The 2014 Draft Class

[OhExaulted1]

With Easley suffering his latest injury the 2014 class has thus far been a disappointment. I know many will exclaim you need to wait 3 years to evaluate a draft, but at this point the contributions have been fairly minimal all things considered. Easley has struggled with the injury bug and has 6 tackles a sack and a pick in 12 games. I have by no means given up on him but he definatly has left me hoping for more. Stork played in 13 and was a stud, but I think everyone is concerned with the concussion issue and legitimately worry about a potential Mike Wright-type scenario as he dealt with this last year. James White has appeared in 4 games and has 61 yards from the LOS. With Lewis looking like he's won the 3rd down, pass catching back plus being behind Bolden and Cadet ob the depth chart and with Blount set to return I don't see a lot of opportunities although at least he's on the roster and I think he has some upside.

I was surprised Fleming got cut and cleared waivers and came back to sign on the PS. I still think he has upside and they may have made a mistake by demoting him and going with Cannon on the 53. Time will tell.

Garoppolo looks like a solid back up, but likely won't see the field much before his rookie contract is up, although his contributions on the scout team have been well documented. Malcolm Butler is the feel good pleasant surprise UDFA story, so that's a plus that should be included.

Halapio, Moore, Thomas and Gallon are all gone. It just seems like, to this point, the class of 2014 has a better chance of being a disappointment and not a lot of on-field contributions than seeming like it has big upside.

This of course can change and if Rufus Johnson (183rd) and/or Khyri Thorton (85th) can stick and contribute I would include them as part of the 2014 class. To this point it looks like a shaky bunch and I hope the pendulum swings but I do have a fair amount of skepticism.

 

[50-yard-line]

So we get a center that solidifies the line to get us a Superbowl, a kid corner who makes the greatest play in SB history to seal the win (and is now our #1 CB), the best backup QB of the Brady era, a third-down back who looked great in pre-season, and our starting DT, and that's a shaky draft for a team that picks at the end of each round? Our first 5 picks are still on the team, and, with the possible exception of Fleming, expected to contribute mightily this year.

When the Seahawks blasted the Donkeys 2 SBs ago, there was 1, count 'em - 1, rookie starting total, and that was Monte ball for Denver. That's it.

They also picked up a couple of good FA's in 2014 by the way...

This year, our entire interior OL and half our DL...draft picks...and we beat one of the top teams in the AFC.

I see it differently, clearly. I am constantly amazed how the FO keeps finding falling Tetris blocks that fit in on the roaster.

 

[mgteich]

I agree that this wasn't a great draft class. However, I strongly disagree with your pessimism. How can we complain when THREE players are starters in their sophomore year?

EASLEY and STORK
These are two starters who are injured. These are not players with potential; they are starters.

BUTLER
Butler is a 3rd starter.

WHITE and FLEMING
I don't expect much from them. However, I note that Fleming was valuable last year as the 6th OL. Fleming could make the roster in the future, or not.

 

[Angelpats]

Butler's pick sealed a superbowl win. That alone qualifies the 2014 draft as a success. Some teams can have draft picks for a decade and never even reach the big game, and I'm sure those teams would trade one championship for years of bad drafting.

 

[Brady6]

It could be worse, we could have drafted Gilbert, Manziel, and West all in the top 100.

 

[OhExaulted1]

I agree that this wasn't a great draft class. However, I strongly disagree with your pessimism. How can we complain when THREE players are starters in their sophomore year?

EASLEY and STORK
These are two starters who are injured. These are not players with potential; they are starters.

BUTLER
Butler is a 3rd starter.

WHITE and FLEMING
I don't expect much from them. However, I note that Fleming was valuable last year as the 6th OL. Fleming could make the roster in the future, or not.

That's 15 starts (+2 with Stork in the playoffs because he was OUT in the Indy game) That's 19 games with 22 starters per game. 418 times players got a "GS" on their resume. 17 of those went to rookies, with 4th Rder Stork getting 13 of those.

Garoppolo was a great pick. No question. If Tom had been suspended or god forbid he goes down I think Jimmy Grapes could lead this team. I want Stork and Easley out there. I can see the impact potential. Troy Brown wasn't Troy Brown right off the bat. My hopes are for White to follow that path.

My main point with this thread is I'm discouraged with our 2014 Draft Class. Great talent and potential, but we're not getting to see it on game day. When Easley walked off the feild with the hip pointer after about 10 snaps and with Stork being placed on DTR I had to stop and say "the probability the 2014 Patriots draft may be a wash). This happened before. It's not an anomoly.

