Poll: Grade our draft:

[Huckleberry1]

@captain stone has to be the D or worse lmao

If so that would make it the highest grade he’s ever given out to a draft that wasn’t his own.

 

[MrTibbs]

I say B+ because they stuck to their word to weaponize the offense and almost went entirely with offensive picks. They didn't land a prototypical left tackle, not sure if they got their #1 wide receiver, didn't add to running back depth and didn't provide competition at kicker. Other than that anything they missed on defense they can add in free agency with lots of cap space left.

 

[archstanton543]

I say B+ because they stuck to their word to weaponize the offense and almost went entirely with offensive picks. They didn't land a prototypical left tackle, not sure if they got their #1 wide receiver, didn't add to running back depth and didn't provide competition at kicker. Other than that anything they missed on defense they can add in free agency with lots of cap space left.

Free agency is basically over. The only guys they are going to sign from now until the start of the season are ones that get cut after training camp or cut for other reasons.

 

[TommyD4207]

Juju's contract is too heavy to move. He'll be on the team this year. If he gets cut, it will be next year.

Again, it's not, if they really want to cut him. It's a $12.2 million cap hit, and the Patriots are about $45 million under the cap.

Edit: You can 'I don't agree' all you want. If they want to cut him, they can easily do it, and have plenty of cap room to spare. I don't know if they want to cut him or not.

 

[archstanton543]

Again, it's not, if they really want to cut him. It's a $12.2 million cap hit, and the Patriots are about $45 million under the cap.

So you want to blow a ton of money just to get rid of a guy who actually may help one of the worst offenses in the league?

 

[TommyD4207]

So you want to blow a ton of money just to get rid of a guy who actually may help one of the worst offenses in the league?

No. I'm saying if they want to cut him, they can easily afford to do so. Your characterization that his contract is 'too heavy to move' is simply wrong.

Personally, I'd like to keep him, he's the only WR we have on the roster that's ever been a high-level receiver in the league at any point in time.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I gave it an A. They drafted a potential franchise QB in the first. I really liked the Polk pick, but when you add Baker to it they have seriously addressed the need at WR. The Wallace pick caught me by surprise, but aside from this board pretty much everything I have read and seen about him has been positive. His numbers against the top DL he faced are excellent. I loved the Milton pick because I think you should always use a late round pick on a prospect that has some exceptional attribute, but is a project. That could be a 360 lb lineman, or incredibly fast skill players, or even converting a wrestler into an OG, as Belichick once did with Neal, but I always like them to have a project around, I even liked the sleeper TE at the very end.

Overall a great job by Wolf and the rest of them. This draft will pay dividends, and could start turning this franchise around.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I gave him them a B-.

If they would have taken McConkey instead of that loser Polk, I would have given them a B+!

Maybe wolf can explain what he saw in those two terrible offensive linemen

 

[StanleyGrogan]

No kickers....check!
No punters... check!
No Junior college defensive swiss army knife type players...check!
Positions of need addressed...check!
One or two intruiguing picks....check.
Got be a B+

 

[Kdo5]

Solid B for now. If those receivers pan out it’s an A.

 

[signbabybrady]

I think I've made my admiration for Bill quite clear and that this transition hasn't been the easiest for me.

But wow what a draft and vastly different from what we are used too.

I'm giving this an A+.

Double dipped at all 3 of our biggest needs by position. One of which is a multi tooled QB who should be our next franchise QB.

I'll save the overanalyzing for the coming days for now I'm going to keep enjoying our shiny new toys.

I Maye even dance a little Polka.

 

[PatsFan2]

C+
Maye was great pick
Reaches for polk wallace, the guard from texas a and m
Love the baker pick
Milton is an exciting pick
The last 2 are Jags

So 2 very good picks 6 not so great

Polk will be a good wr but there were more talented players available
Failure to come away with a highly rated ot is a fail

 

[Sfpat]

I'd give it a B. Thought the Pats focused too much on need and passed on talent. Would have liked them to have picked one of the CBs at 34. I also think there wasn't a need to double dip at WR as the Pats WRs weren't as bad as projected (they would have been fine with an average QB).

 

[PatsFan2]

C+
Maye was great pick
Reaches for polk wallace, the guard from texas a and m
Love the baker pick
Milton is an exciting pick
The last 2 are Jags

So 2 very good picks 6 not so great

Polk will be a good wr but there were more talented players available
Failure to come away with a highly rated ot is a fail

Polk is not a Reach this was a very Strong WR class the Pats have a Board and Polk and Baker were very High on it both have high ceilings.

