Vrabel tells it like it is about the Pats drafting

[PancakeBlockPaul]

Gotta admit how he called the past few years drafts trash was 100% class. Called em trash without saying the word trash. I’m liking him more each day.

 

[stinkypete]

That's the point, they hit on the QB.
My belief (right or wrong) is Maye is capable of that with real coaching, a better Oline and better playmakers.
Wash did not have better playmakers last year compared to ours this year.
Brian Robinson is a JAG, Ekler is over the hill, he had 367 yards rushing last year.
McL is great, the rest of their WRs are srubs, much less depth than we have this year.
Washington's Oline was not good last year, I remember towards the end of the season seeing a stat where they were marginally better than our terrible line in 2024.

So no, they did not have a better O last year than we do this year.
They had the QB, and that's the driving factor.
I believe we have the QB this year.
That makes all the difference, turns an average roster into good, a good into great.
Seen it time and time again.

Washington is a close comparison. That offense outside of McLaurin was bad on paper. On paper, I would say that the Patriots improved more from 24-25 than Washington did from 23-24.

My only problem with the comparison is that we do not now yet if Washington is a flash in the pan or an emerging powerhouse. What they pulled off last year - emerging from nowhere to the top of a conference with a new QB - does happen pretty often, but we have no idea if Daniels is the next Lamar Jackson or the next Robert Griffin, or Trevor Lawrence, or CJ Stroud. The array of outcomes is very wide.

If you are Washington, and you found evidence in the form of production that you found your guy, maybe you make a move for a Parsons. I would not say we are there yet.

 

[maust]

Ridgeline is the go to huh?

It's 2025, even (ahem... cough) pickup "trucks" are allowed to be gay AF

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Washington is a close comparison. That offense outside of McLaurin was bad on paper. On paper, I would say that the Patriots improved more from 24-25 than Washington did from 23-24.

My only problem with the comparison is that we do not now yet if Washington is a flash in the pan or an emerging powerhouse. What they pulled off last year - emerging from nowhere to the top of a conference with a new QB - does happen pretty often, but we have no idea if Daniels is the next Lamar Jackson or the next Robert Griffin, or Trevor Lawrence, or CJ Stroud. The array of outcomes is very wide.

If you are Washington, and you found evidence in the form of production that you found your guy, maybe you make a move for a Parsons. I would not say we are there yet.

We are definitely not there yet, and I was against a Parsons trade for that reason.
But...you just never know in this league, turnarounds good and bad are so frequent, it's hard to know which teams are real contenders any given pre-season.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

It's 2025, even (ahem... cough) pickup "trucks" are allowed to be gay

A "truck" that identifies as a Mini Cooper?

 

[RobertWeathers]

My problems with this explanation:

First it sends a terrible message to the lockeroom.

But more than that we need way more than depth out of those first rounders. If we passed up on Micah and all we get for our patience is some depth multiple years from now then that's not good.

They had a chance at a generational talent and instead chose to sit on the draft picks so the pressure is on to get something better with them and not just depth. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we do better than Micah.

I call BS This wasn't about picks. This was about money.

It was both.

They have practice squad players playing the last 10-12 spots on the roster. While improved, they lack high-end talent at the top 10 spots. Their last 4-5 drafts have been OK to mostly abysmal. They need to draft well. No debating that.

Bob is on record as saying the draft is a way to have player salary certainty and FA is expensive. Drafting well helps a team maintain cap flexibility. Hes not wrong.

 

[n1997y]

the core of the roster, the top 10-12 players should be players drafted in the first 2 rounds over the past 5 years.
2025 picks tbd
2019-2025 picks
-Maye, Gonzo, Barmore fall into that category
-Polk, White, Strange, TT, Mac, Dugger, Uche, Harry, Williams do not

That’s unrealistic.

Teams only get ten picks in the top two rounds over five years.

To have the core 10 to 12 players on the roster come from top two round draft picks means they hit 100% of their picks as core starters, which is unrealistic.

And/or they traded up, probably often to get 12 plus make up for less than 100% success in drafting, which is detrimental to building depth through the draft.

The math doesn’t add up.

 

[Patsfan1645]

It's 2025, even (ahem... cough) pickup "trucks" are allowed to be gay

 

[Steve102]

It's 2025, even (ahem... cough) pickup "trucks" are allowed to be gay AF

Ridgeline isn't a truck.

 

[maust]

Ridgeline isn't a truck.

Hence the (ahem... cough) and quotation marks m'fer
FFS when did you get a humorectomy???

 

[rkarp1]

Washington is a close comparison. That offense outside of McLaurin was bad on paper. On paper, I would say that the Patriots improved more from 24-25 than Washington did from 23-24.

