The 2023 NFL Draft 4 /27/23 Round 1 8PM

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TheAthletic gave the Pats the first "A" of the draft.

17: New England Patriots: Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon

The Patriots married need with value better than any team thus far in the first round. New England had question marks in the secondary, and it landed the highest-rated corner in the draft.

A two-year starter at Colorado, Gonzalez transferred to Oregon last year and thrived with four interceptions and 11 passes defended. He allowed receivers to catch 39 passes (on 64 targets) for 495 yards and three touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus.

The most physically gifted and smoothest of the cornerbacks, Gonzalez played both outside and in the slot at Oregon last year. With perfect dimensions for a cornerback, Gonzalez (6-1, 3/8, 197) ran a 4.38 40 at the combine and has more fluidity than other upper-tier corners.

Brugler wrote Gonzalez has the skill to be a future Pro Bowler and needs continued work in zone, “but he offers strong man-cover talent with speed, fluid movements and body length to blanket outside receivers.”

Grade: A
 
imapig said:
This is where I think Belichick will use additional pics to move up in the draft if he sees his guy available.
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The Patriots still have 11 picks. I don't think they will pick 11 players over the next 2 days.
For those looking for a OT in the 1st round, there are others available. One that I kept looking past, but kept coming back to is Blake Freeland from BYU.
He reminds me of Nate Solder when Nate was a prospect.
 
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Hawg73 said:
I can't wait for the BILL SUCKS brigade to come up with a creative reason why Christian is not a good selection for us.

Here are some likely candidates:

He got passed over by too many teams, therefore, suck valley.

Bill wouldn't know a Defensive Back if the kid grabbed him by the nuts and then fumbled them.

He's still got zits fer cryin' ow loud.

He missed a BIGGER N EEEEEEED!
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Would have preferred Flowers at that spot, but that's only because there's no way Christian should have been there still. He's as sure a pick as you possibly want with the offenses we have to face, this is a great pick, possibly the steal of the draft. Almost reminds me of when Vince fell to us.
 
So at 14 there would have been potentially 4 players they liked to move down to 17.
A lot of intrigue there, how did they know which players the other teams wanted?

Are any others from their list of 4 still available?
 
Grogan said:
Please, you aren't saying you believed he would fall out of the top ten? This kids talent alone I could have seen gone in the top 6 picks.
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Like virtually everybody I never expected he'd be available to us.

My reaction was surprise that YOU liked the pick. I was happy that you were happy.

I feel like everybody should be happy with this pick, except Felger who will need some time to figure out
how to shoot holes in the pick.
 
Hawg73 said:
Like virtually everybody I never expected he'd be available to us.

My reaction was surprise that YOU liked the pick. I was happy that you were happy.

I feel like everybody should be happy with this pick, except Felger who will need some time to figure out
how to shoot holes in the pick.
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Not sure how anyth
Hawg73 said:
Like virtually everybody I never expected he'd be available to us.

My reaction was surprise that YOU liked the pick. I was happy that you were happy.

I feel like everybody should be happy with this pick, except Felger who will need some time to figure out
how to shoot holes in the pick.
Click to expand...

Hawg73 said:
Like virtually everybody I never expected he'd be available to us.

My reaction was surprise that YOU liked the pick. I was happy that you were happy.

I feel like everybody should be happy with this pick, except Felger who will need some time to figure out
how to shoot holes in the pick.
Click to expand...
No real way to shoot holes in this pick. I would have preferred Flowers, but only because I had zero expectation that Christian would be a possibility but it really is such an obvious pick given the wrs we face in the division. He's the prototypical shutdown CB, all the tools. They have plenty of options for wrs and o line help going into today, really couldn't have hoped for a better start.
 
ParanoidPatriot said:
The Patriots still have 11 picks. I don't think they will pick 11 players over the next 2 days.
For those looking for a OT in the 1st round, there are others available. One that I kept looking past, but kept coming back to is Blake Freeland from BYU.
He reminds me of Nate Solder when Nate was a prospect.
Click to expand...
I keep coming back to Tyler Steen at 6'6" 321 lbs. nice arm length and hand size He had one season under Billy O's Offence and played very well. He was a solid protector for Bryce Young while being a powerful run blocker.
 
sg14 said:
So at 14 there would have been potentially 4 players they liked to move down to 17.
A lot of intrigue there, how did they know which players the other teams wanted?

