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Very Interesting: Belichick's history with Jermaine Cunningham


I always thought Dunlap was the much more talented of the two, still pissed about the pick of Cunningham over Dunlap

Dunlap is a stud. Cunningham is a bust.

Kind of discouraging considering how much time BB spent watching those guys in Florida.
 
Dunlap is a stud. Cunningham is a bust.

Kind of discouraging considering how much time BB spent watching those guys in Florida.

Dunlap is NOT a stud, unless you're using a very loose definition of the word.
 
It's funny how you never hear anyone say, "In that 2004 draft, I know we drafted Wilfork, but I really wanted Ahmad Carrol." Or "I thought Chris Perry was really going to be a late round first round steal in 2004."

Point is, no one pipes up when the player they really wanted turns out to be a bust, and Belichick's (or any other coaches) pick turns out to be a solid player. 31 NFL coaches who do nothing but watch game tape, talk to college coaches, and analyze scouting data for several months consistently make bad choices and draft busts. But know it all arm-chair head coaches need to remind everyone about how right they were 3 years ago when they thought Dunlap was a better play than Cunningham. Frankly, no one cares. There were probably 15 other players you thought were going to be great draft picks that year than never played more than 50 NFL snaps. It's what happens. Stop reminding people of how you, who's probably some fan who probably watched a few of his college games and heard Mel Kiper talk, really were right.
 
Years ago, it was clear that the choice of Cunningham was NOT the right one. From his first day on the field, Carlos Dunlap was the better player. Today, belatedly, we see BB admitting his mistake. Carlos Dunlap meanwhile has a huge contract a yr before he was due for free agency.

Hate to say it. There is something about BB's so-called value picks that are just off the mark. The 2nd round is a graveyard for BB's picks. More failures than successes. Thank God, he is good at attracting and keeping some UNFA gems like Thompkins.

But for a moment imagine, if he succeeded with his 2nd & 3rd round picks more often. Maybe he should get better personnel people to help him.
 
It's funny how you never hear anyone say, "In that 2004 draft, I know we drafted Wilfork, but I really wanted Ahmad Carrol." Or "I thought Chris Perry was really going to be a late round first round steal in 2004."

Point is, no one pipes up when the player they really wanted turns out to be a bust, and Belichick's (or any other coaches) pick turns out to be a solid player. 31 NFL coaches who do nothing but watch game tape, talk to college coaches, and analyze scouting data for several months consistently make bad choices and draft busts. But know it all arm-chair head coaches need to remind everyone about how right they were 3 years ago when they thought Dunlap was a better play than Cunningham. Frankly, no one cares. There were probably 15 other players you thought were going to be great draft picks that year than never played more than 50 NFL snaps. It's what happens. Stop reminding people of how you, who's probably some fan who probably watched a few of his college games and heard Mel Kiper talk, really were right.

Wilfork was by far the best player available for the Pats and everyone knew it. Nobody fessed up to wanting Ahmad Carroll over Wilfork because no one did.

High draft picks that didn't work out are fair game for discussion on cutdown day on a fan messageboard. Why get this worked up? Bill Belichick doesn't need you to protect him.
 
Years ago, it was clear that the choice of Cunningham was NOT the right one. From his first day on the field, Carlos Dunlap was the better player. Today, belatedly, we see BB admitting his mistake. Carlos Dunlap meanwhile has a huge contract a yr before he was due for free agency.

Hate to say it. There is something about BB's so-called value picks that are just off the mark. The 2nd round is a graveyard for BB's picks. More failures than successes. Thank God, he is good at attracting and keeping some UNFA gems like Thompkins.

But for a moment imagine, if he succeeded with his 2nd & 3rd round picks more often. Maybe he should get better personnel people to help him.

1. Gronk, Vereen, Spikes, and Volmer are all second round picks.

2. Why the hell do fans do this? They take a draft, which is inherently hit or miss, and narrow it down to the smallest sample sizes, and then criticize it. Even going back 6+ years, we're looking at a sample size of like 10 players for second round picks.

If you look at the Patriots 2008 draft, you'd think Belichick was the worst talent evaluater in the NFL. If you look at the 2010 NFL Draft, you think Belichick might be one of the best in the NFL. It's a draft, and its a game of odds. Stop whittling down sample sizes to nothing, and then criticizing it.
 
People just need to stop bringing up Dunlap. He's a pure 4-3 DE. He would have been either the biggest 3-4 OLB or the smallest 3-4 DE in the NFL had the Pats drafted him.

Yes, he's been better than Cunningham.

No, he did not fit their defensive scheme at the time.

No, he's not a "stud."
 
Wilfork was by far the best player available for the Pats and everyone knew it. Nobody fessed up to wanting Ahmad Carroll over Wilfork because no one did.

High draft picks that didn't work out are fair game for discussion on cutdown day on a fan messageboard. Why get this worked up? Bill Belichick doesn't need you to protect him.

Honestly, this has nothing to do with supporting Belichick at all. This has to do with the obnoxious "I can't believe we didn't take player X with that pick, who went 6 picks later! I was telling all my friends on draft day that's who that we should have really taken player X."

When you realize how much guess work goes into making draft picks and the amount of unknowns that exist with any draft pick, it's like saying "Why did Brady pick heads! I knew it was gonna be tails." Picking on certain draft picks completely misses the forest for the trees. It's a game of odds with really small sample sizes, and the only way to get a really good evaluation of a teams drafting ability is to look at large sample sizes spanning several years.
 
