Poll: Which offensive position should be addressed in 2011 1st?

[MaineMan]

That will depend entirely on whether or not a glut of Juniors declare for the draft like last year. That's tough to gauge, hopefully a lot of them play well and the now Seniors play poorly inflating the value of the underclassmen so they have a greater incentive to declare.

I've been thinking about this and it seems like a foregone conclusion that if there is football in 2011, there will be a Rookie Wage Scale. The logistics behind it are gruesome, watching the NFLPA fight tooth and nail to at least maintain the top picks come away with top FA money is going to be ugly, but if the wage scale makes the potential RBs cheaper and cost controlled for longer, there is a very good chance that Belichick will have to re-evaluate the RBBC strategy knowing that the top flight talent is cheaper. I think that's what made Corey Dillon so attractive back in 2004. His base salary was low, he had enough gas left in the tank to be a feature back, and with our O-Line he put up one the best seasons for a RB in Patriots history and we won the SB.

Excellent points, though I think BB may prefer the RBBC system a bit now. Not saying he wouldn't snag a guy who he thinks could be the next Barry Sanders if he had the chance. However, if the guys who are likely to require a 1st-round pick to obtain aren't significantly better than everyone on the current committee, regardless of how (relatively) cheap they may be salary-wise, he'd probably opt for just a replacement guy in a later round and spend the higher pick on a better player at another position. The RBBC, reasonably effective as it's been, does give him that leeway.

 

[captain stone]

Remember, though, that the RBBC approach only works if those RBs are first healthy and second effective when healthy. Fragile Fred & Sometimes Sammy are not healthy nearly often enough to give the RBBC approach the bodies it needs to compensate for its lack of a true workhorse #1.

I feel that Bill missed the boat both in 2007, when there were still a few decent RBs avail. at the spot in the 6th round where he chose Justice Hairston instead; and in 2009, when Rashad Jennings could have been taken as late as the Darryl lil' Richard pick in the 7th round. I also wish that he had made a better or any effort to sign Fresno State alum Lonyae Miller or UConn's Andre Dixon, as UDFAs after this year's draft.
Will any of these kids ever make All-Pro? Prob. not, but they're also prob. better options than Taylor & Morris at this stage in the latters' careers.

 

[MaineMan]

Remember, though, that the RBBC approach only works if those RBs are first healthy and second effective when healthy. Fragile Fred & Sometimes Sammy are not healthy nearly often enough to give the RBBC approach the bodies it needs to compensate for its lack of a true workhorse #1.

I feel that Bill missed the boat both in 2007, when there were still a few decent RBs avail. at the spot in the 6th round where he chose Justice Hairston instead; and in 2009, when Rashad Jennings could have been taken as late as the Darryl lil' Richard pick in the 7th round. I also wish that he had made a better or any effort to sign Fresno State alum Lonyae Miller or UConn's Andre Dixon, as UDFAs after this year's draft.
Will any of these kids ever make All-Pro? Prob. not, but they're also prob. better options than Taylor & Morris at this stage in the latters' careers.

Agree completely. The Pats' RBBC needs fresh healthy legs as much as anything. And Miller and Dixon were both on my board as 7th/UDFA prospects, but then, so was Paschall.

 

[patchick]

I think RB leads due to Ingram's possible draft declaration. I don't know much about the other RBs in next year's class, but Ingram is (as Patjew would put it) a beast we MUST draft! Also, I do agree with you on the premise of drafting a RB and plugging n' playing. But imagine a committee with Ingram, BJGE, Fullback (X), another 2011 RB, and MAYBE Faulk.:rocker::singing:

Hold on, now...this kid is a "beast we MUST draft" high in the 1st round...and you imagine him as a "committee" with BenJarvus Green-Ellis? Something doesn't compute.

 

[MaineMan]

Hold on, now...this kid is a "beast we MUST draft" high in the 1st round...and you imagine him as a "committee" with BenJarvus Green-Ellis? Something doesn't compute.

That's pretty much my thinking. If you go with "a beast" - whether or not he actually becomes "the next [insert the name of your favorite all-time-great here]", it sorta has to change the entire makeup/system of the backfield. Then you have your feature back, perhaps Maroney as the #2/relief man/backup, Faulk (or someone like him) as a 3rd-down guy and probably a true FB (though Morris might do for a year or two) - four back total. BJGE would be gone. Plus, you likely are now running more two-back sets.

Whatever. It's no longer simply a "plug the hot hand in and go" situation. More realistically, in the Pats case, "plug in the healthy guy and go".

OTOH, it seems like BB passed on a couple good opportunities in this draft to pick up a decent, young, healthy replacement or two for a couple of the elder committee members, so maybe he's thinking about reverting to the feature back system next draft/season.