Draft Pick Watch

AlNipper49

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Apr 3, 2001
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There are two guys who seem like a decent chance to play LT for you next year if you draft them. No guarantees of course but Conerly and Simmons are those guys. Simmons is coming off a knee injury rumored to be an ACL injury in early October of 24. There is a chance he should be ready to start practicing by camp or summer according to his agent (source is his agent so caution). Both guys have potential to be a top 10-15 LT.
I think the Pats are at least two years away. They have absolutely nothing on the lines. I’d focus on improving the team two years from now, given the draft next year may be a little bit better. My focus on the draft this year is finding players to help Maye not get killed. I think we ‘won’ our QB search, that’s the battle that really matters.

Not science but in my Pff draft simulator we I dropped to 18 but picked up LV (Sanders) and Atlanta’s (Tet) first rounders next year. The LV one could be juicy, as ours likely will be. That would give us a midround pick this year when there isn’t much top end talent but we don’t lose any actual players. Just the first one would be ‘less better’.
 

BusRaker

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Aug 11, 2006
3,242
The other positive about drafting a two way player like Hunter is that you have two chances of them not being a bust. You get an N'Keal or Polk you still have a legit chance at a great corner. Maye a unicorn, maybe a double bust of course.

Having a player like Ohtani kind of opens the imagination. Still hoping another franchise would like to purchase that dream though.
 

soxpatscelts1524

New Member
Apr 26, 2024
78
I think the Pats are at least two years away. They have absolutely nothing on the lines. I’d focus on improving the team two years from now, given the draft next year may be a little bit better. My focus on the draft this year is finding players to help Maye not get killed. I think we ‘won’ our QB search, that’s the battle that really matters.

Not science but in my Pff draft simulator we I dropped to 18 but picked up LV (Sanders) and Atlanta’s (Tet) first rounders next year. The LV one could be juicy, as ours likely will be. That would give us a midround pick this year when there isn’t much top end talent but we don’t lose any actual players. Just the first one would be ‘less better’.

Every team seems far away until they aren't. Washington made aggressive moves in Free agency last year and turned a team just as bad as ours into a contender overnight. And yes, I understand that it's hard to fill LT and WR in FA, but the fact is, they came into the season with a similar huge hole at LT. LT is just one position and you can be successful even with a bad one. Washington completely revamped their front 7 last year and turned the defense into a serviceable unit. Dante Fowler and Frankie Luvu have combined for 18 sacks.

A quick turnaround is very possible if we make some shrewd moves in FA, trade down in the draft and nail multiple picks. I'm all for the long-term mindset, but championship contenders typically aren't made overnight. The thing about a completely failed year like this year is that it sets you back a year. Washington is now in the position where they can add a couple pieces and become championship contenders. We probably need to get to 10 wins first.
 

twibnotes

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Jul 16, 2005
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Every team seems far away until they aren't. Washington made aggressive moves in Free agency last year and turned a team just as bad as ours into a contender overnight. And yes, I understand that it's hard to fill LT and WR in FA, but the fact is, they came into the season with a similar huge hole at LT. LT is just one position and you can be successful even with a bad one. Washington completely revamped their front 7 last year and turned the defense into a serviceable unit. Dante Fowler and Frankie Luvu have combined for 18 sacks.

A quick turnaround is very possible if we make some shrewd moves in FA, trade down in the draft and nail multiple picks. I'm all for the long-term mindset, but championship contenders typically aren't made overnight. The thing about a completely failed year like this year is that it sets you back a year. Washington is now in the position where they can add a couple pieces and become championship contenders. We probably need to get to 10 wins first.
I agree a fast turnaround is doable but not strictly with a good draft and FA offseason. I can’t see a world in which this coaching staff is suddenly a strong staff
 
Apr 24, 2019
1,399
One thing to consider with Travis Hunter is that, if he were to be "forced" (encouraged, told, whatever) to pick a side of the ball to play on/focus on, there's a decent chance he would CHOOSE to work as a wide receiver as their financial upside is significantly higher. The fact that he is as good as he is at WR with not having played it as much as others who may be further along is encouraging in terms of how good he COULD be at that position once he gets to the NFL and can devote himself full-time to being the best he can be.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
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Nov 17, 2010
15,133
Every team seems far away until they aren't. Washington made aggressive moves in Free agency last year and turned a team just as bad as ours into a contender overnight. And yes, I understand that it's hard to fill LT and WR in FA, but the fact is, they came into the season with a similar huge hole at LT. LT is just one position and you can be successful even with a bad one. Washington completely revamped their front 7 last year and turned the defense into a serviceable unit. Dante Fowler and Frankie Luvu have combined for 18 sacks.

