What draft grade would you give the Patriots so far?

patsfanboy said:

- No starters, my major concern.
- No 1st round stud
- Too many reaches

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There weren't that many studs to begin with this year...unless you had say a top 5 or top 8 pick

Jamie Collins, DE/OLB, Southern Mississippi: Collins is an athletic freak (please see his combine numbers) who looks like he can play both strongside and weakside linebacker in a 4-3 set. He is nothing like Shawn Crable because he has a very strong base below the waste. He typically lined up in a 3-point stance at USM and worked through what was a tough situation last year on a winless squad. Collins has good, not great, sideline to sideline speed and has had adequate exposure in covering running backs and tight ends in coverage situations. I would have preferred Arthur Brown, OLB, who is now with the Ravens. With that said, Collins will get plenty of opportunity with the Patriots at WLB and/or SLB and provides insurance if or when Ninkovich walks as a free agent following next year. I give his draft grade as a B.

Aaron Dobson, WR, Marshall: Dobson, out of all of the wide receiver prospects in this draft class, has the best body control out of any that has been drafted and has unbelievable hands. Dobson is the prototypical X receiver that the Patriots need and if he learns the playbook in an efficient manner, he could be a starter on week 1. Learn all of the tree routes in the playbook and he could contend for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. I think that his speed is more than fine and he is big enough to be our version of Anquan Boldin if coached properly. I give his draft grade as an A.

Logan Ryan, CB, Rutgers: In my view, Ryan is more of a ho-hum selection out of all of the Day 2 selections. He is solid in run support and has a tendency to be over-aggressive in play action pass situations because he has had a habit of being too focused on the line of scrimmage. He has good speed but when a wide receiver gets a couple of steps on him, he has difficulty recovering. With that said, he is particularly good on crossing routes and I can imagine that he will have issue with more physical receivers (i.e. Anquan Boldin types). With that said, he looks particularly good in cover 2 schemes and if the play is in front of him that is where he will be the most productive. I give his draft grade as a C+

Duron Harmon, S, Rutgers: While Harmon was not high on draft prognosticators lists, there is a lot to like about this prospect. He has above average closing speed in the secondary and has a nose for the ball. He understood his role as the safety valve and will provide competition to Gregory, Ebner and to a lesser extent Tavon Wilson McCourty. With that said, only God knows why Caserio and Belichick decided that Round 3 was the time for Harmon to be selected. But, as far as I am concerned, it is irrelevant. What is relevant is if Harmon has the talent to contribute to this team. He could be the long-term strong safety that the Pats were looking for after Chung became a free agent. He certainly has the skills and equally important, Harmon appears to be quite intelligent. He could be a real find or a real dud. We’ll see. I am giving the pick of Harmon a grade of C based on his perceived value.

Day 2 Draft Grade is 85+95+78+75 (180+153 = 333/4) = 83.25 or a B-/B Grade out of this grouping.

Off The Grid said:

F MINUS​

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Count me as extremely disappointed.

I'll give BB benefit of the doubt on Collins and Logan Ryan. Dobson is the tall receiver -- the X-- that everyone is clamoring for.

But with their own 3rd round pick at 91 (the pick that was offered to Pittsburgh for Sanders) -- that was a wasted pick. If BB loved Harmon, he could have signed the kid as an undrafted rookie free agent, and the kid who NO ONE knows, would have happily signed. But for BB to claim, Harmon represents good value at 91, is for him to be a bit disingenuous. NO TEAM was expected to draft "this gem" in the 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th rounds. Most experts had him as a "priority free agent". Kipper had him as his 42nd ranked Safety for Pete's sake. How can it be GOOD "VALUE" when the Patriots could have in all likelihood, had him as an uncontested free agent signing for a $25,000 signing bonus. He may have a 3.8 gpa but last I checked that does not make him a good football player. If he came in as an undrafted player, he would then represent good value if he earned a roster spot based on TC competition. As it is, if Harmon is good value, BB is admitting Tavon Wilson (another unknown, he positioned as a "value pick" last year) was a mistake after his rookie year.

I'm sorry. I believe BB is a great coach. I believe he is a good GM. But I am not buying into investing a valuable 3rd round on an unknown when a number of attractive WRs like Bailey, Patton, Rodgers or any number of highly productive DL and OL are available.

Draft picks are a scarce commodity. When you use them to grab a 1st or 2nd round highly rated, productive players who fall to you in the late third round, that is a VALUE PICK. Picking someone who likely would have been undrafted in round 3-- that on draft day called A REACH (politely).

