New England Patriots Thread Mod Warning Post #253

The last time BoB was OC we scored 30 points or more in 12 of the 16 regular season games.

In the draft that year we got Nate Solder, Vereen, Ridley and Marcus Cannon. I don't know if BoB had much input into those picks but I hope he did.

We brought in Ochocinco and that didn't work out well.

The one thing I remember is Vollmer improving massively. We had Scar then too so I'm not putting that down to O'Brien.

Just looking at our needs for next season. Obviously left and right tackle have to be looked at. I think the interior of the line is decent enough.

After that cornerback is another area that needs some help. Free safety all depends on Devin McCourty's decision about retirement. I like Bledsoe but we need something else with potential. Wide receiver has to be looked at as well and even moreso if we can't resign Jakobi Meyers.

We can look at other positions like defensive end, tight end and linebacker but they are where we have to gamble to improve because I think high draft picks and decent money in FA have to be spent on the positions mentioned above.

Lets look at FA. Orlando Brown is the star of FA and I'm not sure if the Chiefs can afford to tag him with the money they are already paying Mahomes, Jones, Clark and Thuney which totals somewhere around $130 million. I'd spend the money on him but I can't see Bill doing it if he is available. Kaleb McGarry and George Fant are interesting options for right tackle.

Jemal Dean is a Patriots type corner in my opinion, he attacks the ball and he has deflected a lot of ball when I've seen him play. He'll cost money but we've done it before on corners so it's a possibility I think. The Bucs can't afford to keep him so he'll definitely be moving.

At wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is the big one and Meyers isn't far behind given his productivity and age. I'd love if we got a way to keep Jakobi, I think if we fix the tackle spots he could be gold if he's not considered that already. Hopkins will cost money and I think he'll want a three year minimum contract because its likely his last one, he'll be 31 entering the season.

At FS Jessie Bates is the top guy but I'm happy to use a mid round draft pick on somebody and give Bledsoe his chance. I can't see Bill spending big money on this position. We could bring in a cheaper option in FA to act as cover for Bledsoe.

The draft has some good prospects.

I think it's highly unlikely that Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern falls to us at 14. I remember telling a friend to watch out for him in the game played in Ireland last year. He came back to me saying how awesome he was.

Next up in my opinion is Paris Johnson who is so good he made life easy for CJ Stroud last season. I don't think theres much if anything between Skoronski and Johnson. I'd be very happy to take him with our first pick.

The other position that could be addressed in the first round is wide receiver. I think Smith-Njigba out of Ohio State will be the first one off the board and if so then Quentin Johnson from TCU is likely going to be available at 14. I really rate Johnson, he's big, fast and very smart. He's a great route runner and looks at his QB for signals if theres an issue. It's possible he'll be the first one off the board but here's hoping he is still there if we can't get a tackle in that spot.

Now I'm hoping we get Paris Johnson in the first and then his teammate Dawand Jones in the second. Some people are ranking Jones as a third rounder but I don't think he'll make it pass the second. He looked brilliant as well and if we got those two I think we'd be in a very good situation as regards our offensive line with Trent Jones as backup if we keep him. Our situation with Trent Jones is that it'll cost us just over $4 million to cut him but we'll save $8 million. He's going to earn over $12 million this year which sickens me. There are a couple of free agent tackles out there who you'd get for less than $8 million who'd be excellent backups and capable of starting at right tackle if one of your draft picks wasn't up to it.

I'm gonna start a draft thread and I'll put up my binkies for later rounds in that.

Maybe, maybe not. I like Bledsoe, I think he'll get his chance now. We'll probably bring somebody in from.tje middle rounds of the draft.

I seen a guy playing twice last year for Northern Iowa who I never watch but I ended up watching them against Air Force early in the season and then against San Diego State who I watch a lot. Anyway they kept raving about the free safety and with good reason, he was everywhere the ball was thrown in both games. He didn't always make plays and some of the cornerbacks were pretty poor but he was always around the ball. I've no idea if he's ranked but he's a football player and in both games the commentators said he'll do well at the next level so they expect to see him in the NFL. His surname was Sapp I think. He's definitely not in the top 10 ranked safeties in the draft. I'd love if we picked him up, I just think he'll be at least a good bench option.

I watched one of their games a few years back and they had a running back called Donald Pumphrey and he was awesome he had over 200 yards so I tuned in the next week and he did it again. I watch him every week for the rest of the season and he broke 200 a couple of more times and was regularly over 150. I was sure he'd be a star in the NFL but it didn't work out.

I got to like the head coach, his name was Rocky. He became the second winningest head coach in their history.

Anyway they had a backup running back who had a couple of decent games including a 200 yard game when Pumphrey got injured early in one game. So Pumphrey went to the NFL and I came back to watch this backup take over the next season. His name was Rashaad Penny who I'm sure you know. So I kind of followed them a bit then and wanted them to win the Mountain West.

It's fun to watch some lesser conferences. I watch FCS football as well.

I've continued to watch San Diego state since. Rocky decided it was time for him to retire from head coaching a few years ago and left and they brought back Brady Hoake who left them previously to take over as head coach at Michigan.