A quick turnaround is very possible if we make some shrewd moves in FA, trade down in the draft and nail multiple picks. I'm all for the long-term mindset, but championship contenders typically aren't made overnight. The thing about a completely failed year like this year is that it sets you back a year. Washington is now in the position where they can add a couple pieces and become championship contenders. We probably need to get to 10 wins first.
People should probably stop with the Commanders thing. They "turned it around overnight" because their schedule was soft as babyshit. Their wins this season:

New York Giants (x2)
Cincinnati
Arizona
Cleveland
Carolina
Chicago
Titans
New Orleans
Philly
Atlanta

That's exactly one team - the Eagles - with a record over .500. The combined record for those teams are 61-115, which is good for a .346 win percentage. It's basically beating up on a 5-6 win team all season.

I think the Commanders did a great job of moving things in the right direction, and they have a lot to be excited about. They certainly did a better job of addressing their team needs than the Patriots. But they needed an extremely unrealistic amount of things to break in their favor this season, and I'd expect the Patriots and Commanders records to look a lot more comparable in a year from now.
 

tims4wins

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Jul 15, 2005
41,146
Hingham, MA
People should probably stop with the Commanders thing. They "turned it around overnight" because their schedule was soft as babyshit. Their wins this season:

New York Giants (x2)
Cincinnati
Arizona
Cleveland
Carolina
Chicago
Titans
New Orleans
Philly
Atlanta

That's exactly one team - the Eagles - with a record over .500. The combined record for those teams are 61-115, which is good for a .346 win percentage. It's basically beating up on a 5-6 win team all season.

I think the Commanders did a great job of moving things in the right direction, and they have a lot to be excited about. They certainly did a better job of addressing their team needs than the Patriots. But they needed an extremely unrealistic amount of things to break in their favor this season, and I'd expect the Patriots and Commanders records to look a lot more comparable in a year from now.
FWIW, the Pats schedule next year also looks ridiculously soft.
 

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
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Jul 20, 2009
9,401
Philly
@AlNipper49 dude I would love two firsts next year. My worry is that this class is so meh at the top that we won’t get a future 1 from a QB needy team let alone for someone like Tet. Things will get a lot clearer as we get into March/April.
 
Oct 12, 2023
1,534
People should probably stop with the Commanders thing. They "turned it around overnight" because their schedule was soft as babyshit. Their wins this season:

New York Giants (x2)
Cincinnati
Arizona
Cleveland
Carolina
Chicago
Titans
New Orleans
Philly
Atlanta

That's exactly one team - the Eagles - with a record over .500. The combined record for those teams are 61-115, which is good for a .346 win percentage. It's basically beating up on a 5-6 win team all season.

I think the Commanders did a great job of moving things in the right direction, and they have a lot to be excited about. They certainly did a better job of addressing their team needs than the Patriots. But they needed an extremely unrealistic amount of things to break in their favor this season, and I'd expect the Patriots and Commanders records to look a lot more comparable in a year from now.
They had the easiest SOS in the league to be sure but I don’t think Pats fans are thinking “well Washington is in the playoffs, then pats should be too”

But Washington, on a soft schedule or not, assembled a top 5 offense and a D which has improved (a bit) as the year went on (top 10 in yards but still bad by points allowed)

The Pats, against a fairly soft schedule (one of the easiest), have gotten worse across the board. Not a single facet of their game has improved since last season except maybe marginally at kicking field goals and 3rd down RB production

Washington did things the right way in the off-season. Did a full search, hired a highly regarded OC, a bright up and coming GM and a respected albeit boring head coach. They turned over a league leading 33 roster spots. They signed a bunch of veterans to reinforce or improve troublesome spots. They landed at least 3 solid contributors beyond Daniels in the draft (Newton now that he’s healthy, Sainristil and Coleman). Their 3rd round WR (McCaffrey) is nothing special but certainly better than Polk or Baker have been.

The Pats, who had a talent advantage over Washington on D (and a huge disadvantage at WR1 ), have gotten worse. Gift wrapped a HC position to a guy with no network of coaches, hired green and (at least as far as Covington and position coaches) incompetent guys for the staff and ran it back with the same front office that was part of the reason BB got fired. The result? A disaster of a free agency. A disaster of a draft. Every position group but QB and 3rd down back is worse or at best the same as last year.

