Forged in Foxboro: episode 1

[Love The Drake]

I am 20 minutes in.

My God did we get the right guy in Vrabel!

Let’s GOOOO!!!

Watched this last night it’s football crack.

 

[Love The Drake]

Watched this last night it’s football crack.

Also don’t love losing Cam after watching this.

 

[KCSVEN]

I strongly disagree but obviously hindsight is 20/20. I just don't see the value in taking a RB that early. No other RB got taken until the tail end of the 2nd. They might have still been able to get him at 58 or they still had talent like Mike Green still available. We aren't 1 player away. Big mistake IMO.

Sounds like there was a big drop off from Henderson to the next RB, even more reason to pick him.

A couple teams reportedly considered Henderson in the first round so highly unlikely he got to 58. In hindsight probably no chance he got to 58.
Denver was considering trading down to the bottom of the first and taking him, they would have moved up.

Only 1 out of 3 2nd round picks make it as starters so taking the highest rated guy regardless of position is generally the best play.

Only question is wr there, but they got Williams after so not sure who else they should have drafted there. Sounds like he was the highest rated guy on their board, then they had a group of 20 in the next tier and would have gone down 21 spots. It was all to mainly pick up the extra 3rd next year from a likely playoff team.

Of course, It will all come down to hitting on Henderson and who else would have been picked. My guess is they draft Williams at 58 so who else in the 3rd?
You need some game breaker type players.

 

[bakes781]

Sounds like there was a big drop off from Henderson to the next RB, even more reason to pick him.

A couple teams reportedly considered Henderson in the first round so highly unlikely he got to 58. In hindsight probably no chance he got to 58.
Denver was considering trading down to the bottom of the first and taking him, they would have moved up.

Only 1 out of 3 2nd round picks make it as starters so taking the highest rated guy regardless of position is generally the best play.

Only question is wr there, but they got Williams after so not sure who else they should have drafted there. Sounds like he was the highest rated guy on their board, then they had a group of 20 in the next tier and would have gone down 21 spots. It was all to mainly pick up the extra 3rd next year from a likely playoff team.

Of course, It will all come down to hitting on Henderson and who else would have been picked. My guess is they draft Williams at 58 so who else in the 3rd?
You need some game breaker type players.

Yeah I get it but to me it's not the best use of the pick. I understand they can only keep so many roster spots but they have no backup option at LT if Will ends up at guard like a lot of experts project.

 

[patfanken]

Yeah I get it but to me it's not the best use of the pick. I understand they can only keep so many roster spots but they have no backup option at LT if Will ends up at guard like a lot of experts project.

I am very sure that Campbell will play LT for this entire year. Whether he stays at the position long term remains to be seen. But for THIS year at least, they will give him every opportunity to prove he can play the position.

Personally, while I LOVE the kid's mental make up, I still have questions about his physical limitations. Just looking at him next to Vrabel's broad shoulders he almost looks deformed his shoulders are so narrow.

On a positive note, I am also aware that physical ability is only part of the equation to being a great NFL player. We got to see the greatest mind over matter example for 20 years here with the Pats, so we all have to keep those "measurement" stats at bay until we see the results on the field. I mean the kid ran a 4.9 forty at 320lbs. To put that into some kind of perspective, that is just ONE tenth of a second slower than Rodney Harrision managed (and me at 210, btw)

Now his wingspread limitations might keep him from being a top 3 LT, but if he "only" ends up being a good solid top 15 guy, a la Light and Solder, it will STILL be a good draft pick, especially given the thin high end talent available in this draft. We DESPERATELY needed a starting LT, and it looks like we got one.

BTW- don't forget that all of these draft picks are just at the START of their careers, and the proof of the draft will be met if most of them are far better football players 3 years from now than they were in college. All that requires is a BURING desire by the individual to excel and always keep striving to be better. It would seem that THAT quality is something Will Campbell has in spades ... I hope.

BTW- I REALLY enjoyed the show and thanks for putting it up, CT

 

[Huckleberry1]

Also don’t love losing Cam after watching this.

I see that as a good reason to extend Wolf. Teams are going to come after their front office, and Streicher and Cowden will be targeted, because they can’t really go after Wolf as he is the head of operations, technically, even though Vrabel is really the one with final say.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Teams utilizing YouTube eliminated "Hard Knocks" a long time. Nobody watches that **** anymore. Good move by the Pats to make their own show.

 

[signbabybrady]

Yeah I get it but to me it's not the best use of the pick. I understand they can only keep so many roster spots but they have no backup option at LT if Will ends up at guard like a lot of experts project.

Can we put a pause on the guard talk for awhile. It was obviously totally relevant to the draft conversation. But now that we made the selection it is very clearly the intent is to play him at LT so there really is no need to talk guard again until we have a good reason.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I see that as a good reason to extend Wolf. Teams are going to come after their front office, and Streicher and Cowden will be targeted, because they can’t really go after Wolf as he is the head of operations, technically, even though Vrabel is really the one with final say.

