Breaking: Junior Seau found dead in San Diego home

Such sad news today that Junior Seau is dead. It was an honor to watch him play parts of four seasons with the Patriots. It just goes to show how much Bill Belichick thought of him as a person and leader.

As we wait for the details to emerge I’m just going to enjoy these images of Seau raising the AFC Championship Trophy, the final championship highlight of a Hall of Fame career.

Nice work here from Michael Talarski who dives into the professional vs. amateur draft pundit predictions.

unemployedacademic:

If you’re fan of only one sport the off-season can be long and arduous. So you have to find ways to keep yourself entertained. For NFL fans the NFL draft adds a break from the wait. As such it becomes a tad insane. Following the draft can be fun, though it’s hard to educate yourself. The “best”…

The biggest focus of my last five years of blogging about the Patriots has been Bill Belichick’s chance to rebuild his defense from scratch and with total authority. While Belichick deserves a great deal of credit for the Patriots defenses that won three Super Bowls, ultimately those defenses were not hand picked by him.

Sure, he took the draftees of the previous regime like Bruschi, McGinest and Milloy, along with a collection of castoffs from other teams like Vrabel, Phifer and Harrison, and put them in positions to succeed, but those years just proved his coaching genius. Those players were not going to play forever, and now Belichick has a chance to prove his scouting and development genius.

It’s rare that a coach has the kind of control and vision that he gets to construct a defense from scratch, but that’s exactly what Belichick began doing in 2008 with the selection of Jerod Mayo.

Thus, one of my most favorite times of year is the draft, especially when Belichick takes defensive players. So you can imagine my excitement after this year’s haul, and in fact it’s taken a few days for it all to actually sink in. It’s safe to say it left me speechless. Until now.

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With everyone feeling the Patriots positivity today it’s a good time to get one of the last DO YOUR JOB tees! Order in the column to the right!

Handy mock draft grid from the CBSSports team.

Congrats to Team Fitzy on five years of draft hilarity!!

I always find the draft somewhat anti-climactic. You have three months of build-up with endless possibilities to who your team could add, but by Sunday the Patriots will have a handful of players and all the speculation of who fits and who doesn’t will be dead and buried.

Here are some final quick hit thoughts as we await the Commish taking the stage.

1. As much as I see them pop up on various mock drafts I just don’t see it with Nick Perry and Whitney Mercilus. I could be wrong on them, and I’d actually be happy if I am, but right now I’m just not convinced they can do enough to warrant a first round selection.
2. I am not however questioning my decision to avoid Janoris Jenkins and Dont’e Hightower on the big board. I don’t think Jenkins is worth the risk until the 3rd round, and Hightower just has too much overlap with Spikes and while he might’ve rushed with his hand down in college, (so did Spikes) I don’t see him as an impact pass rusher in the NFL.
3. Both Frenz and I had the Pats addressing DL, Guard, WR, CB, OLB and Safety in our respective mocks. If there’s a position I think we’ll miss on it’s running back.
4. I’d love to see an impact interior rusher picked somewhere. I went with Jerel Worthy in my mock, but even if they don’t take him I think a quick-off-the-ball defensive lineman could make a huge impact.
5. As I mentioned on the podcast if I’m the Jets (or any other AFC East team) I’m targetting Mark Barron and having him prepare to take on Gronk twice a year for his entire first contract. If you want to beat the Patriots you have to have a plan to deal with Gronk.
6. I don’t know who the Bills are going to take at 10th overall, but whoever it is they’ll only add to the hype in Buffalo this off-season. If they get another impact defender I’ll be concerned.
7. I would not rule out a Mallet/Hoyer trade in the next few days. I’d prefer it’s Hoyer.
8. I think the Patriots are more likely to trade out of the first round completely before trading up. But if they did trade up I’d bet it’s to the early 20’s for an impact defensive lineman, maybe Brockers if he’s dropping.
9. No Pats fans want an offensive lineman but I bet we’d be glad we took one heading into the 2013 season with Brian Waters almost certainly gone.
10. There aren’t many things I’m sure of for this weekend, but one is that we’ll add a wide receiver or cornerback with kick and/or punt return potential.
11. One under the radar player type I could regret not looking into more thoroughly is a pass coverage middle linebacker. Someone in the 6-01, 230 range to compete with Dane Fletcher and Tracy White. That could be a break-the-mold pick.
12. I think I’m most looking forward to the Pats head-scratcher selection of some guy that wasn’t at the combine, wasn’t on any big boards and doesn’t even have a highlights package for the networks to show after the pick.

As we did last year, here’s our Patriots-only mock draft. Below you’ll find my favorite players that fill what I see as the biggest needs for the Pats. I don’t project trades though obviously there will be some, especially to round out their picks in the 5th/6th/7th rounds this year. Some of these guys might be reaches, but even with the trade downs I see them as fits.

The players I select are based on what I see as the biggest needs and the approximate value at the selection spot. I describe the immediate and specific role on the team in detail, and I believe each of the six players below would make the Patriots a better team.

While I might’ve been able to see potential for a trade up with last year’s class (Aldon Smith, JJ Watt), this year I just don’t see an available player in the 10-20 range that would be worth the cost of two first round selections. If anything I see them trading out of the first round completely before doing that, though a move from the late 20s to the early 20s cannot be completely ruled out, especially if the price tag is a first and a third.

Before we begin I must say that the biggest need for the Patriots overall is pass defense and all of the defenders I have selected would make an impact there. When was the last time the Patriots got grounded and pounded to a loss? 2009 against the Ravens maybe?

I’m no longer concerned with finding 5-techinique defensive ends who can two gap. It’s time to start upgrading the important positions of the modern NFL: the interior rush, the nickel and dime backs, the back end/over-the-top safety, and even a couple designated pass rushers. Unlike the old NFL, being able to play passing downs is paramount and far more definitive of a three-down player. In simple terms, give me aggressive guys who pose problems in the passing game first and foremost.

Our Patriots-only mock comes after the jump:

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Previously we traced the trickle-down value of the Patriots’ 2007 28th overall pick, and today we take a look at what became of their 2009 23rd overall pick. 2009 is one of the most mentioned Patriots drafts because they didn’t select pass rusher extraordinaire Clay Matthews, the alleged cure to all that ails the New England defense. But when we examine all the players they were able to select with the value they got from that pick it’s not quite as obvious a miss.

We begin with the 23rd overall pick in 2009, the Patriots own selection after the Brady-less 2008 campaign. The first trade was that 23rd overall pick to Baltimore (who selected Michael Oher) for the 26th and 162nd overall picks.

The Patriots then swapped those two picks with Green Bay (who took Clay Matthews) for the 41st (Darius Butler), 73rd, and 83rd (Brandon Tate) overall picks.

The 73rd overall pick was then traded to Jacksonville for a 2010 2nd round pick (part of a trade up for Rob Gronkowski) and the 232nd overall pick in 2009 (Julian Edelman).

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