Revisiting the rookie class of 2016

[WaterfallJumper]

As we were saying...

It certainly doesn't look promising. I hope he can turn it around, because that would be great to have a reliable returner and a good corner, but I'm just not very hopeful. I didn't like him a ton coming out of college, although I figured he was a shoe-in for our scheme. I'd love it if he proved me wrong.

So far my top DBs are doing well, though, in Davis, the other Jones (I had J. Jones rated as a 3rd round guy), and Bradberry. Bradberry went way higher than I expected, but we could have taken him instead of Jones as a nice consolation for missing Davis. Ah well; at least we traded for Rowe, so I got a binkie a year late.

 

[ashley]

Thuney and Mitchell have been absolute steals.....obviously Jones has been very disappointing but one year is too early to judge, hope he rebounds next year!!!!

 

[mihap]

Thuney and Mitchell have been absolute steals.....obviously Jones has been very disappointing but one year is too early to judge, hope he rebounds next year!!!!

Except for the brainfart where Perriman gain 30 yards, Cyrus played well. As punt returner he has issues, but that is on coaching stuff to solve. If he is good in practice and this stuff happens in games than they have to give him oppurtunity from start of the game.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Thuney and Mitchell have been absolute steals.....obviously Jones has been very disappointing but one year is too early to judge, hope he rebounds next year!!!!

I think karras has been a huge surprise as well. His presence had allowed the pats to redshirt Jackson this year.

 

[Kontradiction]

If he stays healthy thuney could be the be the best player from this draft class.

Good call. Thuney is a mauler and has had the best rookie season of any of the picks. Mitchell has been absolutely solid as well and the jury is still out on Jones. I think he's been hit or miss in coverage and has been an absolute disaster as a returner. But there's still room to grow there.

 

[manxman2601]

Good call. Thuney is a mauler and has had the best rookie season of any of the picks. Mitchell has been absolutely solid as well and the jury is still out on Jones. I think he's been hit or miss in coverage and has been an absolute disaster as a returner. But there's still room to grow there.

Valentine deserves some love. Hasn't looked out of place when called upon.

OT: Hadn't realised we'd signed Jamil Douglas to the PS. I like that.

 

[captain stone]

As do I. I still have hopes that Douglas can compete for the Swing Guard position next season. He has the athletic ability (28 reps, 29" vertical), but he needs to take
hard coaching and build a fire in his belly.

Now that the season is over, my opinion of the 2106 draft class really hasn't changed a whole lot.
Cy Jones should've been a late 3rd/early 4th pick, but was even worse than I had thought;
We received production if not value from Thuney & Mitchell, who has proven to be the best college WR drafted by Bill in Fourteen years;
Dak Prescott > Jacoby Brissett;
Vinnie V was OK I guess, though I still think that there were better DLs available at 96;
KGH was a wasted pick;
I'm not nearly as high on Roberts as some are. All those players whom he tackled in college are merely shrugging him off in the NFL. I would've chosen Tyler Matakevich at 214 if I had to choose a LB;
His non-athletic ability will always limit Ted Karras to being a fringe, replaceable JAG. I would've chosen RG Vadal Alexander at 221 if I had to choose an OLman. I also would've kept Josh Kline and been more patient with Jonathan Cooper;
And I still think that there were better WRs available at 225 than the raw, unproductive Devin Lucien.

 

[BobDigital]

Overall it was a good class considering where we picked.

Thuney, Mitchell Valentine all turned out to be pretty good and should make good 2nd year pros.

Karras and Brissett I have hopes for. We will see on them

Cyrus is a big time question mark at this point but some guys have very bad first years and go on to have good careers.

Roberts did okay for his pick spot but not super high on him at this point. KGH and Lucien appeared to miss but both were late picks so no biggie.

Overall considering the highest pick was 60 and we got 3 good players and maybe 5-6 out of this class you have to be happy.

Yes we could go over the board in hindsight and find player who has better years but on the whole I give them a B+. If Cyrus Jones worked out this year it would have been ever higher.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

As do I. I still have hopes that Douglas can compete for the Swing Guard position next season. He has the athletic ability (28 reps, 29" vertical), but he needs to take
hard coaching and build a fire in his belly.

Now that the season is over, my opinion of the 2106 draft class really hasn't changed a whole lot.
Cy Jones should've been a late 3rd/early 4th pick, but was even worse than I had thought;
We received production if not value from Thuney & Mitchell, who has proven to be the best college WR drafted by Bill in Fourteen years;
Dak Prescott > Jacoby Brissett;
Vinnie V was OK I guess, though I still think that there were better DLs available at 96;
KGH was a wasted pick;
I'm not nearly as high on Roberts as some are. All those players whom he tackled in college are merely shrugging him off in the NFL. I would've chosen Tyler Matakevich at 214 if I had to choose a LB;
His non-athletic ability will always limit Ted Karras to being a fringe, replaceable JAG. I would've chosen RG Vadal Alexander at 221 if I had to choose an OLman. I also would've kept Josh Kline and been more patient with Jonathan Cooper;
And I still think that there were better WRs available at 225 than the raw, unproductive Devin Lucien.

Roberts tackling freeman from behind on Atls second last drive will be the least talked about, game saving play of the game.

