New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

Hazys

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

And then when we picked Brown, Colts fan sites went into meltdown. Some good reading in the link below .....

http://forums.colts.com/topic/38051-and-ne-takes-the-big-stud-dt/

I'm licking my computer screen while reading that, trying to taste their tears

Vandango

BizzyC wrote: »

I'm actually happy enough with that choice, seems like decent value for the bottom of the first.

Decent value? No, he was a bit more than that. The consenseus out there seems to feel that he is great value for the Pats and they probably shouldn't have got anywhere near him.

JaMarcusHustle

Never realised they looked so alike!

Son Of A Vidic

Hopefully the interior O line and CB will be addressed tonight. Right now, these are our remaining draft picks.....

2nd Round (64th Overall)
3rd Round (96th Overall)
3rd Round (97th Overall, Compensatory)
4th Round (101st Overall, Via TB – Logan Mankins)
4th Round (131st Overall)
6th Round (177th Overall, Via TB – Jonathan Casillas)
7th Round (219th Overall, Via TEN – Akeem Ayers)
7th Round (253rd Overall, Compensatory)

Utopia Parkway

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Hopefully the interior O line and CB will be addressed tonight. Right now, these are our remaining draft picks.....

You would think alright although I don't have much faith in the Pats drafting CB's.

I imagine a WR and RB might be taken as well.

BaronVon

Oh, to be on this plane......

eagle eye

I'm still over the moon about that pick last night. I had him down as, at worst, the second best DT in the draft. Shocked that he didn't go in the mid teens at the latest.

Son Of A Vidic

Nearly had a stroke, I briefly thought the guy standing between Gronk and Danny was Goodell. If it was, no doubt Tom would make sure he got the best seat on the plane.....

empacher

what sort of 2nd round pick is that projected 5th to 7th rounder

Utopia Parkway

empacher wrote: »

what sort of 2nd round pick is that projected 5th to 7th rounder

A traditional Pats 2nd round pick. A safety taken 4 rounds earlier than expected. No Patriots draft would be complete without one.

Son Of A Vidic

empacher wrote: »

what sort of 2nd round pick is that projected 5th to 7th rounder

A Tavon Wilsonesque draft pick that's what, but I suppose at least Tavon has been on the team. Because we still have Jake Bacuette, yes three years of doing nothing and he's still on our roster.

Our next couple of moves better address protecting the GOAT. He faces some of the toughest D lines in the league in our division and they got even tougher. We can't depending on likes of the overpaid Cannon who was disastrous last season, to keep protecting number 12.

JaMarcusHustle

We have the second pick tonight and I'm hoping we use it on Tre Jackson. I think he's the best offensive lineman left, and we interviewed him at the combine and had him out for a visit. Here's hoping we reunite him with Bryan Stork.

If not Jackson, then I really hope we go after Josh Shaw. Might be a bit of a homer pick, but he's really talented and would have been drafted a lot earlier had he not had that bizarre incident with the police during the year. By all accounts, that was completely out of character but he's a defensive captain (which we know Bill likes) and he's 6'1, which is a giant compared to our midget corners.

JaMarcusHustle

Bill's thoughts on Jordan Richards:

There’s a reason New England Patriots second-round draft pick Jordan Richards was called “Coach” at Stanford.

Richards’ intelligence on and off the field drew head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots to the 64th overall pick.

“Yeah, everybody you talk to, they rave about it: about his communication, his leadership, his football character on and off the field,” Belichick said Friday night at Gillette Stadium. “I don’t think there’s any issues with that.”

Belichick said Richards played free and strong safety at Stanford but mostly played the latter down near the line of scrimmage. Belichick also apparently did the media a solid by drafting Richards.

“I think he’s a guy you’ll like having around here,” Belichick said.

Richards’ intelligence was evident in his 15-minute conference call with the New England media Friday. Belichick said that sometimes book smarts don’t translate to football IQ, but for Richards, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“Some guys are football smart, and they’re not smart in other ways,” Belichick said. “Other guys get a 1,500 on their SATs and can’t get a double-team block right. No, that definitely — my experience, sometimes it correlates, sometimes it doesn’t, but I don’t think you just take it for granted. I think a smart guy can learn.

“Some guys learn — just like all of us. Some guys can learn electronics, some of us can’t. Some guys can learn something else, some of us can’t. We’re all wired differently. Some guys, football comes real easy to them: They can see what all 22 players are doing, can see what all 11 guys are doing on their side, how it all fits together. It’s easy for them. Other guys, once you get past their assignment, it’s the big picture, the overall concepts don’t fit together. It doesn’t come so easy for them. Depends on what position they play, but I’d say in his case, he’s a smart, instinctive football player and the rest of it’s good too. And so is (Geneo) Grissom.”

Richards joins a crowded depth chart at safety, but Belichick noted he should contribute on special teams, as well.

“Richards is a strong tackler, instinctive guy,” Belichick said. “I think he’ll be a good, certainly be able to play on the punt team, kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return; even be a matchup guy outside maybe or a holdup guy in the box. I’m sure he’ll be able to contribute in the kicking game.”

Richards is open to playing special teams, which is a unit that Belichick holds dear to his heart.

“I got to play a fair amount of teams kind of throughout my career,” Richards said Friday on a conference call. “The amount of snaps I got varied year to year, but it’s something that I take really seriously and if you want play football, especially at this level, you better contribute somehow on special teams. So I’m juiced. I’m ready for it.”

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/05/bill-belichick-jordan-richards-leadership-football-character-raved-about/

And his thoughts on Grissom:

Bill Belichick was in a great mood Friday night after drafting Oklahoma defender Geneo Grissom.

Belichick raved about his new chess piece’s versatility and all of the different roles Grissom played with the Sooners.

