Mike Dussault

I’ve been focused on the Patriots’ drafts since 2006 and I think I have a pretty good idea of the kind of guys they like.

Really, BB hasn’t missed one a first-round pick. You might throw Maroney or Meriweather as misses, but neither were complete busts. Maroney essentially sealed the 2007 AFCCG and the back end of the defense (outside of maybe the 09 Saints game) was okay with Meriweather back there from ‘08-’10. Regardless, every other first rounder has been elite.

I think “raw” is over-generalized. These are college kids, they are all raw to an extent. The big traits I look for when putting together my big board are football smarts, toughness, versatility and leadership.

This is not always perfect, in the right round they’ll take a guy if they like the value given his talent. These are football players. Alpha males with tempers who like to run into walls 16-plus times a year. They’re not all going to be choir boys. And if someone got busted smoking pot a time or two, it’s not a deal-breaker.

Here’s the thing… not even the NFL teams know exactly what they’re doing in the draft. The ONLY way to mitigate the risk is to take as many guys as you can, especially in the 2nd/3rd round. 

I know everyone wants to take the “name” players in the first round, and sometimes, like 2012, there’s a place for that. But generally the safest way to attack it is to go into the draft with NO needs. You might not love a free agent that you filled a hole with, but you never want to be in the position of having to come out of the draft with a starter at a position. This also forces all rookies to compete.

That way they can draft who they like at whatever position. Between injuries, busts and mis-scouting you never know who will flame out, so all you can do is gather as many players as you can that you like, including via rookie free agency where the Pats have had a lot of success, and throw them into the competition of training camp and see who emerges.

Yeah it’s a good point, here’s the thing – tight ends cause a lot of problems for defenses. Look at the difference in the Broncos with Julius Thomas. I don’t think that in 2010 that Belichick went out to purposely try to build the Gronk-Hernando offense, it just kind of happened.

They are the original matchup nightmares and if you have one that can really run and catch, it forced the defense to choose who gets to cover them, which is never easy.

Now the Pats have no tight ends signed for this season outside of the recovering Gronk, so they have to make a few moves there. I would definitely not rule out taking one in the first round and as you said, someone who can make the whole offense better. 

They had no seam threat without Gronk and that made life on everyone harder. Even if it’s just someone in the Daniel Graham mold, that’s fine. I don’t think they can specifically look at a Hernando-type that early, it has to be someone more traditional and if there’s a move tight end later, they can take a shot on one of those too.

And who knows, maybe Gronk comes back and puts a full season together. Then they’ll really be set. But if Gronk has another year of injuries it’s very likely this will be his last in New England, at least under his current contract.

Still very much up in the air. The key is whether or not he gets indicted on the second murder that took place in the summer of 2012. If that happens the Pats will be able to recoup his signing bonus.

As it is now, he’s expected to account for $7.5 million in cap space this season. Unsure on how the recovery of the signing bonus might affect that.