DRAFT Welcome to New England - Wake Forest CB Karon Prunty (5th round, #171)

[mgteich]

One of the things I love about what Vrabes is doing is the way he is stacking young hungry and talented newcomers across the roster, more than going after established FAs. Give the kids a chance, and let them show how they respond to intense competition. Skills like hand placement, catch technique, etc can be taught. What can’t be taught is athleticism and attitude. That will be shown in competition, and how they respond to it.

@DaBruinz listed the competition at IOL in another thread, maybe the UDFA discussion, and I think that is another example of this same approach. Same thing may apply to OT, we have the starters TRex and Moses, drafted Luma and still have Bryant and Wallace plus a couple of IOL candidates that have positional versatility. So depth and development across the entire OL seems competitive enough to have a good roster emerge.

The only place I think it could be better might be ILB, but even there it seems there are more players than roster slots. I’d like to see it be more like CB with lots of young hungry talented guys competing, but I’ll give Vrabes credit for knowing a bit about playing linebacker so he may be able to see the potential better for that position.

Anyway, looking at this group of CB candidates my concern about depth behind the starters is much less than it was a couple of months ago.

Yes, Vrabel believes in lots and lots of competition for backup spots. He wants to develop players, and pay a lot less for backup spots.

 

[Wozzy]

I'm sure that Woods was shaking in his boots when we drafted Prunty, and brought in Crossley, Harris and Canada. That does indeed tell us about the need for competition.

Woods is the top backup DB incumbent. Obviously, no backup is safe. Some would say that 85 players aren't safe.

That being said, I expect that Woods is competing with Dial and Vildor for 2 roster spots. Prunty has his own spot, even if it is the #6 CB/STer.

I like Vildor, Prunty and Harris over Woods and Dial... heck Canada has real good speed and has a chance.

I don't expect Woods or Dial to make the 53 man roster. Dial has a chance, but he has to show out.

 

[Real fan 02]

Amen! Any player in the NFL who thinks his job is safe is out of touch with reality, in some way or another.

Woods needs to feel like he has a pack of wolves nipping at his heels, or he’s really out of touch with the situation.

That competition in training camp will be intense. Depending on how good the youngsters are, and how they develop, I’d wonder if Davis might feel some heat. It will also push our young WRs. Steel sharpens steel and there’s a lot of knives out on both sides of the ball.

Absolutely agree. Competition breeds the best performances as that is what camp is all about getting the best out of guys.. when your tired, sore, the Foxboro heat is beating down on you in July. The cream rises to the top...

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Absolutely agree. Competition breeds the best performances as that is what camp is all about getting the best out of guys.. when your tired, sore, the Foxboro heat is beating down on you in July. The cream rises to the top...

That is why Andy and Wozzy are the cream at the top. They compete hard.

 

[n1997y]

That is why Andy and Wozzy are the cream at the top. They compete hard.

Wrong kind of cream…

 

[VJCPatriot]

Well this explains why we took Prunty in the 5th. One of the Patriots coaches stood up for him.

Lorenzo Styles Jr. was taken right after the Prunty pick at #172. He also had an astonishing 9.96 RAS at the Combine thanks to blazing a 4.27 40 among other tests.

So Prunty will have a comparison for the rest of his career.

Hopefully the Patriots took the better DB.

RB Adam Randall was also taken soon after at #174. He had a solid 9.42 RAS.

Hopefully we didn't miss out on this guy either, we had him in for top 30 visits.

Either way it's only a 5th round pick so if Prunty just turns out a career STer that's kind of expected. But hopefully he can compete and add some depth to the DB corps.

 

[manxman2601]

Well this explains why we took Prunty in the 5th. One of the Patriots coaches stood up for him.

Lorenzo Styles Jr. was taken right after the Prunty pick at #172. He also had an astonishing 9.96 RAS at the Combine thanks to blazing a 4.27 40 among other tests.

So Prunty will have a comparison for the rest of his career.

Hopefully the Patriots took the better DB.

RB Adam Randall was also taken soon after at #174. He had a solid 9.42 RAS.

Hopefully we didn't miss out on this guy either, we had him in for top 30 visits.

Either way it's only a 5th round pick so if Prunty just turns out a career STer that's kind of expected. But hopefully he can compete and add some depth to the DB corps.

What people miss on Prunty is that he had the 5th highest coverage grade among all draftable corners. Only Chris Johnson, Mansoor Delane, Treydan Stukes and D'Angelo Ponds (all top 50 picks) had higher coverage grades.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Well this explains why we took Prunty in the 5th. One of the Patriots coaches stood up for him.

