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Per your request ... nice mock so far, check out the NE predraft contact thread for some hints while you're at it.
Zardnok post from the Aldon Smith thread - quoted below
Zardnok post from the Aldon Smith thread - quoted below
Since this thread got bumped back up to the top, I thought I would provide a quick update on how my stint as Patriots GM over on Saints Report is going. I wish I was able to create my own thread for discussion of my picks, but alas, I am a rookie here with less than 30 posts. If someone would like to make a thread here on the draft boards, I promise to post all my stuff there and even get input on the targets I have as they come up.
The trade I made earlier was with Indy. I moved back 5 spots in the first and up 7 spots in the second and got their third rounder and gave up my 5th as well to make the value work out. In hindsight, I probably should have just hard-balled them and kept the fifth rounder. They really wanted to trade up for Tyron Smith, who I am not sold on.
So far, I have had runs on players that I had targeted and have ended up selecting some players a tad higher than I anticipated them going. I guess it just goes to show that the draft is a fluid thing and you have to be willing to adapt and adjust your picks depending on what everyone else does around you. Ultimately, I think I am doing OK so far and hope I do not end up in some post here with "Look at who this idiot on Saints Report drafted for us!" as the title.
Rd 1- #22 Muhammed Wilkerson DE Temple I think I read it some where on this site, but the biggest need for the Pats is DE. In fact, it seems to be a recurring theme here over the past few years.
#28 Brooks Reed OLB Arizona Another clamor around here is for an elite Pass-rusher. I am not sure if Reed is elite, but he was the best available when I selected and his stock has really been on the rise.
Rd 2- #33 Danny Watkins OG Baylor He is the second best interior lineman behind Pouncy. I had hoped to target him a bit later in the second, but there was a run on O-Lineman and nobody else available really that gave as much value IMO.
#53 Benjamin Ijilana OT Villanova He was the best OT remaining on the board and I have always had a soft-spot for smaller school prospects. He is shorter than the Pats prefer, but he can man the right side or even move inside if he can not hack it outside.
Rd 3 #74 Jarvis Jenkins DE/DT Clemson Again with the 5-technique thing. He does not offer much in the way of pass-rush ability, at least not in college where he was constantly double teamed, but he does have some quickness and is quite stout against the run. Watching him play shows a lot more strength than he tested at the combine, so I am going by what I saw. Some prognosticators have suggested he could play NT in a 3-4 as well. I am not sure about that, but he may be a swing guy that can play both.
The Saints have a poll pick tomorrow, which should last half the day or so and then I am up again with #87 from Indy and then #92 soon there after. I am looking at possibly a RB and or CB/S with the next two picks.
Ingram, Leshoure, and Ryan Williams are the only RB selected so far and I have my eye on DeMarco Murray, but I have a feeling he will be the winner of the Saints poll. He seems to have the game breaking ability that the Pats are looking for. Kendall Hunter is probably my back-up plan for RB if Murray is selected, but I am going to do more reading on Jordan Todman and Shane Vereen.
As for DBs, that is where the pickings get quite a bit thinner. Curtis Brown was my primary target for the first pick this round, but someone moved up and grabbed him. That started a run on DBs and I missed out on Davon House as well. That leaves me a pool of Chimdi Chekwa, Jalil Brown, Robert Sands, and Jaiquawn Jarret. I am sure I am forgetting someone, but there have been a lot of DBs taken.
Another option at the end of Rd 3 is a sliding Jerrel Powe, but I am not sure if DT is a need now that I have grabbed Jenkins who can perhaps swing inside. Seems to me BB is happy with the depth in the middle, but I see Powe as a rare physical specimen who really seems to have turned the corner mentally and academically.
The only two centers I feel can start day one are Wisniewski and Pouncey with Hudson being a strong guard that would need time to adjust to Center. Every time I got ready to grab one of them, someone else grabbed them so I am left with my #4 center Brandon Fusco from Slippery Rock who I am pretty sure I can get with my fourth rounder. I am concerned that he will need at least a year, probably two, to build strength and adjust to life in the NFL, but so will my back-up plan at Center Tim Barnes. I see Fusco as the higher upside, but Barnes as the safer pick despite him coming from a Spread offense. O'Dowd is the other center I see talked about highly, but I removed him from my draft board for medical reasons.
With the 6th round pick, I will likely try to pick up some small school WR like Stephen Burton from West Texas A&M who ran a 4.38 40 with a 1.46 10 yard split at his pro-day or maybe Cecil Shorts from Mount Union who was responsible for 73 TDs and almost 5400 all-purpose yards in college. DB may also be a target if I decide to go with Powe at the end of the 3rd. It just depends on who is available as there could be someone else of great value sliding. I will worry about this pick when the 6th round starts.
