Your 1 (one) Patriots draft prediction.

[NePatriots]

Two outside linebackers picked (DE/OLB), but none in the top 50 picks.

 

[silenthuntr7]

BB picks Wilkerson at 17, which is widely regarded as a reach by 'analysts'.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I think the Pats roll the dice on a player whose stock has tumbled due to injury or physical concerns, and I think they do it near the beginning of the draft. These gambles have paid off for them in a big way recently.

Rob Gronkowski (missed entire senior season.)
Brandon Tate (missed most of senior season with knee injury.)
Brandon Spikes (not really an injury, but stock plummeted due to bad combine.)
Aaron Hernandez (character concerns, and also I'm guessing other concerns, as he fell that low.)

With all of these players, the Pats looked at their football and leadership skills rather than some of the other factors. I expect that their are some candidates that may fall to 17 due to an overreaction:

-Robert Quinn (missed senior season due to lame suspension.)
-Da' Quan Bowers (concerns about injuries)

I see the Pats getting a huge name player early on, and perhaps even after trading down.

 

[Don Kipines]

Cam Jordan and Mark Ingram.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

On this thread make a prediction as to the one thing that you think the Patriots will do in this years draft. I'll close the thread on Thursday at 7:30PM. The winner(s) will get a :rocker:.

Here is mine:

I think the Patriots have targeted Cam Jordon. He can be used at any of the DL positions and could be a Willie M. type at OLB.

I think that Jordon will not last until #17. So, my prediction is that the Patriots will move up 2-5 spots to take Cam Jordon with their 1st pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

It is hard to argue with this; totally plausible and logical....but BB has a way of doing the mysterious (at least at the time).

I am thinking that they take an early CB who could also play safety or just a safety....

 

[Sciz]

Two outside linebackers picked (DE/OLB), but none in the top 50 picks.

I take your two and raise you to three, albeit two in the 7th

 

[Patspsycho]

My binky pick is Jurrell Casey. This kid is being overlooked big time. This man is a mountain in the Wilfork mold. Non-stop motor, great attitude, a rock at the line, great hands, and a player who can shed a double-team to stop a run is something you can never discount.

BB has said that you can never have enough pure NT, and if we get this kid, Wilfork can swing out to end more often. We could snag him in the early goings of round 2.

YouTube - USC DT #91 Jurrell Casey Highlights 2010

 

[Patriot Missile]

If Fairley falls past the Titans he will be a Patriot. Most of you will hate that prediction.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

My binky pick is Jurrell Casey. This kid is being overlooked big time. This man is a mountain in the Wilfork mold. Non-stop motor, great attitude, a rock at the line, great hands, and a player who can shed a double-team to stop a run is something you can never discount.

BB has said that you can never have enough pure NT, and if we get this kid, Wilfork can swing out to end more often. We could snag him in the early goings of round 2.

YouTube - USC DT #91 Jurrell Casey Highlights 2010

Interesting premise. On paper the primary difference would seem to be the extra 23 pounds of beef and 10 repetitions at 225 lbs. Big Vince brought to the bargaining table. That and a first round projection vs. third round projection. I must confess I failed to mistake Casey watching a couple of his games, good luck though.

 

[crowell33]

Glad you started this thread because I was just thinking about what will be this years WTF moment. I think I got one that hasn't been mentioned and in a strange way makes sense...at least in a WTF sense.

Goodell goes to the podium to announce the Rams pick and says "The St Louis Rams have traded the 14th pick in the draft to the NE Patriots. New England is now on the clock. Well JJ Watt will still be on the board, so will Ingram, Costanza, Kerrigan, etc. Pretty much everyone on our want list except Jordan who went to Dallas.

Everyone will anticipate one of those guys when the Commissioner strides again to the Podium with a minute left on the clock. Even he looks slightly amused as he reads the card. "With the 14th pick, the New England Patriots select Jimmie Smith CB, Colorado."

