Other potential late round / UDFA developmental prospects:
- Michael Smith, RB, Utah St. 5'9" 205#. 4.33 speed with a 40.5" vertical.
- Michael Calvin WR, Cal. 6'3" 215# with 4.34 speed, a 40.5" vertical, and a 6.70 3-cone.
- Matt Veldman, TE, . 35" vertical and 6.99 3-cone at 6'6" 256#.
- Kyle Fiedorowicz, TE, North Central College. 6'7" 265# size with 4.67 speed. 1/3 of his receptions were TDs.
- Derek Carrier, X-Back, Beloit. 6'4" 238#. 4.50 speed with a 6.70 3-cone, reminiscent of Aaron Hernandez.
- Steven Baker, OT, East Carolina. 6'8" 315#. 4.91 40 with a 32" vertical. A basketball convert who is just beginning to scratch his surface.
- David Snow, OG/C, Texas. 6'4" 303#.
- Chigbo Anunoby, DL, Morehouse. 6'4" 328#.
- Markus Kuhn, DE, North Carolina St. 6'4.5", 299#. A German import in the Sebastian Vollmer tradition.
- Ryan Van Bergen, DE, Michigan. 6'6" 290#. Played both inside and out. 4.90 speed.
- Louis Nzegwu, DE/OLB, Wisconsin. 6'4" 255#. Connor Barwin measurables (4.57 40, 6.84 short shuttle, 41.5" vertical).
- Tim Fugger, DE/OLB, Vanderbilt. 6'3" 250# with 4.60 speed.
- Julian Miller, DE/OLB, West Virginia. 6'3" 265#. Versatile kid with a great motor who has played inside and out.
- Desmond Marrow, DB, Tulsa. 6'2" 210#. An OTG favorite.
- Chris Greenwood, CB, Albion. 6'1" 193#. Big CB with 4.41 speed and a 43" vertical. Very smart player getting a lot of attention.
Thinking Ahead to 2013:
While it is obviously very early to be thinking about the 2013 draft, there is no doubt that BB already has some idea what is coming down the pipe, and that will influence both his targets for 2012 and his willingness to trade into 2013. The 2013 draft is likely to be much stronger than 2012 at the top, and much deeper in several areas:
- DT: As already mentioned, Star Lotulelei, Johnathan Hankins, Kwame Geathers, John Jenkins and Jesse Williams are either coming out or eligible, as well as Purdue DT Kawann Short.
- OC: Alabama's Barrett Jones will be a Senior, as well as USC's Khaled Holmes and Louisville OC Mario Benavides. Much stronger group.
- TE: Tyler Eifert, Zach Ertz, Levine Toilolo, Michael Williams and Joseph Fauria, among others, make this the best TE class since 2010.
- Edge rushers: Sam Montgomery, Barkevious Mingo, Jarvis Jones, Jackson Jeffcoat, William Gholston, Devin Taylor and Alex Okafor are a stronger group than the 2012 class.
The 2013 draft is likely to be weak compared with 2012 in coverage LBs and RBs with receiving skills.
Training Camp Roster:
This assumes that Andre Carter could be re-signed when he is healthy, and it leaves open the status of Matt Light and Brian Waters.
QB: Tom Brady, Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer, Mike Hartline. Probably the best and deepest group in the NFL.
RB: Doug Martin, Shane Vereen, Stephen Ridley, Danny Woodhead, Tony Fiammetta, Spencer Larsen, Eric Kettani. What a group! And Kevin Faulk wants to come back.
WR: Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, Deion Branch, Anthony Gonzalez, Chad Ochocinco, Donte Stallworth, Julian Edelman, Tiquan Underwood, Dale Moss, Matt Slater, Britt Davis. Add Michael Calvin as a UDFA and try to get one of him or Dale Moss to the PS.
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Daniel Fells, Taylor Thompson. Add Kyle Fiedorowicz, Matt Veldman or Derek Carrier as a UDFA and put them on the PS.
OT: Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Robert Gallery (also OG), Marcus Cannon (also OG), Matt Kopa, Kyle Hix. Add Stephen Baker as a UDFA and put him on the PS.
OG/C: Logan Mankins, Brian Waters, Dan Koppen, Dan Connolly, Senio Kelemete, Nick McDonald, Ryan Wendell, Donald Thomas. Sign David Snow as a UDFA and put him on the PS. Plus Robert Gallery and Marcus Cannon can play guard.
DL: Vince Wilfork, Aubreyo Franklin/Shaun Rogers, Myron Pryor, Jonathan Fanene, Kyle Love, Akiem Hicks, Brandon Deaderick, Ron Brace, Marcus Harrison. Add Chigbo Anunoby or Markus Kuhn and try to sneak him onto the PS.
DF: Rob Ninkovich, Trevor Scott, Jermaine Cunningham, Markell Carter, Alex Silvestro, Aaron Lavarias. Possibly re-sign Andre Carter if he is healthy. Taylor Thompson could be used as a situational pass rusher as well.
DF/MF: Jerod Mayo, Lavonte David, Brandon Spikes, DeMario Davis, Dane Fletcher, Jeff Tarpinian, Tracy White, Bobby Carpenter, Niko Koutouvides, Mike Rivera.
DB: Devin McCourty, Pat Chung, Ras-I Dowling, Trumaine Johnson, Kyle Arrington, Sterling Moore, Steven Gregory, Brandon Hardin, Will Allen, Marquice Cole, Malcolm Williams, Josh Barrett, Sergio Brown, Ross Ventrone.
ST: Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Danny Aiken, Chris Koepplin.
That's an incredibly deep and talented roster to start training camp. What a war it will be to make the team.
Summary:
This draft is primarily focused on the defensive side of the ball. Nevertheless, a significant goal is the integration of the running game into the offense. Doug Martin could have an impact similar to that which Rob Gronkowski brought in 2010. Senio Kelemete is an intriguing OL prospect who could be ready to step in for Brian Waters by 2013. And there are a number of intriguing developmental prospects with absurd measurables. Any one of them could develop into a potential impact player.
Nevertheless, the defense is really what this draft is about. Although the Pats would have loved to add an elite DT prospect such as Michael Brockers, they elected to plug that with free agents and wait until the much deeper 2013 DT class. Akiem Hicks has tremendous upside as a developmental DL. Trumaine Johnson and Brandon Hardin are huge, versatile DBs who should be able to play both outside at CB and at FS. But the defensive centerpiece of this draft is the flankers/midfielders. Lavonte David and DeMario Davis, who will bring a completely different look to the defense, both in terms of coverage ability and in terms of their ability to generate splash plays.
This approach to the draftwould shake things up in a major way, on both sides of the LOS - and potentially take this team to a whole different level. The offense would be more balanced than any since 2008, or possibly even 2004, and would use the RBs as major weapons in the passing attack, similar to the New Orleans offense. This would also be a drastically different defensive look than any we've seen in the BB era. The number of "raptors" - guys 6'+ with absurd coverage skills - and coverage LBs would give the team a dramatically different look than the traditional 2-gapping 3-4. IMHO, it would be a fabulous adaptation of BB's traditional defense to a pass-oriented league.
Imagine how much less predictable and more diverse this team would be, on both offense and defense. And with a major infusion of young talent. Of course, the "experts" would slam that draft for not addressing basic "needs": no outside pass rusher, no vertical threat WR, no traditional safety.
Would BB have the balls to do something like this? IDK, but I sure hope so. And it sort of "feels" like the kind of "" thing that BB would do.
And he would get an extra 2013 1st and 2nd round pick in the process.