It's kind of weird that our 2007 draft class flat out sucked. I don't know if anyone remembers the 2007 season but we looked pretty good for the most part IIRC.

If this draft class proves me wrong I'll be happy to eat crow. If you noticed I included UDFA's (Malcolm Butler) and guys who were drafted and released and subsequently picked up by NE. If we get something out of Rufus Johnson and/or Khyri Thorton it's a win.

I'm just worried the 2014 draft class is a waste, and mostly due to injuries and the fact we spent #64 on a back-up QB. BTW I think the 2105 class is solid and I can find at least 1 guy from Bills last 15 drafts I'm like "hell yeah" about. 2007 we got Merriweather. I liked him actually. I have no problem with head-hunters. That's football, *****es.

 

[sportnik]

The success of the 2014 draft will depend on Easley and JG and it could be a few years before we know for sure.

This class has the potential to be franchise altering, yielding starters at 4 of the toughest positions to fill (C, DT, CB & QB). If JG becomes a solid QB this could very well be remembered as one of Belichick's strongest drafts.

 

[jah]

It could be worse, we could have drafted Gilbert, Manziel, and West all in the top 100.

I wanted West bad...up there with McKinnon and David Johnson.

 

[Oswlek]

That's 15 starts (+2 with Stork in the playoffs because he was OUT in the Indy game) That's 19 games with 22 starters per game. 418 times players got a "GS" on their resume. 17 of those went to rookies, with 4th Rder Stork getting 13 of those.

This isn't an appropriate way of looking at it. Mg said two players were starters and, of a possible 38 games, they started 16 of them. Two guys earning a starting role and getting the nod about half the time in their first year is fine ROI on a draft class, particularly when you can point at a couple other guys who had valuable roles and one of your higher selections wasn't expected to play at all. The data actually demonstrates the opposite of your conclusion.

I can find at least 1 guy from Bills last 15 drafts I'm like "hell yeah" about

And would you still be "hell yeah" about them if they blow out a knee next week? Injuries are a part of the game. If Stork's brain has him out of the league in two years and Easley spends that time in the tub, of course things look bleak. But how many draft classes look good when you exclude the two best players?

 

[RobertWeathers]

I understand the perspective on the 2014 draft but IMO your really need 3 years to judge how good of a job the team did in drafting players.

 

[Froob]

Stork was a great pick even if he never plays again. All about the Lombardi.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

It's a bit of a broken record but it's worth repeating. As Herm Edwards said, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME.

So Blake Bortles played in 14 games and threw 475 passes while Jimmy G sat the bench. Does that make the Jaguars draft better than ours, or does that just mean their team is ****?

Fleming couldn't start for us because we have a quality left tackle and a Pro Bowler at right tackle. On a lot of teams, he'd be in the mix to start. Here, he's not even on the roster. And Patriots fans may have a ridiculous expectation for 6th round picks to be HOFers or busts, I'm not surprised that a deep team that eventually won the Super Bowl didn't have much playing time for 6th and 7th round picks.

James White, a 4th-round pick, wouldn't be given snaps due to having proven 1,000-yard rushers in Ridley and later Blount, as well as a former 2nd-round pick with multiple years experience in the system in Vereen. Meanwhile, Tre Mason got 179 rushes his rookie season because he was competing with...umm...hold on. Zac Stacy?

The point here is that a team's main goal is not to develop their draft picks, but rather to win games. Otherwise, we'd argue the Raiders had a better year than the Patriots last season because they got to play their 2nd-round QB and found a potential star in Mack. It's no coincidence that the team the Patriots would play in the Super Bowl, the Seahawks, also got little out of their 2014 draft. The Broncos were a powerhouse too before Manning lost his arm, while the Ravens got a great campaign from C.J. Moseley and not much else from their rookie class.

Rookies tend to play more on bad teams because there's less quality competition and even if they aren't the best option, they're seen as the future and given a chance to develop. But on Super Bowl contenders, there's a short leash for rookies and they better be able to contribute right away. And that's okay too. If we get nothing out of our rookie classes but keep winning Super Bowls, I won't give a ****. The Colts drafted an OL early and got more out of Jack Mewhort than we did out of Fleming. But I don't think that makes them the big winners from last season.

You play to win the game.

Seriously, repeat it.

 

[captain stone]

...This class has the potential to be franchise altering, yielding starters at 4 of the toughest positions to fill (C, DT, CB & QB)...

WR in this over-complicated offense is by far a tougher position to fill here than DT is (where even an old, lazy slob like Alan Branch can sign an over-paid extension), and Bill has filled the WR position successfully only once in the past 13 years.

