What positions would you like to see addressed this Offseason?

[PATSYLICIOUS]

LB - try to get that cornerstone to go along with hightower that Collins was supposed to be.
DE - long is a FA and who knows what he 'll have left in a year. Nink also aging. Could use another pass rusher.
CB - not sure whether Logan can be retained at a reasonable rate, and even then could use depth here.
HB - would like a feature back in case Blount starts to slow down - as of 12/16/16 he is on the wrong side of 30. also if we can really strike gold, having a top 10 caliber rb for the remainder of Brady's career on a rookie contract would be huge in lightening tb12;s load.
Depending on what happens with Bennett this offseason, TE

 

[WinstonSmith]

Unfortunately:

1. Offensive Coordinator
2. Defensive Coordinator
3. Director of Player Personelle

 

[VectorPrime]

Why are we talking about off season needs for a team that's three wins away from its fifth Lombardi trophy? I don't get it.

Nick Caserio is.

 

[Bradyking12]

DE Demarcus Walker, could be a good pick up for our pass rush

 

[long distance]

Seen a Jake Butt highlight video, we could pull the trigger on em idk haven't checked out other tight ends yet but definitely a strong guy and can make some plays

Yep. All this team needs is another hobbling TE..

 

[WaterfallJumper]

DE Demarcus Walker, could be a good pick up for our pass rush

Good call. I see him as a Trey Flowers clone. Super productive. Inside/outside guy. Very tenacious, good power, plays the run and pass, etc. He's not a speed guy like Von Miller, but he's a strong, physical player who should play in this league a long time. I like him.

 

[RobertWeathers]

A goddamn stud RB. 6-0, 230 4.4 speed.

ED, ILB/OLB, SS/FS not named Richards.

QB is so old he saw the Titanic sink

 

[long distance]

DE - I don't think Sheard is coming back + too expensive FA position
LB - I believe in High but is not a certainty (price tag, injuries) - one solid in FA one high in draft
TE - Both Gronk and Marty are ? at this point + not much in FA + need of developmental TE after Derby's gone
(RB - good choices; big body)
_

@S - extend Harmon
@CB - sign a vet FA (enough choice) + some UDFAs
@WR - resign Floyd
@D.T - depends on Branch; good young depth in Kilgo, Hamilton; maybe draft/FA quicker DT/DE
@OT - extend Fleming

 

[patfanken]

1. Surprised to see so few people looking for a DT. Defense starts there, and Brown's recent slippage makes me wonder if he's a long term solution. It's not a talent issue, but we've always said that playing here isn't for everyone and maybe Brown isn't happy here. If that's the case, we need a high end DT. If I am wrong and Brown is thrilled to be here, we need a DT. Branch is having his best season as a pro, but 32 year old DT's need to be upgraded. Brown and Valentine need to have a quality 3rd guy in the rotation. Finally high end DT's are the rarest commodity outside of Gronk quality TE's and QB's.

2. DE- Nink and Long both need to be upgraded with younger players. DE becomes my #2 need mostly because it matches a deep area of the draft, and are likely to get a good one

3. CB - Ryan might be gone, plus we need some size at the position. Most people think you need 3 deep at the CB position. They are wrong, you need to be at LEAST 4 deep and preferably 5. Good CB play is the key to defensive flexibility. You can't have enough

4. LB - If we retain the LB's we currently have, I'd be OK next season, but if we don't they we will need to add more.

5. TE- I do NOT want Jake Butts unless he's a 3rd day selection. From what I've heard he is more a WR than a true TE. We need TE's who can block. I'd rather teach Lengel to catch than Butts to block. Or maybe to say it better, I'd rather find a Michael Floyd clone (or sign him) to do the same job some high end jumped up TE is going to do, than waste highend draft capital on a TE who can't block.

That being said drafting a TE in the 4th -7th rounds would be smart. BTW this assumes we resign Bennett.

6. RB No one loves LGB more than me, and no one appreciates the job he's done this season. HOWEVER, wearing my coldest BB hat, he's someone I want to replace with a young big back in the draft.

 

[Kdo5]

LB/CB are priorities.

Hightower and Butler are excellent for us. Malcolm had turned into a hell of a player. But what do you have after them? JAGs as far as the eye can see.

We'll see what we can get from Cyrus defensively but I definitely believe we can upgrade from either Logan Ryan and Eric Rowe (or both). I don't hate either of these guys and I expect at least one of them to be back next season.

