Kraft acknowledges drafting woes, says approach is changing

Mark Morse · Apr 1, 2021

TheRainMaker said:
I'm sure this last draft including Uche, Jennigs and most notably Dugger were the last straw for Kraft. Trading out of the 1st round, then trading up for a S like Dugger has got to stop.

Look for an aggressive draft.

I don't know about Uche and Jennings, but Dugger had a very good year considering he was a rookie. pl;ayed early which meant that he understood the defensive schemes. He played pretty good. Most rookies on the Pats do not see the field their 1st year. Trading out then up to grab Dugger is exactly what BB should have done and I commend him for that. Look for him to do the same with this upcoming draft.

BTTA · Apr 1, 2021

OMG.

There aren't any "shots across the bow" or significant indications of the relationship between Kraft and Belichick in here. There's not even an inferred criticism in this statement, regardless of how emotionally satisfying that would be to some posters.

The Patriots aren't run like some kind of high school girls social media club. They don't "send messages" to each other through the media. Anyone in any serious business who tries to do that is admitting their powerlessness and emotional desperation. It would be incredibly humiliating to the person who spoke up.

Its just the owner musing out loud on what is patently obvious to everyone. It isn't going to have any impact on Belichick at all. He and Kraft exchange their real thoughts, strategies, and concerns in private, quite frequently I'd imagine.

sb1 · Apr 1, 2021

Ivan said:
And he will be replaced by who?

Dunno. But Bill for sure isn't getting forever to rebuild the Pats.

Said it lots of times - right now we're the Rex Ryan Buffalo Bills. They too were a .500ish caliber team, pretty good in a few spots here and there, they could run the ball fairly well, good secondary, not much at QB. In 3 seasons they turned it all around and now they're an AFC power. There's no reason or excuse why BB shouldn't be able to do the same in the same time period with the Patriots.

And if he can't do it then I expect the team will move on to someone who can. Even the greats have their expiry date.

Bourne Patriot · Apr 1, 2021

betterthanthealternative said:
OMG.

There aren't any "shots across the bow" or significant indications of the relationship between Kraft and Belichick in here. There's not even an inferred criticism in this statement, regardless of how emotionally satisfying that would be to some posters.

The Patriots aren't run like some kind of high school girls social media club. They don't "send messages" to each other through the media. Anyone in any serious business who tries to do that is admitting their powerlessness and emotional desperation. It would be incredibly humiliating to the person who spoke up.

Its just the owner musing out loud on what is patently obvious to everyone. It isn't going to have any impact on Belichick at all. He and Kraft exchange their real thoughts, strategies, and concerns in private, quite frequently I'd imagine.

Agreed, and because the truth narrative is boring it doesn't sell newspapers. "Belichick - hero or menace!?"

luuked · Apr 1, 2021

betterthanthealternative said:
OMG.

There aren't any "shots across the bow" or significant indications of the relationship between Kraft and Belichick in here. There's not even an inferred criticism in this statement, regardless of how emotionally satisfying that would be to some posters.

The Patriots aren't run like some kind of high school girls social media club. They don't "send messages" to each other through the media. Anyone in any serious business who tries to do that is admitting their powerlessness and emotional desperation. It would be incredibly humiliating to the person who spoke up.

Its just the owner musing out loud on what is patently obvious to everyone. It isn't going to have any impact on Belichick at all. He and Kraft exchange their real thoughts, strategies, and concerns in private, quite frequently I'd imagine.

You forget that in the mind of some of those bozos BB has been a fraud all along so its just their confirmation bias going into overdrive and them assuming that all the dummies he fooled through 20 years are now slowly catching up with their mighty brains and see the "truth".

Unlike 99.9% of people Kraft has access to the draft room and has the full understanding for why they have been going after specific players even if they don't work out. A reckoning for each draft class happens anyway and has not much to do with the outcome but is focused on the process. As things that you want to continuously improve should be.

