I just want to highlight this phrase here - positional tweener. It sounds like BB wants to use Mapu as his 'big nickel'. BB has played with this concept before but it has failed. Maybe he just didn't have the right type of athlete to make it work, and Mapu is the missing guy, or maybe this is going to be yet another BB 'experiment' gone wrong.
Sounds like? We are prone to parrot terms we don't really understand in order to fit a narrative when in reality we have no idea how they are going to use this kids talents. Does anyone know his 3 cone time, or 40 time or any of the other measurables we all rely on to help us evaluate a player's worth? What we DO know is that he was at the Senior Bowl and played for the Pats LB coach was was the team's DC.
But what does HE know compared to us?
Now I don't know if he's going to eventually be a starter or situational player for this D right away. I would tend not to think so in his rookie year. But I wouldn't ASSUME he's going to be a box safety.
Regardless it just feels like BB intentionally threw away the idea of improving the offense in this draft and just wants to work on juicing up only the defense. And that might even work to a certain extent.
That's just ridiculous. McClendon, DJones, Breeland, Duncan and Warren are ALL still available at OT and EVERYONE of then has been mentioned to go in the 2nd and 3rd rounds on a LOT of sites including the PFN one I used a lot during the run up to the draft
WR's Perry, Palmer Scott all had 3rd round grades and Wicks, Ford-Wheaton, among other have 4th round grades
And while I probably would have taken Kraft instead of Mapu, we will probably still have a shot at my personal TE binky Kuntz
So, VJC, There is still plenty of offensive talent left to grab and I wouldn't be surprise to see 2 of the names above to be on our list tomorrow.
But keep in mind that the Patriots were the
30th ranked offense in the NFL this past year.
And they were DEAD LAST in
red zone efficiency. That's right
#32!!!
That's not what I found when I looked. I saw sites that had them at anywhere from 22 to 25th. Not great, but not 30th either. BTW they were also 17th in scoring. Again not great, but better than I expected.
I get that we hired BOB, and that's a good change, but you still need PLAYERS and TALENT on offense to run your schemes!
We could have drafted a WR like Josh Downs at #76, we could have drafted an offensive tackle to protect Mac, or we could have drafted a big TE to act as a safety blanket like Darnell Washington who also would have been a big help in the blocking game and the redzone. Instead we did NONE of these things so BB could draft a 'pet project' hybrid big nickel tweener to 'tinker' with his defense some more.
I wasn't a fan of Downs. Too damn small. I was a fan of Washington, but the fact he lasted to the end of the 3rd tells me I overvalued him.
Meanwhile Mac is begging for SCRAPS on the streets and getting absolutely NOTHING. This draft if anything is BB's not so veiled FU to Mac Jones.
BB is telling the kid with his actions, not words -
"Hey, the owner might not let me trade you, but hell if you're getting ANY HELP from me! This is what you GET for seeking help outside the building!"
Sorry Mac, all you get is coal in your stocking!
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Your sarcasm is tiresome. We get it. But remember this, we are going to compete for a playoff spot this season, NOT a championship. Let's see what happens tomorrow before we go ballistic and remember that if you are really looking for big names to help the offense, they WILL be there in NEXT season's FA period. You know the one where we have all that cap space There wasn't a big name WR in FA or the draft this season. Just names that were good prospects. NEXT FA will have some big names on the OL and WR positions.
Now my biggest complaint is that we didn't use some of those picks to move back into the lower part of the 3rd and add a 4th pick. Hopefully they will be more successful in day 3. Maybe we ship one of those 4th rounders in a package for J Williams
