I’ve spent the last couple days diving in on all the rookies the Patriots drafted and signed and what I keep coming back to is that I’m shocked that none of it is shocking to me. The more I read about these players, the more it seems to me like the team was laser focused on their specific needs and filled those needs accordingly.
Gone were the pointless picks at positions of excellent depth, players like Tavon Wilson or Jordan Richards who were seemingly overdrafted for no good reason. Duron Harmon was the only one of those guys who really worked out.
But this year even the draft pundits agreed, all the Pats’ picks made sense. They needed some young talent in their defensive front seven and they got two talented players who have different styles but both fit. They needed some tackle depth with Nate Solder entering the last year of his deal and the swing spot open for the taking and they drafted two athletic tackles and signed two more rookie free agents.
The undrafted rookies that really make the most sense were in the secondary.
With Jordan Richards failing to live up to his draft status, finding a special teamer/back up to Patrick Chung at strong safety was a need.
Enter Damarius Travis and Justin Thompson. Travis has good size (6’1″ 206), played both safety spots as well as in the slot, while being described as highly coachable and an outstanding special teams player. Two years ago the Pats might’ve drafted him in the second round and it would’ve made some sense to the Belichickian apologists. Now he’s a cheap rookie free agent that didn’t cost a pick.
Thompson has even better size at 6’2, 215 and is comfortable in the box while also playing special teams. Both fit the need perfectly and I’d keep an eye on Travis to potentially beat out Richards for a roster spot.
At cornerback the outside is pretty well taken care of with Malcolm Butler, Stephon Gilmore and Eric Rowe. It’s in the slot where the uncertainty is with Cyrus Jones and Justin Coleman the favorites but neither locks. To round things out the Patriots brought in four rookie cornerbacks who should join the competition.
DJ Killings out of UCF got $20k guaranteed plus $11k bonus by the Pats. Killings ran a 4.38 40-yard dash at his Pro Day, while also throwing up 22 reps of 225 on bench. His teammate Shaquill Griffin had this to say about him:
“D.J. is a genius in the room,” Griffin said. “To me, that’s who led our room. That’s the person I went to. When I didn’t know something I’m going to D.J. first. And that’s what he brings to a team. Nobody knows just how smart he is and D.J. is going to work. He doesn’t like getting beat and that’s the reason why I stuck with him since our freshman year.”
Dwayne Thomas was a part of LSU’s impressive defense, primarily playing nickel corner, but also played outside and at safety as well. Kenny Moore is undersized but can play multiple defensive back positions and models himself after Tyrann Mathieu. DJ Dean played over 40 games at Arkansas and can play special teams as well.
None have the obvious length or speed to play on the outside so it seems pretty obvious what the Pats were getting at with the four of them — increasing competition for the slot spot.
The rest of the rookie free agent signings add key depth across the roster. Slot receiver Austin Carr is an intriguing favorite who could find himself in the mix as Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola are in final years of their deals, while Harvey Langi has held the Pats’ interest for over a year.
LeShun Daniels is a small, powerful running back who fits the early-down running back mold. While Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead are pencilled in to take over that role, the need without LeGarrette Blount is still apparent.
Usually after the draft I’m left rationalizing. It goes something like this “Yes the Patriots have needs they didn’t address but they could only take the players who fit, even if that means drafting 10 strong safeties.”
This year there is no such rationalizing. Where there were needs there were targeted acquisitions. Where things were the most murky they added the most competition. And while the results are a little different, the prototypes are not… football nerds who love the game and play hard.
It’s exciting to see how it all plays out, and it’s nice not to be sitting around wondering what the hell Bill Belichick was thinking after the draft.
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My guess is you give patriots an A draft grade. I would like to know your thoughts on Mike Felger giving them an F.
We’ll see how the guys work out before we give a grade, but if you’re grading needs addressed then yes, I think it’s an A. Of course that changes if guys bust. But I don’t know how anyone looks at this offseason and doesn’t feel like the Patriots almost went overboard trying to repeat as Super Bowl champs. Who cares about draft grades before anyone’s played in the NFL? If there’s one thing I know for sure, no one knows how players will work out. It’s a complex and fluid equation that can have a lot of ups and downs. How do we grade Jamie Collins draft now? He was a superstar in the making, then got shipped outta town. But they won a Super Bowl with him. So is that an A? Or a C? IDK
I try not to acknowledge Felger and his takes. He’s good at what he does, getting people to listen and have a reaction. But I don’t pay any attention at all to his football analysis because that’s not what he’s paid to do and it’s what interests me most. Put it this way, I’m not going to learn anything about the Patriots or football from Felger and Mazz so I abstain from their act, though I really do respect how well they manipulate the conversation to attract listeners.
Safety-David Jones from Richmond is one to watch I think.
The Patriots in ’04 nabbed Corey Dillon and drafted Vince Wilfork. In ’07 they went out and had a baseball offseason when it was actually a little more rare in the NFL to do so. Brady was in his 20s for the former and then 30 for ’07. I think it just has to do with opportunity and roster continuity. We can comb through every draft ever to find players that WE like where they took seeming YOLO picks like Wilson and Richards. But maybe Antonio Brown is Kenbrell Thompkins with us. Maybe Grady Jarrett is Easley in our system. I think this year the Pats just had a ton of cash both in the near and long term and snagged a lot of proven players that fit, and in the draft so two high football IQ edge players that can be versatile across the line. The Pats are also pretty good with OL value, even if the “Guge” years are better left forgotten, but that was a system that didn’t gel and an OL in transition talent wise.
Bottom line, my point is, I think this is far simpler than the Pats are all in. I think it’s just a testament to their roster construction and long term planning that they can win a SB and be setup to have this as opposed to the ’12 Ravens who had to sell off. In 2011 they nearly won and yet were setup to revamp their D. That’s not a fluke bleeding into a rebuild, that’s just the adroitness of their management. We’re spoiled. And I love it.