Draft impact of finally having Crable, McKenzie, Tate, etc.?

[TriplecHamp]

You must not have gotten the memo. Brandon Tate is going to be the next Jerry Rice and McKenzie is going to be the next L.T. (the original one).

So does this mean no WR or LB in the first two rounds

 

[Metaphors]

Crable - (IR x 2) probably take a miracle for him to make the squad at this point
Wheatley - he's had a good chunk of two seasons and hasn't gotten it
Brace - had a hard time getting snaps even when we needed him on the field
Tate - (IR) was projected primarily as a KR/PR, IIRC, so who knows
McKenzie - (IR) was originally projected simply as depth, IIRC
Ohrnberger - another guy who couldn't get snaps even when we needed them
Bussey - (IR) originally projected as depth
Richard - other guys were promoted off the P/S even when we needed DLs

Try this again (not just you, but anyone) but evaluate them on their abilities. What can or can't they do that will affect their ability to make the roster or get on the field. As far as I know, nobody above has an injury that is preventing them from practicing/playing. As far as I know, nobody above has gotten slower, weaker, shorter, dumber or less talented in the last year.

Here are some of my perspectives on these players:

Crable: If healthy, looks the part of a 3-4 OLB. Lived in the backfield his senior year.
Wheatley: Didn't see much CB action in 2 years except against Indy.
Brace: Actually saw some time early but visible footwork/leverage flaws.
Tate: Belichick wanted him on the field in the regular offense, going 4-wide when he was available.
McKenzie: Belichick doesn't gush over draftees unless he expects them to contribute.
Ohrnberger: No surprise he didn't see action. Needed to bulk up. Interested in seeing his progress.
Richard: Paid like a top 53 guy and has nice size and strength at DE.
Bussey: I got nothing

So outside of my complete ignorance of Bussey, that is an intriguing group. At the very least, they combine with the 2010 draftees to expand the skill pool that the team can draw from. That is 20 players from which I think the Pats would be THRILLED to get 8-10 gameday actives.

 

[captain stone]

The way I look at it is to look at them as part of this rookie draft class, but drop them down a little bit from the round they were originally drafted in.

For example McKenzie represents perhaps an additional 4th round pick in this draft, Crable a 5th, Ohrnberger a 6th, etc. In other words it's something in between counting on them to contribute and expecting nothing at all from any one of them. McKenzie was a 3rd round pick but surgery drops him at least a round in terms of expectations even with over a year to recover. Crable drops a couple rounds due to multiple IR's, etc.

Not exactly a science, but it seems to be better than either completely writing guys off - or blindly expecting them to start and play well.

Sounds fair enough to me.