Nick Caserio's Annual Pre-Draft Press Conference

[Wheelman]

Caserio was channeling his inner Belichick in the 1st 3 and a half minutes. I loved it!

I thought the press conference overall was informative.

It's surprising the Pats only have 75 players on their draft board. What happens if all 75 players are picked?

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Caserio was channeling his inner Belichick in the 1st 3 and a half minutes. I loved it!

I thought the press conference overall was informative.

It's surprising the Pats only have 75 players on their draft board. What happens if all 75 players are picked?

They trade down, into next year, or to acquire players. I highly doubt that all 75 would be picked, however; the Patriots regularly look at players no one else seems to have on the radar.

 

[amazinPats]

According to Caserio, Pats only looking at 50-75 players in the 2017 draft.

How many players are Patriots interested in for 2017 draft? Not as many as you’d think

Let's say that the team is looking at Defensive linemen, linebackers, RBs, TEs and Defensive backs. This suggests that the team has lined up about 10 players in each of these positions, who could fall anywhere between the first and seventh rounds. Seem a bit light?

From this angle, it makes sense then that the team sometimes picks players such as Jordan Richards at artificially high draft spots. Perhaps it also works to their advantage as well, as they get to know certain prospects really well.

Note that likely undrafted prospects are considered a separate category by Caserio and they get analyzed fairly deeply. Pats obviously have had great success with undrafted players.

 

[SacPete1]

I'm really curious to read more analysis of this 50-75 players on the draft board thing.

Some questions that spring to mind:
- how many players per draft end up being "worth" a spot on a draft board after 1 year, 2 years, etc? I.E. are the Patriots saying they have 75 players on a draft board, and annually there are ~200 guys worth a spot? FWIW There are more than 1700 players active in any given year.

- how does the team determine how to spread those players out over the 7 rounds and UDFA? Obviously, this isn't a "top 100" type list, as most of those guys would be taken before the draft's mid-point. Are players therefore weighted in a manner that forecasts the appropriate place in the draft to pick them?

I agree. This was the most interesting piece of information from the press conference and I was hoping for some detailed follow up by the media. Maybe Mike Reiss will provide some.

This has to be more like 50-75 guys they would target throughout the entire draft and not just 50-75 guys on their board. You also figure that when there are so many players that are graded so closely together, what separates the ones that are draft targets.

 

[AHoodieWorshipperInParis]

While Nick Caserio was kindly answering questions, it looks like Boston Causa Nostra were settling accounts with Famiglia Buffalo. The cynical timing reminds me of the Baptism scene at the end of The Godfather II : facade of respectability & cold-blooded murders.

 

[Thelonious]

Caserio: Goes to show you, no need for a scintillating personality to get ahead in the sports biz.

 

[RobertWeathers]

While Nick Caserio was kindly answering questions, it looks like Boston Causa Nostra were settling accounts with Famiglia Buffalo. The cynical timing reminds me of the Baptism scene at the end of The Godfather II : facade of respectability & cold-blooded murders.

Fyi- It's Cosa Nostra and GF 1 was the baptism scene.

Deaths in GF2 were Hyman Roth, Fredo and Frankie Pantagelli.

 

[Tony2046]

With the Pats not picking till #72, this draft blows for Pats fans right now....I know some fanboys get hard ons for nickel backs from Southwest Louisiana picked in the fifth round and undrafted FA, but this draft just has no juice.

Sure, the Pats could make a blockbuster draft day trade trade that nets a first rounder and a second, but how are we supposed to get excited for this draft? I'm Not saying it is the teams' job to get the fans pumped and jacked for the draft, but not having picks in rounds 1 & 2 really makes this draft massively boring...are people really pouring over draft info targeting guys they "think" will be available at pick 72?

Spare me the "BUT BRADY WAS PICK #199!"

But Troy Brown was pick #198

But Julian Edelman was pick #232.

FYI: The average draft pick position for Patriot starters is 187th.

Patriots built their offensive empire with late-round picks and castoffs

Assuming a pick value of 300 for the undrafted free agents in the lineup, the average Patriots starter was picked with the 187th selection of the draft. That’s typically a mid-sixth rounder each May.

 

[Tony2046]

Ber in mind that teams tend to have a backup board. The man board is the prospects they are targeting but if they're blown out on their main board, they'll dip into their backup board. I don't know specifically if the Pats use that but I wouldn't mind betting that's how the Dennard pick happened.

As for how the Pats draw up their board, I have a suspicion that scouts are given a set criteria on what the Pats are looking for, whether that be size, arm length, athleticism, character and even position and it's that rather than pure talent that helps populate the draft board across the full range.

Casario mentions that they have a "undrafted" board as well which is filled with players that may or may not get drafted but are forecasted not to be.

 

[nabwong]

The draft is taking over Philly and it's annoying as it's in the way of my commute. They're taking longer to set up than when the pope was here.