If this draft is the work of Eliot Wolf’s grading system then

[RobertWeathers]

Regarding dogs and gross things, the real issue isn't if, it is where.

There is no worse ways to wake up than....
1) Smoke/Fire Alarm
2) A human scream
3) Dog throwing up

That stat for day three of the draft is so sobering. I had better odds of taking the prom queen to the big dance.

It's a reality most don't seem to acknowledge.

BB got killed for picks here (some rightfully so) but the reality is the chances of success were low anyway. He also too chances on high-upside players (see Dom Easley, Ras-I, etc), picked low in drafts.

 

[Triumph]

They took talent from real good schools.

LSU, OSU and Georgia. All 3 are powerhouse football teams and in the National Championship hunt every season. Good to great players want to play at those schools so they draw the cream of the crop. In turn, LSU, OSU and Georgia compete against serious contenders who are ranked also drawing NFL talent.

LSU
USC (23)
Ole Miss (9) - They were not fake like Indiana. Opponents - Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia all had winning records and are serious programs. This is why Paxson Dart bears watching IMO.
Texas AM (14) - Is the real deal and its hell to play there.
Alabama (11)
South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma fill out the schedule.

OSU
Oregon (3)
Penn St (3)
Tennessee (7)
Texas (4)
Norte Dame (3)
Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan fill out the schedule.

Georgia
Clemson (14)
Alabama (4)
Texas (1)
Ole Miss (16)
Tennessee (6)
Norte Dame (3)
Auburn, Florida and Georgia Tech fill out the schedule.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I saw the same thing and posted it in the WR depth thread.

It's crazy. I watched his highlights then Deion's as a NEP. It's uncanny. Same routes. Same hands. Same separation.

Deion is a bit quicker and bursty while Williams is faster but pretty damn close regardless.

Branch

5 ft 9+1⁄8 in (1.76 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	30 in (0.76 m)	8+1⁄8 in (0.21 m)	4.45 s	1.51 s	2.56 s	3.78 s	6.71 s	36.0 in (0.91 m)	9 ft 9 in (2.97 m)
All values from NFL Combine[6][7]

Pre-draft measurables

[th]

Height​

[/th][th]

Weight​

[/th][th]

Arm length​

[/th][th]

Hand span​

[/th][th]

40-yard dash​

[/th][th]

10-yard split​

[/th][th]

20-yard split​

[/th][th]

20-yard shuttle​

[/th][th]

Three-cone drill​

[/th][th]

Vertical jump​

[/th][th]

Broad jump​

[/th]​

​

Williams

5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	30 in (0.76 m)	9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m)	4.34 s	1.56 s	2.59 s	4.19 s	7.00 s	37.0 in (0.94 m)	10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)	11 reps
All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[5][6]

Pre-draft measurables

[th]

Height​

[/th][th]

Weight​

[/th][th]

Arm length​

[/th][th]

Hand span​

[/th][th]

40-yard dash​

[/th][th]

10-yard split​

[/th][th]

20-yard split​

[/th][th]

20-yard shuttle​

[/th][th]

Three-cone drill​

[/th][th]

Vertical jump​

[/th][th]

Broad jump​

[/th][th]

Bench press​

[/th]​

​

 

[TomPatriot]

Steve Smith saying Williams reminds him of him is all I need. That’s exactly the kind of player you want on your team. Make your opponents have to “ ICE UP.”

I’m still high on the most interesting, enjoyable draft I’ve witnessed in a long time, so I’m pretty satisfied. Great offseason.

 

[Love The Drake]

Steve Smith saying Williams reminds him of him is all I need. That’s exactly the kind of player you want on your team. Make your opponents have to “ ICE UP.”

I 100 percent agree.
I wrongly took him off my board based on size and one report saying he couldn’t get open unless schemed to be open.

So I didn’t give him a second thought.

I still would love to see Felton or Royals brought in still.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

This is what it looks like when you have a good front office in sync with a good coach. They collaborate and have success. I'm high on Wolf, and he seems to be happy with the new people he's working with. Making the first 3 picks was one thing, but moving back twice in the 3rd and still getting the center we wanted was masterful. Now we have an extra high 5th plus a next year 4th.

 

[DaBruinz]

They have been hitting the off-season prioritized shopping list with absolute precision.

Next question is can they play. Not all of their FA or draft choices will pan out but you can't argue with the needs and their efforts to address them.

It's really all you can hope for.

Guarantee that the Negative Nancies on this board will whine like crazy over every player that doesn't pan out. They'll lament that the team didn't sign whom THEY wanted and crucify Wolf for that reason vs. crucifying Wolf for just bad decisions. As wolf has been prone to do since he got here.

 

[Triumph]

Guarantee that the Negative Nancies on this board will whine like crazy over every player that doesn't pan out. They'll lament that the team didn't sign whom THEY wanted and crucify Wolf for that reason vs. crucifying Wolf for just bad decisions. As wolf has been prone to do since he got here.

You want Wolf fired yesterday.

 

[Joey007]

you cannot change a teams draft intel, analytical data, evaluations quickly like that.
last years draft fit the needs, player type, dynamics set by Bill
this years draft have Wolf's fingerprints on all the data, evaluations, etc, but Vrabel, Cowden, Streicher had final say.

It didn’t help the coach in charge still wanted to be Bill.

This feels like the first real year post Bill era.

 

[Ian]

We've heard rumors and inferences from Wolf that Mayo didn't have a vision nor knew what kind of player he wanted in his program. That left the personnel dept to it's own devices. We saw the results.

