I Have Exactly Zero Priorities For The Draft Other Than Quarterback

[patfanken]

The DTs fit the mold of what they want. They need run stuffers, 2 gap guys who can take on double teams. It makes not a “difference maker” position in this scheme at this time in the evolution of what offenses do.

Bentley and McMillan are going to be part time players at best. HT and KVN are the LBs and anyone else us only playing as depth or when one of them plays on the edge.
it’s a reserve role. Day 3 if they draft one.

Going into camp here is one combination that I'd love to try on 1st and 2nd downs. I'd want KVN and Judon on the outside. necaise BOTH of them are outstanding at setting the edge an have Uche in the middle. Uche flashed explosive speed and athletesism in 2020, but didn't set the edge well. I personally think he'd be outstanding ILB in today;'s game with the speed to go sideline to sideline, and the athleticism and quickness to be an asset in coverage. Granted that it would take time for Uche to develop. I don't think he played anythng but the edge in college or last season.

I'd love to see then start this development in THIS TC.

 

[Hyped]

We have the easy potential to add another 10-15 more if we had to. If you've been following teams like the Saint's GB. and Bucs, they have added a LOT of cap space to their bottom lines by restructuring contracts and the like. The Pats haven't had the need to do much of that....SO far. If there is a guy or two they REALLY want for reasonable money, they can get it done and clear that 10-15MM without too much trouble, but I hope they won;'t have to, because bills always come due (despite what Felger thinks)

On our roster, @Miguel mentioned that ONLY D-Mac has a contract with voidable years.

I am OK with restructures and kicking the can down the road.....IF we are getting elite talent in return. If not, I say stay pat and load up in the draft and with our UDFA class.

As it is right now, we actually have too many players....go do an estimated 53 man roster cut down....A LOT OF TOUGH CUTS to make!!!! This team is VERY VERY deep.

As for a big DT. I am hoping we kick the tires on Geno Atkins at least....he would be a fine addition to mix in with Godchaux.

 

[Ring 6]

Going into camp here is one combination that I'd love to try on 1st and 2nd downs. I'd want KVN and Judon on the outside. necaise BOTH of them are outstanding at setting the edge an have Uche in the middle. Uche flashed explosive speed and athletesism in 2020, but didn't set the edge well. I personally think he'd be outstanding ILB in today;'s game with the speed to go sideline to sideline, and the athleticism and quickness to be an asset in coverage. Granted that it would take time for Uche to develop. I don't think he played anythng but the edge in college or last season.

I'd love to see then start this development in THIS TC.

Since you have HT in the middle with him it makes some sense. I just think uche struggles being physical enough in the running game. It doesn’t matter how fast you run if you can’t get off a block.
That’s all “setting the edge” is, holding your ground and not getting turn inside. Not as easy as it sounds though. Especially for a guy who’s really small for a lb.

 

[patfanken]

That’s all “setting the edge” is, holding your ground and not getting turn inside. Not as easy as it sounds though. Especially for a guy who’s really small for a lb.

....aaaand THAT's why I'd rather put him in the middle. If you keep him on the edge all he;ll likely be is a situational only player and probably a good one. HOWEVER, if you put him in the middle he could develop into a Collins type player. A guy who you can protect from being overpowered by big G's more in a 3-4 look. A guy who would have great pursuit for a guy, but is also 245, so he's not exactly a lighweight in the middle. He'd be guy who could be a ligit threat as an inside ruisher,, especially the way the Pats scheme up D's. If we don't have strong rushers from the inside, the best way to create inside pressure is to bring a guy with Uche"s kind of explosion. And who is also not going to be immediately head faked by the athletic QB's out there today, like most of the DT's are going to be.

You know every time I write a post about this (and this isn't my first one) the more and more excited I get about the idea. By doing it you would take a guy who would give you limited reps as a situational rusher would might get 20 reps a gane and turn him into a 3 down force who rarely comes off the field and triple his value

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

....aaaand THAT's why I'd rather put him in the middle. If you keep him on the edge all he;ll likely be is a situational only player and probably a good one. HOWEVER, if you put him in the middle he could develop into a Collins type player. A guy who you can protect from being overpowered by big G's more in a 3-4 look. A guy who would have great pursuit for a guy, but is also 245, so he's not exactly a lighweight in the middle. He'd be guy who could be a ligit threat as an inside ruisher,, especially the way the Pats scheme up D's. If we don't have strong rushers from the inside, the best way to create inside pressure is to bring a guy with Uche"s kind of explosion. And who is also not going to be immediately head faked by the athletic QB's out there today, like most of the DT's are going to be.

