2021 UDFA Signings Thread

[Wozzy]

How many articles do you want me to give you that had the 2019-20 Bucs O-line as inconsistent and less than average? Marpet was the one who was pretty good in prior years. Donovan Smith was a disaster. In a post-season assessment, many thought that Cappa was on his way out the door because of his poor season. Especially against the pass rush, these guys were swivels. Lots of sacks. And maybe Wirfs was the difference in improving the OL since he's really good, but what accounts for the improvement in Smith and Cappa?

"Here is the Bucs report assessment: "Donovan Smith was the 2nd most penalized linemen on the team and if not for declined penalties, like Dotson he would have been one of the most penalized linemen in the league. It’s unfortunate that Smith had an underwhelming season because when the team resigned him to a 3-year deal this past off-season, they did so hoping he would be one of the better players at his position. He is guaranteed $14.5 million dollars in 2020, so barring any trade we will see him back in a Bucs jersey next season and it will be make or break for him. If he has another lackluster year, the team can release him in the off-season without owing any guaranteed money. I also don’t see Cappa as a long term answer at right guard. So in addition to looking for a new right tackle, I think the team should look for a new guard. And because Cappa doesn’t have a big contract, they should keep him to bolster depth on the line."

How many articles do you want me to give you on Tampa's bad play before Brady got there?

Here's a couple more:

Bucs' offensive line among NFL's best in pass protection in 2020

Brady was pressured on less than a quarter of his dropbacks in 2020.

bucswire.usatoday.com

Why the Buccaneer offensive line can be dominant in 2020

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have played with a lackluster offensive line for the past few years, but that could change during this upcoming season.

thepewterplank.com

Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line rated as top-5 in NFL

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line has made massive strides over their previous seasons, and 2020 has seen a new high for the unit.

thepewterplank.com

Tampa led the entire NFL in passing yards and was third in passing TD's in 2019... unfortunately for them crab legs also led the NFL in turnovers.

Jameis Winston was bad, horrible... the O-Line needed another tackle (1st round draft pick) and some depth which they got with the Haeg and Shipley additions. Tampa had everything but a QB, an OT, some depth on O-Line and experience in their defensive backfield.

Tom chose wisely... like Phil Jackson picking the Bulls and the Lakers.

 

[upstater1]

Your argument loses validity when you insist on talking about how much a UDFA receiver played his ROOKIE YEAR.

This sort of ridiculous argument was made by people who shat on Edelman for years before he became of the the best WR that ever put on a Pats uniform.

After Meyers healed from his injury, he was a top 25 WR last year.

I've loved Gunner since he was signed. His work ethic is nearly identical to Edelman.

We aren't going to need "stellar" WRs. We are going to need receivers (WR/TE/RB) who can get open and catch the ball when it's thrown to them. And, the Patriots receivers were in the top 5 in terms of being open last year with an average of 3.7 yards.. It's why so many of us pointed out that the issue was NEWTON and not the receivers.

Love Jakobi. He'snot a top 25 WR. We need top receivers. People satisfied with this receiving crew? Tom Brady is not coming through that door. Our QBs are going to need bonafide 1s and 2s on the outside. Again, you're underestimating Brady's importance to the offense. I'm not sitting here moaning that we don't have Brady anymore. Quite the opposite. I'm saying that for non-immortal QBs, we actually need to upgrade our receiving crew. A lot.

 

[PScottman]

I just wonder why, except for Harry, the Patriots seem to have an aversion every year to drafting
highly ranked wide receivers. It carrys over to the UDFAs where they pass on the higher ranked
wide receivers.

There are literally 100s of posts from the 1000s of other "WR" threads littering this forum that explain the why. Just use the search feature, type in WR and prepare for the tsunami.

 

[PScottman]

Corey Dillon. Wes Welker. Trent Brown. Stephon Gilmore. LaGarrette Blount. And I’m pretty sure that’s just a sampling off the top of my head not an exhaustive list. You need to think harder..

Cooks.
Lafell
Hogan
Stallworth
Gaffney
M. Bennett
D. Allen (blocking)

Just off the top of my head and mainly at the "catch passes" positions.

 

[zimmy]

To get back on topic, I was watching the Ernie Adams draft video and there was a list of prospects on the wall behind Bill that they were obviously considering in the 7th round and as potential UDFAs.