 

[Blackluck]

B+. Mayo and Wolfe said supporting Maye is the priority and they followed through even if Maye sits (unlikely.) Doesn't make much sense to draft a QB at 1.03 and then draft DBs.

1. The reality is starting LTs are selected at the top of R1. Even Guyton (DAL) was a RT. The remaining OTs they showed interest in (Sua, Fisher, Wallace) probably had similar grades which explains why they didn't trade up Sua/Fisher. (I imagine they didn't have much if any interest in Kiran A., a two year project from various reports.) Hazarding a guess Wallace was the 4th tackle on their board. Guys selected after him all had lower RAS scores. (Reports claim that they did try to trade up but not for who; Guyton or maybe XL/Pearsall.) .

As for the IOL, Strange is coming off injury and the backups are terrible. Cannot emphasize that enough. You don't want them anywhere near the starting lineup in case of injury. All that said unless they get incredibly lucky LT is still an issue.

2. On paper McConkey sounds like the better prospect over Polk but WTF do I know. They did not however get much value from trading down. An extra pick this year or next would have been a better outcome. Baker is a great pick where they got him. The offense did not have a single weapon that opposing defenses had to scheme for; blaming Mac as the sole cause for the league's worst offense is frankly myopic.

3. The rest of the draft is the usual. Milton is a weird pick, but they probably want a QB with an arm similar to Maye so in the event he (Milton) ever sees the field they don't need to drastically change their offense. TEN fans did say Milton improved a lot after he transferred.

Fans don't want to hear it, but NE is not a playoff caliber team, and they were not going to become one no matter who they drafted this year. Ultimately developing Maye into a franchise-caliber QB is the goal, and that simply takes time.

 

[PatsFan2]

Juju's contract is too heavy to move. He'll be on the team this year. If he gets cut, it will be next year.

They might just bite the bullet and eat his contact we are going want to see Polk and Baker play they'll be 1-2 in this group book it.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Why are people hyping their grades on maye? We literally picked third and picked the third qb of the draft. It was a no brainer and they had no choice which one to pick since williams and Daniels had already gone.

Give it a C on paper, let’s see how they play out.

so you have faith in the chicago bears and the washington commanders getting the qb position correct ? they very well may have but i'd rather wait and see. i don't have the same faith.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I'm going to go on the high side and say A-.

To be realistic the success of this draft hinges largely on the Drake Maye pick.

I'm sure there are some disagreements with individual picks here and there but the plan was solid - address QB, OL, and WR early and often.

That's exactly what they did.

The front office kind of played it safe in round 2 but I feel they went for some higher upside/riskier picks on Day 3.

Joe Milton alone should be a very entertaining training camp story.

Javon Baker has established himself as a character already with his "I'll make people in wheelchairs stand," interview.

And Jaheim Bell could be a low key late round gem. His versatility to play TE or HB could end up useful.

So as long as Maye hits and about half the other picks from this draft hits, I feel like this will be seen as a very solid draft.

These draft grades are too soon obviously.

We'll find out more who might break out at training camp and we'll have a pretty good idea of actual success by the end of year 1.

Who were the finds and who were just swings and misses? As the saying goes, "You miss 100% of the swings you don't take."

Normally I would agree that the grades are too soon, but since so many here have already fired Wolf I think it’s ok to say he’s doing a good job.

 

[Huckleberry1]

They might just bite the bullet and eat his contact we are going want to see Polk and Baker play they'll be 1-2 in this group book it.

Patsfan2, so happy to see the Prozac is working. I agree completely.

 

[PowerRunRevival]

I gave them a B-. Love the Maye and Baker picks. Really like the offensive focus and targeting positions of need.

It did feel like there was a run on the positions they targeted before all of their picks. I think a more experienced GM could have moved up and down the board added more assets and grabbed the players they liked. I would have liked a trade up in the third to draft a tackle I liked more than Wallace. I would have liked the Pats to trade back from 37 if they were intent on picking Polk. One trade the entire draft isn’t the shrewd maneuvering of the board I hoped for.

the previous regime would frustrate me by picking players a lot earlier than consensus. I was hoping that would change under Wolf, but other than Baker, Maye and Bell the remaining picks seemed like reaches based on consensus. Hoping time proves that they were right and the consensus was wrong.