The Draft Grades Begin to Roll In..

[Deus Irae]

I completely disagree.

That's fine. This is America. You're allowed to be completely wrong.

 

[Master Yates]

Since everyone seems to be bashing Kiper, I just wanted to let everyone know he gave the Pats an A.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Not sure even Kony Ealy's mom would describe his NFL career to this point as 'very good.'

Okay I'm going with coincidence, just like with that nice Mrs. Colinet... but there is this...

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I completely disagree. Of course they are pointless. The truth is that no one has any idea who had the best draft right now. That's because development and coaching are much more important than simply picking a good college player. It's about what happens after the draft.

Of course you can come to a conclusion quicker on some players than others. But the general point is that it takes time to evaluate.

This might be the year that Chad Jackson really puts it all together.

(In general I agree with you, that it's certainly pointless right now to grade the draft.)

But on any pick the argument could be "then why didn't somebody else draft him first," or the argument could be "Oh so you studied this guy more than BB/Ernie Adams."

Eff it. We should argue I guess, after all, it's the off-season.

But it's all entertainment... ask JEST fans who win it all so often in June or so.

 

[Wheelman]

4th round (#137) - solid, experienced #2 move-TE

Move tight end? Dwayne Allen is an in-line blocking tight end. If they're both on the field, Gronk is more likely to be the move tight end because he's way more athletic.

 

[TomPatriot]

Now is a good time to unfurl the obligatory Borges:

" "On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson or the second-best tackle in the draft in Kenyatta Walker, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sack last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon."
/

Most writers would get a pass. But it's Borges. Every time I see a photo of him I think "keep the children close by."

 

[patfanken]

Not only is grading the draft so soon moronic, the fact that they grade the FA signings and draft picks as if they were separate topics. They are not. They are all part of a total team building process that doesn't really stop until you hit mid October. At that point Bill knows what he has in his team and has done everything he could possibly do to fill in any blanks that might be there because of injury, defects in the team chemistry or lack of certain skills.

So here we are just entering the month of May, a full 5 months before 10/1 and we are trying to assess where this team or that team is in their team building prossess. Ludicrous.

HOWEVER, that being said, they are entertaining to read, simply because I always like to see how others outside the area view our team, and because I know it doesn't really matter what ANY one thinks. So I never pass up the chance to read one whether I agree with the opinion or not, they are fun.

So here is my 2 worthless cents on the OP. For the draft, I'd give the Pats an Incomplete because they had so few picks, or if I HAD to given them a letter grade, a D+. When you come right down to it, they got just one pick that looks like he can possibly find a place in a regular rotation. One player who MIGHT be good enough to be a back up. And two players who are totally developmental and won't be factors this season. The fact is, for whatever reason, when you compare to what other teams acquired in this draft to what we got, we aren't even close.

On the other hand if you asked me to grade the total off season TO THIS POINT, I'd give them an A- Because you really shouldn't separate the draft and FA signings, as many have stated.

 

[Joker]

I apologize to the board for being unclear in my previous post.

Draft grades mean shyt to me.I'm a Pats fan. Our drafts are always inscrutable.

I DETEST S.I. and Mel Fraudiper. That they exist annoys the hell out of me.I'm no saint but if there's one thing I can't stomach it's back biting media scumbags with their pestilent agendas.

 

[raduray]

Gotta wonder what "grade" the mediots would give to THIS use of draft picks...

1st round (#32) - experienced, elite WR

2nd round (#64) - very good, experienced rotational DE

3rd round (#83) - DE/OLB, potential rookie contributor - DEREK RIVERS
3rd round (#85) - OT, potential 2nd-year starter - ANTONIO GARCIA

4th round (#137) - solid, experienced #2 move-TE
4th round (#131) - DE/3-TECH potential rotational/backup - DEATRICH WISE

5th round (#163) - solid, experienced RB
5th round (#183) - experienced #3 TE/proven special-teamer

6th round (during 2016) - Van Noy, experienced starting LB
6th round (during 2016) - experienced #3 TE, Michael Williams

7th round (#211) - potential backup OT - CONNOR McDERMOTT

Grading a team's "draft" exclusively based on which (still) untested college prospects they selected is totally effing meaningless. Yet another in a long list of reasons to ignore media opinions.