Connor Wedington - WR (signed by Seahawks as UDFA)
Austin Watkins - WR (signed by 49ers as UDFA)
Tim Jones - WR (signed by Jax as UDFA)
Jimmie Robinson - WR/KR (tryout with Bengals)
Josiah Bronson - DT (signed by NO as UDFA)
Dave Moore - G (signed by Panthers as UDFA)
Jose Borregalas - K (signed with Bucs as UDFA)
James Wiggins - S (drafted by Bengals)

Underneath this it had the draft plan as 'Draft Nixon or Wiggins' and 'Sign Wiggins, Robinson and/or "a corner"'. They obviously took Nixon and James Wiggins went the following pick to the Bengals. All the others have been signed, including Borregalas, so perhaps Quinn Nordin wasn't even our first choice undrafted kicker.

Robinson is primarily a kick returner rather than receiver - he's undersized and ran a 4.28 apparently at his pro day, so they may be in the market for a kick returner still.This also suggests that a corner is going to be signed soon - unclear if this means a UDFA or a veteran but I would lean veteran as a player wasn't specified - makes sense as they are a little light there, especially if Gilmore isn't going to be ready for camp. I wonder if they tried to sign McCourty before he went to Miami

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

To get back on topic, I was watching the Ernie Adams draft video and there was a list of prospects on the wall behind Bill that they were obviously considering in the 7th round and as potential UDFAs.

Connor Wedington - WR (signed by Seahawks as UDFA)
Austin Watkins - WR (signed by 49ers as UDFA)
Tim Jones - WR (signed by Jax as UDFA)
Jimmie Robinson - WR/KR (tryout with Bengals)
Josiah Bronson - DT (signed by NO as UDFA)
Dave Moore - G (signed by Panthers as UDFA)
Jose Borregalas - K (signed with Bucs as UDFA)
James Wiggins - S (drafted by Bengals)

Underneath this it had the draft plan as 'Draft Nixon or Wiggins' and 'Sign Wiggins, Robinson and/or "a corner"'. They obviously took Nixon and James Wiggins went the following pick to the Bengals. All the others have been signed, including Borregalas, so perhaps Quinn Nordin wasn't even our first choice undrafted kicker.

Robinson is primarily a kick returner rather than receiver - he's undersized and ran a 4.28 apparently at his pro day, so they may be in the market for a kick returner still.This also suggests that a corner is going to be signed soon - unclear if this means a UDFA or a veteran but I would lean veteran as a player wasn't specified - makes sense as they are a little light there, especially if Gilmore isn't going to be ready for camp. I wonder if they tried to sign McCourty before he went to Miami

I was trying to look but couldn't see in that video. Music to my ears as I had a lot of those guys on my board. Any chance you can take a screenshot? I'll try but I'm at work. That's great to hear though.

 

[Patsgofor4]

To get back on topic, I was watching the Ernie Adams draft video and there was a list of prospects on the wall behind Bill that they were obviously considering in the 7th round and as potential UDFAs.

Connor Wedington - WR (signed by Seahawks as UDFA)
Austin Watkins - WR (signed by 49ers as UDFA)
Tim Jones - WR (signed by Jax as UDFA)
Jimmie Robinson - WR/KR (tryout with Bengals)
Josiah Bronson - DT (signed by NO as UDFA)
Dave Moore - G (signed by Panthers as UDFA)
Jose Borregalas - K (signed with Bucs as UDFA)
James Wiggins - S (drafted by Bengals)

Underneath this it had the draft plan as 'Draft Nixon or Wiggins' and 'Sign Wiggins, Robinson and/or "a corner"'. They obviously took Nixon and James Wiggins went the following pick to the Bengals. All the others have been signed, including Borregalas, so perhaps Quinn Nordin wasn't even our first choice undrafted kicker.

Robinson is primarily a kick returner rather than receiver - he's undersized and ran a 4.28 apparently at his pro day, so they may be in the market for a kick returner still.This also suggests that a corner is going to be signed soon - unclear if this means a UDFA or a veteran but I would lean veteran as a player wasn't specified - makes sense as they are a little light there, especially if Gilmore isn't going to be ready for camp. I wonder if they tried to sign McCourty before he went to Miami

Damn, I was hoping that they would draft Moore on day 3.

