PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

New England Patriots OTAs: Scott Chandler sidelined, Butler rises up – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN

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New England Patriots OTAs: Scott Chandler sidelined, Butler rises up – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN

Interesting stuff as always from Reiss, including this tidbit on the guard sitch:

Spent extra time watching some of the offensive line combinations and fourth-round draft choices Tre’ Jackson (right guard) andShaq Mason (left guard) flanked center Bryan Stork for a good part of the practice. The guard position is one where the Patriots have some personnel turnover and the question is how quickly Jackson and Mason might be able to help. From a pure repetition standpoint, they went from wire to wire in 12 offseason practices and they seem to be keeping up OK, mentally. Of course, it’s not all perfect. Jackson had a false start that led to him running a penalty lap.

I’m shocked you didn’t include Richard Seymour on your top 5 of best players drafted by BB!

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I know, he came up a lot in the twitter discussion afterwards. Nothing against Big Sey, but I was trying to pick guys who were picked out of nowhere and blossomed. Of course there are plenty of good first rounders that lived up to their hype, and really Wilfork should be in there. But yeah, just a “best players drafted” list would have to be Brady/Seymour/Wilfork/Gronk then a debate between Mankins/McCourty/Hightower/Chandler for that final spot.

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Seventh-rounder Darryl Roberts got some work with the starters today and broke up a potential touchdown pass for Tyms in 11-on-11s. Roberts keeps making a play a day and is a dark horse to steal a cornerback job.

Patriots minicamp takeaways: Tom Brady unveils awesome TD dance | The Blitz | with Jeff Howe & Karen Guregian | Boston Herald

https://www.patspropaganda.com/seventh-rounder-darryl-roberts-got-some-work-with/

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First, running back James White made a very nice catch on a wheel route for about a 20-yard touchdown from Brady in 11-on-11 work. Second, Amendola was catching everything thrown in his direction, as he and Brady seem to be operating at a higher level and building off their solid 2014 postseason together. Third, seventh-round draft choice Darryl Roberts, a cornerback out of Marshall working mostly on the left side, had a quality pass breakup against Garoppolo (believe it was against veteran receiver Brandon Gibson) over the middle. On one of the next plays, Roberts – who was schooled by coaches on playing with the proper leverage – was also in coverage on an incomplete pass along the left sideline but probably would have likely drawn a penalty for pass interference.

New England Patriots OTAs: QB position looks to be in good hands – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN

Three nice nuggets of note from Mike Reiss. Sounds like James White is getting some quality reps and Amendola was universally praised by observers as having a great practice. Still only June, but these are things we can consider at this point.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/first-running-back-james-white-made-a-very-nice/

What are 5 of belichicks best drafted players besides Brady

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In no particular order I’d have:

Gronk – injury risk at the time, but probably the best overall homegrown Patriot aside from Brady.

Wilfork – they got lucky he fell to them, but he was the defensive centerpiece for a decade.

McCourty – most labelled him a special teamer only when they took him in the first round, but he’s one of the most versatile defensive backs in the game.

Slater – didn’t have a position in college yet the Pats drafted him and turned him into one of the best special teamers in the NFL. Also a superlative leader.

Edelman – same thing as Slater, was a QB in college but slowly grew into the receiver role and is now almost indispensable. 

Some of Belichick’s best work has come with guys who were not drafted or cast offs from other teams too. Stephen Neal never played football before, Ninkovich was a long snapper, and there are plenty of other guys who weren’t all stars but gave the Pats solid seasons after coming out of nowhere, like Randall Gay, Dane Fletcher, Gary Guyton, Chris Jones, Ryan Wendell, etc. 

Those guys are more a testament to the quality of the coaching in New England.