The idea that there was some kind of shots across bows is just the wish fulfillment of all the dummies that still think they know more about any single aspect of football than BB.

venecol · Apr 1, 2021

amfootball said:
It is obvious Kraft is reeling both from the state of his team and Brady's SB win in Tampa with a loaded team. I give him credit for being so candid and taking multiple shots at Bill. His comment about Brady was not so much a shot at Brady but at the state of the team. It is so interesting to me that Kraft has echoed everything we have said on these boards the last several months - the sucky drafts, the putrid roster last year, Bill not giving Stidham a shot and the FA cash spree that we used to make fun of other teams for doing. All of it has been great validation to many of us.

Kraft must be expecting a huge turnaround this season. I wonder what his expectations are:

1. 10-7: turn around but miss the playoffs. Not good enough?

2. 11-6: make the playoffs (WC) but one and done? Not good enough?

3. 9-8: time to move on?

chief1 · Apr 1, 2021

VectorPrime said:
Mayo was in position to make a play on the ball on the first Giants TD in SB46 but had his back to the play. I’ll never forget that. Dude was a tackle machine in the regular season but never did anything when it mattered. Almost the opposite of Hightower who is one of the all time Pats playoff performers.

Ha. I thought i was the only one who still thinks back on this play. I am convinced the Pats practiced against this specific play and had the perfect defense set up to defend it. If Mayo had not turned his back on the QB, he would have been in a perfect spot for an interception. Heck, he had a clear field in front of him too, and would have had momentum going in the opposite direction of the entire offense if he had intercepted it and could have gone all the way. K thats a bridge too far, but he should have executed the play properly

borg · Apr 1, 2021

Celebrity Bob........
Basks in the glory during the good times.
Shrivels, surrenders, hides, deflects during the bad

patsfanincleveland · Apr 1, 2021

RobertWeathers said:
There was nothing wrong with the 2020 draft.

It's probably more to do with the QB situation.

The whole bad drafting skit moves with the concept of groupthink that our Dummy Squad clings on. Then they site a bust without realizing that by definition all teams have busts every year.

If this was a baseball site, the Dummies would be irate that a 400 hitter makes an out 6 of 10 times.

You can tell this when the Dummies harp on cutting a 5th round "bust".

Don't forget, for years the common voice told us Jay Cutler was a franchise QB and you need feature running backs and "#1" wide receivers.

Also, I guess UDFA never count.

The actual exercise that should be conducted is look at the 2014-2018 drafts and review the players and determine if we win Super Bowls.

holyredeemer · Apr 1, 2021

TheRainMaker said:
I don't think Kraft is "involved", but I believe he had a meeting with Bill and let him know that things need to change.

I don't know much about Wolf, but his Dad was a damn good GM for the Packers.

I doubt he had a meeting with Bill to let him know that things need to change. What more than likely happened is Bill recognized things need to change, and told Kraft during a meeting what weaknesses he has recognized and how he is going to address them.

amfootball · Apr 1, 2021

venecol said:
Kraft must be expecting a huge turnaround this season. I wonder what his expectations are:

1. 10-7: turn around but miss the playoffs. Not good enough?

2. 11-6: make the playoffs (WC) but one and done? Not good enough?

3. 9-8: time to move on?

I don't get that he is expecting a huge turn around. I am not sure how he could think that with Cam as our QB and a rookie QB that will be drafted. I think he is expecting for us not to look like a clown show like we did last year. I think he expects the FAs he just spent all of his money on to perform. In short, I think Bill is on an extremely short leash. He HAS to hit on this draft and coach up these FAs. If the team resembles in any way shape or form to how it did last year, Bill may be gone. Kraft was not messing around with his comments to King and now Lazar. He is livid and has been it seems for quite awhile. I would imagine reality hit him right between the eyes when Brady told him last year he was not coming back.

Triumph · Apr 1, 2021

Boomer B said:
Shot across the bow by Kraft on the good ship Belichick.