In all fairness to SI, they had a supplemental grade of A- if you include the off season trades of 1st and 2nd round picks.

 

[zoostation]

Plus, remember how the media, including the SB announcers, kept talking about how young the Atlanta team was? The reality is that the Pats were younger (average age being the metric). But nobody notices that.

More like nobody wants to admit it. The Patriots "reloaded" between 2009 and 2012. The difference is when the Patriots rebuild they still manage to make super bowls and deep playoff runs. Since 2012 the Pats have had one of the youngest squads in the league. We all know the Pats won 2 of the last 3 championships. Had the ball bounced the right way they could have easily won it all in 2013 and 2015 as well. Not to be the kiss of death, but I'd be shocked if the Pats don't win it all once in the next 3 seasons. Just like it was in the early 2000's, the core is in place.

 

[AtomicDawg]

FWIW.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

 

[shmessy]

Most writers would get a pass. But it's Borges. Every time I see a photo of him I think "keep the children close by."

He was the Lacrosse coach at Brandeis when I was a student there. My friends who were on the team can actually vouch for your statement.

.

 

[VJCPatriot]

We only had 4 picks and none of them were in the top two rounds, so I didn't really expect to see high draft grades.

I'm satisfied with the haul we got out of our draft currency though:

1 - Brandin Cooks WR
2 - Kony Ealy DE
3 - Rivers DE*
3 - Garcia OL*
4 - Wise DL*
4 - Allen TE
5 - Gillislee RB
5 - O'Shaugnessy TE
6 - McDermott OL*

4 rookies and 5 experienced players with upside. This team is much more ready to compete than a team that had added 9 rookies straight from college.

I also expect Cooks, Ealy, Allen, and Gillislee to play significant roles right away.

 

[XLIX]

View attachment 17002

Yeah but it'll be at least 3 years before any of those guys contribute.

 

[maineman209]

Move tight end? Dwayne Allen is an in-line blocking tight end. If they're both on the field, Gronk is more likely to be the move tight end because he's way more athletic.

Allen was moved around in formations a fair amount in Indy. He's also a very good in-line blocking TE. IOW, he's probably as versatile as Gronk. The difference between them being that Gronk is a god among TEs and Allen is merely a very good mortal.

 

[TomPatriot]

He was the Lacrosse coach at Brandeis when I was a student there. My friends who were on the team can actually vouch for your statement.

.

Wow. I was kidding.

 

[archstanton543]

SI Gives Pats a C+ FYI the NY Jets got a C-

2017 NFL draft grades: Final reports on every team

Chad Reuter gives Pats a B+ and the NYJ a B...

2017 NFL Draft: Quick-snap grades for all 32 teams

Pete Prisco gives the Pats a B and the Jets a C+

Prisco's NFL Draft Grades for all 32 teams: Five earn 'A's, two fall short with 'D's

Shouldn't we be more focused on how the Dolphins (a playoff team last year) are doing and not on a crappy team that's 2-3 years away from becoming even remotely relevant?

 

[shmessy]

Wow. I was kidding.

I wasn't. He was a very toxic/acidic coach according to my friends who played for him.

Really no surprise.

.

 

[mosi]

IMO complete nonsense. Nobody can accurately and precisely evaluate this. Huge complicating factors are individual team needs, the ability of individual players to "make it" at the NFL level, and the ability for a team to "coach up" the rookies leading up to the season and beyond. Does anybody really care what these dweebs' opinions are? Just more click bait to ignore.

100% agree. And those anybody go back and re-grade these guys? All BS.