Why was this year's draft so much better than last's?

[mayoclinic]

There's some revisionist history here.

JaLynn Polk had a terrible rookie year, but saying he "had bust written all over him the minute he was drafted" is ridiculous. It's fair to say he was over-drafted at 37, and fair to say there were concerns about his ability to separate. But Jeremiah had him at 58, Brugler at 74 (above Xavier Legette).

Polk was not in the explosive Kyle Williams mold, but he had plenty of athleticism to compete. Virtually identical 40 and 10-yard split times as Emeka Egbuka, good vertical and BJ, tough, good work ethic, team leader. A day 2 pick all the way, whether you liked him or not.

I wonder how Ladd McConkey would have fared on the 2024 Patriots. I suspect not nearly as well as he did with San Diego.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

This board was largely happy.

This board was ecstatic about the Baker pick.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't know about that. This years draft seems light years ahead of last. But you are right in that grading drafts right after is a very inexact science.

As far as some of last year's draft picks suddenly redeeming themselves, I would not count on it. I assume that a lot of them will be cut to make room for Vrabel's guys.

I am not looking for Polk to turn it around and become better than Ladd McConkey (unless Ladd lives up to his made of glass rep), but I mean they might be far better players than they were last year. And that is a low bar. I think someone like Polk might turn it around to be a role player, not a starter or stud. Some of the picks will likely stick around, but not many.

 

[mike_usagisan]

In Cowden I trust.

 

[TheRainMaker]

We won't know until the season begins whether which draft was better. The media was hyping up Polk and Baker (especially Taylor Kyles), but we know how that turned out.

 

[Ring 6]

This board was ecstatic about the Baker pick.

A lot of people liked the Polk pick (they may be in witness protection now though) and the Wallace pick. Robinson was a “sleeper.” Bell was a “steal”.

 

[manxman2601]

I think they just nailed the process. They appeared to stick to their board, they understood what other teams were doing, they didn't make big swings for athletic marvels (see The Lions trade up for Isaac Teslaa in the 3rd), they nailed the trades and had a good strategy going in.

 

[Clonamery]

I wonder how Ladd McConkey would have fared on the 2024 Patriots. I suspect not nearly as well as he did with San Diego.

Of course not. Apples & oranges, and our apples had worms.

 

[mike_usagisan]

A lot of people liked the Polk pick (they may be in witness protection now though) and the Wallace pick. Robinson was a “sleeper.” Bell was a “steal”.

I think some of our posters will give the team the benefit of the doubt. They were excited about a R2 WR and the possibility of a steal at OT. Those two didn't work out last year, though with better coaching, who knows.

 

[condon84]

Wasn't it by committee last year that included Mayo and Glaser?

Remove those two bozos and voila - great draft.

 

[Triumph]

Obviously we have no idea how this draft will pan out but on paper it definitely looks better because we have a coach with a vision. Last year Mayo didn't even have a fully baked coaching staff but voluntary mini-camps so it is hard to have a plan when you don't know what type of players you're looking for. Mayo was so far out of his depth and just about everything he did here has no real formula for success.

Last season, lots of opposing NFL fans that know that I'm a NE fan told me that the Patriots look like they have no direction.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

We won't know until the season begins whether which draft was better. The media was hyping up Polk and Baker (especially Taylor Kyles), but we know how that turned out.

I'll know and I think a lot of the fans here will know. It should be obvious. If I can recover from surgery quick enough, I plan to go to a lot of practices. Two years ago it was pretty obvious to me that Pop Douglas was almost uncoverable, but ti took the press a long time to figure it out. I was also very impressed with Gonzo (of course), Peppers, and Jack Jones, gulp

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

BB was genetically incapable of picking a WR like Williams. That's why I think he will be great....

Maybe it was the team of Robyn Glaser, Mayo (maybe), and Kraft making the picks...

 

[Love The Drake]

A lot of people liked the Polk pick (they may be in witness protection now though) and the Wallace pick. Robinson was a “sleeper.” Bell was a “steal”.

I didn’t like the Polk pick but I wrote something about us having a plan for the kind of WR we wanted and I was trusting Wolf and Mayo.

Feels so dirty typing that.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Wasn't it by committee last year that included Mayo and Glaser?

Remove those two bozos and voila - great draft.

I have not seen the mention of Groh either. Remove Groh, Mayo, Glaser, and demote Wolf to a Yes man, and everything changes.

 

[mgteich]

There's some revisionist history here.

JaLynn Polk had a terrible rookie year, but saying he "had bust written all over him the minute he was drafted" is ridiculous. It's fair to say he was over-drafted at 37, and fair to say there were concerns about his ability to separate. But Jeremiah had him at 58, Brugler at 74 (above Xavier Legette).

Polk was not in the explosive Kyle Williams mold, but he had plenty of athleticism to compete. Virtually identical 40 and 10-yard split times as Emeka Egbuka, good vertical and BJ, tough, good work ethic, team leader. A day 2 pick all the way, whether you liked him or not.

I wonder how Ladd McConkey would have fared on the 2024 Patriots. I suspect not nearly as well as he did with San Diego.

You might do the same analysis on the picks of Baker and Robinson. CBS gave the picks ratings of A+ and B+ respectively.

 

[mgteich]

In Cowden I trust.

Folks just can't allow that Wolf is an excellent evaluator of talent.

Much of the success goes to Wolf and to listening to the results of his analysis team.

 

[mgteich]

We won't know until the season begins whether which draft was better. The media was hyping up Polk and Baker (especially Taylor Kyles), but we know how that turned out.

Yes, they kept to their board and analysis.

However, from the results one might think that they used Jeremiah's list, adjusted some for need and for information learned from other teams with regard to their projected picks.

After Campbell, all the picks were "bargains" on Jeremiah's board and all picks through the 5th round were top 100 picks.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Folks just can't allow that Wolf is an excellent evaluator of talent.

Much of the success goes to Wolf and to listening to the results of his analysis team.

We were ahead of the runs on certain positions rather than behind this year. That has nothing to do with evaluation. That has to do with a strategic understanding of how the draft works and what other teams needed. Wolf said they didn't do much of that last year.

I'll acknowledge that Wolf is a fine evaluator if you'll acknowledge that Cowden and Stretch probably had a significant contribution to the draft results being better this year.

 

[lancerman]

You can't really say a draft was better until a year or two later (let's be real, there's a chance last years draft could look decentif Maye takes the step up we want and Wallace returns and is a solid lineman. The WR's last year are what is killing that draft.