limited to:

RT -- always
P -- although admittedly that's mid-round
DE -- Seymour will be gone soon
NT -- always
S -- probably
RB -- depending on who stays; the only locks to be back are a fragile Maroney and an aging Faulk, and Morris is evidently fragile too
ILB -- assume Mayo and Guyton are the future, and Bruschi stays on as a role player. There's still room for more.
OLB -- if Pierre Woods goes the way of Tully Banta-Cain, there's room for one more.

 

[KillEM]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Excuse the sarcasm in that last post. But we don't need any more role players, we need an IMPACT player at OLB.

Vrabel is on his last legs. He looks worst than ever. He has 1-2 years left in him at most.

Adalius Thomas isn't the terror we expected him to be. He's been average in our defense. Nothing more. He looks lost when rushing the passer and can go an entire game without laying a finger on the QB. He's also getting up there in age.

Either way, even if they were playing good (which they are not) we would still need another young OLB to groom since they will both be gone soon. OLB is one of the most important positions in the 3-4 defense along with NT. Right now our OLBs look like the weakest part of our D.

A George Selvie/Brian Orakpo type prospect could change our defense from good to scary good. Look at the impact Merriman and Ware had for their teams 3-4 defense.


Our secondary is very young. Hobbs is a starter and Wheatley should be starting by next year too. Meriweather and Sanders are both starters and will continue to be starters on our defense for a long time. Wilhite is our future nickel. So we just need back ups/depth at this point for CB/S. That can be addressed on day 2 of the draft.


OLine - all we need is a RT. Then we can shift Kaczur inside to RG. RT can be found in round 2. A really good 34 OLB is rare and far more valuable than RT. Our line is a lot better than ppl give them credit for. Brady only got sacked 20 times last year with that line.



Whatever the case... NO MORE TIGHT ENDS ON DAY 1!!

 

[BritPat]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Yeah, Let's take ANOTHER TE in the 1st rd

Mindaswell spend our next 5 picks on FullBacks and Long Snappers.

I didn't say take a TE in the first round. I said it was a need, so we need as many picks as possible.

 

[KillEM]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

RT -- I dont know what you guys expect really... 90% of teams in the league have RT's that can be upgraded. Most RTs are LTs who couldnt make it on the blindside covering the speed rusher. Almost every team could upgrade at RT, but doesnt. There are VERY few teams that have studs at both LT and RT.

DE -- We'll address it with a 1st rounder when we get there. No use in using a 2nd-3rd round pick on a DE and then using a 1st on another DE when Seymour leaves.

NT -- We have Wilfork.

S -- Depth is all we need. Belicheck will more than likely find a veteran Safety. I doubt he would want 3 young, inexperienced players back there.
Ventrone and Slater can also play Safety and I'm sure Belicheck isn't afraid to use them there as evident by his history with putting Troy Brown in the secondary.

RB -- This is not a need at all. Morris is under contract for a couple more years. So is Maroney. Benjarvus Green Ellis could turn into a HUGE steal considering he went undrafted. Faulk is old but he has low mileage on his tires and should hold up another couple of years. It will be a need in a couple years, but right now it would be a mistake to draft another RB because then we would have to cut BGE who could turn out to be very good.

ILB -- If Guyton progresses to a starting role and Belicheck is satisfied with him... I doubt we use a high pick on another LB. And our history with late round LBs is not impressive at all. Oscar Lua, Ruud, that 5th rounder from a few years back. None of these guys even make the team.



Ofcourse it would be great to have as much depth as the Pro Bowl squads but let's be realistic.

 

[Patjew]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Pats always seem to move around alot in the draft. I'm not sure how common that it with other teams, because I don't care about them.

 

[PonyExpress]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Nothing is clear yet. Let's way to see how the season develops. We have no idea what we have in Crable, or how good Guyton can be, or whether Wheatley can eventually start, or whether Meriweather can develop as he gets more opportunities.

Personally I see alot of room for growth among our young secondary players. The young LBers can only improve barring injury setbacks.

 

[KillEM]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

Id give up our 1st and 2nd to move into the 10-12 range for a monster OLB.

Then we still have an extra 2nd (RT), our 3rd(CB/S), a comp pick for Asante that could be a 3rd(BPA), a 4th(BPA), etc.


That's still plenty of picks.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Trading up?

If anything we will trade down.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: What are the chances of trading up in this years draft?

RB -- depending on who stays; the only locks to be back are a fragile Maroney and an aging Faulk, and Morris is evidently fragile too

BJGE is an ERFA, which means as long as the Pats want him, he's theirs.

 

[aaron spacemuseum]

Oh no - please no more stud tight ends in the 1st round! Picking up the best blocking tight end in the league, Daniel Graham, in the 1st round? What a waste! And geez, what if we had reached and picked up Greg Olsen in the 1st round of '07??? I mean sure, he's one of the league's best new mismatch creators and has made Kyle Orton look like a real QB, but he'd be useless to The Pats.

Dude. Get real. TE is one of the most important positions in BB's offense, he didn't spend two 1st rounders there because he's a moron. It's unfortunate that Graham had bad hands and Watson is inconsistent, but they have each played key roles on this team. And if Kyle Brady were the blocking TE we thought he'd be when we signed him, we'd have 4 SB Trophies. Did you see the contract we gave Brady??? We made him close to the money we SHOULD have paid Graham to stay on.

Mike Lombardi called having Graham, the equivalent of having two Left Tackles on the field -- it's funny that when he left for Denver, Matt Light started seeming like he couldn't handle speed rushing anymore and we started losing to the Dwight Freeneys and Osi Umenyoras of the league.