 

[mgteich]

To repeat, getting 2 starters and another as an UDFA is good work, without considering the contributions by others (Fleming was important last year). The fact that players get injured does not change the fact that the picks were good picks.

Also, the fact that Belichick signed upgrades to White and Fleming doesn't make them bad picks. It is not as if we paid a fortune for their upgrades.

 

[patsinthesnow]

We probably have our CB1 of the future and the best CB of the draft. That makes it a success IMO.

Also, Easley will be a stud if he ever stays healthy.

Jimmy G was worth the gamble of finding our next franchise QB. A QB with elite traits available in round 2 due to playing in the FCS.

 

[rookBoston]

With Carr getting injured, I don't doubt that the Raiders would consider two first round picks in trade for Garoppolo, or a first and a second. I bet the Browns and Texans would consider it, too. Trouble is, Belichick wont take two firsts, because Jimmy is too valuable for us... the replacement cost is just too high.

So, what makes you think it was a bad pick at #64, if it brought us a player with that much value?

 

[DarrylS]

This means nothing unless you do a study of how all teams fared in that draft... needs to quantify how ever team did, but probably should wait until next year.

Our picks of Stork, Garrapolo and Butler all fared well.. the jury is still out on Easley, Cameron and White... so if 6 make this team and contribute, I would call that a good draft..

 

[ViperGTS]

Except.....Butler wasn't drafted.

Just a small nitpick. Lol.

 

[patfanken]

The draft is a really tough thing to evaluate because there are so many factors.

1. Where you pick
2. the quality of your current roster
3/What your needs are that particular year
4. How successful are your UDFA
5/ injuries, etc

Ultimately the quality of the team is the result of so many roster changes and various ways for players to come to your team. Plus the fact you will be looking for a 15-20 % yearly change to your roster regardless of how good your team is.

Over the last 15 years the team's success belies that amount of criticism it gets from us. So they must be doing something right. What is clear that over the years, IIRC they have averaged the 26th pick in the draft. That's not just in the first round, that's EVERY round, so they are clearly looking at a big disadvantage.

The other thing that surprises me about the Pats team building process is how often they have hit on UDFA's . I doubt they lead the league in finding UDFA's, but I bet they find more than any of the other elite franchises.

 

[zydecochris]

The draft is a really tough thing to evaluate because there are so many factors.

1. Where you pick
2. the quality of your current roster
3/What your needs are that particular year
4. How successful are your UDFA
5/ injuries, etc

Ultimately the quality of the team is the result of so many roster changes and various ways for players to come to your team. Plus the fact you will be looking for a 15-20 % yearly change to your roster regardless of how good your team is.

Over the last 15 years the team's success belies that amount of criticism it gets from us. So they must be doing something right. What is clear that over the years, IIRC they have averaged the 26th pick in the draft. That's not just in the first round, that's EVERY round, so they are clearly looking at a big disadvantage.

The other thing that surprises me about the Pats team building process is how often they have hit on UDFA's . I doubt they lead the league in finding UDFA's, but I bet they find more than any of the other elite franchises.

Really on the mark Ken! I'm glad that you point out that the Patriots have drafted lower than any other team over the years (because they have been most successful), and that they must be doing something right, it isn't 100% Tom Brady (he is a gigantic advantage, but the Patriots don't go to 6 Super Bowls without some pretty good personnel decisions over the years).

Also I'm glad you point out their success with UDFA. In my opinion, much of that is the General Manager (GM) Fear of Looking Stupid Factor.

A GM doesn't want to look stupid in his drafting, eh? If he looks too stupid, the owner starts to question if he knows what he is doing, the fans start revolting, before you know it he is a former GM working for ESPN. Thus, if there is a competition between a draft pick he made (say, Joe McKnight) and an UDFA (say, Danny Woodhead), what is the natural inclination? Admit you made a mistake with the draft pick, and look stupid to the fans and the owner?

In contrast, BB never worries about looking stupid, he is almost uniformly regarded as the best coach in the game and his job security is iron-clad. He has an excellent reputation for keeping whoever is playing best with much less regard for draft pedigree (after the first year or two of course) than the typical coach. My favorite example was when he kept Hoyer instead of 3rd rounder (the previous year!) O'Connell in 2009. So: UDFA's know that they have an even playing field with the Patriots and they have a real shot if they play well. It doesn't hurt that the Patriots pay a little extra to UDFA, either. BB's success with UDFA helps to compensate for his continually low draft position due to team success.