Ongoing NFL draft chat

[Cman]

Love the Mallet pick, Ridley is a strong RB who gets better as the game/season wears on, which with the NE weather, i love.

All the talk of pass rushers, after the first few, there weren't any REALLY good pass rushers, outside of Bowers who has the knee issues.

The Patriots get Warren back next year, and they LOVE Jermaine  Cunningham, who alot of people are sleeping on. He will never be a dominant pass rusher, but should be very good.

I am a fan of the latest trade, a 3rd and 4th for the Raiders 2nd next year.

Yes, I like the Raiders trade.
At this point, the Pats have three four picks left in this draft (2 5s and a 6 and a 7).  I really would have liked them to pick a pass rusher in one of the first 3 rounds, if only (as noted above) to compete with the existing guys and push them harder.

[Big_Matt34]

I really would have liked them to pick a pass rusher in one of the first 3 rounds, if only (as noted above) to compete with the existing guys and push them harder.

I would have really liked Justin Houston in the 3rd, just because he has the potential to be a great pass rusher, but has effort issues.

Realistically, most of the other guys would have had just a minor impact this coming season. If they don't love any of the DE/OLB's in the draft, i'd much prefer them picking guys they like at other positions, and finding a guy who can rush the passer in free agency.

[Cman]

I just read that Hoyer's on the last year of his contract.  I like him, but suddenly it seems he might be trade bait, with Mallett as the new #2 backup QB for the Pats.

[Big_Matt34]

The more i read about him, the more i like the Ridley pick. Most people feel RB's only have a certain amount of carries before their bodies break down,  well Ridley only had 306 carries in his college career. For a physical RB, that's a great thing longterm. Here's a scouting report from CBS sports.

A physical back with relatively little tread worn off his tires (306 career carries), Ridley rode a breakout junior campaign to an early jump to the NFL.

Emerging as the Tigers' workhorse back in 2010, Ridley rushed for 1,147 yards and scored 15 touchdowns for an offense that featured little passing prowess to keep defenders out of the box.

Scouts like Ridley's toughness, burst, power and consistency. He scored at least one touchdown in 10 of 13 games in 2010. Scouts will also like the intangibles he provides. Despite starting only nine of his 39 career games for LSU, Ridley was voted a 2010 permanent team captain.

Given a third-round grade by the NFL Advisory Committee, Ridley could prove one of the best values of the 2011 draft for any team looking to add a physical presence in the backfield.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1244982

[Cman]

The more i read about him, the more i like the Ridley pick. Most people feel RB's only have a certain amount of carries before their bodies break down,  well Ridley only had 306 carries in his college career. For a physical RB, that's a great thing longterm. Here's a scouting report from CBS sports.

A physical back with relatively little tread worn off his tires (306 career carries), Ridley rode a breakout junior campaign to an early jump to the NFL.

Emerging as the Tigers' workhorse back in 2010, Ridley rushed for 1,147 yards and scored 15 touchdowns for an offense that featured little passing prowess to keep defenders out of the box.

Scouts like Ridley's toughness, burst, power and consistency. He scored at least one touchdown in 10 of 13 games in 2010. Scouts will also like the intangibles he provides. Despite starting only nine of his 39 career games for LSU, Ridley was voted a 2010 permanent team captain.

Given a third-round grade by the NFL Advisory Committee, Ridley could prove one of the best values of the 2011 draft for any team looking to add a physical presence in the backfield.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1244982

Nice research.  I like that he was a captain.
Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed on the guy.  It seems like his "intangibles" maybe even out Ryan Mallett's bad "intangibles"

Oh, gotta add that the 'Bama connection has got to have figured in to why BB drafted Mallett.
Edit: open mouth, insert foot....

[Redz]

Can't get enough intangibles.

[The DarkPassenger]

So no pass rusher in the first 3 huh? Hm, okay. I do like the Mallett pick and the Dowling pick. Not sure why they took TWO running backs but meh whatever. Didn't pick Leshoure though? Hm. okay sure why not.