Boston Boxer said:

i dont care what anyone else thinks, this is the all time worst BB draft ever

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BB has done pretty good the last three years, but this draft reminds me of the ones before those. Example the 07, 08,09 drafts in which some were complete busts. Time will tell, and i hope i'm wrong. Now i'm starting to think we should have stayed at 29 and picked the best DL,WR, or CB that was available

This is a weird draft class, so I feel some trepidation on grading it.

On the whole, though, I like where the Patriots have apportioned their picks: pass rusher, WR, corner, safety. So at least the brain trust is cognizent of the team's deficiencies. We'll see how the rest of the draft shakes out for an authoritative grade, but I do like that they're at least focused at the same areas I (and others, of course) am.

D only person that moved the needle was Dobson.

PatsFanStnfrd said:

Count me as extremely disappointed.

I'll give BB benefit of the doubt on Collins and Logan Ryan. Dobson is the tall receiver -- the X-- that everyone is clamoring for.

But with their own 3rd round pick at 91 (the pick that was offered to Pittsburgh for Sanders) -- that was a wasted pick. If BB loved Harmon, he could have signed the kid as an undrafted rookie free agent, and the kid who NO ONE knows, would have happily signed. But for BB to claim, Harmon represents good value at 91, is for him to be a bit disingenuous. NO TEAM was expected to draft "this gem" in the 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th rounds. Most experts had him as a "priority free agent". Kipper had him as his 42nd ranked Safety for Pete's sake. How can it be GOOD "VALUE" when the Patriots could have in all likelihood, had him as an uncontested free agent signing for a $25,000 signing bonus. He may have a 3.8 gpa but last I checked that does not make him a good football player. If he came in as an undrafted player, he would then represent good value if he earned a roster spot based on TC competition. As it is, if Harmon is good value, BB is admitting Tavon Wilson (another unknown, he positioned as a "value pick" last year) was a mistake after his rookie year.

I'm sorry. I believe BB is a great coach. I believe he is a good GM. But I am not buying into investing a valuable 3rd round on an unknown when a number of attractive WRs like Bailey, Patton, Rodgers or any number of highly productive DL and OL are available.

Draft picks are a scarce commodity. When you use them to grab a 1st or 2nd round highly rated, productive players who fall to you in the late third round, that is a VALUE PICK. Picking someone who likely would have been undrafted in round 3-- that on draft day called A REACH (politely).

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last year I though Jerron McMillian would be a good UDFA safety (thats where all the scouting services had him listed), he ended up going to the Packers in round 4

Brady2Moss said:

D only person that moved the needle was Dobson.

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You know nothing. Why don't you retire to another board because you clearly didn't scout anything that any of the other three picks are able to do for this team.

belicheck010405 said:

You know nothing. Why don't you retire to another board because you clearly didn't scout anything that any of the other three picks are able to do for this team.

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Hmm ok then a random dude from Rutgers who no one wanted was a good pick and another corner from Rutgers the last one we drafted from there couldn't even play corner.

Collins has tools, but can he put it together who knows? You know everything though. It is really cute how mad you get that I won't tell you the Patriots are the bestest ever.

Brady2Moss said:

Hmm ok then a random dude from Rutgers who no one wanted was a good pick and another corner from Rutgers the last one we drafted from there couldn't even play corner.

Collins has tools, but can he put it together who knows? You know everything though. It is really cute how mad you get that I won't tell you the Patriots are the bestest ever.

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I know this - I know A LOT more than you do. Go retire to the CBS message board and bother someone else.

Kind of "meh". Not expecting much out of those two DBs. I guess it's fine since we're so stacked in the secondary anyways.

belicheck010405 said:

I know this - I know A LOT more than you do. Go retire to the CBS message board and bother someone else.

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Hahah you are the one stalking me and Deus in every thread, and I am bothering you?

belicheck010405 said:

You know nothing. Why don't you retire to another board because you clearly didn't scout anything that any of the other three picks are able to do for this team.

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Wow...I am amazed how quickly people fly off the handle around here as soon as the mighty Belichick is questioned. "You know nothing"?? that is a little extreme to say the least. I honestly think that outside of the blatantly obvious studs, BB & Co's ability to evaluate talent is mediocre at best.

mjs34 said:

Wow...I am amazed how quickly people fly off the handle around here as soon as the mighty Belichick is questioned. "You know nothing"?? that is a little extreme to say the least. I honestly think that outside of the blatantly obvious studs, BB & Co's ability to evaluate talent is mediocre at best.

