The NFL 2023 Draft

Klemm has intel too!

Which we all know is huge with Belichick. He doesn't like surprises or coaching jackasses.

BTW, Forsyth isn't going to be there where you took him, but that kind of goes without saying. Your
mock drafts are a tribute to the ability of man to figure out a software system and exploit it. I've seen him anywhere
from there up to the 2nd round, but closer to there than the 7th is how it'll likely go.

If only trading was as easy in the real world as they are in simulations (websites that want us to love our
drafts) we could cue the duck boats now.

While I'm complimenting you on being a fine virtual GM, I'd be thrilled if we took Dawand Jones who I believe
you've taken in a bunch of yours. He's going to be a major beast, but I don't know if Riley Rieff is already being
penciled in at RT.

Plenty can and will change over the next 5 weeks. I'm just getting started.
 
Which we all know is huge with Belichick. He doesn't like surprises or coaching jackasses.

BTW, Forsyth isn't going to be there where you took him, but that kind of goes without saying. Your
mock drafts are a tribute to the ability of man to figure out a software system and exploit it. I've seen him anywhere
from there up to the 2nd round, but closer to there than the 7th is how it'll likely go.

If only trading was as easy in the real world as they are in simulations (websites that want us to love our
drafts) we could cue the duck boats now.

While I'm complimenting you on being a fine virtual GM, I'd be thrilled if we took Dawand Jones who I believe
you've taken in a bunch of yours. He's going to be a major beast, but I don't know if Riley Rieff is already being
penciled in at RT.

Plenty can and will change over the next 5 weeks. I'm just getting started.
I could be PFF's mock draft consultant to discover all of their "cracks/faults"!
 
You drafted him in the 7th round or something. Forsyth from Oregon. I posted an article about him on another thread.

He's right out of Patriot Central Casting.
I don't dislike Alex Forsyth, C, Oregon I don't think he will last till the 7th.
 
, but I don't know if Riley Rieff is already being
penciled in at RT.
.

I know we gave Rieff got some decent money, but he is 34 and only started last year because the starter went down with a concussion. He is my early pic for veteran retirement during camp.
 
Alex Forsythe sounds like exactly the type of smart center the Patriots like. A big question mark is can he hold up against beastly NFL DTs. Multiple scouting reports suggest no. So not sure, is he physical enough to be a starting NFL center for 17+ games a year for a decade? If so then good. Klemm would know better than anyone
 
Here is an absolutely FASCINATING clip on the bottom. Belichick asking Saban who’s good on his Alabama team. On one hand it’s terrifying to think this is probably how Belichick does some of his draft picks via his inner circle, literally these 1-1 chats with his trusted buddies over-riding his own Patriots scouting department. This has been documented in the past, and some scouts have left/quit over it. On the other hand it’s hilarious to hear the tone of this 1-1 chat, almost like him asking/whispering for answers to a test


View: https://twitter.com/_CaseyBaker/status/1636751546552664064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1636751546552664064%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=
 
Here is an absolutely FASCINATING clip on the bottom. Belichick asking Saban who’s good on his Alabama team. On one hand it’s terrifying to think this is probably how Belichick does some of his draft picks via his inner circle, literally these 1-1 chats with his trusted buddies over-riding his own Patriots scouting department. This has been documented in the past, and some scouts have left/quit over it. On the other hand it’s hilarious to hear the tone of this 1-1 chat, almost like him asking/whispering for answers to a test


View: https://twitter.com/_CaseyBaker/status/1636751546552664064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1636751546552664064%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=

How much will BB have to pay up for him?
 
How much will BB have to pay up for him?

He's playing on his 5th year option of a fully guaranteed $12.6M.
If the Bengals trade him, they save that $12.6M in cap space with no dead money. If they release him, the $12.6M cap hit belongs to them so they won't release him.
He was the 11th pick of the 2019 draft.
He will cost a lot in draft capital and all of that $12.6M is fully guaranteed so there's no way to reduce his cap hit without re-doing his contract.
 
Here is an absolutely FASCINATING clip on the bottom. Belichick asking Saban who’s good on his Alabama team. On one hand it’s terrifying to think this is probably how Belichick does some of his draft picks via his inner circle, literally these 1-1 chats with his trusted buddies over-riding his own Patriots scouting department. This has been documented in the past, and some scouts have left/quit over it. On the other hand it’s hilarious to hear the tone of this 1-1 chat, almost like him asking/whispering for answers to a test


View: https://twitter.com/_CaseyBaker/status/1636751546552664064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1636751546552664064%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=


Whispering so those around them don't hear the conversation. Pretty normal, I'd say.

I know it's been reported the scouts liked several WRs better than Harry but it wasn't BB who overrode them. That was 100% Caserio who was being tutored to take over for BB one day as GM. Scout Ronnie McGill then followed Caserio to Houston and is now their Director of Pro Personnel.

It's a GM's job to take all the information he has available to him to set his board. All GM's/scouts have conversations with a prospect's college coach. Most scouts are young and in training. If they are good, they rise quickly. These scouts aren't always right and if a GM disagrees with them, he may well override them and tells them why as a teaching opportunity. All GMs override scouts from time to time. That's why the GM gets paid the big money.
 
Yes
It was just funny how the exchange happened
Funny? Not at all. That’s what you get when you have an immediate Hall of Fame coach, who happens to be the goat who has relationships all over the NFL in the NCAA. Those relationships are to be coveted and revered and used.

For you not to understand it and in fact try to denigrated it though, is just a part of your own limited psyche we see in the vast majority of what you post on here.
 
Factoring in the FA signings I've begun to wonder what position might be addressed with a higher pick
than anybody is considering.