I guess they are happy with having Ty and Cunningham on the edges with whoever they have as OLB's but I'm not impressed. They needed to draft Dowling cause if they have no threat of sacking the QB then teams will have a field day on our secondary.

Note to Bill Belichick. Trade both of those 5's and get into the 4th, high into the 4th and take a CHANCE, YES A CHANCE, GAMBLE A BIT MAN and grab Casey Matthews. He will not be as good as his brother who you avoided but you never know... he could be the sleeper in the draft.

[outcry]

Oh, gotta add that the 'Bama connection has got to have figured in to why BB drafted Mallett.

Not to be an ass, but Mallett played for Arkansas.

I love when people are surprised year after year with the picks BB makes. It's known that ever since the 2006 draft when he took Maroney and Jackson in the 1st and 2nd round, respectively, he drafts players that make impacts instead of drafting sexy picks that will either most likely bust or make a big impact. It's obvious he likes big corners who are physical and are comfortable in both man and zone coverage. It also appears that he has a newfound love for huge O-Lineman with fantastic upsides.

We'll see how this draft shakes up next season. Time and time again people get p---ed at BB for not making picks based off of McShay's or Kiper's draft board.

[crownsy]

Oh, gotta add that the 'Bama connection has got to have figured in to why BB drafted Mallett.

Not to be an ass, but Mallett played for Arkansas.

I love when people are surprised year after year with the picks BB makes. It's known that ever since the 2006 draft when he took Maroney and Jackson in the 1st and 2nd round, respectively, he drafts players that make impacts instead of drafting sexy picks that will either most likely bust or make a big impact. It's obvious he likes big corners who are physical and are great with man coverage and also huge O-Lineman with fantastic upsides.

We'll see how this draft shakes up next season. Time and time again people get p---ed at BB for not making picks based off of McShay's or Kiper's draft board.

yea.... i'd have alot more faith in that line of thought if the 2006 and 2007 drafts weren;t complete busts, 2008 is sub par at best. where are these "players he drafted that made an impact?" most of them have made an impact on the unemployment line, some some notable exceptions (our kicker, mankins, mayo i guess merriweather if your a fan)

jurys still out on 2009, but that looks like a good draft.  (volmer is a stud, and chung may be something)

2010 was obviously a great draft, but lets not act like Bill is some rebel genius who outsmarts the experts all day.

between 2006-2008 drafts, only like 6/28 guys are still in the organization, and only 4 of those guys have any kind of impact. and one's about to get gone (mankins)

We'll see on this draft. i liked the pick at Tackle, even though i thought they reached a bit. 33rd pick was nice, if he pans out we'll have a nice corner tandam for years. love the mallet pick, not sure if we needed two backs, but can never hurt to have depth at RB and DB

DB's and RB get chewed up, so i'm ok with being deep there.

Feel like we could have done alot more with this draft, but after hearing J.Kraft tonight on 98.5 (summary: we like our front 7's pass rushing ability, they just need to grow up) there refusal to address that need makes more sense to me.

I don't think they have the potential that kraft and bill do, but as i said before, when it comes to coaching em up and teaching bill's a legend so we'll see.

Still think he's been a subpar drafter at best, and has been before he got to NE and since scotty P left.

[The DarkPassenger]

I've never believed in this In Bill We Trust stuff but I wouldn't want another coach cause he's better than most. He is also one of the longer tenure coaches in the NFL so his moves are looked at more.

With that said to say this guy is a genius is going out on a limb. He's smart, very smart... not sure if he's a genius... if he was then Ray Lewis just could be a Cleveland Brown and Baltimore wouldn't have a team. He fell backwards into Brady and gets way too much credit for that. Chad Jackson and Maroney are our future then right? OOOHHH that's right they are hoping that the UFL picks them up. Hm.

Again I wouldn't really want any other coach and I accept what headaches come with that but I can't help but wonder about his approach when teams like the Jets, Colts, Falcons and others are getting further then us or beating us. He's had great drafts and he's had complete disasters and all of this is because he's been here so long.

Forget In Bill We Trust... In BRADY We Trust. 

