DRAFT Cole Strange-Welcome to the Pats

[Tunescribe]

Every year at draft time, I am prepared to be disappointed by the Pats draft and Yet every year I follow BCG, and all the other draft guys as they painstakingly pour through film and make suggestions that usually get me excited about who they will draft. And EVERY freakin year I get a list of new patriots who are virtually complete strangers to me and once again I've been fooled again. So welcome Cole ****ing strange some freaking OG from a school noone has heard of in a conference that probably shouldn't exist. No Daxon Hill. no Clemson CB, No Travis Jones. But a guard that I guarantee you won't be starting in september.
Call me on Sunday to let me know who else I won't care about with their next 8 picks. Because I don't give a ****.

I'm curious how you arrived at the conclusion he won't be a starter.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Cousin JMC,
Your thoughts are outstanding.
I had this Strange kid on my Mocks but later as anybody.

Pros:​

When evaluating prospects who primarily play against lower levels of competition than do those at big-time programs, it is crucial to see them dominate regularly. A clear NFL talent at the FCS level, Cole Strange is a smooth and quick mover who can be used creatively in the run game and pass protection. He gets to space on screens and outside run concepts; he also mirrors well both before and after engaging. Strange has loose hips to hinge and seal. The Mocs’ standout wins with persistent leg drive and people-moving power at the first and second levels of the defense. Strange has proven himself capable of creating space against higher-level competition. The Tennessee native has a strong grip, above-average core strength, and a finishing mentality. Strange has a solid anchor. When entering engagement, the athletic tackle displays sound weight distribution. He has a very flexible frame. He shoots low and inside punches. Further, Strange maintains a wide base and keeps his feet moving through contact. His pad level has gotten better over time. In the run game, Strange constantly looks for work. He gets to the second level easily and is exceptional engaging in space. The starting guard can even perform reach blocks to the second level. In pass protection, Strange sustains blocks with grip strength, change of direction ability, and power. The high-effort lineman is scheme-versatile.

I think even BB knew that slating in Ferentz to start meant more trips for Mac to the ice bath after games.

Whomever did the Draft last year, bring him back.....but I digress.

Bill can mediate his credibility for this Draft by picking up one of the few "blue chippers" that are still available in Round #2. Then you can play the draft slot swap game.

But as you say there are some chips not being correctly evaluated on our forum.
Thoughts:

I think Peppers is a LB here. He's bigger than Nkobe.Dean.

I think I would be all in for CB Andrew Boothe and Chad Muma as an interior LB. To get faster on the D Line Logan Hall is my favorite. Watch he and Cole Strange fight it out at the Senior Bowl.

ILB Leo Chanal should be available at #54. He has size and speed

Speed CB? . Zyon McCollum, CB, Sam Houston State (SR, 6'2", 199 pounds)

Sleeper? Malcolm Rodriguez, LB, Oklahoma State ( 5'11", 227 pounds)


A WR you should not be surprised to see as a Pat is Romeo Doubs, WR, Nevada (SR, 6'2", 201 pounds). I think the Pats have met with him 3 times and E.J. Perry QB from Brown.


I would have either Alabama WR Bolden or Perry pegged for our 7th Round pick.


Future ?It would not offend me if they Drafted Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan to groom his for when Wynn leaves after this year.

Or I can see BB going after David Ojabo, edge, Michigan for the future upon recovery. He would have been a top ten pick. Now we can play the Draft slot game.
As Example: Would any of us be upset if Bill had Drafted Ojabo at #29? No. So Ojabo at #54, Strange at #29.....It works out to the naysayers.
OK

Now the Navy deal......won't Bill consider LB Diego ***ot ,a three-time All-AAC defender and was the Shrine Bowl defensive MVP

So how do we unravel this Cousins? I have thrown 12 names out there for consideration. If we get 1/4 of them, good for us. But I see an easier path to help Mac and our defense.

These are wouldya/if you coulds-

What if Deebo is still in play?Would you throw the best choices up their plus a player or two for Deebo? The Titans flinched and Howie got A.J. Brown. So at the end of the Draft you had Deebo and a really good Guard plus some lower hole fillers? Would that work for you Cousins?

What if the Raiders were willing to take a lower pick for former first Rounder DL Clelin Ferrell who is stuck in a rotataion in LV? It's not sacks, it's pressures. 35 in the last two years part time.

