I am conviced it will be either a Florida or Penn St. player in the 1st.

[captain stone]

So, I am conviced that the Patriots will either draft:
Jared Odrick, DE Penn State
Maurkice Pouncey, C/G Florida.

Thoughts?

I would love to swap 1sts w/ Arizona in exchange for one of their 3rds. Then, with our new (lower) 1st, I would select Maurkice Pouncey as the aging, weakening Dan Koppen's replacement.

I would use one of our 2nds on DE Alex Carrington, who has the athleticism to make more plays in the backfield than Odrick, who not only seems like just a mild upgrade over Mike Wright, but also comes from a bad program for developing 1st-round DLmen.

My other 2nds would be used to select OLB Koa Misi & WR Damien Williams.

 

[captain stone]

Well if Kiper says it, it must be true! We're returning all 5 starters from last year on the OL and we drafted 3 guys last year - two in the first 4 rounds. Spending a 1st round pick on a C would just be bad bad value, even if he turns into a pro bowler.

40% of our "returning starters" suck. Kaczur cannot be trusted at RT, and Koppen is deteriorating before our eyes. And one can almost make book that Neal will miss 4-6 games with injuries, and perhaps another 2-4 games "dealing" with injuries.

At least in the case of OxyKaczur, Light & Vollmer will be our new starting Tackles. No such option exists for Koppen. Neither Dan Connelly, the undrafted midget Wendell, nor the over-drafted midget O'Burger is the long-term answer. Maurkice Pouncey is.

And how in the world can securing for the next half-decade (at least) the services of a Pro-Bowl-caliber Center, the man closest - literally - to our HOF QB, be considered "bad, bad" value?

 

[bucky]

40% of our "returning starters" suck. Kaczur cannot be trusted at RT, and Koppen is deteriorating before our eyes. And one can almost make book that Neal will miss 4-6 games with injuries, and perhaps another 2-4 games "dealing" with injuries.

At least in the case of OxyKaczur, Light & Vollmer will be our new starting Tackles. No such option exists for Koppen. Neither Dan Connelly, the undrafted midget Wendell, nor the over-drafted midget O'Burger is the long-term answer. Maurkice Pouncey is.

These are all your opinions. I have no idea what they're based on, but I'm not sure it's reality. Do we have 5 pro bowl starters? Of course not. But I wouldn't say they "suck" by a long shot. Every OL in the league gets beat sometimes. Koppen didn't have the best year, but he was in the Pro Bowl 2 years ago. He's only 30, which is pretty far from "aging" for a center. Kaczur had an awful game against the Colts, but was otherwise pretty decent. And BB thought he was OK too, as he resigned him to a contract for starter money just a year ago. I have no idea how you can claim to have an informed opinion on Ohrenberger. Bottom line - the Pats OL was definitely not the weak spot of the team last year. And Centers are not impact players. You don't just spend a 1st round pick on an interior OL unless you have a gaping hole and there's a pro-bowl caliber player who can step in right away. Pouncey might be that player, but the Pats don't have a gaping hole.

 

[Nonentity]

These are all your opinions. I have no idea what they're based on, but I'm not sure it's reality. Do we have 5 pro bowl starters? Of course not. But I wouldn't say they "suck" by a long shot. Every OL in the league gets beat sometimes. Koppen didn't have the best year, but he was in the Pro Bowl 2 years ago. He's only 30, which is pretty far from "aging" for a center. Kaczur had an awful game against the Colts, but was otherwise pretty decent. And BB thought he was OK too, as he resigned him to a contract for starter money just a year ago. I have no idea how you can claim to have an informed opinion on Ohrenberger. Bottom line - the Pats OL was definitely not the weak spot of the team last year.

Last year's stats disagree.

We were ranked 3rd in the NFL for sacks allowed. Sounds good, right?

But, separately we were ranked 20th in the NFL for QB hits.


Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL at evading sacks, and we are incredibly lucky to have him. But I see no reason why we should still let him be hit 90 times a season when other teams have proven it possible to reduce that number to ~60.

And Centers are not impact players.

Hi bucky, this is Nick Mangold speaking.

 

[bucky]

Last year's stats disagree.

We were ranked 3rd in the NFL for sacks allowed. Sounds good, right?

But, separately we were ranked 20th in the NFL for QB hits.


Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL at evading sacks, and we are incredibly lucky to have him. But I see no reason why we should still let him be hit 90 times a season when other teams have proven it possible to reduce that number to ~60.

Hi bucky, this is Nick Mangold speaking.

Nick Mangold is a good C. But he's pretty far from an impact player. As for those stats you provided, they are completely meaningless if you look at them in a vacuum - which is what you're doing. QB hits are a function of many things, including how many times you throw the ball and how open your WRs are.

According to those stats you provided, NE was 5th in pass attempts. The only team in the top 10 in attempts that had less QB hits is the Colts. I'd say that bodes pretty well for the OL. Then there's the little matter of the WRs getting open - Moss doesn't even try when he's double teamed. You've got guys like Aiken and Stanbach out there on every play.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Nick Mangold is a good C. But he's pretty far from an impact player. As for those stats you provided, they are completely meaningless if you look at them in a vacuum - which is what you're doing. QB hits are a function of many things, including how many times you throw the ball and how open your WRs are.

According to those stats you provided, NE was 5th in pass attempts. The only team in the top 10 in attempts that had less QB hits is the Colts. I'd say that bodes pretty well for the OL. Then there's the little matter of the WRs getting open - Moss doesn't even try when he's double teamed. You've got guys like Aiken and Stanbach out there on every play.

I agree, the stats are meaningless. Opponents knew we weren't running the ball much with our ancient group of washed up runners and the fact that we threw anyways against a defense with their ears pinned back is a testament to how well the O Line did pass block.

Bottom line the offense needs a capable OC and must become more balanced.

 

[Boston Boxer]

i am convinced it will be someone who everyone disagrees with and is a head scratcher. I am saying it is a WR

 

[WhiZa]

i am convinced it will be someone who everyone disagrees with and is a head scratcher. I am saying it is a WR

That might make sense. A position of need, but not an obvious one.