You know every time I write a post about this (and this isn't my first one) the more and more excited I get about the idea. By doing it you would take a guy who would give you limited reps as a situational rusher would might get 20 reps a gane and turn him into a 3 down force who rarely comes off the field and triple his value

Exactly what i thought. Uche with more stout LB around him who can take on O-Linemen and stuff the run well like we now have in person of HT KvN and Judon makes a 250+ pounds LB who can't move at all redundant. I think Uche who as you said isn't light at all brings sth. to the LB group our likely other starting LB doesn't have. Speed, sideline to sideline range but still the versality to rush or drop in coverage like the others..makes sam darnold see ghosts again

 

[manxman2601]

Speaking entirely selfishly , for the first year in a decade, I’ll be working whilst day two is taking place so I’m OK with using day two’s picks to make day one more interesting.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

We hear this every year, but you’ve got a team that has theoretically underperformed and has some talent who has a new HC and a qb in place.
Drafting a QB won’t help them win for at least 2 years maybe more.
They could get one of the 2 best nonQb players in the entire draft.
That’s a lot to give up to worry about a QBs succession plan years away.
Miami drafted Tua 11 months ago. Nothing happened since that would make the changed their view of him enough to pass in the choice of the nest non qb in the draft (and maybe best player overall) in order to take another flyer.

Maybe, maybe not. We will know on April 29th.

 

[Ring 6]

....aaaand THAT's why I'd rather put him in the middle. If you keep him on the edge all he;ll likely be is a situational only player and probably a good one. HOWEVER, if you put him in the middle he could develop into a Collins type player. A guy who you can protect from being overpowered by big G's more in a 3-4 look. A guy who would have great pursuit for a guy, but is also 245, so he's not exactly a lighweight in the middle. He'd be guy who could be a ligit threat as an inside ruisher,, especially the way the Pats scheme up D's. If we don't have strong rushers from the inside, the best way to create inside pressure is to bring a guy with Uche"s kind of explosion. And who is also not going to be immediately head faked by the athletic QB's out there today, like most of the DT's are going to be.

You know every time I write a post about this (and this isn't my first one) the more and more excited I get about the idea. By doing it you would take a guy who would give you limited reps as a situational rusher would might get 20 reps a gane and turn him into a 3 down force who rarely comes off the field and triple his value

The issue is when they run right at him. You can’t “protect him” from being engulfed by OL if they make him the point of attack.
Im also not sold on his read and react abilities which are the whole game for an Ilb.
I also think the truth is he’s closer to 230 than 250. EDIT: HE WEIGHED 226 AT THE COMBINE.
What I do like is that he is a piece within our multiple scheme and we can find a lot of ways to use him.

 

[ashley]

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

Not a priority this season but we’re eventually gonna have to find Hightower and Dmacs replacements.

 

[Deus Irae]

Probably the biggest change in the NFL is the switch from wanting a great pocket passer to insisting that pocket passers are dinosaurs who can't work in the modern NFL. Aside from being a stupid take in general, it's based upon something that's a combination of small sample size and too-short duration testing.

6 of the last 7, 8 of the last 10, and 17 of the last 20 Super Bowls have been won by QBs who are either pure pocket passers (i.e. Brady, Manning) or guys who are pocket passers who are willing to roll out and maneuver a bit more than would be expected from a pocket guy, but are by no means running QBs (i.e. Roethlisberger). This is setting up the possibility of a market inefficiency. I just don't know if there's a college QB (or current draftee beyond Jones) out there who has strong potential to fit the bill, because I'm not sure that high schools and colleges are still developing this superior type of QB. It seems that programs all over the place are sacrificing the development of actual QB talent for the easier job of just plugging in guys who can run but have real throwing/reading/adjusting issues.

So, yeah, QB needs to be the top, and (almost) the only priority, but finding a legitimate high level starting QB outside of the very first few picks in the draft seems as if it's going to be much more difficult even than it's been in the past.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

The issue is when they run right at him. You can’t “protect him” from being engulfed by OL if they make him the point of attack.
Im also not sold on his read and react abilities which are the whole game for an Ilb.
I also think the truth is he’s closer to 230 than 250. EDIT: HE WEIGHED 226 AT THE COMBINE.
What I do like is that he is a piece within our multiple scheme and we can find a lot of ways to use him.