“In 2013, they played a 3-4 defense,” Belichick said about Oklahoma. “He’s played under two different coordinators, but when Mike Stoops came back with his 3-4 defense, they didn’t have enough depth there at defensive end, so he played 4i-technique in 2013 at 260 pounds. He was way undersized, but he competed well. They didn’t knock him off the line of scrimmage. He didn’t look like a linebacker in there. You probably wouldn’t think he’s that light. You wouldn’t know it by the way he played.

“He has good playing strength, runs well, This year, it looked like they had more depth on the defensive line, and they moved him to outside linebacker, so both last year and this year, on third down, he played end and then also bumped inside to an inside-rusher position. They had pretty good edge guys. (Eric) Striker and the other kid — underclassman. (Grissom’s) the guy who would move down inside at times. He was productive there against Alaabama, for example. He’s rushed inside, he’s rushed outside. He’s played anywhere from the end of the line, five-technique, defensive end in a 4-3, outside lineabcker in a 3-4.”

From watching highlight reels of Grissom, he has a tendency to knock down passes at the line of scrimmage. His 37-inch vertical leap certainly helps in that department.

“I’d say he’s very instinctive as a pass rusher,” Belichick said. “And he’s in coverage a decent amount of the time as a walk-off linebacker, so you see a guy play out in space out over the slot, he does a lot of that. I’d say a guy to play from 3-technique to end of the line, to a walk-down linebacker — at the Senior Bowl they actually played him off the line like in a tackle bubble — so he’s a pretty athletic, versatile guy.”

One thing Grissom likely won’t be doing is playing tight end, but Belichick said he could. Grissom briefly moved to tight end in 2012 before shifting back to defensive end.

“No, we’re not trying to make him a tight end, but his workout as a tight end is about as good of a tight end workout as we saw all year,” Belichick said. “I mean, this guy can run, he can catch. If you didn’t know he didn’t play tight end, you would look at that workout and say ‘that’s a pretty good tight end.'”

Grissom wasn’t high on many draft experts’ rankings, but Belichick certainly sounds excited about bringing him to New England. Versatility can go a long way with the Patriots, and Grissom has it in spades.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/05/bill-belichick-raves-about-geneo-grissoms-versatility-along-front-seven/

paulie21

You'd swear versatile and smart were the only two things Bill looks for when drafting

Son Of A Vidic

paulie21 wrote: »

You'd swear versatile and smart were the only two things Bill looks for when drafting

Well they are two very important attributes needed for our offensive & defensive schemes. We don't tend to slot players into a one positional role like a lot of teams do and that's why those characteristics pop up a lot. Bill tends to like players that offer positional adaptability, flexibility and he also has a fondness for guys who are team captains, guys who show character and leadership. He'll nearly always bypass an athletic freak who can do one job brilliantly, for the guy who can do 3 jobs pretty well.

Vandango

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

He'll nearly always bypass an athletic freak who can do one job brilliantly, for the guy who can do 3 jobs pretty well.

That sounds like our Bill alright.

Hazys

2 good fourth round picks. Seems like both had 2nd round grades.

paulie21

What's Tre Jacksons medical issue?

Itssoeasy

paulie21 wrote: »

What's Tre Jacksons medical issue?

I think it's his knees.

Son Of A Vidic

Oh ffs! We finally address the interior O line and we pick up another guy with gimped knee/knees.

Hazys

Gronk dominating the Kentucky derby...style ontop of style





Tie over t-shirt is in for 2015

JaMarcusHustle

Edelman reminds me of Billy Baldwin sometimes, especially the above picture.

Happy with today's picks so far.

Utopia Parkway

Shaq Mason.

Strengths One of the most powerful drive blockers in the 2015 draft. Comes off ball with low pad level and wide base and routinely wins leverage game. Snaps hips under him at contact, standing defensive tackles up. Runs feet through contact, looking to bury his man. Salty and tough.
Strength is his calling card. Moves well in space and climbs to second level under control. Able to sustain blocks for several yards downfield when his balance is right. Good knee bend in pass sets with ability to mirror. Keeps weight balanced throughout pass set with desired posture. Above-average hand fighter in pass pro and able to reset hands when they are knocked away.

Weaknesses Short guard with short arms. Lets his hands get a little wide in pass sets, making his lack of length more distressing. Takes inconsistent angles to targets on zone runs, causing him to fall off of some blocks. Forward-leaner susceptible to balance issues at contact. Inconsistent with cut blocks, despite high number attempted at Georgia Tech. Rarely asked to sustain pass protection very long. Faced very few skilled interior pass rushers.
Draft Projection Round 4 or 5

Bottom Line Powerful player with an ability to drive defenders off their spot with leg drive and then torque and finish with strong hands and upper body. Lack of height and arm length could hurt his draft standing a little bit, but his elite power trait as run blocker and solid pass-protection technique make him a future starter at right guard in the NFL.

Hazys

Shaq crushs people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQOWX2mv2AU

Son Of A Vidic

I really like the Shaq move, just the kind of interior powerhouse we need.

Hazys

@shalisemyoung

guess Shaq Mason's father/parents are big hoops fans: his full name is Shaquille Olajuwon Mason

Hazys

Nearly all of the Patriots selections are team captains...talk about filling your locker-room with the right guys.

Hazys

LS in the 5th round lol

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2015/02/18/bill-belichick-likely-a-fan-of-navy-long-snapper-joe-cardona/

JaMarcusHustle

Mightn't even get the chance to play until 2017. Bizarre pick.

Son Of A Vidic

Hazys wrote: »

LS in the 5th round lol

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2015/02/18/bill-belichick-likely-a-fan-of-navy-long-snapper-joe-cardona/

Just heard he's also the first Navy guy drafted in 20 years. Mad to use up a 5th round pick on him.