Don't be shocked if we take a Center on day two. Everybody knows that Andrews is a Captain, but his numbers
weren't great last season and body has taken a beating due to his small frame. He's likely still a starter for this
season, but if you want to see James Ferentz or Kody Russey starting if Andrews gets hurt then raise your hand......

Nobody? That's about what I thought.

Anyhow, one guy that would seem to be a good fit here is Alex Forsyth from Oregon. While I see no clear consensus
on his draft status, some like him quite a bit and he played for our new OL Coach.

Check this piece out and ask yourself if he doesn't sound like a potential Patriot:



One of the top centers in this year’s NFL draft, Alex Forsyth has done something unique among his peers: Checked into two touchdown plays.

The former Oregon Ducks three-year starting center has long been a cerebral player and Forsyth showed that most in a pair of scores he adjusted to at the line of scrimmage.

Against Cal, Forsyth turned to quarterback Bo Nix and told him to check into a pass play that turned into a 29-yard touchdown to Noah Whittington.

“He said he saw it one time on film when we were just preparing,” said former Oregon offensive lineman TJ Bass.

In the Holiday Bowl win over North Carolina, Bucky Irving’s 66-yard touchdown run during the second quarter was sprung by block by tight end Cam McCormick and another Forsyth pre-snap check.

“They had their linebackers bossed over and rotated a safety in the box,” Forsyth said. ”So for me I flipped that to a counter play on the safety so we could run on a little guy.”

It’s a display of game IQ that separates him from competitors at a position that typically is tasked with making all of the offensive line protection calls.

Several other centers at the NFL combine, including Arkansas’ Ricky Stromberg, Michigan’s Olusegun Oluwatimi, Penn State’s Juice Skruggs and Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann, said they never changed a play call pre-snap, didn’t have the autonomy to do so in college and found it impressive for a player to have done so.

“I didn’t have that authority,” Skruggs said. “That was all (Penn State quarterback) Sean Clifford.”

Forsyth’s work ethic has long been lauded by teammates and coaches. He said he watched more film than anyone over the past several years at UO and between those extreme examples and Oregon’s offensive line allowing the fewest sacks (six) in the country this season, the work clearly proved beneficial.

“He’s a vocal leader and we put our trust in him everywhere we go,” former UO right tackle Malaesala Aumvae-Laulu said. “He’s our captain.”

With 28 starts in 29 games over the past three seasons, with five missed due to injuries, and appearances in 10 games earlier in his career, Forsyth has ample film for teams to evaluate. The FWAA All-American had an 85.8 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, fourth among all FBS centers and tied for 21st among all offensive linemen, and allowed just one pressure and no sacks in 384 pass-blocking opportunities.

Forsyth cited this year’s games against Georgia and projected top five pick Jalen Carter, BYU and UCLA as his best.

He’s has been training along with Bass in Chandler, Arizona leading up the combine, where he’s had formal meetings with the Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders with another scheduled with the Miami Dolphins and informal meetings with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, among others.

Forsyth ended last season battling a right shoulder injury that forced him to miss the second half of the Holiday Bowl but said he’s fully recovered now and plans to do all physical tests, including the bench press, and on-field drills at the NFL combine.

“I’m not really focused on the numbers right now,” Forsyth said. “I think for me it’s going out there doing what I need to do, showing that I’m an athletic center. I think most of the work that I’ve been doing during the season, what I’ve put on film, I think that would carry me further than what we do (Sunday).”
Looks real good to me, Hawg. Thing is, if BB thinks the same as you and takes Forsyth, he'll take him in the round he thinks the value is with zero regard to what anyone might think. After all the carping about Strange, can you imagine if BB took a Center in Round One? :popcorn:
 
It wouldn't shock me to see Belichick take three or four college tackles with the idea being that two of them will be guards at the pro level and Strange moves to center when Andrews gets his red jacket.
ooo, I hadn't thought of that! (y)
 
Alex Forsythe sounds like exactly the type of smart center the Patriots like. A big question mark is can he hold up against beastly NFL DTs. Multiple scouting reports suggest no. So not sure, is he physical enough to be a starting NFL center for 17+ games a year for a decade? If so then good. Klemm would know better than anyone
I prefer Patriots players to be playing in more than 17 games per year. Dig it. Edit just saw the +, nevermind.
 
Looks real good to me, Hawg. Thing is, if BB thinks the same as you and takes Forsyth, he'll take him in the round he thinks the value is with zero regard to what anyone might think. After all the carping about Strange, can you imagine if BB took a Center in Round One? :popcorn:

There have been one or two Pats drafts recently that made a lot of sense, but that's not the norm.

Bill trusts his own judgement and while he will listen to his scouts, he knows that the buck stops with him and is unafraid to
do anything regardless of public opinion. This is his best attribute. He doesn't care what anybody else thinks.

He has a sense of value in what a player means both financially and to his overall benefit to the team and those assessments
are the best in the business year in and year out. This doesn't mean everything works out perfectly because there are too
many variables involved, but anybody that has no respect for BB's judgement skills after all we've witnessed is delusional.

If he took Forsyth (or another Center) in the 1st round then I'd be very surprised, but would not be phazed by it.

The talking heads would all flip out and the angry contrarians here would pick right up on all of that, but our
guy would not care a bit and neither should we. If that makes me a "blind homer" then sign me up.

Anyhow, my guess is Forsyth is late 2nd day somewhere, but there are a few other Centers who might be better fits
here. I bring him up for the mental side, which is why Andrews is such a key for us and because it was an unusual
story. The Center who was allowed to check into a different play-- not just a blocking adjustment. Never heard that
one before and I'll be curious to see how he fares in the League wherever he ends up.
 
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