So when people get frustrated at the two different directions of the teams, it’s not just the record or the playoffs

If the Pats were 7-9 or even 6-10 heading into this weekend but playing with a solid D and an offense showing some life, you’d see fewer comparisons to Washington

Everything Washington did, the Pats did the opposite. And the franchises are clearly heading in opposite directions as a result.
 
Oct 12, 2023
1,534
@AlNipper49 dude I would love two firsts next year. My worry is that this class is so meh at the top that we won’t get a future 1 from a QB needy team let alone for someone like Tet. Things will get a lot clearer as we get into March/April.
Hunter and QB1 (1st overall pick) are the only guys I’d think a future 1 is likely to be in play for. Even then, I’m dubious anyone would trade a haul to get Hunter.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
56,055
They had the easiest SOS in the league to be sure but I don’t think Pats fans are thinking “well Washington is in the playoffs, then pats should be too”
Washington didn't have the easiest SOS this season, Miami did, Washington was #2.

Miami .415 and Washington was .434.
 

Ferm Sheller

Member
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Mar 5, 2007
22,929
Washington didn't have the easiest SOS this season, Miami did, Washington was #2.

Miami .415 and Washington was .434.
I find it funny that Miami has put together a decent team and got to fatten up by playing the Jets and Pats a total of four games and still might not make the playoffs. (Yes, I know Tua has been hurt this season.)

They've been waiting years for the Pats to suck and finally the time has come and they can't take advantage of it.
 
Oct 12, 2023
1,534
One thing to consider with Travis Hunter is that, if he were to be "forced" (encouraged, told, whatever) to pick a side of the ball to play on/focus on, there's a decent chance he would CHOOSE to work as a wide receiver as their financial upside is significantly higher. The fact that he is as good as he is at WR with not having played it as much as others who may be further along is encouraging in terms of how good he COULD be at that position once he gets to the NFL and can devote himself full-time to being the best he can be.
Yeah I think there’s still a lot to figure out with what Hunter (and his advisors) want him to do and how strongly he will have a preference

It’s likely he will publicly say “whatever is best for the team, I just want to contribute and win blah blah” but it wouldn’t surprise me if behind the scenes he pushes to be a WR.

WR is so much more lucrative financially, he’d be kind of crazy to commit to being a CB. Surtain just got 24M AAV and 77.5M guaranteed, best for any CB. Lamb just got 34M AAV and 100M guaranteed, Jefferson got 35M and 110M

If he’s betting on himself and thinking he can be elite at either position, he’s costing himself a ton of money by sticking to CB
 
Oct 12, 2023
1,534
Washington didn't have the easiest SOS this season, Miami did, Washington was #2.

Miami .415 and Washington was .434.
If you’re going to nitpick, it should be noted that Miami’s SOS is technically .426 currently. It’s still possible for Washington to end up with an easier SOS.

The .415 and SOS advantage to the Dolphins includes the final week of the season. It appears there’s an unlikely combination of outcomes which would result in Washington having the easiest SOS in the league. If WAS beats Dallas, Miami loses to the Jets, Arizona loses to SF, Green Bay beats Chicago, everything else plays out as expected, that gets Washington to the weakest SOS at years end

So while Washington has had a slightly tougher schedule than Miami to date, that might not end up being the case and isn't currently a .434 to .415 advantage since you can’t count the Jets and Dallas twice

I mean, if we’re nitpicking.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
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Nov 17, 2010
15,133
They had the easiest SOS in the league to be sure but I don’t think Pats fans are thinking “well Washington is in the playoffs, then pats should be too”

But Washington, on a soft schedule or not, assembled a top 5 offense and a D which has improved (a bit) as the year went on (top 10 in yards but still bad by points allowed)

The Pats, against a fairly soft schedule (one of the easiest), have gotten worse across the board. Not a single facet of their game has improved since last season except maybe marginally at kicking field goals and 3rd down RB production

Washington did things the right way in the off-season. Did a full search, hired a highly regarded OC, a bright up and coming GM and a respected albeit boring head coach. They turned over a league leading 33 roster spots. They signed a bunch of veterans to reinforce or improve troublesome spots. They landed at least 3 solid contributors beyond Daniels in the draft (Newton now that he’s healthy, Sainristil and Coleman). Their 3rd round WR (McCaffrey) is nothing special but certainly better than Polk or Baker have been.

