New England Patriots Thread Mod Warning Post #253

Mac could've been better than he ended up, but his ceiling was always limited and his biggest supposed strength, informational processing and reading the game, looks completely non-existent now.

Agreed it was good to see respect been shown by both men. Fair play to Kraft in the Q&A. Stood up there and gave all the questions a good hearing and due consideration.

There was no BS. He gave BB his fair dues and talked about giving Honour and Respect to Bill after this. He had a decision to make and went with his instincts. I'd take him at face value in that it was both of their instincts to part ways.

Talked about the 'Power 'Structure' and how it evolved after the 3rd SB win and how BB had "earned it" i.e. complete control. That "All of us needs checks and balances in our lives" and with BB not in complete control there wouldn't be "Accountability" and "set up confusion".

Unprecedented tenure and achievements in sports. A truly golden era in Boston that wont be repeated in our lifetimes.

They traded his main WR and the guy has had a succession of mid QBs at best. The team was basically run derrick henry into the ground and if that doesnt work, do it some more anyway. They had no other weapons. A not dissimilar problem to the current pats team, but stevenson isnt henry.

Vrabel is a former Pat, he's at worst a semi-proven NFL level coach, and at best has potential to improve in a better environment than Tennesee. He's not going to demand GM control, he's got affinity for the patriots, and as you say is a good defensive mind. I think it's similar to the QB discussion. I think someone with some proven history in the league with some development ceiling still to attain, is a better bet than a rookie with no experience. (especially, in the QB case, if picked high).

If we have Vrabel as HC, accept we are in a building phase that should have started 3 years ago and commit to another say 2 years of building, I reckon we can return to competitive football and maybe start looking at playoff football again. It starts with trading out of the top 10.

I like Mayo, and he's done well in his role with defensive coaching but he's not even a DC yet. It's too soon and he doesnt have enough league experience. I'm also somewhat wary of the "BB tree" as most have been awful head coaches. Vrabel as HC with Mayo as DC would be my choice.

Jerod got the job. Glad it's him.

Be interesting to see what the Bears do. If they're sticking with Fields , strong chance they take Harrison at 1. So we have a chance at Williams or Maye. I don't agree with trading back, we need elite talent on offense, and it starts this draft

Judon is 32.Wise, Phillips, a few others Im probably forgetting are north of or just about to be, 30.

32 is perfectly fine if you're a contender. It's not, if you're starting a 2-3 year rebuild. Which a team with 4 wins and no QB and a rookie head coach with no OC/DC experience is exactly what you're looking at.

We need OL and WR in the draft as highest priority. After that, I'd start looking at defense. I'm absolutely not saying "hey lets spend the top 5 pick on a defensive back or a pass rusher", or spend big in FA - pointless as I don't expect us to be contending next year. I don't watch much college football but people seem quite high on Marvin Harrison or Joe Alt to the patriots at 3. As they are WR and OT respectively,I'd be happy with that. Particularly with the size of Alt. Not sure I want a harrison at WR after the years his father spent with Peyton :P

I was reading the updated CBS draft analysis after the games last week and they seem to think our needs are a lot wider than you do btw

3. New England Patriots (4-13)

Team needs: OT, DT, TE, WR, LB

Watched Jerod's introductory press conference today. He talked a lot and smiled a lot but he gave away nothing.

Where did he learn that from I wonder?

I'm glad O'Brien is gone. He did nothing to improve the offense. If you can't improve on what Patricia and Judge did it's not good.

Remember Matt Cassel in '08. He went 11-5, got a nice contract with the Chiefs after being traded there in '09.

I've a feeling Josh will go with Bill though.

What QBs did it not work with besides Cam Newton? Worked with Cassel, worked with Jimmy G, Jones looked very good in his rookie season.

But it worked with players starting for the first time, two rookies and a fourth year guy who'd never started before.

Why dump something that's proven to be successful?

Anyway as I said above I think it's a lot more likely that Josh goes wherever Bill does. The Falcons would be a great spot for him. It'll be a new QB there, you've got Bijon Robinson and a more than capable backup in Algeier. Drake London and Kyle Pitts there with Jonnu as backup. Probably need to improve the receiving corp but they've got the most important part in an elite one

Alex Van Pelt gets the offensive co-ordinator gig.

I'm a bit nonplussed by that. He was OC in Cleveland last year and he didn't call the plays. He got sacked at the end of the season.

It's hard to know how he'll do but he's not some young guy with the potential to be a whizz kid.

I'm not criticising the hire, I don't know how it'll work out. I'm just not expecting fireworks on offense.

He had Joe Flacco last year who reinvented himself under Van Pelt, Amari Cooper did well under him too as did their tight end Njoku.

I'm wondering if that means we bring in a veteran QB, maybe Flacco, or Mac gets another chance and we draft Harrison?

Most early mocks I've seen have us taking a QB, either Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, assuming Caleb Williams goes #1.

Totally agree and Maye and Williams will be 1 and 2.

There are question marks over Daniels. Firstly it was one great season, he didn't look so good before then. Secondly it's not certain his game will transfer well to the NFL.

Personally I think if we stay at 3 we should take Marvin Harrison junior.

I was thinking though that the clueless Blank might be interested in moving up for Daniels. We could get a great deal out of them. Get the no.8 pick, Drake London and maybe Thier second this year and next.

That would give us a top wide receiver, a left tackle high in the draft and there's a couple of really.giid prospects and then two second rounders where there should be plenty if very talented QBs available at 34 and then another second round pick to try and replace one of the free agent defenders we lose. We need to resign Dugger and Onwenu.

First 2 episodes of the dynasty are decent, certainly better than the Man in the Arena. I'm hoping they might bring in players from other teams to talk about the pats

Watched it last night, it's based on the book The Dynasty that came out a few years back, it's the same stories just with video clips of the events. If you've read the book, there's no new stories so far anyway

watching it on Apple in the US

Another thing that's annoying me for the last while is mediots saying nobody wanted Belichick. While that may be the case there is also the possibility that Bill didn't want any of the jobs that were open but nobody has even opined that it might be the case. It's quite clear that Blank wanted him and it was after his second meeting with BB that he quickly hired Morris. I'm thinking he signed Morris that quickly to avoid the embarrassment of being rejected by a coach becoming a headline. Thing is, if it was the case, nobody was ever going to hear about it from Bill.

Again I'm only surmising here but I couldn't imagine Bill working for an idiot like Blank.

Just a little nugget about the third pick in the draft. Three quarterbacks have been taken at three in the last ten years, they are Blake Bortles, Sam Darnold and Trey Lance.

Thats a lot of draft capital wasted. Lets hope we don't do the same. It's a boring pick but I'm seeing more and more mocks sending Joe Alt to NE and I'd prefer that x100 over any QB in this draft.

I'd actually prefer if we traded back, but our trade back guru was fired!

Baker resigning with the Bucs makes calculations a bit different. I'm still pro signing MHJ at 3 if he's there, over taking a middling QB, but that's likely commiting us to at least another 2 years of being average to poor and hoping to be in a position to draft a good QB

Would you take Wilson, if he offered to sign for a vet minimum deal? I've never been a fan of his personality, but he was an elite QB for a long time. Last season is a hard one to judge, he was playing decently before the Broncos benched him for contract reasons.

A shorter version of the version of Cam we had a couple of years ago. He does nothing to bring the team forward. As a mentor for a rookie, sure, but I'm hoping we don't have a rookie QB! I see us entering training camp with Zappe, a round 3-4 QB, and a veteran or two. Russel could be one of them