Even moreso with the LB group. I'm interested to see what we can get out of Roberts but Van Noy and McClellin aren't very impressive. We need to get someone pretty good or with more potential next to HT and sufficient in coverage.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

While we're talking about offseason / draft needs, I'll link to a post I made earlier about my #1 target in the draft if we get a high pick for Garoppolo (Derek Barnett). He's probably going top 10, so we have no shot at him unless we trade Jimmy G.

2017 Draft Prospect Thread

 

[deroc5050]

Running Back and Corner Back.... and then talk to me after the season is over, who are they resigning, who are they letting walk

Blount is done after this year I would think. He will be 31 years old. We need another big physical running back to replace Blount. Logan Ryan will most likely need to be replaced.

I am always looking to upgrade the O Line. I know they have been pretty good this year but alot of that has to do with Brady releasing the ball fast. And they could be a little better at both run and pass blocking.

Alan Branch might need replacing, he is getting up there. D line/ Oline CB , RB. I would probably wait until the 2018 draft to look at another back up QB to go along with Brisset.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

DLINE must be addressed.

Jabaal Sheard will leave as a FA.
Chris Long will be 32 in March and is also FA.
Rob Ninkovich will be 33 years old in a few weeks.
Alan Branch just turned 32.

 

[rookBoston]

DT, DE, QB, OT

Important: need to reload at QB after trading Jimmy

 

[captain stone]

I wouldn't draft a QB; I would rather sign one as a UDFA, and use our draft picks on other positions
such as LT, RB, TE (depending on Bennett), DE, DT & CB.

 

[The Gr8est]

I'm sure it's posted somewhere on this site, but does anyone have the Pats current picks available for the 2017 draft?

 

[zydecochris]

1. Surprised to see so few people looking for a DT. Defense starts there, and Brown's recent slippage makes me wonder if he's a long term solution. It's not a talent issue, but we've always said that playing here isn't for everyone and maybe Brown isn't happy here. If that's the case, we need a high end DT. If I am wrong and Brown is thrilled to be here, we need a DT. Branch is having his best season as a pro, but 32 year old DT's need to be upgraded. Brown and Valentine need to have a quality 3rd guy in the rotation. Finally high end DT's are the rarest commodity outside of Gronk quality TE's and QB's.

An excellent post overall Ken, but let me ask about this part of it. Nobody would argue the importance of QB. And since there has never been a TE like Gronk, certainly that is a rare commodity. But couldn't one argue that the rarest draft commodities are those usually selected with the first few picks? And wouldn't that be QB, LT, and DE? Or would you argue that DT is more important than DE? You would probably know, I'm just curious about you reasoning and explanation.

 

[Gronkowski123]

another pass rusher would be nice. we'll also need to replace logan ryan since he'll get paid by another team.

BB will get all of this done so i wont worry!

 

[BobDigital]

I could be talked into any defensive spot.

If Harmon walks safety is import
If Ryan walk CB is important (it is anyway)
LB is important
DE could use an upgrade.
DT could use depth as only 3 true DTs are on the roster (they will keep Branch i'm sure)

On offense?

Maybe OT unless they believe in Flemming
RB is an option but I don't see it as something they should pick high.
TE if they don't sign Bennett
QB if they trade JAG but i hate the QBs in this draft so i wouldn't pick one.... maybe in the 7th just to take a look.

 

[zydecochris]

A goddamn stud RB. 6-0, 230 4.4 speed.

QB is so old he saw the Titanic sink

This.

I've been banging the drum about getting a stud RB (and a good run blocking OL) for several years now, with the reasoning being that a strong running game could prolong Brady's career in a way similar to how Elway's career was prolonged in Denver. I had figured that would be necessary as Brady started to decline and become more injury prone with age. Well, I've never been so happy to be completely wrong about that, Brady looks better than ever. I also thought that Blount was not the answer as a workhorse RB, and he has proven me wrong also (particularly this year as the OL has improved).

Nevertheless, Blount will be turning 31 when many RB begin to slow. Brady will be turning 40 next August, and while I think his potential Super Bowl window will last another couple of years or so, surely the team must be starting to think about some moves that would make a major short term impact in this Super Bowl window.

I think that move could be to draft a stud RB in the first or second rounds. Just look at the impact of drafting Elliot in Dallas, it made an gigantic difference to their offense. We have the best run blocking OL that we have for years, so a talented new RB could have some room to run. Plus, RB is a strength of the draft this year, with four RB's potentially going in the first round. If any of them drop, I say we nab em' !