BB Pre-Draft Press Conference...

[Hyped]

Oh...what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for one of those mock drafts.....

 

[jah]

I have the responses from Belichick right here:


“Yeah Tom, we will do what’s best for the team.”

“ Uhhhh, yeah Mike, we will do what’s best for the team. “

“Ummm, yes Karen, we will do what is best for the team.”

“I already answered that”

“Mmmm, yeah Bill, we will do what’s best for the team.”

“Uhhh, yes Adidi, what the hell kind of name is that, geesh, we will do what’s best for the team.”

“ ummmm, who the hell names their kid Adidi anyways? We will do what’s best for the team.

Aditi is an Indian name, and there's more of them than there are of us.

 

[Deus Irae]

Other than he doesn’t draft for need. It’s BPA or trade down.

Which of the following players were not "need" picks in the year they were drafted:


Malcom Brown
Dominique Easley
Chandler Jones
Dont'a Hightower
Nate Solder
Devin McCourty
Jerod Mayo
Brandon Meriweather
Laurence Maroney
Logan Mankins
Vince Wilfork
Ben Watson
Ty Warren
Dan Graham
Richard Seymour


It's fascinating to see just how well "BPA" tracks with team needs.

 

[ZoisKing]

I think he's more likely to trade one of those 1st rounders back (not far back) to pick up an extra 2nd/3rd. But really, who knows?

Really want to see them get a LB high up. Maybe draft 2.

I'm with you. Our LB play has been very underwhelming. I'd be comfortable using the 2 firsts on the position, that's how bad the unit has functioned as a whole.

No LT who stands out on our squad would make me 2nd guess that though.

 

[Soliel]

I have the responses from Belichick right here:


“Yeah Tom, we will do what’s best for the team.”

“ Uhhhh, yeah Mike, we will do what’s best for the team. “

“Ummm, yes Karen, we will do what is best for the team.”

“I already answered that”

“Mmmm, yeah Bill, we will do what’s best for the team.”

“Uhhh, yes Adidi, what the hell kind of name is that, geesh, we will do what’s best for the team.”

“ ummmm, who the hell names their kid Adidi anyways? We will do what’s best for the team.

You left out the part about wishing there was time to discuss that now, maybe someday we can have a talk about those sorts of things.

 

[50-yard-line]

Well if HT is healthy we have 2 lbs that are fine with no room for PT for a 3rd.
We definitely need a 3rd for a handful of snaps and depth but I dint know if it’s a first round or 2nd round need. Unless there is a can’t pass up guy like the HT clone from bama I’d rather see other needs filled early.
Unless you are considering a DE in our 4-2-5 base as a 34 OLB and you are discussing that spot.

I think that's our weakest position on D - HT/Van Noy is "fine," sure, and KVN is signed through 2019, HT through 2020. I also have high hopes for Marquise Flowers, and maybe they see Langi in a bigger role, or expect Roberts to develop.

But LB is an oft-injured position, at least it seems that way. I also have come to believe that in a BB defense, where EDGE players are told to stay in their lanes and hold the edge more so than on the "get-the-passer!" teams, LB is the most important position on the field.

Rashaan Evans is exactly who I'd like to see them draft, or, if they think he could reach his potential, Leighton Vander Esch.

 

[Ring 6]

I think that's our weakest position on D - HT/Van Noy is "fine," sure, and KVN is signed through 2019, HT through 2020. I also have high hopes for Marquise Flowers, and maybe they see Langi in a bigger role, or expect Roberts to develop.

But LB is an oft-injured position, at least it seems that way. I also have come to believe that in a BB defense, where EDGE players are told to stay in their lanes and hold the edge more so than on the "get-the-passer!" teams, LB is the most important position on the field.

Rashaan Evans is exactly who I'd like to see them draft, or, if they think he could reach his potential, Leighton Vander Esch.

If Hightower and Kvn are heakthy you just spent a 1 on a guy who either won’t play or makes a good player sit. That’s my concern.
We are committed to a nickel base and we learned last year you can’t do that with 3 lbs on the field.
My wish list would be a vet like Harris was supposed to be, ok as a role player but capable to play ft in the event of injury.
I guess you could turn lb into a 3 man rotation including moving HT to de on obvious passing downs and get maybe 90% reps for HT, 75% for kvn and 50+ for the rookie.
IMO if you get another Hightower you find a way to use him but to draft a lb just because of perceived need at lb when we only play 2 of them doesn’t sound good to me.
Vander esch isn’t the kind of guy I want.

