A few thoughts on things.
1. This draft was incredibly strange and unpredictable. You had all of the Covid impacted guys coming in. All the teams with multiple picks in every round that had ammo for days to do w/e the hell they wanted to do. I know this sounds obvious, but this draft in the next few years could possibly be a good class (the entire NFL's class). So many guys missed a ton of time, and who knows how all were impacted to covid. Then again, it created the perfect opportunity for other guys to get another year in, develop their bodies, learn, get more mature. It didn't appear to be loaded with stars, but their might be a lot of surprises. Hopefully most are with our guys.
2. Regarding the Patriots getting punked. I don't know what that word means around the rest of the nation, but in California, that's a very diry word.
Look at every time the Pats name came up on the ticker. Teams traded up and there were guys selected at our positions of need. That's not getting punked. That's called every team in the league knowing where your holes are. That's called being predictable. Over the next few years of this restock, I have faith that wont be as much as an issue. Depth is incredibly important. Bill & Co. are trying to reset that depth, and in 23/24 they should be a lot harder to predict.
3. Bill didn't sacrifice the teams future this draft. He added another pick for next year, and is clearly doing what he can to not mess with the comp picks. I personally thought it was to load up on picks so he could move all around the board. Clearly I was wrong. He wanted to add as many young guys on cheap deals as possible. As we all know, the team doesn't have many guys under contract over the next few years. This is all about resetting the depth and building up the locker room.
4. There's a lot not be excited about with this draft from a Pats perspective. The team went out and got a ton of guys that most of us have never heard of. Never seen clips of. The so-called professionals are ****ting all over it. Blah blah blah. I had my share of knee jerk reactions, and I still believe that some of them are justified. None of these guys are home run hits, and each have quite a few question marks. But, ya know what? That's okay. These guys have all been hearing the same **** their entire college careers. Yet something that is routinely said about all of them is that they improved, they stepped up to higher levels of competition, they have nasty demeanors etc... Most of all though, most of them have very strong athletic traits. This team got younger, cheaper, faster, and by all accounts.....meaner. Let's see how it translates over the next 2 seasons.
5. This team is not only going to look different, but they're going to play different too. None of us know what the coaching staff has up their sleeves for the system. They can't continue with the same wrinkles as they had before. They got smaller, faster lb's. Who do they have that's going to sustain blocks and keep 'em clean? No one. They don't have guys with the size to excel at press. They got rid of a traditional FB. They got lighter. There's so much going on still that we have no idea about. It's exciting. They might come out of the gates slow, but it's how they're playing at the end of the season that counts.
TL;DR:
Instead of big names, Pats opted with big athletic talent in an effort to restock depth and build locker room with an eye on long term future.
Speed, speed and more speed.
Team has changed big time, and though same philosophies may still be in place, new wrinkles are going to become the norm.
This season may have a rough start, but it's how they are playing at the end of the season that really counts.
