Hawg73
Mediocre with flashes of brilliance
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2002
- Messages
- 25,159
- Reaction score
- 11,516
- Points
- 113
- Age
- 68
- Location
- Gumdrop house on Lollipop Ln.
I know that excercises like this one are sketchy and possibly pointless, but for whatever reason every Spring I spend a few idle hours trying to familiarize myself with the Draft class for amusement and to get a handle on the new guys coming into the league.
I used to take our exact slots and attempt to predict who we'd take with a conventional mock, but the frequent trades up and down by the Master of Time, Space and Infinity have made that feel like a futile endeavor, so I'm going to do it a little different this year.
I've basically whittled down the 300 or so draftable players into a couple of dozen guys that made my cut for various reasons whether because I feel they are within our reach (T.J. Hockenson isn't walking through that door) or that they looked liked future Patriots by the way they played in College and, in some cases, because they fit some of our criteria such as experience, leadership and/or versatility. There were some guys I liked as players but I eliminated from consideration because of injury history, off-field issues or because they just don't seem like team-first people, which is, after all, the way we roll.
It'd be nice to hit on a couple, but I don't care. It's just a fun thing for me.
Day One
We might not even HAVE a Day One pick, but if we do then one of these guys might be the target:
Christian Wilkins DT-- he'll probably go top 15, but if he drops because he doesn't have prototype size then we should try really hard to get him. He's electric and we have nobody like him on the roster unless you count Adam Butler. Not even close. What a football player this kid is going to be. I'm fascinated by his game.
Clelin Ferrell DE-- almost the same deal as teammate Wilkins. A great football player and real two-way 4-3 DE whose fit in Foxboro is almost perfect. Trey Flowers is going to hurt, but it'll hurt a lot less with this dude.
Zach Allen DE -- Sure, he's a homer pick, but I've seen a bunch of his games at BC and he practically screams Patriot. Very similar style player to Ferrell and Bill is not shy about drafting DLs high. I have to believe that somewhere in our War Room somebody is pounding the table for this BC Eagle. I've never seen one guy block him for long.
Yodny Cajuste LT-- IF, and it's a pretty big one, Bill has his private doubts about LT then he could be interested in spending for one, something he has done a few times over the years and this guy with the funny name looks exactly what an NFL blind side OT should look like to me. If he's got a weakness then I haven't seen it and I watched West Virginia a lot.
Hakeem Butler WR -- My day one longshot of longshots. God, he'd be fun to watch with Brady. Far as I recall this team has never had a guy quite like him outside the hashes. I can only pray.
Day Two
In approximate order:
Andy Isabella WR, Elgton Jenkins OL, Khalen Saunders DL, Anthony Nelson DE, Will Grier QB, Chase Winovich OLB, Bobby Evans OT, Chris Lindstrom G, Will Harris S, Dax Raymond TE, Drew Parris Campbell WR, Nassir Adderly S, Drue Tranquill OLB, LJ Collier DE
Day Three (or UDFA)
Andrew VanGinkle LB, Foster Moreau TE, C.J. Conrad TE, Tommy Sweeney TE, Max Scharping OT, Jakobi Meyers WR, David Sills WR, Tyree Jackson QB, Terry McLaurin WR, Alex Wesley WR, Hunter Renfrow WR, Elijah Holyfield RB, Dontavius Russell DL
Comments, questions and scathing insults are welcomed. I can't wait for this thing to get rolling and may this be the year we do some serious smart drafting.
I used to take our exact slots and attempt to predict who we'd take with a conventional mock, but the frequent trades up and down by the Master of Time, Space and Infinity have made that feel like a futile endeavor, so I'm going to do it a little different this year.
I've basically whittled down the 300 or so draftable players into a couple of dozen guys that made my cut for various reasons whether because I feel they are within our reach (T.J. Hockenson isn't walking through that door) or that they looked liked future Patriots by the way they played in College and, in some cases, because they fit some of our criteria such as experience, leadership and/or versatility. There were some guys I liked as players but I eliminated from consideration because of injury history, off-field issues or because they just don't seem like team-first people, which is, after all, the way we roll.
It'd be nice to hit on a couple, but I don't care. It's just a fun thing for me.
Day One
We might not even HAVE a Day One pick, but if we do then one of these guys might be the target:
Christian Wilkins DT-- he'll probably go top 15, but if he drops because he doesn't have prototype size then we should try really hard to get him. He's electric and we have nobody like him on the roster unless you count Adam Butler. Not even close. What a football player this kid is going to be. I'm fascinated by his game.
Clelin Ferrell DE-- almost the same deal as teammate Wilkins. A great football player and real two-way 4-3 DE whose fit in Foxboro is almost perfect. Trey Flowers is going to hurt, but it'll hurt a lot less with this dude.
Zach Allen DE -- Sure, he's a homer pick, but I've seen a bunch of his games at BC and he practically screams Patriot. Very similar style player to Ferrell and Bill is not shy about drafting DLs high. I have to believe that somewhere in our War Room somebody is pounding the table for this BC Eagle. I've never seen one guy block him for long.
Yodny Cajuste LT-- IF, and it's a pretty big one, Bill has his private doubts about LT then he could be interested in spending for one, something he has done a few times over the years and this guy with the funny name looks exactly what an NFL blind side OT should look like to me. If he's got a weakness then I haven't seen it and I watched West Virginia a lot.
Hakeem Butler WR -- My day one longshot of longshots. God, he'd be fun to watch with Brady. Far as I recall this team has never had a guy quite like him outside the hashes. I can only pray.
Day Two
In approximate order:
Andy Isabella WR, Elgton Jenkins OL, Khalen Saunders DL, Anthony Nelson DE, Will Grier QB, Chase Winovich OLB, Bobby Evans OT, Chris Lindstrom G, Will Harris S, Dax Raymond TE, Drew Parris Campbell WR, Nassir Adderly S, Drue Tranquill OLB, LJ Collier DE
Day Three (or UDFA)
Andrew VanGinkle LB, Foster Moreau TE, C.J. Conrad TE, Tommy Sweeney TE, Max Scharping OT, Jakobi Meyers WR, David Sills WR, Tyree Jackson QB, Terry McLaurin WR, Alex Wesley WR, Hunter Renfrow WR, Elijah Holyfield RB, Dontavius Russell DL
Comments, questions and scathing insults are welcomed. I can't wait for this thing to get rolling and may this be the year we do some serious smart drafting.
