long distance
Pro Bowl Player
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One other factor to consider is who's still available in free agency.
For example, if the Pats miss out on Justin Reid/Ronnie Harrison (etc.) in the 2nd because they've prioritized other prospects, Eric Reid, Vaccaro and Boston are still out there. While they're not young young, 26/27 years old is still younger than 31.
For another example, if the Pats feel that Evans isn't a great fit and that LVE is too risky and that all the remaining ILB prospects after those two are about the same, "lesser" level of quality/fit, Bowman is still available, as are Cushing and Casillas. While none of them may be upgrades, and certainly not long term, their availability may allow the Pats the leeway (insurance) to wait and select an ILB type later.
The point being that, somewhere deep in Gillette, there's a data-crunching facility so massive and sophisticated that it makes the NSA jealous. This facility tracks the ever-changing grades and availability status for not only this draft's prospects, but for all the potential prospects in the next couple-three drafts, and for every player on the Pats roster, and for every player on every other roster, and for every free agent - based on information known only to the Pats' coaches and in-house scouts. This facility also projects a mind-bogglingly large number of possible permutations for the Pats rosters for the next couple-three years, grades each of them, and maps out multiple pathways for arriving at each.
Coincidentally, this facility is also the room where BB, Caserio and Ernie Adams sit down and chat over coffee.
The point being that it's extremely difficult to project how this Pats draft may unfold because, obviously, we don't have access to any of that inside information. But it's also because, not so obviously, it's easy for us fans to lose track of the bigger, longer-term picture while being dazzled by all the potential shiny, new toys crowding our immediate field of view.
There's more than one way to write this year's roster re-building Perl script and the Pats have become really good at finding a way that works pretty well most of the time. The draft is only a part of it.
yup