This is why i'm stopping short on the, "Wolf Sucks" narrative. A good GM/personnel guy needs input from the coach on what kind of player to target. That increases the odds of success the player will do well here.

We can speculate if they are using Wolf's "grading system" or not but there is no question each player chosen or signed in FA is a guy Vrabel has vetted (to varying levels) and has signed off on that player being part of his program.

I think this more or less sums it up, and Wolf sort of alluded to it at the beginning of the offseason, having a vision absolutely helps. Phil Perry also made a good point when he pointed out Wolf's not an ego guy, and the collaboration with the head coach is key to the process. It's Wolf's job for him and the personnel department to scout players who fit the profile of what the coach and the team are looking for, not to force guys on them. He also hinted that he really didn't have the info they needed last year, which sounded like a possible issue with the other regime. He did mention they hadn't fully implemented the grading system last offseason, albeit we don't know to what extent that played a role in the type of players they looked at last year vs this year. But this year, they at least had a full year using it.

But basically, he and the scouting department narrow down the pool of players, and then it's up to the coach and his staff to figure out which one best fits their vision and the scheme. It works better when you have a group of guys who are all on the same page and the head coach also knows what he's doing and has a better bead on things. I think this is a better example of what he's good at, and it also helps when you have a head coach who is also experienced and understands the process.

It's not supposed to be a one-man show. And so far, obviously, it's been a much better draft now that they all seem to be on the same page.

 

[Ian]

I also thought this part was interesting from last night:

"In all honesty, there was some really good conversations before our first pick with Coach Vrabel and Ryan [Cowden] and Cam [Williams] and Matt [Groh] and Alonzo [Highsmith]. Just ... there was a little bit of a debate about who we were going to pick. And ultimately, one of the players we were talking about got drafted, so it didn’t end up mattering. But I think it was a really good step in the right direction, just for us working together in our relationship as coworkers. And because we have to have productive disagreements for this to work. We can’t just agree on everything. We can’t just acquiesce to each other on something. So I think it was really productive from that standpoint.”

I wonder which guy they were debating between and who wanted who ...

 

[signbabybrady]

Finally earned the gif

 

[Gumby]

I thought a meme was something that spontaneously grew to be a sort of visual or verbal idiom or a customary verbal gesture or habit of thought, something that becomes "viral," then becomes jargon or linguistic fad. What I see here are just cartoons one snatches off some digital shelf, aren't they?

To me it looks like prefabricated gibberish in visual form.

"Meme," of course, is French for "same," as in,"Because we are unable to think for ourselves, we all just post the same little pictures."

I am genuinely out of my depth in this. I had assumed this would be a passing fad, but it has become a full-blown obsession, it seems, the keyboard jockey's version of graffiti.

I am going to research this.

Here are your definitions:

The original definition: "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture."

Here is the evolved, or devolved, definition: "an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media."

I put it on a par with the old TeleTubbies obsession, or that old Valley Girl manner of speaking that worked its way through middle schools across the land a number of years ago, or that habit rampant among homely college girls and the incel boys who love them of gathering in crowds and waving around asinine placards.

Am I being too curmudgeonly? Let me try it:


Does that work?

Let me help you out:

1. Lily is a meme.

2. Lady w a cigarette is a gif.

3. People calling gifs a meme are word-lazy.

 

[Huckleberry1]

It didn’t help the coach in charge still wanted to be Bill.

This feels like the first real year post Bill era.

Agree 100%.

 

[raduray]

What is the correct term for these little looping video things which are becoming all the rage? I mean, if I'm going to mock them, I ought at least to know what they are called.

GIF

 

[Huckleberry1]

I think this more or less sums it up, and Wolf sort of alluded to it at the beginning of the offseason, having a vision absolutely helps. Phil Perry also made a good point when he pointed out Wolf's not an ego guy, and the collaboration with the head coach is key to the process. It's Wolf's job for him and the personnel department to scout players who fit the profile of what the coach and the team are looking for, not to force guys on them. He also hinted that he really didn't have the info they needed last year, which sounded like a possible issue with the other regime. He did mention they hadn't fully implemented the grading system last offseason, albeit we don't know to what extent that played a role in the type of players they looked at last year vs this year. But this year, they at least had a full year using it.

But basically, he and the scouting department narrow down the pool of players, and then it's up to the coach and his staff to figure out which one best fits their vision and the scheme. It works better when you have a group of guys who are all on the same page and the head coach also knows what he's doing and has a better bead on things. I think this is a better example of what he's good at, and it also helps when you have a head coach who is also experienced and understands the process.

It's not supposed to be a one-man show. And so far, obviously, it's been a much better draft now that they all seem to be on the same page.

Agree with this 100%. This has been the best offseason I have seen from the Patriots. They have completely overhauled the organization in 3 months. The future looks really good.

 

[Sect140]

I think this the work of the system that Vrabel and Cowden brought in. Not Wolf.

Wolf's body of work is atrocious.

Agreed, this is Vrabel and Cowdens draft, Wolf was doing what he was told, he probably researched players before the draft.

 

[manxman2601]

One thing that impressed me was the patience they showed at 69. No panic moves to trade up. They let the draft come to them and ended up with both Williams and Noel, two prospects they put a lot of time into in the pre-draft process, fall to them.

 

[Wozzy]

I suspect Wolf will be moving on once his contract ends.

 

[Wozzy]

Josh wanted a third down back.

And yes, I realize in today's modern passing game that third down backs play a lot more than just third downs.

Sony Michel would have qualified as a third down back way back when, but I suspect there will be a thunder/lightning thing going on with Rhamondre and TreVeyon. Henderson's ability to see the field quickly will be dependent on his ability to pass block.