 

[50-yard-line]

If Hightower and Kvn are heakthy you just spent a 1 on a guy who either won’t play or makes a good player sit. That’s my concern.
We are committed to a nickel base and we learned last year you can’t do that with 3 lbs on the field.
My wish list would be a vet like Harris was supposed to be, ok as a role player but capable to play ft in the event of injury.
I guess you could turn lb into a 3 man rotation including moving HT to de on obvious passing downs and get maybe 90% reps for HT, 75% for kvn and 50+ for the rookie.
IMO if you get another Hightower you find a way to use him but to draft a lb just because of perceived need at lb when we only play 2 of them doesn’t sound good to me.
Vander esch isn’t the kind of guy I want.

Where do you expect them to use a #1 on a guy who will play? They seem vet-set (starter and first depth) at every position, with the weakest being LB and OT - but how to do they get a rookie OT who's ready to step in?

So at pick #23, if they use it (let's say the positions all have the same level of draft quality - 3rd best in draft on the boards) who do you grab?

 

[Ring 6]

Where do you expect them to use a #1 on a guy who will play? They seem vet-set (starter and first depth) at every position, with the weakest being LB and OT - but how to do they get a rookie OT who's ready to step in?

So at pick #23, if they use it (let's say the positions all have the same level of draft quality - 3rd best in draft on the boards) who do you grab?

Well it’s not just year 1, year 2 also matters.
I would jump all over a corner if one that good us there at 23. Pairing Gilmore with a #1 for 5 years would be incredible.
LT? Light and solder both played as rookies with light starting at LT. How much does a LT worth being picked at 23 or 31 need to do to beat out waddle?
Certainly a DE would be a more needed pick. DT seems ok but will Brown and Shelton get 5th year money?
We surely could use a top tier RB.
Even at safety since we use 3 so often and McCourty and Chung aren’t young. Safeties play more combined snaps thsn LBs in our scheme.
Even WR, where almost everyone is aging and/or on short contracts.
I don’t see QB in round 1. Other than IOL I could see any position

 

[maineman209]

Where do you expect them to use a #1 on a guy who will play? They seem vet-set (starter and first depth) at every position, with the weakest being LB and OT - but how to do they get a rookie OT who's ready to step in?

So at pick #23, if they use it (let's say the positions all have the same level of draft quality - 3rd best in draft on the boards) who do you grab?

All things being equal, it seems to me that, somewhere in the first four picks, the Pats are likely to take at least one, solid, run-stopping ILB/MLB type who'll be able to take a significant percentage of D-snaps by a couple-three games into the season.

Also, probably a safety in the first four picks who can cover and tackle really well - and become a regular rotational player in the second half of the season.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Aditi is an Indian name, and there's more of them than there are of us.

Only by a factor of about 3. It's not like they're China

 

[Hammer of Thor]

If Hightower and Kvn are heakthy you just spent a 1 on a guy who either won’t play or makes a good player sit. That’s my concern.
We are committed to a nickel base and we learned last year you can’t do that with 3 lbs on the field.
My wish list would be a vet like Harris was supposed to be, ok as a role player but capable to play ft in the event of injury.
I guess you could turn lb into a 3 man rotation including moving HT to de on obvious passing downs and get maybe 90% reps for HT, 75% for kvn and 50+ for the rookie.
IMO if you get another Hightower you find a way to use him but to draft a lb just because of perceived need at lb when we only play 2 of them doesn’t sound good to me.
Vander esch isn’t the kind of guy I want.

My question is in bold -- did we learn that? Meaning during the entire 2017 season, HT and KVN were the best two we ever had on the field at the same time. We didn't have a quality 3rd person - McClellen was out all year, Flowers is a situational guy, Roberts generally wasn't effective, Harris was cooked. And it certainly didn't help matters that Branch was cooked too - the NT is critical in a nickel lineup with 3 LBs. Maybe if they had a quality 3rd LB and quality NT, they could play that defense.

I clearly could be wrong, of course, I just think the personnel was the problem last year for that scheme than the scheme itself.