Are any others from their list of 4 still available?
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Well I guess the question is who was on the list, we only really know one, Gonzalez. Based on the position and athletic traits I kinda assume Banks was on the list as well. After that it could be anyone, the WRs, the EDGEs,...but my assumption is of the list, they are all gone at this point.

As far as what the other teams wanted, if you have a list of 4 guys you like, moving back 3 guarantees you one of them, so you don't have to know what the other teams want. But...

Pitt -- They were jumping the Jets for a reason, OT there made sense.
Jets -- They were likely looking for OT, weren't going to go CB, I actually sort of expected WR here.
Was -- WIldcard, they went CB but obviously they wanted the ballhawk CB.

So if you had two CBs on your list, you could feel pretty safe about at least one of them falling the three picks.

my .02
 
Patriots-Lifer said:
I keep coming back to Tyler Steen at 6'6" 321 lbs. nice arm length and hand size He had one season under Billy O's Offence and played very well. He was a solid protector for Bryce Young while being a powerful run blocker.
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He is another option. I know that he is not rated high, but he held his own against the best DL and Edge players in the country, playing in the SEC.
 
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2023 NFL Draft Winners and Losers Include the Eagles, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis

What updates are there from Day 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft? Which teams and players look like winners, and which come off as losers following the first round?
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2023 NFL Draft Day 1 Winners​

New England Patriots​

The Patriots, after making a somewhat baffling move by consensus last year with Cole Strange, took the steal of the draft in Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez was regarded by many as the top cornerback over Devon Witherspoon from Illinois and was ranked CB1 by the consensus.

Of the 70 evaluators who submitted big boards for the consensus board, 60 percent considered him the top cornerback in the draft. He was the only CB universally considered a top 20 overall talent and ranked as a top-five player on 21.4% of boards. The Patriots got as close to a universal steal — at a position of need — as is possible in the NFL Draft.

2023 NFL Draft Day 1 Losers

New York Jets​

The Jets may have had the best move of the pre-draft festivities after trading for Aaron Rodgers, but the draft itself was a big problem. First, the division rival New England Patriots traded out from the pick immediately ahead of them to allow the Steelers to draft Broderick Jones – the last well-regarded offensive lineman with first-round consideration.

Then, they reached for Will McDonald IV, the 33rd-ranked edge rusher by consensus. McDonald is a high-potential player, but they passed on players with even more upside, like Myles Murphy and Nolan Smith. Even selecting an edge rusher was a bit questionable.
 
chevss454 said:
TheAthletic gave the Pats the first "A" of the draft.

17: New England Patriots: Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon

The Patriots married need with value better than any team thus far in the first round. New England had question marks in the secondary, and it landed the highest-rated corner in the draft.

A two-year starter at Colorado, Gonzalez transferred to Oregon last year and thrived with four interceptions and 11 passes defended. He allowed receivers to catch 39 passes (on 64 targets) for 495 yards and three touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus.

The most physically gifted and smoothest of the cornerbacks, Gonzalez played both outside and in the slot at Oregon last year. With perfect dimensions for a cornerback, Gonzalez (6-1, 3/8, 197) ran a 4.38 40 at the combine and has more fluidity than other upper-tier corners.

Brugler wrote Gonzalez has the skill to be a future Pro Bowler and needs continued work in zone, “but he offers strong man-cover talent with speed, fluid movements and body length to blanket outside receivers.”

Grade: A
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Someone's going to need to explain to me where all these question marks are. I've been scratching my head for months. It was a top-10 defense by virtually every metric. Top-5 in comp% against. They lost Devin McCourty who had clearly, CLEARLY lost a step.

Like I said, it's a good pick and he's probably going to be a pretty good player, I get a lot of Steph Gilmore vibes from him (especially with closing speed). But I don't see corner as some pressing need for THIS season (or even the next 2-year window), unless we're just forgetting Jack Jones exists, and that Marcus Jones won't continue to improve.
 
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