PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

NFL Draft

Football Outsiders: Patriots 3rd greatest deviation in draft report cards

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Football Outsiders looked at the draft report cards of 11 draft writers and analysts and compiled composite scores for each NFL team. Here’s how the Pats did:

New England Patriots

GPA: 2.76 (17th overall)
Standard Deviation: 0.955
Highest Grade: A+ (Brown)
Lowest Grade: D (Caplan)
Comments: Acquiring first- and second-round picks in 2012 was enough for Brown to overlook New England passing on its most pressing need in this year’s draft. Caplan (D) and Byrne (C-) were less forgiving.

The Patriots had the third highest deviation between their collective scores which shouldn’t be all that surprising. Just consider that line between people who think you should draft your needs in order of your picks, and people who think you should take the best player available at slot regardless of need.

Walter Football: Patriots #4 in power rankings

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Here’s the latest from Walter Football, with the Colts, Steelers and Packers ranked ahead of the Pats…

4. New England Patriots (14-2) – Previously: 2.
MAY 11 UPDATE: What the hell happened during the draft? It’s almost like Bill Belichick logged into Bodog and bet his entire bank account on “Will New England address its front seven in the first five rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft? No +1,500.”

MARCH 16 UPDATE: When I was buying a house, my friend and real estate lawyer asked me if I planned on getting married anytime soon. When I told him no, he replied, “Good. Don’t get married.”

I didn’t understand why he said this until I saw Tom Brady’s pony tail. Poor Tom. I think we now know who wears the pants in that household.

As for the actual team, I’m concerned about Brady’s offensive line. Stephen Neal just retired and Matt Light is a free agent. Bill Belichick needs to make sure that he protects the pony tail at all cost.

Anyone else find it ironic that on March 16 they’re saying the Pats should protect Tom Brady at all costs, then they take the left tackle of the future at 17, and now Walter cant’ figure out what the hell happened because they should’ve addressed the defensive front seven? Whaaaat?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB4LZBL0gg

Shane Vereen at the Skills Competition 2011

I am constantly impressed every time I see Vereen with how thick he is. A lot of the knock on him was not having the size, but I think an NFL training program is going to transform this guy into a multi-purpose attack beast.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

https://www.patspropaganda.com/shane-vereen-at-the-skills-competition-2011-i-am/

Boston Globe: Weight lifted for Marcus Cannon

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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

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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.

NFP: Patriots Draft Review

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NFP: Patriots Draft Review

NFP gets it, though I highly doubt Matt Light is moving inside to Guard…

Let’s face it, Bill Belichick has built one of the best if not the best football operations departments in the league. He knows how to work a draft better than anyone and because of this he has multiple high picks every year. He did it again this year when he traded the No. 28 selection in this draft for New Orleans’ No. 56 selection and their first-round pick in next year’s draft . He also made a trade with the Raiders getting their second-round pick next year. So not only did the Pats get a bunch of good players this year, they also have two firsts and two seconds next year.