Cole Strange - a nice breakdown

[Pape]

A first round guard isn’t supposed to be developmental.

Every rookie in the draft is a developmental prospect. Only the rare ones are plug and play.

do a break down of other Guards/OL taken in 2022 ... is there a significant difference in their play over the season?

Now weigh that in terms of their draft position... There were 8 other offensive linemen taken before we took Cole in the 29th slot... so more than a quarter of the picks up until that point...

Does he need to get better? Yes he does.

But he had a solid start imo.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

People trying to defend this Strange pick are bending themselves into pretzels. Like I said the moment he was drafted, even if he turns out to be John Hannah, his play is just not going to move the needle. He is not going to make a game changing play; he is not going to make a big play at a big time.

The best you can hope for is that he doesn't screw up. Given the fact that he was benched several times during the year, I would say he did just that.

The Pats owned the 21st pick and could have used it to get a playmaker. The Pats are almost completely devoid of stars. The difference between Strange and any other guard drafted in any round is negligible. They got a 3rd (sub traded will end up being a 3rd in 2023) and a 4th rd pick (jack Jones) to move down to 28, not exactly a great haul, especially if Jack Jones ends up not being on the team in 2023.

The Pats could have drafted a number of defensive standouts Quay Walker, Devin Lloyd, Devonte Wyatt or CB McDuffie or Elam.

The drafting of Thorton when Pickens was still on the board is criminal and will haunt the Pats for years.

BB would be better just drafting the highest ranked Alabama or Georgia player on the board than his "I'm going to draft someone nobody has ever heard of because I'm smarter than you" strategy. It would have looked like this

21. Quay Walker
50. George Pickens

Go ahead and play your game in the later rounds but reaching in the first and second round has caused so many misses over the years it has become intolerable!

 

[Brotherblues]

A first round guard isn’t supposed to be developmental.

Every kid is developmental by definition

 

[Pape]

People trying to defend this Strange pick are bending themselves into pretzels. Like I said the moment he was drafted, even if he turns out to be John Hannah, his play is just not going to move the needle. He is not going to make a game changing play; he is not going to make a big play at a big time.

And those of you who continually harp on the pick are tying themselves in knots because he wasn't an abject failure, thus making up crap and whining about him.

See how that works? I can complain about you playing gumby too.

Cole Strange doesn't need to be a play maker. His contribution will allow the guys lining up behind him to make those plays. He does need to be more consistent however. He needs to get stronger, and maybe a touch bigger. Match him with a reliable LT (not trent brown, who i am so done with at this point), and that becomes a pretty potent left side.

 

[ahmed]

I truly don’t remember. Did we hate the “value” of the Logan Mankins pick at the time this much or is this new?

Yes we did but for different reasons. Everyone agreed Mankins was a stud but back then a guard in round 1 was frowned upon league wide. Things have changed since then where now elite guard talent is taken in the first.

The issue is Strange was not considered a 1st or 2nd round pick, we traded a really good guard with a reasonable contract for a 4th and we have much bigger needs.

 

[ahmed]

Yeah, about the same. Vollmer was another one that was picked apart, but he was a tackle all the way.

I remember the outrage about that too but I loved the pick based on his film and size but I am also very partial to tackles - much harder and more important than interior OL. It's a different as tackles have a higher premium and he was picked in the end of the second round.

 

[TommyD4207]

21. Quay Walker
50. George Pickens

Literally the two craziest people in the draft. Good work.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

BB took crap for taking Duggar early too, over time that has worked out.

 

[Pape]

Literally the two craziest people in the draft. Good work.

and he left out the important thing - Quay Walker was off the board when we took Strange at 29...

Unless he wants to parse out all those trades we made in last years draft, his "let's look at the draft and pick someone who had good numbers" 100% hindsight method of drafting falls flat on its face...

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

BB would be better just drafting the highest ranked Alabama or Georgia player on the board than his "I'm going to draft someone nobody has ever heard of because I'm smarter than you" strategy. It would have looked like this

21. Quay Walker
50. George Pickens

Go ahead and play your game in the later rounds but reaching in the first and second round has caused so many misses over the years it has become intolerable!

The Raiders tried this "athleticism over leadership qualities" approach. It did not end well.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

BB took crap for taking Duggar early too, over time that has worked out.

Yup we do not hear from the Duggar haters anymore. Where are the guys *****ing about Uche? They moved onto hating the next guy. Now it is hate on Strange and Thornton.

 

[RodThePat]

BB took crap for taking Duggar early too, over time that has worked out.

This is the biggest Mandela effect in Patriots fandom. Dugger wasn't that much of a reach at all, he was the 37th pick in the draft and ranked 55th on the consensus big board. Most publications had him as a second rounder since the end of the combine.

 

[borg]

Strange is supposed to be the first foundation piece of a new zone blocking system.
Sadly, Bill didn't feel the need to hire a coach capable of installing the new system. Instead, he enlisted one of his Friends & Family bobos to consult on the matter.

 

[Toofy]

Yup we do not hear from the Duggar haters anymore. Where are the guys *****ing about Uche? They moved onto hating the next guy. Now it is hate on Strange and Thornton.

I think we need to see strange pick as strange + jack Jones + zappe + 2023 panthers 3rd round pick . Those are the trade comps for 21 -29.

Quay Walker vs ( Cole strange + zappe + Jack Jones + 70th 2023 pick)

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I think we need to see strange pick as strange + jack Jones + zappe + 2023 panthers 3rd round pick . Those are the trade comps for 21 -29.

Quay Walker vs ( Cole strange + zappe + Jack Jones + 70th 2023 pick)

The 21st pick was Trent McDuffie. So it really is Trent McDuffie versus Strange + Zappe + Jack Jones + this year's Panthers 3rd round pick.

 

[TomPatriot]

Strange moves well in space and blocked really well at the second level. He basically had an all-rookie season. His season reminded me of the Matt Light and Logan Mankins rookie years; glaring mistakes and uneven play sprinkled in with a lot of good. If he gets stronger, he could become a really good player.

They basically got Steuber, Kevin Harris and cap relief for Shaq Mason. If you love pff grades, you should love Mason. If not, then you probably don’t love Mason.

Strange was the sixth (!) OL taken in the 2022 draft.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yup we do not hear from the Duggar haters anymore. Where are the guys *****ing about Uche? They moved onto hating the next guy. Now it is hate on Strange and Thornton.

Personally I loved the Dugger pick. The fact that the kid played a whole bunch right away validated the selection.

I liked Uche as well and was the same kind of pick (little raw but crazy athleticism) but in fairness had injury problems hist first 2 years so the jury was still definitely out.

Glad he's healthy and established himself as a pretty good player.

 

[patsinthesnow]

People are ratting on themselves again with Strange. He only gave up 1 pressure in his final two games. Wilkins & Oliver were kept at bay.

Pick 29 Cole Strange

5 sacks
1 hit
17 hurries
6 penalties

Pick 17 Zion Johnson

5 sacks
7 hits
28 hurries
6 penalties

Pick 15 Kenyon Green

4 sacks
12 hits
31 hurries
12 penalties

Similar to Kyle Dugger when people complained they didn't pick 5'9" FS Antoine Winfield instead Strange is a high upside player from a small school that has the ability to be one of the best players at his position. He was 28th/57 in pass block efficiency as a rookie with poor coaching. This is coming from someone who was pissed they took him at 29 but would've been fine with him in round 2 obviously.

 

[Triumph]

 

[Triumph]

Some are suggesting that Seam McVay come to NE as the OC.

The same guy who laughed at BB for taking Cole Strange in the 1st round. I sincerely doubt that BB would give McVay the time of day.