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[JMC00]

Love Jakobi. He'snot a top 25 WR

Meyers ranking if you take his production of the 11 games he played, projected over 16 games


Diggs- 1535
Hopkins- 1407
Jefferson- 1400
Ridley- 1374
Metcalf- 1303
Hill- 1276
Robinson- 1250
Moore- 1193
Cooks- 1150
McLaurin- 1119
Cooper- 1114
Anderson- 1096
Brown- 1075
Lockett- 1054
Meyers- 1050
Evans- 1006
Allen- 992

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Meyers ranking if you take his production of the 11 games he played, projected over 16 games


Diggs- 1535
Hopkins- 1407
Jefferson- 1400
Ridley- 1374
Metcalf- 1303
Hill- 1276
Robinson- 1250
Moore- 1193
Cooks- 1150
McLaurin- 1119
Cooper- 1114
Anderson- 1096
Brown- 1075
Lockett- 1054
Meyers- 1050
Evans- 1006
Allen- 992

Harry's ranking if you take his production in the only game he received double digit targets, projected over 16 games:

1152

Err. Hm.

 

[JMC00]

Harry's ranking if you take his production in the only game he received double digit targets, projected over 16 games:

1152

Err. Hm.

If he had a better QB last year maybe

 

[Mack Herron]

Meyers ranking if you take his production of the 11 games he played, projected over 16 games


Diggs- 1535
Hopkins- 1407
Jefferson- 1400
Ridley- 1374
Metcalf- 1303
Hill- 1276
Robinson- 1250
Moore- 1193
Cooks- 1150
McLaurin- 1119
Cooper- 1114
Anderson- 1096
Brown- 1075
Lockett- 1054
Meyers- 1050
Evans- 1006
Allen- 992

I liked Meyers who always seemed to make the most of his opportunities. Just unlucky to be buried behind the immortal Damiere Byrd I suppose.

 

[DaBruinz]

I liked Meyers who always seemed to make the most of his opportunities. Just unlucky to be buried behind the immortal Damiere Byrd I suppose.

He started off the year injured.. Once healthy, he got into the line-up and proved that he was the best the Patriots had.

And the NextGen Stats showing that the Patriots receivers WERE getting separation despite all haters claiming that the receivers stunk shows that the problem was more with the QB than them..

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I think he's a solid part of the passing game, but Meyers played in 14 games last season, not 11. Let's not extrapolate more than we ought to with his production. He got an awful lot of yards from quick passes against zone, and he's never scored a touchdown in his two seasons with the Patriots. He's a fine #3, and I'm glad he's on the team, but let's not overrate him.

 

[upstater1]

Meyers ranking if you take his production of the 11 games he played, projected over 16 games


Diggs- 1535
Hopkins- 1407
Jefferson- 1400
Ridley- 1374
Metcalf- 1303
Hill- 1276
Robinson- 1250
Moore- 1193
Cooks- 1150
McLaurin- 1119
Cooper- 1114
Anderson- 1096
Brown- 1075
Lockett- 1054
Meyers- 1050
Evans- 1006
Allen- 992

Someone needs to be productive on an offense that had hardly any WRs. Reminds of the days when Marv Cook of all people was the top pass catching TE in the league, and it wasn't because of his abilities. Like I said, I've been a fan of Meyers for a long while, and I believe he will be a key possession type no. 3 for us.

But that doesn't mean he's a top WR in the league. People are hoping Agholor will become that for the Patriots, but they are hoping against a log history with him. Otherwise, we re still in dire need of a true #1.

 

[Sicilian]

I think he's a solid part of the passing game, but Meyers played in 14 games last season, not 11. Let's not extrapolate more than we ought to with his production. He got an awful lot of yards from quick passes against zone, and he's never scored a touchdown in his two seasons with the Patriots. He's a fine #3, and I'm glad he's on the team, but let's not overrate him.

Agree with the point as it stands today. But what I will say is he's trending upwards, having improved dramatically from year 1 to year 2. If he continues that progression, he's a solid #2 WR.

 

[Patsgofor4]

Mystery man trying out this weekend.

 

[long distance]

It seems Pats UDFA strategy this year turned to veteran UDFAs
Langi, Redmond, Ferentz

 

[long distance]

It seems Pats UDFA strategy this year turned to veteran UDFAs
Langi, Redmond, Ferentz

After adding a couple of OL for TC as predicted some DB additions should follow as they are still shorthanded there for TC.
And if they want to go the vet UDFA route there are still interesting options out there like - Poole, Robey-Coleman & McDougald.
There are also former Pats own UDFAs available - LeBlanc, DJ Killings, Ryan Lewis.

 

[DaBruinz]

Mystery man trying out this weekend.

Did any of the local beat writers find out more on this "mystery man"?