He took a shot at:

- recent drafts
- no weapons for Cam
- Stidham not getting a shot

All done publicly. What the hell is going on here? Wonder how Bill feels about this? I really wonder how Linda feels! Odd times in New England.

Belichick cannot be pleased working 15 hours a day and 365 days a year.

Sicilian · Apr 1, 2021

borg said:
Celebrity Bob........
Basks in the glory during the good times.
Shrivels, surrenders, hides, deflects during the bad

You've just described every owner in professional sports. It's not like they ever fire themselves.

Rob0729 · Apr 1, 2021

I wonder how invest Nick Caserio was in the draft the last few years. It is no secret he wanted to get his own GM job and the Pats blocked him from getting one at least once. When you already have one foot out the door, you don't always invest the effort.

RobertWeathers · Apr 1, 2021

TheRainMaker said:
That was my main gripe with Mayo. He racked up tackles, but didn’t have much of an impact.

DropKickFlutie said:
Absolutely. He wasn't a game changer.

Yea he was only an All-Pro LB

Take a good, long, hard look at the defensive talent on those 2010-2013 teams.

If it wasn't for he and Wilfork they would have allowed 30ppg.

Sicilian · Apr 1, 2021

Rob0729 said:
I wonder how invest Nick Caserio was in the draft the last few years. It is no secret he wanted to get his own GM job and the Pats blocked him from getting one at least once. When you already have one foot out the door, you don't always invest the effort.

Hard to say, and it's going to be just as hard to evaluate now that he's gone. If the Pats (god willing) have a GREAT 2021 draft now, it'll be easy to say Caserio was part of the problem, but any organization that loses a top executive is going to have to take a look at how they do things just as part of the transition. Sometimes just doing that leads to some fresh ideas and removes some of the stagnation in your program. Combine that with Kraft's comments and their first losing season in 20 years, and I'm guessing even if Caserio was here they were going to change a few things up.

RobertWeathers · Apr 1, 2021

Sicilian said:
Hard to say, and it's going to be just as hard to evaluate now that he's gone. If the Pats (god willing) have a GREAT 2021 draft now, it'll be easy to say Caserio was part of the problem, but any organization that loses a top executive is going to have to take a look at how they do things just as part of the transition. Sometimes just doing that leads to some fresh ideas and removes some of the stagnation in your program. Combine that with Kraft's comments and their first losing season in 20 years, and I'm guessing even if Caserio was here they were going to change a few things up.

It is hard to evaluate any personnel "leader" here because of the influence BB has on player eval, drafting, trading and most importantly player development/role fit.

Calhoun44 · Apr 1, 2021

Hyped said:
What's with this Mayo ****?

Bet you guys don't like mayo on your sammiches...ye heathens...

There were so many great players between 2004-2014 and I'd argue that those Patriot teams were the most decade dominant team that didn't win a Superbowl.....5 AFC title games and 2 Superbowls....it was a long ten years...with each season decided by injuries/bounces of the ball.....

Jerod Mayo is one of the all time greats. GTFO with that garbage....

I agree with this post 100%. Sorry to break it to you, but if you were a Patriots fan during that era and didn't appreciate Mayo as a leader in the locker room, on the field and in the community you seriously missed out. The MF could ball out.

SHOWTIME15 · Apr 1, 2021

VectorPrime said:
Mayo was in position to make a play on the ball on the first Giants TD in SB46 but had his back to the play. I’ll never forget that. Dude was a tackle machine in the regular season but never did anything when it mattered. Almost the opposite of Hightower who is one of the all time Pats playoff performers.

wouldn’t have mattered if the pats didn’t have 12 men on the field. few plays earlier...

203Pat · Apr 1, 2021

Team Bill won't like this. Doesn't Bob know that every bust was just a victim of unfortunate circumstances and in no way reflects on Bill?!? Doesn't he know that other teams don't draft better over the same span!?! DOESN'T HE KNOW THESE THINGS!!!??

Kraft acknowledges drafting woes, says approach is changing

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