My only problem with the comparison is that we do not now yet if Washington is a flash in the pan or an emerging powerhouse. What they pulled off last year - emerging from nowhere to the top of a conference with a new QB - does happen pretty often, but we have no idea if Daniels is the next Lamar Jackson or the next Robert Griffin, or Trevor Lawrence, or CJ Stroud. The array of outcomes is very wide.

If you are Washington, and you found evidence in the form of production that you found your guy, maybe you make a move for a Parsons. I would not say we are there yet.

last season, Washington was the luckiest team in NFL history.
I expect them to return to norm, even with a poor Dallas and NYG in the same division

 

[n1997y]

I agree on Parsons, however....
We saw last year with Wash just how quickly a team makes a substantial jump when they get good to great QB play. I believe Maye makes that jump and we outperform expectations.
Think about last year. Say Wash had a chance to trade for Parsons, I'm sure the common thought would be "we aren't one impact player away from being a serious contender". That turned out to be far from true, and would Wash have beat Philly if they had Parsons...maybe.
Again, I wasn't for trading for Parsons, but we really never know year to year what teams will rise and which will fall, we see it ever year where a surprise contender emerges, and others fall. QB play is almost universally always the driving factor.
I take Vrabel's comments a little a different. I take them as an underlying message to the team that no one thinks you are ready to contend this year, surprise me, chip on the shoulder type of attitude he is subliminally implanting. Very smart imho.

There’s a good chance WAS falls back to earth this season. If that happens this deal for Parsons a year ago would’ve been a flash in the pan that might have pushed them higher, but only might, not surely, at the expense of mortgaging their future and accelerating their fall this year. It would not have been enough to reverse that fall and sustain them. Sending all those draft picks away would ensure they were in free fall. It would be a move worthy of Dan Snyder.

They might not slump this year, but I’m not sold on their depth and overall quality, and Parsons at the cost of those picks wouldn’t change that for me.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

There’s a good chance WAS falls back to earth this season. If that happens this deal for Parsons a year ago would’ve been a flash in the pan that might have pushed them higher, but only might, not surely, at the expense of mortgaging their future and accelerating their fall this year. It would not have been enough to reverse that fall and sustain them. They might not slump this year, but I’m not sold on their depth and overall quality, and Parsons at the cost of those picks wouldn’t change that for me.

So, there's a good chance Wash falls back to earth this year (so that means their future isn't as bright as last year), but they shouldn't mortgage the future to maybe get to the SB last year?

Nothing is guaranteed, so again purely hypothetical, but if you told Washington in the offseason, you are going to the NFCC game, but will lose. Now that's without Parsons, do you want to trade for him? I think they would have 100 times out of 100. But again, purely hypothetical.

I don't think Wash takes a step back however, I think they have a winner at QB and they will be good for quite awhile.

 

[mike_usagisan]

W-L doesn't matter to me as much. I want to believe the Maye/McDaniels partnership is going to work. If so, then I'll feel better than I did during last season.

 

[n1997y]

So, there's a good chance Wash falls back to earth this year (so that means their future isn't as bright as last year), but they shouldn't mortgage the future to maybe get to the SB last year?

Nothing is guaranteed, so again purely hypothetical, but if you told Washington in the offseason, you are going to the NFCC game, but will lose. Now that's without Parsons, do you want to trade for him? I think they would have 100 times out of 100. But again, purely hypothetical.

I don't think Wash takes a step back however, I think they have a winner at QB and they will be good for quite awhile.

They weren’t good enough to make it to the Super Bowl last year even with Parsons.

I think if you asked do you want to trade for Parsons at that price Dan Snyder would’ve creamed his jeans, but I’m hopeful the current management would have said price is too high.

As a DC resident I hope you’re right that they will sustain success. But I’ve watched too many years of local mediocrity to have any faith.

 

[Steve102]

Hence the (ahem... cough) and quotation marks m'fer
FFS when did you get a humorectomy???

Today. I have a big contract I'm bidding on and it's all over my desk, so I am stressed out a bit.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Today. I have a big contract I'm bidding on and it's all over my desk, so I am stressed out a bit.

Cost Plus? it's easier to beg forgiveness!

 

[Steve102]

Cost Plus? it's easier to beg forgiveness!

I just won't win it. It's a pain in the balls. My own fault, I thought it wasn't due until 9/18. I looked at it yesterday and went "awe fekk".

 

[Patsfan1645]

Today. I have a big contract I'm bidding on and it's all over my desk, so I am stressed out a bit.

So reading these forums helps you relax?

 

[Steve102]

So reading these forums helps you relax?

LOL

I unplugged for a sec.