Lorenzo Styles Jr. was taken right after the Prunty pick at #172. He also had an astonishing 9.96 RAS at the Combine thanks to blazing a 4.27 40 among other tests.

So Prunty will have a comparison for the rest of his career.

Hopefully the Patriots took the better DB.

RB Adam Randall was also taken soon after at #174. He had a solid 9.42 RAS.

Hopefully we didn't miss out on this guy either, we had him in for top 30 visits.

Either way it's only a 5th round pick so if Prunty just turns out a career STer that's kind of expected. But hopefully he can compete and add some depth to the DB corps.

If we miss on him after having him here on a 30 visit, then it's on the coaches.

 

[VJCPatriot]

What people miss on Prunty is that he had the 5th highest coverage grade among all draftable corners. Only Chris Johnson, Mansoor Delane, Treydan Stukes and D'Angelo Ponds (all top 50 picks) had higher coverage grades.

Well I'm glad at least he was performing well in college. I do hope we got the better player. Hopefully he turns some heads with his performance in training camp.

 

[mgteich]

What people miss on Prunty is that he had the 5th highest coverage grade among all draftable corners. Only Chris Johnson, Mansoor Delane, Treydan Stukes and D'Angelo Ponds (all top 50 picks) had higher coverage grades.

What round did you have Prunty rated?

 

[manxman2601]

What round did you have Prunty rated?

I didn't scout him. I should have considering he was a visit. Lesson learned.

 

[Real fan 02]

I didn't scout him. I should have considering he was a visit. Lesson learned.

What I pay attention to when players speak is the attitude and mentality.. he seems like he has it.. the attitude and mentality you want in a CB.. wouldn't be the least bit suprised to see him playing meaningful snaps this year..

 

[mgteich]

What I pay attention to when players speak is the attitude and mentality.. he seems like he has it.. the attitude and mentality you want in a CB.. wouldn't be the least bit suprised to see him playing meaningful snaps this year..

So a player should be drafted in the 5th rather than the 7th because he has attitude and mentality. Ignoring all the ratings and film is just fine? Would it have been OK to draft Prunty in the 4th? in the 3rd?

This is very, very Belichick-type draft pick. The major difference is that we aren't discussing a 4th or 5th round talent being drafting the 2nd or 3rd.

Last year Vrabel waited until the 6th to look for Sters and to draft unrated players.

Belichick had drafts like this one. Get who you can early, using whatever you need to trade up or down and then get out the dartboard. Bill's "problem" was that he sometimes didn't wait until the 4th or 5th round to take shots in the dark and drafting STers.

And, sure, I certainly hope Prunty works out, along with the other UDFA quality players we drafted: Obiazor, Merton, Miller and Hutchins. BTW, I'm fine with every one of those picks. They were a good use of 6th and 7th round picks.

 

[moosekill]

So a player should be drafted in the 5th rather than the 7th because he has attitude and mentality. Ignoring all the ratings and film is just fine? Would it have been OK to draft Prunty in the 4th? in the 3rd?

This is very, very Belichick-type draft pick. The major difference is that we aren't discussing a 4th or 5th round talent being drafting the 2nd or 3rd.

Last year Vrabel waited until the 6th to look for Sters and to draft unrated players.

Belichick had drafts like this one. Get who you can early, using whatever you need to trade up or down and then get out the dartboard. Bill's "problem" was that he sometimes didn't wait until the 4th or 5th round to take shots in the dark and drafting STers.

And, sure, I certainly hope Prunty works out, along with the other UDFA quality players we drafted: Obiazor, Merton, Miller and Hutchins. BTW, I'm fine with every one of those picks. They were a good use of 6th and 7th round picks.

Poor post, be better than this. You don’t know jack about him and are butt hurt because we took the 4th best coverage db late in the draft, while some moronic talking head online said we took him early.

 

[mgteich]

Poor post, be better than this. You don’t know jack about him and are butt hurt because we took the 4th best coverage db late in the draft, while some moronic talking head online said we took him early.

I trust the consensus of the analysts and scouts who spend their lives evaluating players. I trust those analyses much more than your analysis based on one statistic. We brought in and drafted Prunty because of the recommendation of one of the position coaches. it may work out or not. After all, a 5th for a solid Ster is OK. However, the last two times we drafted someone because of caoches, we drafted Polk and Wallace. And yes, we should have paid more attention to Prunty since he was one of the 30 who were interviewed.

And yes, I trust this coaching staff, so for me Prunty has a very good chance to make the 53-man roster, in a similar situation as Swinson last year..