Ongoing NFL draft chat

[crownsy]

i wonder if they'll even pick tomorrow, a couple outlets are already speculating they'll trade the 33rd pick, it's got great value 

I really hope they don't. im sick of value and a crappy defense.

[KungPoweChicken]

Why did Bill even trade Symour in the first place? He is still, and has been, one of the best players in the league. Trading guys like Seymour is the reason the Patriots didn't win it all last year. Sometimes you've got to pay elite players. I love stockpiling picks, but what good is it when you don't cash in on them? And then when you do cash in on a very high pick (Seymour), you trade him away for another pick.

The Patriots aren't going to win another Superbowl until the defense improves, and this makes me frustrated. I don't want to see Brady's last years wasted.


Players like Tom Brady come along, what, once every 50 years? What are we waiting for? The time is now.

[steve]

Why did Bill even trade Symour in the first place? He is still, and has been, one of the best players in the league. Trading guys like Seymour is the reason the Patriots didn't win it all last year. Sometimes you've got to pay elite players. I love stockpiling picks, but what good is it when you don't cash in on them? And then when you do cash in on a very high pick (Seymour), you trade him away for another pick.

The Patriots aren't going to win another Superbowl until the defense improves, and this makes me frustrated. I don't want to see Brady's last years wasted.


Players like Tom Brady come along, what, once every 50 years? What are we waiting for? The time is now.

Maybe they felt there was no one worth cashing in for... so they give themselves the same option next year.  Look how much ATL gave up for Julio Jones! 

 

[Eja117]

Where's eja?  He's lives for this day.

I was driving between Vilnius and Utena. First time since about 8th grade I missed the draft.  The upshot is the wife will miss some royal wedding coverage

[Eja117]

Lots of intrigue. First thing that jumps at me is that the Pats picked Solder over Castanzo (and Carimi). Second thing is that the run on QBs didn't get too bad.  People were right that Ingram was the only rb in the 1rst so there should still be pretty good value out there.

Also seeing D Bower's knee must be pretty bad. Some early projections had him at #1.

To me Roy essentially nailed it. N Fairly at 13 is a crime, not that I know lots about him. But I find that amazing

[The DarkPassenger]

Why did Bill even trade Symour in the first place? He is still, and has been, one of the best players in the league. Trading guys like Seymour is the reason the Patriots didn't win it all last year. Sometimes you've got to pay elite players. I love stockpiling picks, but what good is it when you don't cash in on them? And then when you do cash in on a very high pick (Seymour), you trade him away for another pick.

The Patriots aren't going to win another Superbowl until the defense improves, and this makes me frustrated. I don't want to see Brady's last years wasted.


Players like Tom Brady come along, what, once every 50 years? What are we waiting for? The time is now.

Maybe they felt there was no one worth cashing in for... so they give themselves the same option next year.  Look how much ATL gave up for Julio Jones! 

 

Agreed, kind of. Falcons gave up a lot for Jones and really fell in love with him. Patriots don't do that, they fall in love with a position and try to find the best player at the best time. Yeah they have players on the board but they probably also have other players with almost the same skill set.

With that said I look at who has won or beat us in the playoffs the last few years or got far in the playoffs and it's teams who aren't afraid to go after a guy. Packers (who we helped), Falcons, Jets, Ravens, Colts.

Who do they pick? I can see them trading down again, and being frustrating. Cause Bowers has a knee issue and if they can't pick up Ayers it'd be okay cause no other OLB's have come off the board. You still have Austin, Reed, Matthews, Houston and some others on the board. My next picks for them? 33- Bowers, next one Reed or Houston and the next one Leshoure.

[footey]

bill will probably trade the next pick, and pick up good value for it.

True story: about 4 summers ago, My family went on a river raft excursion in Buena Vista, CO. Our raft guide was John Solder, who is Nate's older brother (John was dating my friend's daughter at the time, but that is another story).  John mentioned that his "little" brother was going to CU to play football. (John himself was recruited by Stanford to play football, but subsequently retired due to a neck injury).  I did not connect the dots last night until I saw it mentioned that Nate was from BV, and I googled him.  By the way, John was a great river guide, incredibly funny, and we gave him a good tip afterward. Will that land me season tickets??

[Cman]

bill will probably trade the next pick, and pick up good value for it.

