Grade the Patriots Draft: Instant Reaction

[bakes781]

Incomplete.

If Will Campbell succeeds at LT, then I give it an A, if not A+. If not ...

Henderson, Williams, Wilson, Farmer and Swinson picks were all bulls-eyes. Woodson a slight reach, but fills a need. 7th round picks were Meh, but if that's the main complaint then it's a great draft.

What he said

 

[scott99]

We've had a long run of WTF years. The Cam Newton year. The Mac Jones Might Be Good year. The MP/JJ year. The Mac Jones Ain't Good year. The Mayo year. I'm hopeful this will be the end of the run of WTF years. It really seems that way to me. I suppose we'll have yet another an over/under wins thread pretty damn soon. Almost definitely after the schedule comes out in May.

Honestly, it was a weird draft. I really didn’t watch the draft this year, due to a death in the family, but each notification I got on my phone, surprised me. Campbell, ok, I love that, Henderson, love that guy, so loved the pick, Williams, what’s not to like about getting a receiver with great speed, and who knows how to use his talent ? It just seemed to be every time I got a notification, outside of two picks, my reaction was, WTH is going on here, we are actually picking some really good players, getting guys later who were rated as higher picks, guys like Farmer & Swinson, hell, even Henderson, some draft experts thought he might go in the 1st round.

It was so far removed from some of the BAD drafts of 2013-2024. There were some things I wished they did differently, but on a whole, it was a REALLY good draft.

 

[jmt57]

I would have said B, but after figuring in the free agents added as well I voted for an A.

Grading like this is obviously just a knee-jerk reaction, but there were a couple times that trade-downs resulted in a slight disappointment of missing out on what I preceived to be a better player. But on the other hand the quantity of potential upgrades cannot be overlooked.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Perfunctory "it's beyond stupid to grade a draft before anyone puts on pads" post here.

Why do you hate joy?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Me, I'm in the "call a doctor" phase, in the metaphorical sense.

 

[Huckleberry1]

A. Dunno how many will pan out but the picks all made logical sense, we addressed basically everything you could realistically expect them to cover and each pick was a good value for what each player was worth.

you actually got the sense they had a direction and knew what they were doing, even more than that in some situations. The trade backs still resulted in players that would have been good picks even at the original slot. They knocked it out the park!

In the immediate aftermath of the draft I think this is how you have to analyze it. Do the picks make sense. Are they good football players with good upsides. And to some extent did they address needs, although I think that need often gets overplayed, and adding good football players should be the primary goal. Teams focusing too much on need usually end up missing out on much better players than the ones they take, Then, 2-3 years down the road you look back at the draft class again and see how they actually turned out.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Excellent except for Day 3 which seemed like a throwback to last year (reaches, etc.)

 

[Since1960]

I went with a very strong “A” considering that 2 of the 9 draftees that should be earning roster spots are “special teams” players!

 

[Simpelton]

A.

Team is clearly better after the draft than before even if everyone doesn't pan out.

Front office did good. I think we still have some weaknesses at LB and WR that I wish had been addressed, but you literally can't have everything and I think we'll see some roleplaying UDFAs that scratch tht itch.

EDIT: Just looked through our UDFA picks and yep, itch successfully scratched.

 

[TomPatriot]

I’ll go with A- because I’ve always been a hardass grader.

They were buttoned up for this draft. Bigger army with a plan, moving faster.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

A+
Reactionary to always being let down in the past
But a solid draft
Vrabel has got me excited again

 

[Drunken Cicerone]

There’s no guarantees but they hit on a lot of needs, can’t give them anything worse than an A.

Obviously time will tell

 

[dliverey44]

A-

Loved the draft selections. 10-11 win season (minimum)
season incoming.

After FA I said we are in the fight for a wild card with 8 or 9 wins. I now guarantee 11 wins
wins
Bills
Jets
Fins
Cinncy
ATL
Carolina
Browns
Giants
Raiders
Saints
Titans

 

[40yrpatsfan]

A notable thing about our draft is the high degree of alignment with the mainstream mock draft guys. Our picks were highly rated by them as well as our amateur patsfans gurus. This was never the case in the past.

The Jeremiah’s of the world now have this pretty well figured out, and Kyper is no longer a joke either, so it’s reassuring to hear that confirmation for the first time.

 

[aluminum seats]

Probably should’ve worked an A-/B+ choice in there, that’s the range I would put it in

 

[UrbanCowboy]

My head is scratch-free

 

[mgteich]

Excellent except for Day 3 which seemed like a throwback to last year (reaches, etc.)

hmm

We got two of the best defensive players who were on the board of players available at the top of Day 3: Farmer and Swinson.

We did reach for an all-purpose backup at all the secondary positions who is also a top STer. Dial, Bolden and Pettus are those who he competes with for roster spot and reps. Woodson is likely to be a major upgrade.

We "reached" for a kicker a long snapper and

 

[PP2]

Excellent except for Day 3 which seemed like a throwback to last year (reaches, etc.)

Fred, are you actually being positive? Please seek help now.

 

[Huckleberry1]

How the f*ck is taking anyone in the 6th or 7th round a “ reach?” Believe it or not you actually need a starting kicker and long snapper. Ok, maybe last years Patriots didn’t need a kicker, but they still needed the long snapper for punts.

 

[DarrylS]

Too early to tell, but one of the best drafts on paper I have seen in terms of talent and need in a very long time.
I gave it an a, very impressed.