[outcry]

Oh, gotta add that the 'Bama connection has got to have figured in to why BB drafted Mallett.

Not to be an ass, but Mallett played for Arkansas.

I love when people are surprised year after year with the picks BB makes. It's known that ever since the 2006 draft when he took Maroney and Jackson in the 1st and 2nd round, respectively, he drafts players that make impacts instead of drafting sexy picks that will either most likely bust or make a big impact. It's obvious he likes big corners who are physical and are great with man coverage and also huge O-Lineman with fantastic upsides.

We'll see how this draft shakes up next season. Time and time again people get p---ed at BB for not making picks based off of McShay's or Kiper's draft board.

yea.... i'd have alot more faith if the 2006 and 2007 drafts weren;t complete busts, 2008 is sub par at best. where are these "players he drafted that made an impact?" most of them have made an impact on the unemployment line, some some notable exceptions (our kicker, mankins, mayo i guess merriweather if your a fan)

jurys still out on 2009, but that looks like a good draft.  (volmer is a stud, and chung may be something)

2010 was obviously a great draft, but lets not act like Bill is some rebel genius who outsmarts the experts all day.

between 2006-2008 drafts, only like 6/28 guys are still in the organization, and only 4 of those guys have any kind of impact. and one's about to get gone (mankins)

We'll see on this draft. i liked the pick at Tackle, even though i thought they reached a bit. 33rd pick was nice, if he pans out we'll have a nice corner tandam for years. love the mallet pick, not sure if we needed two backs, but can never hurt to have depth at RB and DB

DB's and RB get chewed up, so i'm ok with being deep there.

Feel like we could have done alot more with this draft, but after hearing J.Kraft tonight on 98.5 (summary: we like our front 7's pass rushing ability, they just need to grow up) there refusal to address that need makes more sense to me.

I don't think they have the potential that kraft and bill do, but as i said before, when it comes to coaching em up and teaching bill's a legend so we'll see.

Still think he's been a subpar drafter at best, and has been before he got to NE and since scotty P left.

Chung, Cunningham, Spikes, Gronkowski, Hernandez, McCourty, Vollmer, Tate, BJGE (undrafted), Edelman. All recent picks -- all weren't drafted in the 1st round with the exception of one, and all have made an impact. There's a reason why BB doesn't draft skill position players in the first round; they always demand more money and are usually more susceptible to being busts. I have no problem with his draft formula because they could easily be a team like the Redskins if he based his picks off of Kiper's board. They'd be in cap hell every year. Every team passes on players that become awesome, but the Patriots have been great for 10 years so I'm not really going to complain.

If there's an improved rookie pay scale next year, he could perhaps take a chance on a couple skill players in the 1st round. We'll see how it plays out.

[crownsy]

Oh, gotta add that the 'Bama connection has got to have figured in to why BB drafted Mallett.

Not to be an ass, but Mallett played for Arkansas.

I love when people are surprised year after year with the picks BB makes. It's known that ever since the 2006 draft when he took Maroney and Jackson in the 1st and 2nd round, respectively, he drafts players that make impacts instead of drafting sexy picks that will either most likely bust or make a big impact. It's obvious he likes big corners who are physical and are great with man coverage and also huge O-Lineman with fantastic upsides.

We'll see how this draft shakes up next season. Time and time again people get p---ed at BB for not making picks based off of McShay's or Kiper's draft board.

yea.... i'd have alot more faith if the 2006 and 2007 drafts weren;t complete busts, 2008 is sub par at best. where are these "players he drafted that made an impact?" most of them have made an impact on the unemployment line, some some notable exceptions (our kicker, mankins, mayo i guess merriweather if your a fan)

jurys still out on 2009, but that looks like a good draft.  (volmer is a stud, and chung may be something)

2010 was obviously a great draft, but lets not act like Bill is some rebel genius who outsmarts the experts all day.

between 2006-2008 drafts, only like 6/28 guys are still in the organization, and only 4 of those guys have any kind of impact. and one's about to get gone (mankins)

We'll see on this draft. i liked the pick at Tackle, even though i thought they reached a bit. 33rd pick was nice, if he pans out we'll have a nice corner tandam for years. love the mallet pick, not sure if we needed two backs, but can never hurt to have depth at RB and DB

DB's and RB get chewed up, so i'm ok with being deep there.