I agree that an OLB is our biggest priority but even bigger than that is a new Defensive Coordinator. If we got Orakpo and Pees forced him to hold off, read and react, wait for signs of the run, etc. we'd still have no pass rush.

Also, if we're picking around 15 and Maualuga falls to us are you gonna pick someone else based on having Gary Guyton? A Maualuga/Mayo tandem could be one of the fastest and most athletic middle linebacker pairings in recent history. The speed of your defense is determined by the speed of your MIKE.

 

[D-Money]

This team needs more young LBs to take the place of guys like Bruschi.I would love to get Rey Maualuga from USC.Then address the Cb situation and safety.

 

[DaBruinz]

With a lot of picks in this years draft, and not many needs to fill... What are the chances?


It becoming VERY clear that our pash rush is even worst than our secondary (which has looked pretty good, except for Deltha ONeal)


Assuming we end up with a pick in the 20+... could we trade up and get a OLB pass rush demon like Orakpo or Selvie at #10? What would we have to give up?

This years 1st rd and possibly our later 2nd or 3rd rd pick?

This makes the most sense to me as our only needs are really OLB and OT... we have Mayo and Guyton at ILB, who are both young studs.

RT can be addressed in rd2, as RT's are not usually 1st round selections.
CB/S can be addressed in rd3.

Not many needs? I think you need to review who all will be free agents at the end of the year.

O'Neal, J. Sanders, L. Sanders, M. Wright, P. Woods (RFA), Gaffney, T. Williams, Harrison, Hochstein, Izzo, Paxton, Jordan, Evans

The needs, as I see them (in no particularl order):
Right Guard, Left Tackle, Right Tackle, Running Back, Safety, Cornerback, ILB, All Purpose TE, 3-4 DE, NT.

The problem with Orakpo and Selvie is that Orakpo hasn't played in a 3-4 and Selvie may not declare.

 

[BradyManny]

Not many needs? I think you need to review who all will be free agents at the end of the year.

O'Neal, J. Sanders, L. Sanders, M. Wright, P. Woods (RFA), Gaffney, T. Williams, Harrison, Hochstein, Izzo, Paxton, Jordan, Evans

The needs, as I see them (in no particularl order):
Right Guard, Left Tackle, Right Tackle, Running Back, Safety, Cornerback, ILB, All Purpose TE, 3-4 DE, NT.

The problem with Orakpo and Selvie is that Orakpo hasn't played in a 3-4 and Selvie may not declare.

Yes, but in all likelihood, we will sign some or most of those guys back, and address some needs in free agency. We'll probably be in good shape going into the draft, which will allow them the flexibility to trade up, trade back, trade out, or just trade picks for proven talent like in 07's draft. And frankly, the only guy on that list that pretty much absolutely has to be re-signed is James Sanders. I would hate to lose Woods, Gaffney, Wright, Jordan, okay, pretty much anyone else on that list, but we have some depth built in at those positions (well, maybe not at WR).

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Oh no - please no more stud tight ends in the 1st round! Picking up the best blocking tight end in the league, Daniel Graham, in the 1st round? What a waste! And geez, what if we had reached and picked up Greg Olsen in the 1st round of '07??? I mean sure, he's one of the league's best new mismatch creators and has made Kyle Orton look like a real QB, but he'd be useless to The Pats.

Dude. Get real. TE is one of the most important positions in BB's offense, he didn't spend two 1st rounders there because he's a moron. It's unfortunate that Graham had bad hands and Watson is inconsistent, but they have each played key roles on this team. And if Kyle Brady were the blocking TE we thought he'd be when we signed him, we'd have 4 SB Trophies. Did you see the contract we gave Brady??? We made him close to the money we SHOULD have paid Graham to stay on.

Mike Lombardi called having Graham, the equivalent of having two Left Tackles on the field -- it's funny that when he left for Denver, Matt Light started seeming like he couldn't handle speed rushing anymore and we started losing to the Dwight Freeneys and Osi Umenyoras of the league.

I agree that an OLB is our biggest priority but even bigger than that is a new Defensive Coordinator. If we got Orakpo and Pees forced him to hold off, read and react, wait for signs of the run, etc. we'd still have no pass rush.

Also, if we're picking around 15 and Maualuga falls to us are you gonna pick someone else based on having Gary Guyton? A Maualuga/Mayo tandem could be one of the fastest and most athletic middle linebacker pairings in recent history. The speed of your defense is determined by the speed of your MIKE.

Well said on the TE issue. I'm not sold on Maualuga yet, though I agree looking for another youngster to develop as part of a three-way ILB rotation makes sense.

Welcome aboard airspaceman!

I disagree with the OP's premise that the team will have fewer draft needs in 2009 and can bundle them to target a higher ranked prospect. My analysis from last month http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...9-2009-preview-wheres-talent.html#post1050216 still looks valid using a two year needs projection and the standard development time for rookies. I expect the Pats to be picking in the back third of the first, as usual, if not at #32. I'm hoping to see San Diego continue to meltdown and push their second rounder into the mid-40's. With a bit of luck, Asante will land the team a third round comp pick. I expect the Pats to stay in the late first round and use the second round to trade back a bit for more horsepower in the mid/late rounds or 2010. The only way I see the Pats looking higher on Day One is if they Franchise and trade Mattyice, but the haters don't want to think positively in that regard.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I'm hoping to see San Diego continue to meltdown and keep their second rounder in the mid-40's, where it is now. Almost certainly, Asante will land the team a third round comp pick. I expect the Pats to stay in the late first round and use the second round to trade back a bit for more horsepower in the mid/late rounds or 2010. The only way I see the Pats looking higher on Day One is if they Franchise and trade Mattyice, but the haters don't want to think positively in that regard.

I fixed your post for you.