I definitely agree with your second idea (LB rotation in a 2 LB set, also freeing HT up for the edge), and I think obtaining another quality LB just for that purpose is worth it in itself, given how important it is to the defense and how it has such a high attrition rate for this team.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Well it’s not just year 1, year 2 also matters.
I would jump all over a corner if one that good us there at 23. Pairing Gilmore with a #1 for 5 years would be incredible.
LT? Light and solder both played as rookies with light starting at LT. How much does a LT worth being picked at 23 or 31 need to do to beat out waddle?
Certainly a DE would be a more needed pick. DT seems ok but will Brown and Shelton get 5th year money?
We surely could use a top tier RB.
Even at safety since we use 3 so often and McCourty and Chung aren’t young. Safeties play more combined snaps thsn LBs in our scheme.
Even WR, where almost everyone is aging and/or on short contracts.
I don’t see QB in round 1. Other than IOL I could see any position

I agree with this except on your QB comment and IOL comment. That is to say, I could pretty much justify a first round pick at *any* position if the talent is there. There are contracts to deal with and aging concerns. Drafting an IOL this year allows you to let Mason walk next year, seeing how inflated guard prices have become. Drafting a QB this year (if they like the guy) allows him to sit on the bench for two years like JAG did, and if/when Brady shows cracks after that point the new guy can step in.

 

[Ring 6]

My question is in bold -- did we learn that? Meaning during the entire 2017 season, HT and KVN were the best two we ever had on the field at the same time. We didn't have a quality 3rd person - McClellen was out all year, Flowers is a situational guy, Roberts generally wasn't effective, Harris was cooked. And it certainly didn't help matters that Branch was cooked too - the NT is critical in a nickel lineup with 3 LBs. Maybe if they had a quality 3rd LB and quality NT, they could play that defense.

I clearly could be wrong, of course, I just think the personnel was the problem last year for that scheme than the scheme itself.

I definitely agree with your second idea (LB rotation in a 2 LB set, also freeing HT up for the edge), and I think obtaining another quality LB just for that purpose is worth it in itself, given how important it is to the defense and how it has such a high attrition rate for this team.

Yeah I think we did learn that. If we want to play nickel base we need 2 big DTs, stout guys at de who can play the run and lbs like Hightower and Kvn.
Defending the run from nickel is not easy and we got our asses handed to us BOTH when we tried to play a 3 man front and after Hightower went down.
We went from one of the best run defenses in the nfl even playing if from nickel for the last 2 years to a team that couldn’t compete much against the run which led to the pass d problems.

 

[Ring 6]

I agree with this except on your QB comment and IOL comment. That is to say, I could pretty much justify a first round pick at *any* position if the talent is there. There are contracts to deal with and aging concerns. Drafting an IOL this year allows you to let Mason walk next year, seeing how inflated guard prices have become. Drafting a QB this year (if they like the guy) allows him to sit on the bench for two years like JAG did, and if/when Brady shows cracks after that point the new guy can step in.

Regarding QB I meant I don’t see a trade up as smart and I see drafting what would be left at 23 and 31 even dumber.

I would imagine we are taking a qb later on.
I believe they already know who it is and will move around with all the ammo they have to get him, but it won’t involve moving up in the first.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Arguably the abundance of draft day trades Bill makes in part serves the function of aligning player value with team need.

For example if NE is on the clock and the best three players on their board duplicate skills of players on the roster while the 4th does not, say he has some special skills that may be exploited, and if it seems that 4th-best player might be not be taken for awhile, BB trades down if he can.

OTOH, if NE is 5 picks away from being on the clock and by far the best player on their board has skills not duplicating those of players on the roster, BB trades up.

In each case it was BPA, but you also worked the board to make it fit need.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Love vander Esch but he could be gone before 23 if they don't draft a QB.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I can't be the only one who perked up about trading up based on this comment: BB said, "Only a handful of players out of reach."

BB blowing smoke.
That said if the unexpected happens q.v. Wilfork falling to the Pats, and a specific defensive talent falls near our 1st pick, a small trade up could happen. I would have said LT talent a week ago but the message from Garcia says he's good to go.

 

[50-yard-line]

Well it’s not just year 1, year 2 also matters.
I would jump all over a corner if one that good us there at 23. Pairing Gilmore with a #1 for 5 years would be incredible.
LT? Light and solder both played as rookies with light starting at LT. How much does a LT worth being picked at 23 or 31 need to do to beat out waddle?
Certainly a DE would be a more needed pick. DT seems ok but will Brown and Shelton get 5th year money?
We surely could use a top tier RB.
Even at safety since we use 3 so often and McCourty and Chung aren’t young. Safeties play more combined snaps thsn LBs in our scheme.
Even WR, where almost everyone is aging and/or on short contracts.
I don’t see QB in round 1. Other than IOL I could see any position

I could live with this:

23: R1P23
LB RASHAAN EVANS
ALABAMA

31: R1P31
EDGE SAM HUBBARD
OHIO STATE

43: R2P11
CB MIKE HUGHES
CENTRAL FLORIDA

63: R2P31
TE DALLAS GOEDERT
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

95: R3P31
RB NYHEIM HINES
NORTH CAROLINA STATE