True story: about 4 summers ago, My family went on a river raft excursion in Buena Vista, CO. Our raft guide was John Solder, who is Nate's older brother (John was dating my friend's daughter at the time, but that is another story).  John mentioned that his "little" brother was going to CU to play football. (John himself was recruited by Stanford to play football, but subsequently retired due to a neck injury).  I did not connect the dots last night until I saw it mentioned that Nate was from BV, and I googled him.  By the way, John was a great river guide, incredibly funny, and we gave him a good tip afterward. Will that land me season tickets??

That's a great story!

I see a number of people like the idea of D. Bowers with the #33 pick.  I'm not such a fan -- seems like a big injury risk.

BB may or may not trade down from #33, it just depends on what is offered in trade.  if it's a future first + a pick later in this year's draft, I think he's got to pull the trigger on it.  I doubt that will happen though.  i think a more likely scenario is that he's able to trade one of his later 2nd round picks into a 2nd round next year and a later pick this year, which would be fine.

If he comes out of today with a decent OLB, I'll be happy. 

[footey]

Mel Kiper does incredible research, including film, measurements, asking around, year around, on the NFL Draft. But a guy like John Gruden is just much smarter and analytical than Kiper. Mel looks dumbfounded by some of the picks, for example the early pick of Jake Locker of TN. Kiper kept harping on his low completion percentage, lack of size. And Gruden basically chastised Mel for not really looking at the tape properly, which showed more often than not Locker had no receivers open, so he was just being smart by throwing the ball away. I think this kid is going to be the best pick of the draft, BTW.

[Chris]

Mel Kiper does incredible research, including film, measurements, asking around, year around, on the NFL Draft. But a guy like John Gruden is just much smarter and analytical than Kiper. Mel looks dumbfounded by some of the picks, for example the early pick of Jake Locker of TN. Kiper kept harping on his low completion percentage, lack of size. And Gruden basically chastised Mel for not really looking at the tape properly, which showed more often than not Locker had no receivers open, so he was just being smart by throwing the ball away. I think this kid is going to be the best pick of the draft, BTW.

Agree on both counts.  Gruden may be over the top, but he has more football knowledge in his left pinkie than Kiper has in that entire helmet he has on his shoulders.  Kiper does a good job, but he is not an NFL scout or coach, and relies way too much on intel from his connections on teams, which are often leaked to him for a reason.

As for Locker, I also agree that he is going to be very good.  The numbers aren't great, but he seems to have a tremendous understanding of the game, and a good enough arm.  I think it was a very good pick.

[footey]

I doubt Bill will do this, but I hope he looks he rolls the dice on Bowers with one of his 2nd round picks (probably will have to be the first one), and hope that the knee will hold up for a while. This kid, if healthy, would be perfect either as DE or even an outside LB in our defense. 

[Kwhit10]

I doubt Bill will do this, but I hope he looks he rolls the dice on Bowers with one of his 2nd round picks (probably will have to be the first one), and hope that the knee will hold up for a while. This kid, if healthy, would be perfect either as DE or even an outside LB in our defense. 

With 3 2nd roudners I'd totally take a chance with Bowers, because the talent is definitely there.

[Chris]

Another interesting side note is that stockpiling more picks for next season could be more valuable this year than other years, just because no one is trading players during this draft.

There are players who guys want to trade, and who they normally would have traded yesterday or today, however, now they are going to have to wait until the CBA stuff is figured out.  That means, when they are ready to open up the trade markets again, the currency being used will be 2012 picks.  

Since I really don't think the Pats need to get a whole lot younger, I think this could be part of the thinking, and why I would not be the least bit surprised to see them trade #33 for another first rounder next year.

[Chris]

I doubt Bill will do this, but I hope he looks he rolls the dice on Bowers with one of his 2nd round picks (probably will have to be the first one), and hope that the knee will hold up for a while. This kid, if healthy, would be perfect either as DE or even an outside LB in our defense. 

With 3 2nd roudners I'd totally take a chance with Bowers, because the talent is definitely there.

I don't think they do it with 33, just because there is way too much value in trading that pick, however, if he is there later in the round, I think at that point, the risk is worth the reward.

The rumor of course is that he will need microfracture surgery, which means next year will be a complete loss, but as a second rounder, I think they can risk that.  Bill can just think of it as trading for a 2012 high first rounder.

[Cman]

Since I really don't think the Pats need to get a whole lot younger, I think this could be part of the thinking, and why I would not be the least bit surprised to see them trade #33 for another first rounder next year.

I agree they don't need to get a whole lot younger, and that future picks are basically "currency" for trades.

A couple things:

(1) I thought there was some possibility that there could be trades involving players starting today, given the recent court ruling.

(2)  Whether BB trades the #33 or not really depends on whether he can get a future first for it.