For a second we are all kind of speechless, and the NY crowd at Radio City Music Hall explodes in derision. All the talking heads are trying to get their thoughts together so they can try to explain what happened, and meanwhile back in Foxboro, inside the Patriot war room BB smiles to himself and thinks "Gotcha"..... Just another classic Bill Bellichick WTF draft moment.

Now after the pillows have stopped hitting TV screens across Patriot Nation (again), everyone will start scrambling to make some sense out of this one. And here is what they will find.

1. BB fully vets Smith's off field rep and decided it wasn't much and nothing he can't handle.
2. He has rated him better than the Prince and equal to Peterson.
3. He played on a bad team in a bad conference, yet didn't transfer and stayed with the program
4. Smith can be a true shut down CB and BB has decided that the surest way to stop the Passing onslaught that the NFL has become is to literally dictate who the ball can go to. With Smith, McCourty, and Boddin he NOW has the size and athleticism to create favorable match ups with any WR package the Pats are likely to face.

No longer will have to see Big WRs(see Braylon Edwards) get covered fairly well by Butler/Wilhite or any of the other smurf CBs we've had to endure the last few years only to see them come down with the ball because of the size mismatch. No DE/OLB in the draft at that point would effect more plays in a positive manner that an additional big physical shut down CB.

Plus before everyone goes out of their minds the Pat will draft either Claybourn or Heywood later in the first round. Address the OL with #33 or whatever #33 becomes and in round 3 picks up Bruce Carter or Romeus to satisfy all the OLB addicts.

Add to that we pick up a RB (Vereen or the Oklahoma kid) and a few other kids that only the draftnicks will care about, So when we all sit down on Sunday to reflect on the 3 days results, we are all pretty happy, just perplexed about another BB WTF moment

Was arrested on two different occasions while at Colorado. Separately, admitted at the combine that he failed two seperate drug tests while at Colorado. PFW describes him as "has a posse of hangers on, and an inflated opinion of himself. Not accountable".

Sounds like a Bill Belichick kind of player. Not.

 

[Patspsycho]

Interesting premise. On paper the primary difference would seem to be the extra 23 pounds of beef and 10 repetitions at 225 lbs. Big Vince brought to the bargaining table. That and a first round projection vs. third round projection. I must confess I failed to mistake Casey watching a couple of his games, good luck though.

True, but I think you would agree that weight and strength are things that can always be improved.

They are tied in the broad jump but Casey has Vince beat in speed and agility (3 cone, vertical, etc).

But I have no idea what his intelligence score is, or his football aptitude is- or what his character is, all things that BB values highly, so we'll see what happens.

 

[Boston Boxer]

here are two predictions that WILL happen...mark it down.

Pats move up and get Quinn from NC
Pats WILL draft Mark Herzlich

 

[Ochmed Jones]

here are two predictions that WILL happen...mark it down.

Pats move up and get Quinn from NC
Pats WILL draft Mark Herzlich

How high will we have to go for Quinn? #6? Is he really worth multiple potential players?

What am I missing?

 

[Sciz]

Pats WILL draft Mark Herzlich

And do what, make him the slowest ST coverage man in the NFL?

 

[Ochmed Jones]

And do what, make him the slowest ST coverage man in the NFL?

Painful thought if we drafted Herzlich:

Spikes and Herzlich trying to catch Ray Rice on a sweep run to their side of the field.

 

[JoeSixPat]

WR Edmond Gates in the 3rd

No, he's not a good route runner - but he can catch both the screen as well as a simple deep ball, and has the speed to beat his coverage.

Add him to the rest of the offense and DCs are going to have seizures. Should be there in the 3rd.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

WR Edmond Gates in the 3rd

No, he's not a good route runner - but he can catch both the screen as well as a simple deep ball, and has the speed to beat his coverage.

Add him to the rest of the offense and DCs are going to have seizures. Should be there in the 3rd.

