Rd 1, #29 - Cole Strange, IOL, Chattenooga

You prove to me that you aren't just a shill. It's clear who the stooges are on the forum, you would cheer for literally any move by the organization.

14M for Jonnu, 10M for Wynn, 10M for Godchaux, 14M for Agholor are major albatrosses on the cap. It's why they had to let elite talent in Mason and Jackson go. Mediocre players with massive cap penalties.

.
Wynn's contract made him like the 30th highest paid LT in the NFL lol .... Good job taking his contract completely out of context though. And even with most of it coming on the backend that's still a very middle of the road cap hit for an LT for a middle of the road talent. Like him or not, there's nothing wrong with his contract. Every single team has players that don't live up to their contracts, and also have players that exceed them. This is pretty normal.
 
I didn't like this pick at first, but this was a good pick by the Pats. Multiple reports indicate that he wouldn't last 10 more picks. Mac was getting killed last year. I'm sure Strange will be ready to go on day 1. Also, don't teams have a 5th year option on 1st round picks compared to 4 for 2nd rounders+? If so, it was probably worth it to have him for an extra year than not for only a few spots on draft day.
 
I didn't like this pick at first, but this was a good pick by the Pats. Multiple reports indicate that he wouldn't last 10 more picks. Mac was getting killed last year. I'm sure Strange will be ready to go on day 1. Also, don't teams have a 5th year option on 1st round picks compared to 4 for 2nd rounders+? If so, it was probably worth it to have him for an extra year than not for only a few spots on draft day.
There's not really value in the 5th year option for an OG, though. Because the salary for year 5 is drawn from payment of the average salaries all top OL, which means you're paying your guard like a high-end LT. If he's really good, you'd have to pay him like a franchise LT.

I like the value they added in the trade down, though. They basically got Strange, Jack Jones, one of the other 4ths, and a 3rd next year for #21, right? Not bad.
 
I didn't like this pick at first, but this was a good pick by the Pats. Multiple reports indicate that he wouldn't last 10 more picks. Mac was getting killed last year. I'm sure Strange will be ready to go on day 1. Also, don't teams have a 5th year option on 1st round picks compared to 4 for 2nd rounders+? If so, it was probably worth it to have him for an extra year than not for only a few spots on draft day.
Agree! anytime you add someone to protect the QB better its a no brainer. As long as he is what we hope its a solid pick
 
In the games I watched towards the end of last year, Mac Jones was getting killed by an up-the-middle pass rush right through the left guard. Cole Strange allowed one sack in his entire career. I can see why BB might want to keep Mac upright.

Media is starting to coke around after a week of knee-jerk worship of Mel Kiper:


"He allowed one sack in his entire college career," Adams said. "PFF had him graded out as one of the best guards. He's versatile, he can play anywhere on the line, you've gotta protect Mac Jones. I'm not mad at the pick."
 
DKF is just playing it both ways. He has to be right so:

Jonnu sucks! BB is dumb!

Also

Jonnu is key to the offense!

Meanwhile everyone that doesn't agree with him is a "stooge", a "shill" and "low IQ" to name but a few.

He is going to be fun this season if he sticks around. We haven't had an egomaniac of his size in a while and at least his grammar is better than you know who.

Umm..hi? :wave::high:

I may have, at some point in the last year been called the most arrogant son a bitch some woman here ever met.

If my arrogance, which I wear like a well earned cape, superiority is in jeopardy please chime in so I can step up my game. 🤣:dancingcucumber::yay2::yay2::yay2::thumb:

In Bill I Trust!!!!

Errr...except whe he ignores my advice. 😄👹🙃😇😇
 
In the games I watched towards the end of last year, Mac Jones was getting killed by an up-the-middle pass rush right through the left guard. Cole Strange allowed one sack in his entire career. I can see why BB might want to keep Mac upright.

Media is starting to coke around after a week of knee-jerk worship of Mel Kiper:


"He allowed one sack in his entire college career," Adams said. "PFF had him graded out as one of the best guards. He's versatile, he can play anywhere on the line, you've gotta protect Mac Jones. I'm not mad at the pick."
For a long, long time I've been a regular listener to Curran's Patriots Talk podcast and his Tuesday night TV show Quick Slants. Since about the beginning of April I haven't listened/watched because I know what his non-stop, repetitive themes are: Bill sucks, he can't draft, his coaching has become questionable, Kraft may fire him, blah, blah, blah. Curran is a good guy, but his head is so far up Brady's ass that his eyeballs are now Brady's nipples...
 
For a long, long time I've been a regular listener to Curran's Patriots Talk podcast and his Tuesday night TV show Quick Slants. Since about the beginning of April I haven't listened/watched because I know what his non-stop, repetitive themes are: Bill sucks, he can't draft, his coaching has become questionable, Kraft may fire him, blah, blah, blah. Curran is a good guy, but his head is so far up Brady's ass that his eyeballs are now Brady's nipples...
I'm digressing here but I'm definitely saving this for a conversation down the road, any conversation where this would fit. I'm pretty sure my husband will say thank you when I use it on him somehow.🤣🤣🤣
 
Umm..hi? :wave::high:

I may have, at some point in the last year been called the most arrogant son a bitch some woman here ever met.