I wish Groh would read this stuff so he would get more of a perspective.

Just some ideas Cousin. Thoughts?
DW Toys

You should site that report cuzzo.

Yes to most of those names. We've been talking about them for months I'm sure we'll get a few. Next pick will make people happy.

 

[Brotherblues]

I text with @midwestpatsfan from time to time and he had this to say. Mike is a good dude that knows what he's talking about and isn't afraid to have an opinion.
View attachment 42795

It's possible I'm too low on Strange, I had a 3rd on him. Tough to argue against Bill and his resume they obviously felt Strange was a top 25-30 prospect and stuck to their boards.

Remember we picked Geneo Grissom before Flowers and Mason so it's about the collective in the end but I get the frustration. A ton of good prospects on the board though, a lot. I suspect we trade up in the 2nd and get a prospect everyone will love

Don't know who that is but, if I had the ability to organize my thoughts and express them coherently, that's what I'd have said, just about word for word.

 

[borisman]

From his NFL dot com combine results profile:

"If you can find the tape, go watch him against South Carolina in 2018. He was probably about 285 pounds but that joker was getting after it against Javon Kinlaw, who was a lot bigger and stronger." -- Scouting director for NFC team

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I really said nothing about whether scouts agree with Belichick or not, nor did I say anything about Belichick being bad at drafting CBs.

I made 2 easy points:

1. If Belichick doesn't think very much of the players in this range, most of whom were at positions of need, speed on defense, front 7, CBs, then this doesn't bode very well for the rest of the draft.

2. CB is a much bigger need than OG. Malcolm Butler and Jalen Mills are who we have there to start right now.

Put these two points together and the selection of Strange over the CBs must mean that Belichick doesn't believe the CBs were good value, or for that matter, any good.

We'll also be comparing Strange in the future to players like Darian Kinnard and Sean Rhyan, who are likely the next 2 guards off the board.

What im thinking and hoping is bb sees guys at cb/lb/dt in rds 2/3/4 that he views as better value at that spot than dean/booth/wyatt at the end of round one. Unpopular opinion i know but its his board. We have 10 picks to go plus the udfa pool where he’s historically been great at spotting cb. Im not thrilled either with the strange pick but we still could come out of this draft addressing several big needs and thats the ultimate goal, no matter where they end up being taken

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

You should site that report cuzzo.

Yes to most of those names. We've been talking about them for months I'm sure we'll get a few. Next pick will make people happy.

Depends if it’s on my draft contest list or not so kyler Gordon Boye mafe pls

 

[ralmat55]

OG is a rather bland position, but you need good ones to win. Center, on the other hand, is the 2nd most important position on the line. Would it make this pick more understandable to some if long term, he’s seen more as a center in the Pat’s plans?

 

[Patsgofor4]

I text with @midwestpatsfan from time to time and he had this to say. Mike is a good dude that knows what he's talking about and isn't afraid to have an opinion.
View attachment 42795

It's possible I'm too low on Strange, I had a 3rd on him. Tough to argue against Bill and his resume they obviously felt Strange was a top 25-30 prospect and stuck to their boards.

Remember we picked Geneo Grissom before Flowers and Mason so it's about the collective in the end but I get the frustration. A ton of good prospects on the board though, a lot. I suspect we trade up in the 2nd and get a prospect everyone will love

No offense to Mike but how many times has he actually seen Strange play in a real game, if at all? That isn’t an indictment on him, you or anyone else who isn’t an area or regional scout, when we are talking about a school as small as UT – Chattanooga.

If the Patriots did not feel like there was a substantial drop off between Strange and the next OG, they not have taken them at 29. So the answer to his question is yes, they did feel like he was that much better than the next IOL. In fact, it is very possible that he was their top rated OG.

 

[DaBruinz]

What happened to all that talk about how Bill's draft strategy is evolving and changing with the modern NFL. This pick is a typical Bill outthinking himself pick. We don't have Tom Brady to bail out odd picks like this and the fact he let TWO perfectly fine guards go only to over-draft one in the first round is just ridiculous. Other teams are literally laughing at this pick. That should tell you all you need to know.

Bob needs to strip him of his GM duties. Sure, Bill might quit if that happens but something needs to be done.

