PATRIOTS NEWS Breer: Eliot Wolf will stay. Relationship between Wolf and Vrabel worked from the start

[Rob0729]

I know a lot of people hate Eliot Wolf. But I feel a lot of his failed drafts and free agencies in the past, but I think it had a lot to do with the tools he had which was sparse since Belichick does not believe in analytics for scouting.

Breer credits Wolf and his staff for identifying Khyiris Tonga and Craig Woodson. Breer says that Vrabel sat in with Wolf and the scouts early and was impressed.

It is hard to argue with the success of the offseason the Patriots had. The credit goes to Wolf, Vrabel, and Cowden combined.

Breer: Relationship between Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf worked from the start

Albert Breer shares what he’s hearing about Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden, and whether or not they will return next season.

www.nbcsportsboston.com

 

[turkeyneck]

If Vrabe's ok with him then I guess I am...

 

[Ross12]

Personally I think the marriage works well. Wolf is a scout at heart and he is good at finding talent - he is just not good in "crunch time" (free agency, stacking the board, draft day trades, etc). This is where Cowden was a huge boon. Cowden + Wolf combined are a dynamite combination, but I'd be concerned if Cowden leaves for a promotion...

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Personally I think the marriage works well. Wolf is a scout at heart and he is good at finding talent - he is just not good in "crunch time" (free agency, stacking the board, draft day trades, etc). This is where Cowden was a huge boon. Cowden + Wolf combined are a dynamite combination, but I'd be concerned if Cowden leaves for a promotion...

Wolf personally picked Polk, so I am not sure how great of a scout he is.

 

[BTTA]

Wolf personally picked Polk, so I am not sure how great of a scout he is.

We are going to be wrong a lot making these assessments based on a judgement about any single player evaluation. Not to mention that the bits of info we get give us any kind of reliable picture of the reality.

 

[Steve102]

13-3.

 

[turkeyneck]

Wolf personally picked Polk, so I am not sure how great of a scout he is.

He seems to weigh numbers on a stat sheet more than applying the ol' eyeball test of actually watching the guy play. But, as I said above, if Vrabel thinks he's ok then I trust Vrabel.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

If Vrabe's ok with him then I guess I am...

I agree.....and that's not easy to say.
Maybe Wolf actually has some value (I just puked in my mouth typing that).

 

[turkeyneck]

I agree.....and that's not easy to say.
Maybe Wolf actually has some value (I just puked in my mouth typing that).

It may be that during the late lamented Condiment regime Wolf was allowed too much leeway and is now getting better structure to work within.

 

[RobertWeathers]

As long as they are winning and they hit on picks, FAs and UFAs i'm fine with Wolfman.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

No one's gonna hit 100% of the time in an NFL draft.

 

[Joey007]

He seems to weigh numbers on a stat sheet more than applying the ol' eyeball test of actually watching the guy play. But, as I said above, if Vrabel thinks he's ok then I trust Vrabel.

That last part is key. Vrabel’s influence on decisions helps bridge that gap. I think Wolfe is fine if he’s not the only one making the calls.

 

[Joey007]

I think everyone collectively forgot Wolfe existed over the last 3 months, and are just remembering he’s still here. Lmao

 

[thecore762]

I wanted him gone. Since the team is doing well I can overlook it. But if he misses next years draft with another garbage WR like Polk then he gone!

 

[mgteich]

That last part is key. Vrabel’s influence on decisions helps bridge that gap. I think Wolfe is fine if he’s not the only one making the calls.

BEATING A DEAD HORSE
-------------------
Why does anyone believe that Wolfe was EVER the only one making the calls?

 

[Huckleberry1]

I think Wolf believes in finding the players the coach is looking for, Vrabel was able to clearly identify the type of player he wanted to build with, and that gave Wolf the parameters to work with. According to Cowden in a Sunday presser after the Draft Wolf. and their scouts worked on this draft for 18 months, and while I believe Cowden had an important role and Vrabel gets the credit because he made the final call on all players, Wolf was the one who set up the draft board they used on draft weekend.

That said I think the smart move for Kraft is to designate Cowden as the GM with final say on football decisions, that would give Cowden a significant promotion and keep him from being poached by other franchises, and Wolf would continue in his current role, where he really doesn't have final say anyways. Ultimately Vrabel is in charge, and everyone knows that, so it's really just protecting their front office.

 

[The Gr8est]

We are going to be wrong a lot making these assessments based on a judgement about any single player evaluation. Not to mention that the bits of info we get give us any kind of reliable picture of the reality.

He was wrong on all of the picks past the 1st round in 2024.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

We are going to be wrong a lot making these assessments based on a judgement about any single player evaluation. Not to mention that the bits of info we get give us any kind of reliable picture of the reality.

I understand your point but we have to comment based on the reality we know, or we could never comment.

Drafting errors vary in severity. The JETE picking Wilson #3 overall is much worse mistake than Polk in the 2nd round, but Polk was still a big error. And all talent evaluators blow it. My point was that I am not prepared to declare Wolf a good scout (which @Ross12 stated) until I have more data. My initial outlook is poor based on Wolf picking Polk.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Elliot Wolf turned down good offers for that pick, and picked Maye over the objections of quite a few members of this board. He gets the **** for the Polk pick, so he gets the credit for picking Maye, no matter how badly some here want to deny that.

 

[Huckleberry1]

He was wrong on all of the picks past the 1st round in 2024.

I won't argue with that, but he got the most important one right.