Monday, April 28, 2008

Patriots Draft Picks


Again, ESPN proved how the NFL draft is the most over hyped event they can possibly promote. After the 7 rounds and hundreds of draft picks from this weekend, there most likely only are a handful of players that will have an impact over the course of the next three seasons. Yet, there were a few announcers who were shocked with a couple of picks in late 4th and later rounds. Good for them getting drafted, but the reality is most, not all (Tom Brady, 6th round) will not last long in the NFL. So does it matter if one team picks a certain CB over another…not so much Todd McShay.

Anyway, some thoughts on the draft day for the NE Pats.

New England Patriots
2008 Draft Board
Round Pick # Player Pos.
1 10 Jerod. Mayo LB
2 31 Terrence. Wheatley CB
3 15 Shawn. Crable LB
3 31 Kevin. O'Connell QB
4 31 Jonathan. Wilhite CB
5 20 Matthew. Slater S
6 31 Bo. Ruud LB


I see big things from Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable. Pioloi and Belichick continue to draft young tough, speed and character guys, I like them both giving the veteran LB some rest during games and prepping for the future. Although I agree with most people with Crable being used more on special teams, I was a fan of him while at Michigan; he’ll do well in the 3-4. While Rudd most likely* will be a special teams player or practice squad…he does have size, pedigree and he was a member of vaunted black jersey defense while at Nebraska.

Although I don’t have a lot of exposure to Wheatley and Wilhite, there were definite holes to fill in the secondary. Both their speed speaks for themselves, while Nickel is where I see one of them ending up.

The two interesting picks I saw came from Matthew Slater (HAHA, great research department ESPN, didn’t have a lot on that guy did ya) Kevin O’Connell in the 3rd round…I guess this means Brady is up for some competition…really? No, but this does give the two Matt’s more competition for the backup and guy who wears the cap and writes down the plays on a clipboard(3rd string). I’m sure most analysts would debate this, taking a QB in the 3rd round, but I’m going to have to agree with what Mike Reiss said at The Globe on this one, below.
- “Most intriguing selection. San Diego State QB Kevin O'Connell gets the nod. There has been some not-so-positive buzz from emailers that the Patriots took a QB so high -- over other needs. It's a fair debate. It probably comes down to looking at how teams stack their draft boards. For example, at that point, there had been 17 defensive backs selected, and four quarterbacks. So when considering how a team stacks its draft board, you are basically choosing between the 18th DB or the fifth QB. Or the eighth TE against the fifth QB. Also consider that the choice was 94th overall, just a few picks away from the fourth round. If the Patriots take O'Connell in the fourth round, one could argue it wouldn't have been as eye-catching.”

Moving forward, there are still a bunch of spots on the roster to sign more; which will include some veterans and some free agents. Although it’s tough to improve after coming off of a perfect regular season, I believe they did with younger LB’s and CB’s to fill spots.

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