This is the sort of post that it typical of the jaded and uneducated Football fan.
The Pats didn't "LET" two perfectly fine guards go. Go back and actually watch the second half of the season. The entire O-line was inconsistent. Why do you think Mac had to make so many hot-reads to Meyers when there were others open? They clearly want Onwenu on the field with the Offense and it looks like RG is his best position. So they moved Mason. Karras got paid a 3yr/18M contract. If you have him, you don't get 2-3 others. Players like James White, Malcolm Butler, and/or Matthew Slater.

What your statement tells me is that you don't understand that NFL teams grade prospects different. The Patriots, under Belichick, have almost always ignored the "consensus". The Rams saying that they thought Strange might be there at 104 tells me one of two things. Either they low-balled Strange compared to the Pats or they thought they'd get a steal in Strange at 104. Either way, it doesn't make any difference because their opinions mean nothing to how the Patriots evaluate players.

 

[upstater1]

What im thinking and hoping is bb sees guys at cb/lb/dt in rds 2/3/4 that he views as better value at that spot than dean/booth/wyatt at the end of round one. Unpopular opinion i know but its his board. We have 10 picks to go plus the udfa pool where he’s historically been great at spotting cb. Im not thrilled either with the strange pick but we still could come out of this draft addressing several big needs and thats the ultimate goal, no matter where they end up being taken

That's an explanation I'm open too.

But here we are with Gordon and Booth still available, likely to go in the next 10 picks, and then who?

There's a massive drop off.

We'll be looking at the guards too, like Rhyan and Kinnard.

 

[Wozzy]

OG is a rather bland position, but you need good ones to win. Center, on the other hand, is the 2nd most important position on the line. Would it make this pick more understandable to some if long term, he’s seen more as a center in the Pat’s plans?

David Andrews is 29, he'll be roughly 34 when this kid's rookie deal is up.

He could slot right in at Center assuming he pans out.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

After a (bad) night’s sleep to clear my mind, and reading a few other reports this morning, I guess I’m at the “serenity now” point and ready to drink the Kool-Aid. The guy is a good prospect, and if we’re so lucky that he turns into Mankins, then it’s better that the Patriots may have overdrafted him than risk not getting him at all. They just better be right on that assessment….

Ben Volin posted an article calling the Patriots a laughingstock. If my initial reaction got me to the same conclusion as Volin, it means it’s time for me to reassess my position…..

 

[XLIX]

Try again. I'm telling you what the talking heads were saying on TV. After the Pats took him at 27th overall, there was a long pause before Mayock goes off on his special teams ability. And there were a lot of people here on this board who were pissed because they wanted the Pats to draft Sergio Kindle.

LOLOL!!! Your own video doesn't support the claim you made.

What you said: "The announcers on TV were confused and were like "well, he's a good special teams player."

What the announcers actually said: "He is sudden quick and physical ... Just a very solid New England pick."

 

[SHOWTIME15]

It seems like they handed the card pretty quickly...

Patricia: We're on the clock

Belichick: Alright give it to them

 

[XLIX]

Mel Kiper doesn’t set the big board for pro teams.

No he doesn't, but don't sit here and tell us he was widely seen as a great prospect when fact is he wasn't.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

 

[borisman]

Some Strange love:

That first tweet shows off his great feet and athleticism to come of the outside block to hit the interior rusher. Thing of beauty. Would love to see the whole Kentucky game. They had Paschal and McCall (who didn't have THAT many snaps but still, Chattanooga runs the ball a lot so...) on that DL so would be a good look against tough competition.

 

[DaBruinz]

OL was a priority because Bill created it unecessarily.

O-line was a priority because the O-line was inconsistent last year. Not because of anything Bill created. The O-line was why Mac had so many hot throws to Meyers. The O-line is why the offense didn't do jack in the final two games against the Bills.

This move should improve the O-line. Karras signed a 3yr/$18M deal and would have counted $5M against the cap. Mason was counting 9.6M against the cap. Would rather have them and inconsistent play with no ability to bring back White, Slater, and Trent Brown?

 

[everlong]

I completely agree with you except that I don’t think Mankins was a reach in 2005. If I remember correctly, I think he was considered a top 50 player

I was only using Mankins in the context of "if Strange reaches his level". Not that he was the same level of reach.

 

[everlong]

And you know that how? Special league sources?

Go watch the Rams video with them laughing and saying they were wondering if he would still be there at 105.