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Stay awhile and observe that poster. You will grow a similar taste for his opinions.

belicheck010405 said:

Stay awhile and observe that poster. You will grow a similar taste for his opinions.

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I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Although I should probably state upfront that my opinion of BB has soured over the years.

mjs34 said:

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Although I should probably state upfront that my opinion of BB has soured over the years.

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If you notice he replies to any of my posts disagreeing with BB the GM by calling me a jackass or a disgrace. It really is quite cute how mad he gets when his idol is questioned.

Brady2Moss said:

If you notice he replies to any of my posts disagreeing with BB the GM by calling me a jackass or a disgrace. It really is quite cute how mad he gets when his idol is questioned.

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It's funny..I always considered myself a Patriot fan through and through. But lately I feel it's more like I am a Pat's fan despite BB. Now that may sound extreme, but over the years I have just grown tired of his antics. He Comes across as very egotistical, and I firmly believe it has a negative effect on the organization. His win/loss record is hard to deny however.

mjs34 said:

It's funny..I always considered myself a Patriot fan through and through. But lately I feel it's more like I am a Pat's fan despite BB. Now that may sound extreme, but over the years I have just grown tired of his antics. He Comes across as very egotistical, and I firmly believe it has a negative effect on the organization. His win/loss record is hard to deny however.

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I think he's the best coach bar none in the NFL, but leaves much to be desired as a GM. I also truly believe he has to show people he's the smartest and that is why you get WTF picks like Tavon Wilson and Duron Harmon.

A lot of the moves BB has made have been awful the last few years and it is the greatness of Tom Brady covering up for the mistakes. And then posters here have the audacity to say Brady sucks when we lose in the playoffs.

Brady's in his mid 30s he's going to have a bad game in the playoffs after carrying a band of losers on defense for 16 games every single year and having to be pin point accurate passing to smurf wide outs and good tight ends that all operate in the middle of the field.

Brady is asked to do way too much and is given way too little help, when he retires people will realize that the teams 2010 on would have been absolute **** without him.

So for all the people on here who bash anyone that questions BB by saying "LOL YA WE SUCK AND GO 2-14 EVERY YEAR!!" you should realize that if Tom Brady wasn't covering up for all the holes the actual result wouldn't be too far from 2-14. (In before "but, but 2008 but, but Matt Cassel!!", that was the easiest schedule ever and the team got ***** slapped by almost every good team they played that year. Also they were worse by 7 wins ) Also don't even try the garbage about how they were the 2nd or 3rd team ever to go 11-5 and not make the playoffs. They didn't make it, end of story. Just like they didn't win the Super Bowl in 2011 or last year stop living in your delusional hypothetical worlds where everything is ok because if Gronk was healthy we'd be 2x champs. Get real the team has holes and is filling them with hot garbage.

Brady2Moss said:

I think he's the best coach bar none in the NFL, but leaves much to be desired as a GM. I also truly believe he has to show people he's the smartest and that is why you get WTF picks like Tavon Wilson and Duron Harmon.

A lot of the moves BB has made have been awful the last few years and it is the greatness of Tom Brady covering up for the mistakes. And then posters here have the audacity to say Brady sucks when we lose in the playoffs.

Brady's in his mid 30s he's going to have a bad game in the playoffs after carrying a band of losers on defense for 16 games every single year and having to be pin point accurate passing to smurf wide outs and good tight ends that all operate in the middle of the field.

Brady is asked to do way too much and is given way too little help, when he retires people will realize that the teams 2010 on would have been absolute **** without him.

So for all the people on here who bash anyone that questions BB by saying "LOL YA WE SUCK AND GO 2-14 EVERY YEAR!!" you should realize that if Tom Brady wasn't covering up for all the holes the actual result wouldn't be too far from 2-14. (In before "but, but 2008 but, but Matt Cassel!!", that was the easiest schedule ever and the team got ***** slapped by almost every good team they played that year. Also they were worse by 7 wins ) Also don't even try the garbage about how they were the 2nd or 3rd team ever to go 11-5 and not make the playoffs. They didn't make it, end of story. Just like they didn't win the Super Bowl in 2011 or last year stop living in your delusional hypothetical worlds where everything is ok because if Gronk was healthy we'd be 2x champs. Get real the team has holes and is filling them with hot garbage.

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Agree 100% .... nothing more to add

Good thing he's a great coach then, right?