I'm a fighting Irish fan but I like the Aztecs a lot too.

Well first of all I have every game that's on unless it's not televised. I have every game, every TV channel even every local channel in the US.

Secondly I said I watch FCS too so it must have been South Dakota State game I seen him in.

Your accusation or suggestion is ridiculous. I didn't even have his full name just his surname, not Benny or III. I never knew his father played in the NFL either. When you are watching a player and he's highlighted by the commentator you try and get his number and watch him more closely and I did. And the second time I seen him play I had forgotten about him until he did something and I heard his name.

I haven't really thought about him since but when I came on here and seen that McCourty retired I started rambling and talking about Bledsoe and I was remembering him in college and then I remembered Sapp last year.

I don't really know how good Sapp will be, no idea about his speed or vertical jump or anything but he's a football player in my opinion, a guy with a very high football iq. I like players like that. It's not like I said he'd be a starter just that I think he'd definitely be worth a spot on the bench as a special teamer and hopefully develop into a backup role at safety.

I never even thought of him until I was posting about Bledsoe and only for this ridiculous post of yours I'd probably forget all about him again.

He definitely wouldn't be a binkie because I only pick players that I believe will contend for a starting role. I'm not going to bother sharing my binkies this year though. I started a draft thread and nobody has posted in it so I've given up on it.

You mustn't have much to do when you went trawling through my posts to find I posted about watching San Diego state while Air Force were playing northern Iowa.

And I was talking about watching San Diego State which you now know is true but you want to believe that the rest of my post is untrue.

I'm surprised you knew what channel Air Force Vs Northern Iowa was on. How do you know that?

You may have to zoom in but below you'll see that I have Altitude Sports. It's not on right now though.

Crikey this is some weird ****

This thread is even more curious than the cole strange pick last year right now.

(BTW I like the pick in hindsight but it was a little high considering we could have got him in the second).

I don't get what you guys are insinuating about EE but I don't see the point either. Who cares if he watched a game or not. I don't really follow college ball at all so any opinions I have on potential draft picks are usually based on a mix of rehashed Bengal opinions and clips on youtube. Does that make me any less of a football fan?

I don't get what he was at. I wasn't even talking about a guy who's a potential great, just a potential backup who might work out and I was just rambling after talking about Bledsoe and then remembering him in college. I'm.notbsurevhell even be drafted.

I'd never post about someone I never seen play.

More cap space with the Jonnu trade. Delighted to see Jones back.

Well I suppose Meyers has already thrown them a game winning touchdown

It is a surprise we couldn't get him back at that money, but think I read someplace today (boston Globe or herald maybe) that it wasn't just the money, that he didn't want to come back, no reason given for that.

On the plus side, Riley Reiff signed, presumably to be a bridge tackle. His numbers last year weren't terrible, so we might get a good year out of him. Hard not to think that something big must be coming, don't see that there's any big contracts coming for any of our remaining free agents, and very much doubt Bill would waste the cap space.

I don't see us drafting a receiver with our 1st, we have an appalling record at identifying and developing receivers in house for as long as I can remember (malcolm mitchell and edelman are the exceptions rather than the rule). That could change, we used to be crap at drafting corners, but started to turn it around about the time of darius butler (I know he didn't too much for us, but he played in the league for a long time). Therefore, I'm guessing we're taking a run at a receiver via trade or free agency, scuttlebutt is we've talked to Denver about both Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, I'd prefer to take a shot at Hopkins but not sure that's possible given his past relationship with O'Brien.

I wouldn't mind us taking a crack at Darius Slay for a #1 CB, he's best at playing man coverage which Bill likes to play. I'm delighted Jones is back, but I think he's more of an excellent number 2 than a number 1. (Added side benefit is that Rodgers has struggled throwing against Slay in the past)

My guess is they might move up a little to get the third best OT, or alternatively trade for a receiver and take the next best OT with a view to developing behind/alongside Reiff who is regarded as a good technician.

Then again, this is Bill, so it might be none of the above.

Meh, like it, don’t love it. It’s a bit like for like for me.

James Robinson signing for 2 years from Jags, which I presume is to replace Harris. Again, more of a replacement of talent than an elevation of talent.

I'd forgotten that Slay had a big falling out with Patricia, so that's unlikely to happen unless Patricia takes a job somewhere else (apparently he is looking). Looking at remaining available free agent CBs aside from Slay, none of them look like a number 1 corner, couple of solid no 2s at best. Indeed, not a lot to topline talent left out there at any position. OBJ would be worth a flier based on his potential ceiling, but probably not for the money he's looking for. Maybe Dalton Schultz or Mike Gesicki might improve the TE room (I don't know if they block well). Aside from that, I don't see much there that will improve us, so it's either trade or draft (and I don't think we've enough draft capital to get more than one top talent at most, and most likely not a game-changing one).

On the plus side, assuming we remain with broadly the same talent level as last season, addition of an experienced offensive staff should be enough to put 2-3 more wins on the board. I'd say a good season for us would be 1 playoff win.

Jalen Mills released

Gesicki is a nice addition, basically a WR in a TE body.