The Pats, who had a talent advantage over Washington on D (and a huge disadvantage at WR1 ), have gotten worse. Gift wrapped a HC position to a guy with no network of coaches, hired green and (at least as far as Covington and position coaches) incompetent guys for the staff and ran it back with the same front office that was part of the reason BB got fired. The result? A disaster of a free agency. A disaster of a draft. Every position group but QB and 3rd down back is worse or at best the same as last year.

So when people get frustrated at the two different directions of the teams, it’s not just the record or the playoffs

If the Pats were 7-9 or even 6-10 heading into this weekend but playing with a solid D and an offense showing some life, you’d see fewer comparisons to Washington

Everything Washington did, the Pats did the opposite. And the franchises are clearly heading in opposite directions as a result.
I'm not sure who you're arguing with by making the points you did. I said that Washington did a good job turning their team around, and specifically said they did better than the Patriots. My point is that using the Redskins as an example of making some stunning turnaround isn't apt because - despite what Parcells think - you aren't always what your record says you are.

First, just because you preempt someone's counterpoint, it doesn't make the point any less valid.

But Washington, on a soft schedule or not, assembled a top 5 offense
Bullshit. They played two top ten defenses all season. After their game against Dallas this week, they'll have played half their season against bottom 10 defenses. Just because you write "on a soft schedule or not" doesn't invalidate that their ranking is largely on the back of a very soft defensive schedule.

and a D which has improved (a bit) as the year went on (top 10 in yards but still bad by points allowed)
Again, just because you gloss over important information, it doesn't make it any less important. I'm not going to waste my time on an ad hoc post with their SOS, or how their defense has probably underperformed, but I think it's fair to cite PFFs ranking and say that - even if not perfectly ranked - whitewashing their performance with "top 10 in yards" (being bottom 3 in pass attempts against may have something to do with that, btw) is disingenuous.

Screenshot_20241231_120213_Chrome.jpg

I never said the Patriots did better than the Commanders in the offseason. I've been critical of the FO, HC, and many of the players. You built up a few strawmen, and I'm not going to argue with you or them. I'll simply restate that the Commanders had to have a lot of things break right for them this season to achieve the record they did, and using them as a barometer for where the Patriots should/could be is kind of dumb. With a few better HC decisions by the Patriots and a bit of regression to the mean by the Commanders, they both would be 6-8 win teams and we wouldn't have 30 posts this week about how "the Commanders did it, so the Patriots should have!"
 
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LoLsapien

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 5, 2022
459
Noted football expert Nick Wright has an idea

I feel like if we had the team captains get together in the war room and make draft decisions, this would solve a number of problems, including:

-Player empowerment: Free agents might be attracted to the idea that if they come over and are Locker room Leaders (tm) they could have a role in team decision making.
-Football players know football. They know what this team needs. They couldn't possibly do worse than Wolf.
-We could save the Kraft's big time dollars not needing to pay for a scouting department.
 

dirtynine

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 17, 2002
9,016
Philly
Out of the box, I like it. I mean, if they really want to go big brain, they could trade Drake, annything else of value, carefully maneuver and stockpile to get the first 22 picks of the 2036 draft. It’s a chance to completely recreate the franchise.
 

jk333

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 26, 2009
4,517
Boston
[/QUOTE]
Noted football expert Nick Wright has an idea
Everything about this clip is dumb. Like even the biggest simple idea is wrong- “next year they need to trust their evaluations”

No, if they are NOT going to trust their evaluations they need to immediately resign and allow someone who will come and do the job.

Edit- the QB1/QB3 stuff is really dumb also
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
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Nov 17, 2010
15,133
I feel like if we had the team captains get together in the war room and make draft decisions, this would solve a number of problems, including:

-Player empowerment: Free agents might be attracted to the idea that if they come over and are Locker room Leaders (tm) they could have a role in team decision making.
-Football players know football. They know what this team needs. They couldn't possibly do worse than Wolf.
-We could save the Kraft's big time dollars not needing to pay for a scouting department.
I hate this idea. I'm not sure why you think players know what a team needs, but in my experience players often have the biggest blinders. A defensive end thinks the secondary stinks or the offense failed, when their friends at DT were just as big of an issue. I also can't imagine a team captain picking against their own personal interest. Would Tom Brady ever have picked his replacement?
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
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Oct 1, 2015
27,602
Just for fun (because, why not, right?), what could they get for Maye, if they really, really liked Sanders or Ward? Maye has demonstrated NFL ability and is still only 23. (Obviously I don't want to do this but I'm just playing with Wright's thoughts here)

PFN's mock draft simulator has the Giants offering NE #4, #35, #66, #102, and a 2026 2nd rounder for the #1 pick. Would they do something similar for Maye? I don't see why they wouldn't, if they'd do it for this #1 pick. But let's say it's less. Remove the 2026 pick and bump #102 down to #134. So Maye to NYG for #4, #35, #66, #102.