Vincent was one of very few true NTs in last years and this years draft. We need him and all his bulk. That pick played out far better than expected.

Thuney was a win.

Mitchell was a win.

Every pick after that, doesn't matter since none would have touched the field or made the roster.

Cyrus jones revenge tour begins now.

 

[luuked]

Roberts did okay for his pick spot but not super high on him at this point.

I think especially for Roberts this offseason will be huge. If he already more or less hit his ceiling, I am not sure he will survive cuts next camp.

 

[long distance]

Some evaluations here . after winning SB with this rookies . are kind of sad..

Roberts was/is a huge asset in stopping the run and goal line D. Two critical areas that made this D so successful this year. He can be a monster STer if needed. Unless the standard for 6 rd pick is Brady he was a great pick.

Valentine surpassed all expectations and was great rotational option on #1 D in both pass and run game, despite nagging back problems. If he can stay healthy he might be the ultimate steal.

Thuney was a rookie ironman.

Mitchell was one of the reasons of Pats comeback - in the Super Bowl! .. if we really want to ignore other impact throughout the season.

The trust in him (and Karras, Valentine) enabled the Pats to carry additional players at other positions which is an underrated, easily forgotten factor

Brissett, Jonathan Jones ..

Its really hard to understand what people expect from rookies here?
The fact is most showed great maturity and stepped up big time .. and had no small part in winning it all..

 

[MrNathanDrake]

we got some solid role players in this draft. No superstars. But that's typical of the Patriots.

 

[luuked]

Roberts was/is a huge asset in stopping the run and goal line D. Two critical areas that made this D so successful this year. He can be a monster STer if needed. Unless the standard for 6 rd pick is Brady he was a great pick.

I might have underrated his ST play when I said he might get cut if he can't evolve beyond being a one trick pony run defender. I didn't see a place on the roster for someone so one dimensional but ST would completely change that assessment. Gotta checkout some of his ST play over the summer.. the break is long enough.

 

[manxman2601]

Some evaluations here . after winning SB with this rookies . are kind of sad..

Roberts was/is a huge asset in stopping the run and goal line D. Two critical areas that made this D so successful this year. He can be a monster STer if needed. Unless the standard for 6 rd pick is Brady he was a great pick.

Valentine surpassed all expectations and was great rotational option on #1 D in both pass and run game, despite nagging back problems. If he can stay healthy he might be the ultimate steal.

Thuney was a rookie ironman.

Mitchell was one of the reasons of Pats comeback - in the Super Bowl! .. if we really want to ignore other impact throughout the season.

The trust in him (and Karras, Valentine) enabled the Pats to carry additional players at other positions which is an underrated, easily forgotten factor

Brissett, Jonathan Jones ..

Its really hard to understand what people expect from rookies here?
The fact is most showed great maturity and stepped up big time .. and had no small part in winning it all..

Well said. Despite the temporary disappointment of Cyrus (it's only been one year), this was a very solid draft class. I'm not disappointed at all.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

we got some solid role players in this draft. No superstars. But that's typical of the Patriots.

And especially of a situation where they didn't even pick until number 60. It would have been an upset to get a superstar in this situation, although not unheard of. Turned out to be a solid draft class in year one.

 

[jefmblrd]

Thuney helped to solidify a questionable OLine and Mitchell showed toughness, solid route running, sure hands and strong moves after the catch.

Roberts showed explosion on the defense and hustle; he should only improve after a full off-season working out in our program.

Valentine was solid and showed a great deal of promise.

Cyrus Jones was a disappointment. Hopefully a full off-season will help him get squared away. I was hopeful that he'd give us a boost in the return game, unfortunately that never happened.

I loved KGH's speed and athleticism and was sorry he was released.

School is still out on Brissett, but he's shown some promise; we'll see how he does with a year under his belt.

Karras looks like he can contribute to the team; I look forward to watching his development.

 

[patsinthesnow]

What's Thuney's longterm prognosis at LG? His development could make the OL one of the best units in the league (and make looking into players like Lamp unnecessary). Andrews is a legit C IMO.

 

[mgteich]

Except for the brainfart where Perriman gain 30 yards, Cyrus played well. As punt returner he has issues, but that is on coaching stuff to solve. If he is good in practice and this stuff happens in games than they have to give him oppurtunity from start of the game.

If Cyrus Jones really played well, he would have gotten lots more reps. As of now, J Jones may be a better prospect at corner. The key to the defensive backfield was the fine play by Ryan and Rowe.

 

[luuked]

Andrews is a legit C IMO.

I think Andrews is a piece that can be part of a legit top OL but he individually is unfortunately a bit undersized.

If Mason and Thuney make another leap forward and Solder and Cannon can at least keep their level I think he will not be a problem. But if one of our guards starts to have issues then Andrews might become an issue as well.

 

[luuked]

If Cyrus Jones really played well, he would have gotten lots more reps. As of now, J Jones may be a better prospect at corner. The key to the defensive backfield was the fine play by Ryan and Rowe.

In terms of ST, I think Cyrus must have shown something in practice otherwise the coaching staff wouldn't have continuously exposed him on game days. Obviously, once we hit crunch time and he kept screwing up you had to shelve the entire thing until 2017.

As a CB he didn't really get to do much this year. So it's difficult to say anything really..