Honestly, this has nothing to do with supporting Belichick at all. This has to do with the obnoxious "I can't believe we didn't take player X with that pick, who went 6 picks later! I was telling all my friends on draft day that's who that we should have really taken player X."

When you realize how much guess work goes into making draft picks and the amount of unknowns that exist with any draft pick, it's like saying "Why did Brady pick heads! I knew it was gonna be tails." Picking on certain draft picks completely misses the forest for the trees. It's a game of odds with really small sample sizes, and the only way to get a really good evaluation of a teams drafting ability is to look at large sample sizes spanning several years.

Why do you need to be in charge of what people discuss? Or how they do it?
 
Go Play Madden, Save the Game before the Draft, Auto the Draft, Look Through every team's roster, find the best rookies, load the game again and play the draft. WORKED IN EVERY MADDEN.
 
.."Little family...party of 1000...your thread is ready...

dgloom.jpg
 
Dunlap is NOT a stud, unless you're using a very loose definition of the word.

Perhaps he ment in comparison to Cunningham. If Cunningham could tackle worth a damn he'd probably have like 13 career sacks instead of 3.5. Dude would get right in front of the ****** quarterback and still find a way to let him get away. One of his sacks was Joe Flacco fumbling the ball so he barely ever brought down a qb. Although in the end he was responsible for Peyton throwing that game sealing pick in 2010. So I guess the pick wasn't a complete waste if we got an epic manning face out of it.
 
Vollmer, Vereen, Spikes and Gronkowski in 4 years in the 2nd Round.

Kraft should keep his mouth shut.

BB definitely has a big problem in the second round. How about these second rounders (in 2009):
Patsy Chung
Ron Brace
Darius Butler
Then there is a class pick of Brandon Tate pick instead of Wallace in round 3. That whiff probably cost the Patriots a few post season victories...

2008: Wheatley
2007: Mercifully they did not have a second round pick
2006: The unforgettable Chad Jackson
 
Years ago, it was clear that the choice of Cunningham was NOT the right one. From his first day on the field, Carlos Dunlap was the better player. Today, belatedly, we see BB admitting his mistake. Carlos Dunlap meanwhile has a huge contract a yr before he was due for free agency.

Hate to say it. There is something about BB's so-called value picks that are just off the mark. The 2nd round is a graveyard for BB's picks. More failures than successes. Thank God, he is good at attracting and keeping some UNFA gems like Thompkins.

But for a moment imagine, if he succeeded with his 2nd & 3rd round picks more often. Maybe he should get better personnel people to help him.

There is actually a psychological condition called Hindsight Bias - Definition: The term hindsight bias refers to the tendency people have to view events as more predictable than they really are. After an event, people often believe that they knew the outcome of the event before it actually happened. The phenomenon has been demonstrated in a number of different situations, including politics and sporting events. In experiments, people often recall their predictions before the event as much stronger than they actually were.

I think many of us suffer from this unknowingly when reflecting on a player that did not meet his draft status, imaging how the 5 teams that selected these QB I listed below feel about their decision, hindsight is always 20/20.

• Chad Pennington - Round 1, Pick 18
• Giovanni Carmazzi - Round 3, Pick 65
• Chris Redman - Round 3, Pick 75
• Tee Martin - Round 5, Pick 163
• Marc Bulger - Round 6, Pick 168
• Spergon Wynn - Round 6, Pick 183
 
that was a nice story but I hope BB stops making friends with collage players
 
It's funny how you never hear anyone say, "In that 2004 draft, I know we drafted Wilfork, but I really wanted Ahmad Carrol." Or "I thought Chris Perry was really going to be a late round first round steal in 2004."

Point is, no one pipes up when the player they really wanted turns out to be a bust, and Belichick's (or any other coaches) pick turns out to be a solid player. 31 NFL coaches who do nothing but watch game tape, talk to college coaches, and analyze scouting data for several months consistently make bad choices and draft busts. But know it all arm-chair head coaches need to remind everyone about how right they were 3 years ago when they thought Dunlap was a better play than Cunningham. Frankly, no one cares. There were probably 15 other players you thought were going to be great draft picks that year than never played more than 50 NFL snaps. It's what happens. Stop reminding people of how you, who's probably some fan who probably watched a few of his college games and heard Mel Kiper talk, really were right.

Actually in the 2003 draft people were talking about Wilfork coming out early & was screaming then & again in 2004 "Please NO! The guy is an overrated punk"

Fortunately Bill overruled me that time:bricks:
 
IMHO, Cunningham would have been more valuable to the team than any of our current backups. He was useful as a DT in sub packages. He started (and did OK) at DE when Ninkovich had start at LB because of injury. In addition, Cunningham was listed as a LB last year, since he was an emergency LB.

I think that Belichick wanted to keep Cunningham on the 53. However, the reality is that he is injured and we have no clue when he would be available.

I suspect that we will sign an injury settlement with him and sign him later in the season if he recovers.
 


TRANSCRIPT: Eliot Wolf’s Pre-Draft Press Conference 4/18/24
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Tuesday Patriots Notebook 4/16: News and Notes
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Thursday Patriots Notebook 4/11: News and Notes
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