Wolf does not have the GM title so teams can go after him. Let's hope Wolf gets poached - you must have missed last year's draft when Wolf was in charge.

 

[scott99]

I REALLY enjoyed it, love the inside look on so many facets of the offseason. Love that they have no problem talking to the scouts in the draft war room and asking their opinions while they were on the clock.

It was obvious they were swayed by some of the 30 visits, they loved Campbell, Henderson & Williams, besides their talents, they were blow away by who they are as people. Having seen some interviews with the rookies, I see why. Outside of the top 3 picks, I really LOVED Jared Wilson’s interview. Just seems so smart and hungry to play for the Pats.

 

[DarrylS]

Pure Patriots Porn.. can never get enough of this.
The hierarchy of this team is obvious as is the collaborative approach...
Cannot wait for the NFL TC and then the season..

 

[scott99]

Pure Patriots Porn.. can never get enough of this.
The hierarchy of this team is obvious as is the collaborative approach...
Cannot wait for the NFL TC and then the season..

I don’t wanna wish my summer away, but I agree, TC will be so much fun. Looking forward to the preseason games as well.

 

[Steve102]

That was entertaining AF.

 

[The Gr8est]

I REALLY enjoyed it, love the inside look on so many facets of the offseason. Love that they have no problem talking to the scouts in the draft war room and asking their opinions while they were on the clock.

It was obvious they were swayed by some of the 30 visits, they loved Campbell, Henderson & Williams, besides their talents, they were blow away by who they are as people. Having seen some interviews with the rookies, I see why. Outside of the top 3 picks, I really LOVED Jared Wilson’s interview. Just seems so smart and hungry to play for the Pats.

Jared Wilson is developing a fan club already.

If you haven’t heard him speak yet take the opportunity to do so.

 

[Bill Lee]

Was excellent and most likely diminishes the likelihood of the Patriots doing Hard Knocks. It's basically Hard Knocks but done with the Patriots own media team. TAKE THAT NFL!!

I'm surprised NFL hasn't moved to limit the teams from making this kind of content precisely because it detracts from NFL Media stuff.

This is what happened in Formula 1 racing, the team videos were taking stuff that F1 wanted to keep exclusively for "Drive to Survive" so they made them knock it off.

 

[Bill Lee]

I think Wolf was displayed very good in it. He was heavily involved and worked well with Vrabel and Cowden.. then again everyone knows they would be on camera as well so there's always that factor too.

I doubt at this level a guy says to himself "I better look busy, I'm on camera".

 

[Huckleberry1]

Wolf does not have the GM title so teams can go after him. Let's hope Wolf gets poached - you must have missed last year's draft when Wolf was in charge.

I’m well aware of last years draft, that was the one where Wolf picked the Patriots franchise quarterback. I’m also aware of this years free agency, which only happened because he didn’t blow their money in the terrible free agent market of 2024, the job they did in free agency this year, and this years draft. And from Vrabel’s interactions with Wolf at the draft this year it’s very clear that he was really happy with the job Wolf did.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Watched this last night it’s football crack.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Damn. I live in Maine, and I do everything I can to get as much out of every nice day that I can. I don’t wish away a minute of the spring or summer. But all I watched was the intro to that and it had me salivating for football. And even though I’m not a big fan of Kraft I have to give him all the credit in the world for firing Mayo when you know he hated having to do it, and convincing Vrabel to take over this team. This is the right guy at the right time, both in terms of Vrabel’s career, where he now has experience as a head coach, and a clear vision of what he wants this team to be, and how to get there. And it’s the right time for the Patriots, where they went through the trauma of firing the GOAT, the end of the Dynasty, half a decade of sucking, and the clown show that was 2024, with the ridicule that went with it, and the franchise reputation in the gutter. They now have their franchise QB and a coach that knows what he’s doing. Free agency and the draft were excellent, and by all accounts there is a sense of urgency and excitement around the program that will hopefully lead to a really competitive camp, and a winning season. The only downside for me is that I hate being indoors on a beautiful fall afternoon, and I’m going to find it really hard to wait until I’m done with my day to kick back and watch the game that night. That said, there are worse problems in life, I guess that’s called “ a first world problem.”

Where in Maine do you reside?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I see that as a good reason to extend Wolf. Teams are going to come after their front office, and Streicher and Cowden will be targeted, because they can’t really go after Wolf as he is the head of operations, technically, even though Vrabel is really the one with final say.

Because the titles vary between teams, the NFL's rule is that you can't "poach" the person with final say over the 53-man roster. [That is why the Texans could pursue Nick Caserio.]

If Vrabel does have final say, then other teams can poach Wolf.