Grade the Patriots Draft: Instant Reaction

[VJCPatriot]

As the title says, what is your gut reaction to the Patriots draft? Give it your grade now!

I know they say judge a draft 2 years later, but who has time to wait? It's more fun to give your grade now and see if it holds up in the future.

For the first time in a long time, I had a satisfying draft experience. When you look at the whole picture it really feels like the Patriots had a cohesive gameplan going into this draft and stuck to it.

They focused on fixing the offense early and often on Days 1 and 2. Then they addressed adding additional defensive depth on day 3 and even picked up a kicker, another OT, and a couple of lottery scratch tickets at the end of round 7.

There might be some slight disagreements on the individuals picked, but the overall shape of the draft, positions selected, and where they were picked. It all felt like the value was there and they didn't make any huge reaches for coach binkies. It feels a lot more satisfying, when you don't have to ask "who the hell is that" every other pick and have to watch the media roasting what are obvious reaches that are making your team worse.

Personally I gave this draft a solid A. The Patriots as a group improved in much needed areas in the offense and also stockpiled some young talent on defense to add to the depth chart.

 

[signbabybrady]

 

[Uptown]

A-

Loved the draft selections. 10-11 win season (minimum)
season incoming.

 

[Hawaiipatsfan2]

Want to say A plus, but a strong A is probably best. How anyone thinks it’s a B or worse is beyond me. Today was a good day. It’s been a long time since I truly enjoyed the picks across the board.

 

[mayoclinic]

Incomplete.

If Will Campbell succeeds at LT, then I give it an A, if not A+. If not ...

Henderson, Williams, Wilson, Farmer and Swinson picks were all bulls-eyes. Woodson a slight reach, but fills a need. 7th round picks were Meh, but if that's the main complaint then it's a great draft.

 

[imahobgoblin]

It was a fun weekend. For the first time, I new most names we drafted except the last 3 picks. That is a miracle.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

A. Dunno how many will pan out but the picks all made logical sense, we addressed basically everything you could realistically expect them to cover and each pick was a good value for what each player was worth.

you actually got the sense they had a direction and knew what they were doing, even more than that in some situations. The trade backs still resulted in players that would have been good picks even at the original slot. They knocked it out the park!

 

[imahobgoblin]

Incomplete.

If Will Campbell succeeds at LT, then I give it an A, if not A+. If not ...

Henderson, Williams, Wilson, Farmer and Swinson picks were all bulls-eyes. Woodson a slight reach, but fills a need. 7th round picks were Meh, but if that's the main complaint then it's a great draft.

Lol you think there is something called a reach on day 3 picks. You are cute.

 

[Triumph]

B - B +

 

[Toofy]

Wilson was great value and Henderson was aggressive and great situational pick .

Kyle Williams is a safe depth pick while swinson and Farmer are phenomenal depth picks.

Whether Campbell pans as a LT or not, the other picks made it even more great. Without Campbell A- . If Campbell pans out it is A+ . That's how good it was. I ranked it as highest tier and I am hoping the dog in campbell will make sure that he is gonna become like penei Sewell. Go pats !!!

 

[stinkypete]

Not much way it can get anything lower than an A. They aggressively perused both need and value. What more can you ask?

 

[scott99]

Here’s the picks I liked or loved

Campbell
Henderson
Williams (preferred Noel, but Williams is more of an outside WR, so I get it).
Wilson
Farmer
Swinson
Borregales
Bryant.

So that’s a fantastic haul. I’ll ignore the Woodson, Ashby and Minor picks, all stupid when better players were available.

Overall, but give our draft a B+. 8 picks that will possibly start eventually. Farmer & Swinson are great value picks, neither should’ve been there when we picked them. Borregales was my favorite kicker in the draft. Bryant is an absolute gigantic depth tackle. Wilson was the top ranked center, and like Campbell, is extremely athletic. Like all 3 linemen.

Loved Campbell despite the arm length BS that put media in such a tizzy. He was the top rated lineman in the draft, love his personality and leadership ability. We actually have 2 linemen that have leadership qualities now (Moses & Campbell).

I chose B because it didn’t give me a B+ option.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

We arguably got the best LT , c , k, and LS in the draft

Edit: and a top 3 rb

 

[Bill Lee]

 

[maust]

Hard to fault a draft that was obviously driven by a desire to match talent, attitude and athleticism with need. Although I have no doubt some here at PF will always find a way

 

[ViperGTS]

Solid A. I would have said A+ but that would have been reactionary over the past decade or so.

 

[Aussie Patriot]

A.

Through the whole process (FA and Draft) they've had a plan and have executed it very well. They couldn't get every FA they wanted but it was because they didn't want to come here essentially.

This is the first draft in a very long time where i feel very confident on the type of player they took and also where they took them. They still need to get on the field and actually live up to their grades but thats the same every year.

We have professionals running the team now.

 

[Bill Lee]

A.

Through the whole process (FA and Draft) they've had a plan and have executed it very well. They couldn't get every FA they wanted but it was because they didn't want to come here essentially.

This is the first draft in a very long time where i feel very confident on the type of player they took and also where they took them. They still need to get on the field and actually live up to their grades but thats the same every year.

We have professionals running the team now.

We've had a long run of WTF years. The Cam Newton year. The Mac Jones Might Be Good year. The MP/JJ year. The Mac Jones Ain't Good year. The Mayo year. I'm hopeful this will be the end of the run of WTF years. It really seems that way to me. I suppose we'll have yet another an over/under wins thread pretty damn soon. Almost definitely after the schedule comes out in May.

 

[RobertWeathers]

All drafts should receive incomplete grades until 2-3 years later but in terms of addressing their critical needs without "reaching" for players they did a great job.

 

[TommyD4207]

Perfunctory "it's beyond stupid to grade a draft before anyone puts on pads" post here.