Barking up the Wrong Tree...

[Metaphors]

People need to pull their heads out of the their arses with regard to Vereen. When did he get a rep for being a shrimp? The guy weights 210 pounds.

That's 15 more than Woodhead.

About 10 lbs more than Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson, Ahmad Bradshaw and Jahvid Best.

The same weight as Ray Rice, Addai and Brown from Indy and LeSean McCoy.

Within a handful of lbs from LdT and BJGE.

And the exact same build as Marshall Faulk...which is exactly how the Pats should use him.

 

[Sicilian]

People need to pull their heads out of the their arses with regard to Vereen. When did he get a rep for being a shrimp? The guy weights 210 pounds.

That's 15 more than Woodhead.

About 10 lbs more than Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson, Ahmad Bradshaw and Jahvid Best.

The same weight as Ray Rice, Addai and Brown from Indy and LeSean McCoy.

Within a handful of lbs from LdT and BJGE.

When did Vereen become Darren Sproles again?

Didn't he also bench the most reps among RBs at the combine? So he's not only a decent size, but has some strength as well. He sounds like a good all-around back to me, assuming he lives up to potential of course.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

I was out of the country for the last three weeks and couldn't access our site much. So, please bear with me in case this was addressed earlier: didn't Wilfork mention prior to the draft that he was hoping the D gets help in the upcoming draft?

Thx,

 

[E Belichick Unum]

I was out of the country for the last three weeks and couldn't access our site much. So, please bear with me in case this was addressed earlier: didn't Wilfork mention prior to the draft that he was hoping the D gets help in the upcoming draft?

Thx,

I think he wanted an pass rushing OLB to get drafted.

 

[wcpatsfan]

Mark Sanchez against the Pats' D in the playoffs:

16/25, 194 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 127.3 QB rating

The Patriots' defense clearly didn't have what it took to win last year. Yes they got better as the year went on and yes there are plenty of reasons that the Pats lost the Jets game. But when Mark freaking Sanchez is posting a 127.3 QB rating against you, your defense stinks. There's just no two ways about it.

Now maybe that defense improves through other means. Yes they will have more experience. Yes they are probably getting Leigh Bodden, Ty Warren, and Mike Wright back (although how effective Warren & Wright will be is up in the air). Is that enough? Perhaps. But I, for one, would feel a heck of a lot better if they had tried to pick up another stud for the defensive front seven.

In particular i would have liked for them to trade up for Robert Quinn. He was there for the taking. Maybe Quinn ends up being a bust, but what if he ends up being a guy that gets around 8-10 sacks every year?

 

[Oswlek]

Mark Sanchez against the Pats' D in the playoffs:

16/25, 194 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 127.3 QB rating

The Patriots' defense clearly didn't have what it took to win last year. Yes they got better as the year went on and yes there are plenty of reasons that the Pats lost the Jets game. But when Mark freaking Sanchez is posting a 127.3 QB rating against you, your defense stinks. There's just no two ways about it.

Now maybe that defense improves through other means. Yes they will have more experience. Yes they are probably getting Leigh Bodden, Ty Warren, and Mike Wright back (although how effective Warren & Wright will be is up in the air). Is that enough? Perhaps. But I, for one, would feel a heck of a lot better if they had tried to pick up another stud for the defensive front seven.

In particular i would have liked for them to trade up for Robert Quinn. He was there for the taking. Maybe Quinn ends up being a bust, but what if he ends up being a guy that gets around 8-10 sacks every year?

I find it silly how many people actually thought NE might take Quinn in the first round. For all BB's draft creativity, his first rounders are downright predictible. They top overall pick always meets certain conditions

1) Choir boy
2) At least 2 years of top end production and typically a third of solid.
3) Projectibility in NE's system
4) High upside, but more importantly, a high floor
5) 3 down player
6) Plays a position where a starting spot is up for grabs

Quinn fails this test on all but the last one. Not only did NE never consider trading up for him, I'd bet my bottom dollar that he was never even considered at 17.

NE simply is not going to spend a high pick on a guy who has only demonstrated 1/3 of the skills they'll need and who'll be playing a position they've never played before.

 

[plk]

In particular i would have liked for them to trade up for Robert Quinn. He was there for the taking. Maybe Quinn ends up being a bust, but what if he ends up being a guy that gets around 8-10 sacks every year?

All draft picks are gambles, but Bill Belichick wants to gamble as little as is possible with his first-round picks. He wants to be as sure as he possibly can be that he will get a reliable starter with those picks.

Occasionally missing a very good player is the price he pays for avoiding a whole mess of busts. It has been a very successful strategy.

 

[captain stone]

The top overall pick always meets certain conditions

1) Choir boy.

Stomper Meriweather says hello.

 

[Oswlek]

Stomper Meriweather says hello.

Yes, NE made an exception on one of the criteria. One.

And they seem to have gone back to making no exceptions since then, don't you think?

 

[Bostonian1962]

There is a point being missed in this thread. No one has a problem with the OT picked at #17. I certainly don't have a problem with getting a corner at #33 either. You could have picked that and with all the ammunition we had much more and that is the point some are missing. Given that we need PLAY MAKERS let me repeat PLAY MAKERS not depth and there is a distinction there, at DE and OLB and we ignored those positions then one can easily see why fans would be puzzled by the decision to completely ignore those 2 play maker needs.

To say that no player in this draft had a higher ceiling then TBC,NINK,STROUD, go down that line of depth you have you would be in denial. You cannot dispute this period. In the end what you have to ask yourself is: Will Wilkerson,Heyward,Sheard,Ayers,Reed be any good. Because if any of them turns out to be a Clay Matthew all over again......On the bright side you still have free agency. Go get Cullen Jenkins and Kiwanuka and call it a day.

Well said, and I, like many have hated watching QBs have all day to throw the ball against us. I thought this draft set up so well to hit our big needs. That said, the biggest reason we lost the Super Bowl to the Giants, the playoff game to the Ravens, and then the playoff game this past season to the Jets is that Brady was getting absolutely PUMMELED! He just was. Adding a left tackle in Solder, G/T in Cannon, and the best blocking TE in the draft in Smith was not an accident by BB.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

I think he wanted an pass rushing OLB to get drafted.

Thanks!

Do you know if Wilfork gave his thoughts to the media after the draft?

If us fans have such wide ranging emotions on how the picks met our needs, I am curious to know how one of the key players in our D felt.

 

[Oswlek]

Well said, and I, like many have hated watching QBs have all day to throw the ball against us. I thought this draft set up so well to hit our big needs. That said, the biggest reason we lost the Super Bowl to the Giants, the playoff game to the Ravens, and then the playoff game this past season to the Jets is that Brady was getting absolutely PUMMELED! He just was. Adding a left tackle in Solder, G/T in Cannon, and the best blocking TE in the draft in Smith was not an accident by BB.

Nor is gearing up the running game to be a threat in and of itself.