An Independent Patriots Blog
With the Patriots not selecting an outside linebacker early in the draft, the spotlight will shine a bit brighter on second-year man Jermaine Cunningham’s development this season. Cunningham has been in town of late, where linebacker Jerod Mayo continues to show leadership in arranging workouts with teammates.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/with-the-patriots-not-selecting-an-outside/
What do we do with CB Ras-I Dowling? He is 6’1, 198. He ran 4.39 at his Pro Day. Dowling started for 4 years. In his first 3 years he totaled 8 INTs, 4 FFs, and broke up 27 passes. Go watch some tape. At least half the picks came with him jumping up to snag the ball. He has good hands, instincts, and ball skills. His value is hurt by the fact he was injured for most of his Senior season and then missed the Senior Bowl and most of the Combine. We’re talking about nagging injuries, not ACL type stuff, but teams hate when they can’t see a guy in his final season and then the normal postseason activities. While Dowling is talented, he’s not the same level of CB as the Big 3. He’s got their size and speed, but not the cover skills. Dowling doesn’t have great hips, but is a CB and not a Safety. One odd thing is that he didn’t press and jam receivers all that much. Mainly played off. Dowling is worth an early 2nd, but it won’t shock me to see him go late in the 1st. Gil Brandt said there were 25 teams and 11 DB coaches at Dowling’s Pro Day. That tells you what the league thinks of this guy.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/what-do-we-do-with-cb-ras-i-dowling-he-is-61/
The Foxhole: Top 10 Patriots of 2010
Good stuff from Kristen, hard to argue with her order, but it’s tough not to see Jerod Mayo on there.
McCourty & Milloy to host football camp at Merrimack College
Here’s the link to the football camp that Devin McCourty and Lawyer Milloy will be hosting at Merrimack College from July 11-14. Unfortunately the cut off age is 18, which is too bad because I really need to work on my jams at the line of scrimmage.
Markel Carter looks like a pass rusher to me…. just based on looks alone…
Central Arkansas Defensive Coordinator Matt Williamson on him (via Reiss)…
“The first thing I’d say is that he wanted to be really good. At the same time, he wanted everyone else around him to know he was a good person. He always wanted to do the right thing, and he was always seeking help, and all the information he could, to become a better football player. He was always looking for whatever he could find to gain an edge on the offensive lineman he was going against. He is a great all-around person, and has the drive inside of him to make himself better every day.”
https://www.patspropaganda.com/markel-carter-looks-like-a-pass-rusher-to-me/
Boston Globe: Weight lifted for Marcus Cannon
Great stuff from Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe about Marcus Cannon and his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Cannon might get a little bit of a late start this season, but it looks like he should eventually be fine, and really what rookie isn’t going to get a late start this year. An optimistic projection would have a Solder-Mankins-TBD Kopper replacement-Cannon-Vollmer offensive line for the next 5-7 years. What a big, nasty group. Love it.
Here’s the video of Cannon doing a flip off a barge that was mentioned in the article. Crazy stuff.
CHFF: Patriots are the best drafters of the last decade
When I came across this article it was a little surprising to me because the Cold Hard Football Facts website have not always been the unrepentant hoodie heads that I am. Especially when they summed up the Pats 2011 draft as such:
Six of seven picks went to shore up an offense that led the NFL in scoring last year, while the struggling defense was largely ignored. Grade: C-
However when they go back and look at the full body of work over the last decade you get commentary like this:
Who drafted the most stars, the most longtime starters, the most promising young players? Who had the most players from their drafts active in the league last year? Who was the best?
When it was all said and done, there was an easy and not-so-surprising answer: the New England Patriots. They had the second-most Pro Bowlers, 11, trailing only San Diego (12). They had the most players with a career “Approximate Value” of 50+ as determined by Pro Football Reference’s formula that takes into account position, playing time, team success and production (read more about it here). They had the second-most players with career AV of 20 or better. They were tied for third in terms of draftees still active in the league in 2010. And they did it despite having the best record in the league over that decade, which means having the least amount of actual draft power. It’s pretty remarkable feat, and the reason that guys like Mel Kiper and Peter King couched their criticisms of the Patriots’ 2011 draft by adding “but it’s the Patriots, so it’ll probably work out OK.”
New England (A) Pro Bowlers: 11 (2nd) Draftees Active in 2010: 46 (t-3rd) Players with 50+ Career AV: 7 (1st) Players with 20+ Career AV: 22 (t-1st) Best Pick: CB Asante Samuel (4th round, 2003) Worst Pick: WR Chad Jackson (2nd round, 2006) Summary: The Patriots got at least one impact player in each of their 10 drafts from 2001-2010, and maybe the biggest tribute to their ability to identify top talent is that all 10 of their No. 1 picks were still playing in the league last year along with 11 of their 14 No. 2s. This bodes well for 2011 draftees Nate Solder, Ras-I Dowling and Shane Vereen.