Combine Invite: Yes
Height: 6012
Weight: 245

Those are the numbers I have on record for Uche. Where do you get 226?

 

[Sciz]

Combine Invite: Yes
Height: 6012
Weight: 245

Those are the numbers I have on record for Uche. Where do you get 226?

226 was his sophomore year listed weight, which for some reason was used everywhere predraft. He was 217 as a freshman, 226 as a sophomore, 238 as a junior, 250 as a senior, 245 at the combine, and said he was 245-248 when asked last November.

He was also 226 on the Patriots' roster until that November press conference, but was updated to 245 within the following week.

 

[Ring 6]

Combine Invite: Yes
Height: 6012
Weight: 245

Those are the numbers I have on record for Uche. Where do you get 226?

Google returns a patriots.com report on workout #s

 

[NG Pats Fan]

um.....we don’t have a number 1 Wide Receiver.

 

[Uptown]

Good excerpt from Kyed regarding the upcoming draft and I agree totally:

The Patriots could afford to add one more useful rotational defensive lineman to join Davon Godchaux, Henry Anderson, Montravius Adams, Byron Cowart, Carl Davis, Akeem Spence, Nick Thurman and Bill Murray (Lawrence Guy is still available). They also could potentially find an upgrade at wide receiver if a good enough player is available in the first round. Otherwise, New England is relatively set there with Julian Edelman, Nelson Agholor, Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, N’Keal Harry (who could be traded), Gunner Olszewski, Kristian Wilkerson, Isaiah Zuber and Devin Smith.

The Patriots will have 78 players on their active roster when White joins the squad. They already trimmed three players off of the team on Tuesday and could look to make more cuts in the coming days or weeks. New England has 10 draft picks and only would be able to sign two undrafted free agents as the team currently is constructed.

Trading away draft capital either by moving up the board (for a quarterback?) or out and into 2022 would be the Patriots’ best approach to next month’s player selection event. It’s tough to imagine more than five or six rookies making New England’s roster. The Patriots currently have six picks in the first four rounds of the draft, and they can use them all on the best available players without an urgency to fill specific needs.

Wouldn’t mind a player such as DT Geno Atkins or Jurrell Casey for a few mil.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Google returns a patriots.com report on workout #s

Blame the interns, then, but it's not accurate. All the scouting services I can find say 245 at weigh-in.

 

[Ring 6]

Blame the interns, then, but it's not accurate. All the scouting services I can find say 245 at weigh-in.

I like your facts better

 

[fightingirish595]

Probably the biggest change in the NFL is the switch from wanting a great pocket passer to insisting that pocket passers are dinosaurs who can't work in the modern NFL. Aside from being a stupid take in general, it's based upon something that's a combination of small sample size and too-short duration testing.

6 of the last 7, 8 of the last 10, and 17 of the last 20 Super Bowls have been won by QBs who are either pure pocket passers (i.e. Brady, Manning) or guys who are pocket passers who are willing to roll out and maneuver a bit more than would be expected from a pocket guy, but are by no means running QBs (i.e. Roethlisberger). This is setting up the possibility of a market inefficiency. I just don't know if there's a college QB (or current draftee beyond Jones) out there who has strong potential to fit the bill, because I'm not sure that high schools and colleges are still developing this superior type of QB. It seems that programs all over the place are sacrificing the development of actual QB talent for the easier job of just plugging in guys who can run but have real throwing/reading/adjusting issues.

So, yeah, QB needs to be the top, and (almost) the only priority, but finding a legitimate high level starting QB outside of the very first few picks in the draft seems as if it's going to be much more difficult even than it's been in the past.

give me someone good in the pocket who can move. Not everyone (almost nobody can get the ball out as fast as Tom Brady)

big arm seems more important than ever in my opinion/ but accuracy is still king

Edit: it’s also important to consider Brady’s elite footwork and movement within the pocket. I think we’d agree he’s not a statue

 

[Ivan]

Not a priority this season but we’re eventually gonna have to find Hightower and Dmacs replacements.

That’s why I would take Parsons if Jones and the other QB’s are gone.