Feel like we could have done alot more with this draft, but after hearing J.Kraft tonight on 98.5 (summary: we like our front 7's pass rushing ability, they just need to grow up) there refusal to address that need makes more sense to me.

I don't think they have the potential that kraft and bill do, but as i said before, when it comes to coaching em up and teaching bill's a legend so we'll see.

Still think he's been a subpar drafter at best, and has been before he got to NE and since scotty P left.

Chung, Cunningham, Spikes, Gronkowski, Hernandez, McCourty, Vollmer, Tate, BJGE (undrafted), Edelman. All recent picks -- all weren't drafted in the 1st round with the exception of one, and all have made an impact. There's a reason why BB doesn't draft skill position players in the first round; they always demand more money and are usually more susceptible to being busts. I have no problem with his draft formula because they could easily be a team like the Redskins if he based his picks off of Kiper's board. Every team passes on players that become awesome, but the Patriots have been great for 10 years so I'm not really going to complain.

If there's an improved rookie pay scale next year, he could perhaps take a chance on a couple skill players in the 1st round. We'll see how it plays out.

all those guys are from 2009 or 2010...whats your point? that does nothing to refute most of my post.

I called both those drafts as above average or, in 2010's case, really good.

however, i think he had 3 awful, awful drafts, as exhibited by the fact that you named no one drafted from 2005-2008. there are a few guys from those drafts, but most guys are out of the league/ got cut

All im saying is this idea that Bill is a great drafter who always uses his picks effectively is not based firmly in reality, and i don't really give him the benefit of the doubt in this area of his game like others do.

As KG said a few pages ago, if i broke Bill down:

Coaching: legend
Teaching: Legend
Motivating his team: Legend
ID'ing guys he needs in FA/Trades: very good
Drafting: subpar at best


It should also be noted that just because i don't think he's a good drafter means i don't think he's the one of the greatest coaches of all time and absolutly thank the higher power he's our head coach.

 But i can separate the different aspects of his job, and they just don't bear out that he's a very good drafter. now everyone's entitled to their opinion on that, but i don't think the facts really contradict my stance in anyway.

[outcry]

The last couple year's drafts have been great. From the 2nd round on he's been money. I think his philosophy of not drafting "superstar" prospects translates into how he signs free agents. He'll draft or sign role players that are good all around, but not great at one or more things and that's why the Patriots have been good for so long in the cap era. Trade down for more value and sign players that fit in with his system.

[Eja117]

I'm fine with BB's strategy.

People who don't like BB's strategy of trading for future firsts seem to forget that the reason the Pats even have a shot at picking high in the first is because he's traded for a future first.

Case in point: selecting Mayo (that wasn't the Pats own pick, it was one they acquired from San Francisco IIRC).

Case in point: selecting Solder (that wasn't the Pats own pick, it was the one they acquired from Oakland). 

BB has basically created a situation where the Pats are able to pick higher than they would if they only had their own pick in the first round each year, and pick an extra 2nd round pick each year.

All while putting 14-2 teams on the field mind you

And losing in the playoffs to the Jets. Like my bro said. It's very magnaminous of us to allow Sanchez to roll up stats and wins against us that matter with no pass rush. It's very nice we allow him to do this under no duress.

The point is how many times are you going to pass over a Clay Mathews and pick he Pat Chungs of the world? How many times will you draft two Rbs and a back up QB while you have a 1000 yard rusher and glaring needs?

He does this all the time and it caught up to us in the playoffs last year

[Eja117]

Can't get enough intangibles.

Maybe we should draft the Dali Llama

I'm predicting in order

A QB

A punter

Another RB

Another DB

something like that

Then BB will say "Well we have young guys at those positions"

Yeah we know. That's kind of the problem