If my arrogance, which I wear like a well earned cape, superiority is in jeopardy please chime in so I can step up my game. 🤣:dancingcucumber::yay2::yay2::yay2::thumb:

In Bill I Trust!!!!

Errr...except whe he ignores my advice. 😄👹🙃😇😇

That anyone actually believes what they post on here has ANY impact on what goes on in Bill's head is the surest sign of arrogance. To make fun like you do is, well funny.

Some are serious though and it makes them hella mad that Belichick isn't following their every word.

Cole will be here for the next 4-8 years in all likely hood, anchoring the interior line, making Mac safer, and Andrews possibly better and healthier. How does one spin that negatively and actually change minds?

I don't know. No one has done it yet on here.
 
For a long, long time I've been a regular listener to Curran's Patriots Talk podcast and his Tuesday night TV show Quick Slants. Since about the beginning of April I haven't listened/watched because I know what his non-stop, repetitive themes are: Bill sucks, he can't draft, his coaching has become questionable, Kraft may fire him, blah, blah, blah. Curran is a good guy, but his head is so far up Brady's ass that his eyeballs are now Brady's nipples...
I liked Curran since his ProJo days, but he seems to have jumped the shark. His Quick Slants is now pretty much unwatchable. I hope Phil Perry doesn't go down that route.

It might be too late. Felger was once a decent Patriots beat writer, albeit 20+ years ago and once he went to the dark he never came back.
 
I liked Curran since his ProJo days, but he seems to have jumped the shark. His Quick Slants is now pretty much unwatchable. I hope Phil Perry doesn't go down that route.

It might be too late. Felger was once a decent Patriots beat writer, albeit 20+ years ago and once he went to the dark he never came back.
It's as if you've read my mind. I particularly agree about Perry. He only very recently when on Curran's podcast began to show signs of heading where we both don't want him to go. We'll see.
 
I liked Curran since his ProJo days, but he seems to have jumped the shark. His Quick Slants is now pretty much unwatchable. I hope Phil Perry doesn't go down that route.

It might be too late. Felger was once a decent Patriots beat writer, albeit 20+ years ago and once he went to the dark he never came back.
Curran and BB used to get along well, joking back and forth a lot but that relationship soured at some point. At first I thought Felger poisoned his mind on BST but the change wasn't gradual enough for that. He'll say something positive sometimes just to sound objective but I dunno, it seems personal to me.
 
Curran and BB used to get along well, joking back and forth a lot but that relationship soured at some point. At first I thought Felger poisoned his mind on BST but the change wasn't gradual enough for that. He'll say something positive sometimes just to sound objective but I dunno, it seems personal to me.
all the shilling curran did for alexguru probably didn't help. i too liked him but find him unreadable covered in tb's robes.
 
Curran and BB used to get along well, joking back and forth a lot but that relationship soured at some point. At first I thought Felger poisoned his mind on BST but the change wasn't gradual enough for that. He'll say something positive sometimes just to sound objective but I dunno, it seems personal to me.
Yes, Bill and Curran even used to briefly joke with one another at pressers, but I really believe and have heard Curran say he thinks Belichick owed Brady special treatment. Curran believes Bill ran Tom out of town and that seems to be at the root of his displeasure with the coach.
 
all the shilling curran did for alexguru probably didn't help. i too liked him but find him unreadable covered in tb's robes.
Yes, I neglected to mention the Guerrero factor. Curran has had a positive personal and professional relationship with AG. He rarely, if ever, mentions AG anymore. Awhile back on a TV show Curran and Mike Holley were on a panel and Holley described Brady's relationship with AG as "noxious" resulting in Curran staring daggers at Holley, but remaining silent. Anyway, not sure how we got here on a Cole Strange thread and sorry if I contributed to a hijacking.
 
Steve Buckley (of all people) has quite a take of the draft in general and Cole Strange in particular



Patriots’ Cole Strange doesn’t care about your draft board. It’s all part of the show: Buckley​



Cole Strange doesn’t care that Football America exhaled a collective “Huh???” Thursday night after the 6-foot-5, 307-pound offensive lineman was announced as the 29th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, selected by the New England Patriots.

He doesn’t care that Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead, speaking at a media conference at the time the pick was announced, reacted to the news by cackling and laughing like a pair of college freshmen who’d just finished off a six-pack of cheap college-boy beer.

And he doesn’t care that his selection by the Patriots served as the launching pad to the annual six-state referendum on Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s ability to — and we’re borrowing a line from the Bill Parcells playbook here — shop for the groceries.

Cole Strange does not care.

