Building your draft board position by position - week 9: WR/QB

[Box_O_Rocks]

Last week of individual positions before trying to pull it all together next week. Wide Receiver and Quarterback are the targets. With the depth at WR, there is no urgent need, but a couple of kids to fight for the Practice Squad would not go amiss.

History:
Week One - OC/OG: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=51105
Week Two - DL: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=51395
Week Three - OT: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=51983
Week Four - CB: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=52730
Week Five - LB: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=53088
Week Six - TE: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=53310
Week Seven - RB/FB: http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=53572
Week Eight - S/STs http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?p=405429#post405429

 

[AzPatsFan]

I have a feeling based on intuition only, that the Pats will draft a QB. They could even use their third for one, if all their planned third rounders are gone. Trent Edwards looks to be an eventual possible starter, who played for a terrible team much like Denver's Cutler did.

More likely though the Pats take a late round developmental QB. Candidates are Jeff Rowe, Toby Karrodi and Matt Gutierez. The BYU QB, Beck is smaller but seems to have the intangibles and would probbly be drafted behind Edwards but before the six or seven rounders mentioned above.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Wide Receiver is currently a position of depth on the roster, but it's a questionable depth with Stallworth and Washington playing under one year trial contracts, and both Caldwell and Gaffney entering contract years. Jonathan Smith, Kelvin Kight, and Bam Childress are bubble players. Troy Brown is expected back, but is coming off end of season knee surgery as he looks to return for his 15th season. Wes Welker and Chad Jackson are the only players locked in for 2008, leaving room for additional young talent to develop at the back end of the roster or on the Practice Squad.

First Day Talent: These are players who could be targeted as Best Player Available talent on day one, with the hope they can contribute on Special Teams as the 5th/6th WR. This list is not prioritized, but bolded notes on added value may make them priority considerations.

Robert Meachem, WR, Tennessee
Steve Smith, WR, Southern Cal
Anthony Gonzalez, WR, Ohio State
Jason Hill, WR, Washington State - STs
Johnnie Lee Higgins, WR, Texas-El Paso - STs
Aundrae Allison, WR, East Carolina
Mike Walker, WR, Central Florida - STs, CB/FS
David Clowney, WR, Virginia Tech

Second Day Talent: Again BPA opportunities, but bolded players may be targeted for their 2008 (and waiver survival) potential or added value.

Chris Davis, WR, Florida State
Laurent Robinson, WR, Illinois State
Dallas Baker, WR, Florida
Rhema McKnight, WR, Notre Dame
Chansi Stuckey, WR, Clemson
Brandon Myles, WR, West Virginia
Steve Breaston, WR, Michigan
Legedu Naanee, WR, Boise State
David Ball, WR, New Hampshire
Brad Ekwerekwu, WR, Missouri
Aaron Fairooz, WR, Central Arkansas
Syndric Steptoe, WR, Arizona
Roy Hall, WR, Ohio State
Maurice Price, WR, Charleston Southern
Vincent Marshall, WR, Houston
Eric Deslauriers, WR, Eastern Michigan
John Broussard, WR, San Jose State
Derek Stanley, WR, Wisconsin - Whitewater
Michael DePriest, WR, TCU
Marco Thomas, WR, Western Illinois
Damarcus Davis, WR, Tulane
Joe Fernandez, WR, Fresno State
Brandon London, WR, Massachusetts
Kerry Reed, WR, Michigan State

 

[ayjackson]

From John Murphy:

WR Maurice Price, Charleston Southern
The Division I-AA leader in receptions (202) the past three years, Price impressed scouts with his smooth routes and ideal hands while practicing for the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge. Price ran in the 4.4 range in the 40-yard dash at each of his pro day sessions, but also got scouts' attention with his 40-inch vertical, 11'0" broad jump and his size (6-foot-1, 205 pounds). The only other receiver prospect with as many catches over the past three years is USC's Dwayne Jarrett. According to his trainer Tom Shaw, Price is just scratching the surface of his talents and should continue to grow into a full-sized receiver with big-play speed, but the sure-hands of a possession receiver. One NFL position coach wrote that Price currently ranked among the top-10 receivers in what is perceived as being a solid draft for receivers.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Trying to come up with a QB grocery list for this draft leads one to put a little more faith in the rumor discussing the likelihood of Oakland taking Calvin Johnson and trading up with the Pats for one of the Stanton/Edwards/Beck QB options at the end of the first round. This QB class is shaky.

Day One-Middle Rounds
Trent Edwards, QB, Stanford - chopped liver after his career at Stanford behind their O-line, he has size & smarts and QB needy teams are going to look hard at him.
John Beck, QB, BYU - accurate passer, good leader, 26 after spending two years on his Morman missionary tour.
Kevin Kolb, QB, Houston - good dink & dunk QB who gives Woicik plenty of room for improvement.

Late Rounds/UDFA
Jeff Rowe, QB, Nevada - steady improvement, good size.
Zac Taylor, QB, Nebraska - steady improvement, decent size.
Toby Korrodi, QB, Central Missouri State - southpaw - laser, rocket arm, good size.
Luke Getsy, QB, Akron - good couple seasons, decent size.
Matt Gutierrez, QB, Idaho State - good size.
Josh Swogger, QB, Montana - good size, raw, compares to Drew Bledsoe
Jeff Smith, QB, Georgetown (KY) - good size, decent stats.
Matt Moore, QB, Oregon State - much improved senior campaign, tall/skinny.
Justin Zwick, QB, Ohio State - another Heisman Trophy back-up, good size.
Cullen Finnerty, QB, Grand Valley State - Two national championships, 9-1 playoff record, under 6'2".
Perry Patterson, QB, Syracuse - long shot, good size.
Anton Clarkson, QB, Hofstra - good size, decent production.

The Pats have a good #2 QB for two more seasons, there is no real pressure to draft for depth (despite fantasies of trade offers for Matt). The more important consideration is bringing in at least one more camp arm. A second camp arm can obtained from one of the Free Agent QBs in NFLE.

Potential Slash projects
Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State - 6' 225, 4.7/40
Isaiah Stanback, QB, Washington - 6'2" 216, 4.65/40
Jared Zabransky, QB, Boise State - 6'2" 219, 4.55/40
Andy Collins, QB, Occidental - 6'1" 215, 4.65/40
Cullen Finnerty, QB, Grand Valley State - 6'2" 223, 4.65/40 - "He is just one of four college football players to pass for more than 10,000 yards and rush for more than 2,000 yards." (Brad Smith of the Jets is one of the four.)
Jerry Babb, QB, Louisiana-Lafayette - 6'3" 225, 4.7/40
Allen Webb, QB, Texas College - 6'3" 210, 4.55/40