PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Rookies

Draft Review – Who are the eight new Patriots?

by

Picture – OU Athletics

We are only two days removed from an exciting draft, one that saw the Patriots select eight rookies to join their team ahead of the 2021 NFL season. Already the discussion has moved to training camp and what positional battles lay ahead, so, let’s have a quick dive into the new recruits!

QB Mac Jones | Round 1 (15)

After weeks, if not months, of speculation about what the Patriots would do on the first night of the draft, they ended up staying with their given pick at 15, and selecting Mac Jones out of Alabama.

Jones, who originally committed to the University of Kentucky, opted to instead enroll with Alabama and redshirted his first season in 2017. After Tua Tagovailoa got injured in 2018 and eventually declared for the 2020 Draft, Jones took over as the starter for the remainder of his collegiate career in Alabama.

I was intrigued by Jones heading into this year’s Draft, in his final college season, he set the NCAA record for pass accuracy (77.4%) and led the Crimson Tide to the CFB National Championship, you can’t teach winning.

In the days prior to the first round, Jones was considered the 49ers top pick at number three, but, as it turned out, they had other ideas as Trey Lance was selected after Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. Jones’ fall didn’t last past 15 as the Patriots selected a first-round quarterback for the first time since taking Drew Bledsoe in 1993.

Observations:
Accurate – Set the NCAA record for passing accuracy last season, something which is a top priority for signal-callers in the NFL.

Winner – Regardless of the juggernaut team around him, Jones still had to do the business, and he did last year, leading Alabama to Nick Saban’s seventh National Championship.

Competitiveness – Highly competitive and spoke of how he always wants to win in whatever he does. Being competitive in a regime under Nick Saban should translate well to a Belichick regime here in New England.

DT Christian Barmore | Round 2 (38)

Another Crimson Tide alum, Barmore was acquired by the Patriots following a trade with the Bengals to move up in the second round.

[Read more…] about Draft Review – Who are the eight new Patriots?

Tweets of Note: 2020 Camp -#3 8/19

by

Following two straight days in pads, the players wore shells for practice today, a sign of workload management as we hit mid-week.

I present today’s Tweets of Note along with my thoughts:

The good bit of news regarding attendance was that a limited Julian Edelman yesterday was able to fully participate today. The bad news is that the absent list has grown by two.

[Read more…] about Tweets of Note: 2020 Camp -#3 8/19

NEPatriotsDraft.com: Full Patriots UDFA Signee List

by

NEPatriotsDraft.com: Full Patriots UDFA Signee List

Great job by James Christensen of NEPAtriotsDraft.com for the outstanding work getting the scoop on all the NFL undrafted free ageny signings. I’ve been following James for a long time and to see him rise to the national scene by providing amazing insider info has been a pleasure to watch. Especially since the Patriots are the team he focuses on most.

Here’s the current list of Pats signees. Clearly they’re throwing some potential pass rushers at the wall, but most likely the only way these guys are going to make the team is to demonstrate they can be core special teams players who might be able to slowly get worked into sub packages on defense.

And of course they had to give Dante Scarnecchia some more fresh meat to work with. You never know how much a guy will blossom under the great coaching of Scar.

Corey Woods (OT, Akron)
Jeremy Ross (WR/KR, Cal)
Alex Silvestro (DE, Rutgers)
Jeff Tarpinian (LB, Iowa)
Kyle Hix (OT, Texas)
Mike Berry (OL, Auburn)
Will Yeatman (TE/OT, Maryland)
Ryan Coulson (DE, Nevada)
Clay Nurse (DE, Illinois)

Patriots Rookie Number Projections

by

Spikes

I’m going to admit that I am huge geek for how football players put together their “look”. There are three categories I like to look at 1) Number 2)Facemask/Helmet 3)Overall.

After the draft my favorite day (coming this Friday) is getting the first glimpse of the new guys in the uniforms. I think you can tell a lot about a player just from their “look” and pretty much project exactly what kind of career they will have, unless it’s Chad Jackson who’s look had him in the Hall of Fame.

With numbers to be announced in the next day or so we’re taking a crack at matching the top rookies with numbers that we like for them.

Devin McCourty

Not too many options for a cornerback right now, but of course some real estate should open up once the axe begins to fall on those who haven’t been hacking it. We’re gonna start McCourty off with 26, but project a move by opening day to: 22. Sorry Wheatley, but if you can’t beat out Wilhite you’re probably getting cut.

Rob Gronkowski

Definitely the easiest projection to make since he was 48 in college and 84 is available. Mark it down for Gronk: 84.

Jermain Cunningham

Hmm, this one seems pretty easy and I am excited to see a Patriot named “Cunningham” again. This is a good opportunity to get a bad taste out of your mouth: 96.

Brandon Spikes

Something tells me Jerod Mayo isn’t giving up 51 for Spikes. It’s still too soon to give out 54 with respect to Tedy. That doesn’t leave too many options, but there’s one that I think would fit nicely: 55.

Aaron Hernandez

Not a lot of options at the moment for Hernandez though 80 and 85 could open up. For now he’ll need to stick with something that’s not really that exciting to me: 87. And that’s assuming Tory Holt doesn’t take it. Otherwise I think Hernandez will be doubling up with someone.

Taylor Price

This is a good example of the perfect number being available for a fast, tough receiver like Price. Mark him down as a permanent 17. Though I really wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him with 80, with all due respect to Troy.

Zoltan Mesko

Punters don’t usually have a lot of choices to make them look good, I think 2 is probably what Zoltan will end up with. But personally I think a far better choice would be: 7.

We’ll hold off on the rest of the draft picks because they’ll all probably be doubled up anyways, and it’s really impossible for a lineman to have an elite look unless you’re Sebastian Vollmer.

On Friday we’ll have a full breakdown of all the rookie looks with analysis and grades.