Leastways, that was my instant analysis after watching his Friday afternoon introduction to New England via a media availability on the field at Gillette Stadium. (It was actually held on the pitch, given that the place was being prettied up for the New England Revolution’s home match against Inter Miami on Saturday night.) Strange was flown in from Tennessee for the presser, which commenced with the obligatory presentation of a game jersey — No. 1, for Round 1 — and photo op with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son, team president Jonathan.

And then came the questions, and that’s when Strange presented himself as a big, jolly 23-year-old.

“I’m so happy to be here,” he said. “I love it here already. I’ve only been here a few hours, and I love it.”

Reaction to being drafted by the Patriots?

“I was ecstatic,” he said. “I was with my dad, we were fired up. We both started hootin’ and hollerin’. Yeah, like I said, it’s a dream come true. We were freakin’ out.”

Thoughts on his pre-draft discussions with the Patriots?

“I came away with a relatively good feeling,” he said. “Every time that we talked, I felt confident that they liked me. I knew that I liked them. I loved them.”

Strange said he loves the New England weather. He bragged that he has no problem solving a Rubik’s Cube. He revealed he had plans to have dinner Friday night with Patriots quarterback Mac Jones.

And on it went like that.

“Honestly I don’t have anything negative to say,” he said. “I’m really just blown away. I know for a fact I’m going to enjoy it here. Like Mr. Kraft said, we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

There’s an urge here to toss a verbal bouquet at Strange’s feet and applaud the man for taking some sort of high road in the wake of all the criticism that is being directed at the Patriots. Strange, we can all agree, was not a sexy pick.

The Patriots moved down in the draft and then picked a player from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which is a Football Championship Subdivision school, which is basically what the old Yankee Conference used to be. In other words, this isn’t exactly John Hannah the Pats have selected. Prior to Thursday night, most Pats fans knew as much about the lieutenant governor of Iowa as they knew about Cole Strange.

But the more I watched the video feed of the media availability, the more it occurred to me that Strange’s happy demeanor had absolutely nothing to do with taking a high road, or any kind of road. What’s at play here is that Strange understands what the NFL understands, which is that turning the draft into an event that is part Las Vegas floor show, part “WrestleMania,” part “The Bachelorette,” is the way to go in the third decade of the 21st century.

Think about it. It’s a Vegas floor show in that it has bright lights, loud music and special effects. It’s “WrestleMania” in that the machismo is flying in every direction, exemplified by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell practically body-slamming every newly-revealed draft pick to the canvas. And it’s “The Bachelorette” in that it’s a show about a bunch of big, well-built guys competing to be picked first.

Because the NFL Draft is now produced as a standalone entertainment vehicle, everyone is a character. The commissioner. The owners. The club execs. And, yes, the next generation of NFL players who are either waiting in green rooms or at home surrounded by adoring family, friends and teammates. And with the announcement of each new draftee comes an avalanche of instant analysis on Twitter and other social media platforms, as millions of fans throughout the world weigh in.

For some, it’s all about the football: Does this player fill a need? Does he have upside? Is (fill in name of team here) that much closer to making it to the Super Bowl with this selection? For others, for many others, it’s all about making jokes and being snarky. And everything is in play, from Goodell’s bear hugs to wordplay competitions built around Cole Strange’s name. Well, the Patriots sure made a Strange pick there, huh?

As for McVay and Snead goofing on the Strange pick, the NFL had to love that. I certainly did. You should, too. It was the perfect subplot to the Patriots’ decision to draft Strange, as in: Oh my God, even other teams can’t believe the Pats took this guy. That McVay and Snead represent the reigning Super Bowl champions is added deliciousness.

After Day 2 on Friday, the pair tried to reframe their reactions a day earlier. McVay said he was merely busting Snead’s chops for making him watch a player whom the Rams, whose first pick was at 104, would never come close to drafting.

“I wish it wouldn’t have gotten misunderstood,” McVay said, adding that he has great respect for Belichick.

But we wouldn’t have had that subplot if we didn’t have the biggest subplot of the night, which was the New England Patriots doing some maneuvering in the draft and then selecting Cole Strange of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Cole Strange gets it. They all do. From the way they dress to the things they say, they’re all in on the joke. And they’re fine with your jokes, since that’s part of this. Strange played his part with aplomb. Just as Goodell did, as did all the front-office types, with McVay and Snead stealing the show.

And make no mistake: A show is what this was.

As to whether Cole Strange can, you know, play, that’s a different show that’ll start in September.
 
In the games I watched towards the end of last year, Mac Jones was getting killed by an up-the-middle pass rush right through the left guard. Cole Strange allowed one sack in his entire career. I can see why BB might want to keep Mac upright.

Media is starting to coke around after a week of knee-jerk worship of Mel Kiper:


"He allowed one sack in his entire college career," Adams said. "PFF had him graded out as one of the best guards. He's versatile, he can play anywhere on the line, you've gotta protect Mac Jones. I'm not mad at the pick."

Not that I needed any more reason to like Kay Adams, but I'm happy to agree with Kay

:love-struck::love-struck:
 
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