This guy sounds like Chad Jackson the second. The only seizures DC"s are going to have are from laughing too much when Gates runs a bad route and causes Brady to get picked.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

True, but I think you would agree that weight and strength are things that can always be improved.

They are tied in the broad jump but Casey has Vince beat in speed and agility (3 cone, vertical, etc).

But I have no idea what his intelligence score is, or his football aptitude is- or what his character is, all things that BB values highly, so we'll see what happens.

I'm not sure what reference you are using, but NFL Draft Scout shows Vince's Pro-Day as 26" v, 4.50 ss, 7.62 3-c vs. Casey's 27.5" v, 4.78 ss, 7.51 3-c at the Combine. This is where you and I start diverging again, Wilfork, 23 lbs heavier, is much quicker laterally (short shuttle) by nearly three tenths of a second, which is a measure I find more significant for a guy playing in the middle of the action. Imagine strapping 23 lbs around Casey's waste and I'm willing to bet his vertical jump is no better than Wilfork's. Which leaves a slight 3-cone advantage to Casey - yet I again consider that Wilfork did it with the extra weight.

Casey is a good athlete, perhaps he could bulk up a bit and do as well, but it's not apples to apples here in measurables. Then you factor in what you see in the games (not youtube, I refuse to watch youtube because it is highlights, it doesn't show what a player is doing play in, play out and I need to see that), at this point most draftnik sites have Casey a couple rounds later than Wilfork went because of what they saw in the games. If I was Indy I'd be looking hard at him, for NE, I don't see the fit. Now, I didn't see Myron Pryor coming either; he's a much more linear athlete who demonstrated some impressive explosiveness with a 30" v at 319. Because he's stiffer, not as agile, he went in the 6th, but apparently he was terrific at technique to go with his explosiveness.

Like I say, good luck, I just don't see the Wilfork comparison, nor the fit with NE. Somebody like Indy, like Tampa, will probably pick him up as a platoon player. Bill Parcels is talking about "Does Not Fit" for us right this moment, that's how I see Casey for NE.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I'm not sure what reference you are using, but NFL Draft Scout shows Vince's Pro-Day as 26" v, 4.50 ss, 7.62 3-c vs. Casey's 27.5" v, 4.78 ss, 7.51 3-c at the Combine. This is where you and I start diverging again, Wilfork, 23 lbs heavier, is much quicker laterally (short shuttle) by nearly three tenths of a second, which is a measure I find more significant for a guy playing in the middle of the action. Imagine strapping 23 lbs around Casey's waste and I'm willing to bet his vertical jump is no better than Wilfork's. Which leaves a slight 3-cone advantage to Casey - yet I again consider that Wilfork did it with the extra weight.

Casey is a good athlete, perhaps he could bulk up a bit and do as well, but it's not apples to apples here in measurables. Then you factor in what you see in the games (not youtube, I refuse to watch youtube because it is highlights, it doesn't show what a player is doing play in, play out and I need to see that), at this point most draftnik sites have Casey a couple rounds later than Wilfork went because of what they saw in the games. If I was Indy I'd be looking hard at him, for NE, I don't see the fit. Now, I didn't see Myron Pryor coming either; he's a much more linear athlete who demonstrated some impressive explosiveness with a 30" v at 319. Because he's stiffer, not as agile, he went in the 6th, but apparently he was terrific at technique to go with his explosiveness.

Like I say, good luck, I just don't see the Wilfork comparison, nor the fit with NE. Somebody like Indy, like Tampa, will probably pick him up as a platoon player. Bill Parcels is talking about "Does Not Fit" for us right this moment, that's how I see Casey for NE.

Is Casey another version of Pryor?

 

[DarMan]

BB picks Wilkerson at 17, which is widely regarded as a reach by 'analysts'.

I agree and I also think we will have 4 picks in the second round this year and and get an additional 1 and 2 next year