That allows NE to take their favorite QB in this year's draft, add the #4 pick (say, OT Will Campbell), and then they'd still have #35, #36, #66, #67, #79, #102, #103, #139, #218, #219, and #237. They could really load up.

Obviously this would be contingent on the Pats preferring one of this year's QBs over Maye, AND getting that kind of deal from the Giants.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
49,813
Just for fun (because, why not, right?), what could they get for Maye, if they really, really liked Sanders or Ward? Maye has demonstrated NFL ability and is still only 23. (Obviously I don't want to do this but I'm just playing with Wright's thoughts here)

PFN's mock draft simulator has the Giants offering NE #4, #35, #66, #102, and a 2026 2nd rounder for the #1 pick. Would they do something similar for Maye? I don't see why they wouldn't, if they'd do it for this #1 pick. But let's say it's less. Remove the 2026 pick and bump #102 down to #134. So Maye to NYG for #4, #35, #66, #102.

That allows NE to take their favorite QB in this year's draft, add the #4 pick (say, OT Will Campbell), and then they'd still have #35, #36, #66, #67, #79, #102, #103, #139, #218, #219, and #237. They could really load up.

Obviously this would be contingent on the Pats preferring one of this year's QBs over Maye, AND getting that kind of deal from the Giants.
My price to trade Maye would be far more than 4, 35, 66, and 102. We don’t know what Ward or Sanders are at the NFL level. They might be good. They might absolutely suck. We know Maye is already quite good, especially when you factor in his age and the team around him.
 

NomarsFool

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Dec 21, 2001
9,728
I’d think that Drake Maye would / should be worth quite a haul. He’s shown he has ability against actual NFL teams.

Trading him for an unknown like Sanders or Ward would be quite foolish, and an incredible risk.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
20,847
Just for fun (because, why not, right?), what could they get for Maye, if they really, really liked Sanders or Ward? Maye has demonstrated NFL ability and is still only 23. (Obviously I don't want to do this but I'm just playing with Wright's thoughts here)

PFN's mock draft simulator has the Giants offering NE #4, #35, #66, #102, and a 2026 2nd rounder for the #1 pick. Would they do something similar for Maye? I don't see why they wouldn't, if they'd do it for this #1 pick. But let's say it's less. Remove the 2026 pick and bump #102 down to #134. So Maye to NYG for #4, #35, #66, #102.

That allows NE to take their favorite QB in this year's draft, add the #4 pick (say, OT Will Campbell), and then they'd still have #35, #36, #66, #67, #79, #102, #103, #139, #218, #219, and #237. They could really load up.

Obviously this would be contingent on the Pats preferring one of this year's QBs over Maye, AND getting that kind of deal from the Giants.
He's not 23, he's 22 and is 6-8 months younger than either of them and has a year under his belt in the NFL and has flashed. There's nothing more important than getting the QB. If they believe Maye is the guy, which I do and I hope they do, you could offer all that and another #1 for it and the answer is no. Sanders is something I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole and would Cam Ward be a top 5 QB in the last years draft? Hard pass. I know you're playing and wouldn't do it, but nothing in this draft would get me to move off of Maye.
 

LoLsapien

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Jul 5, 2022
459
I hate this idea. I'm not sure why you think players know what a team needs, but in my experience players often have the biggest blinders. A defensive end thinks the secondary stinks or the offense failed, when their friends at DT were just as big of an issue. I also can't imagine a team captain picking against their own personal interest. Would Tom Brady ever have picked his replacement?
I probably should have included /s
 

BaseballJones

slappy happy
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Oct 1, 2015
27,602
He's not 23, he's 22 and is 6-8 months younger than either of them and has a year under his belt in the NFL and has flashed. There's nothing more important than getting the QB. If they believe Maye is the guy, which I do and I hope they do, you could offer all that and another #1 for it and the answer is no. Sanders is something I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole and would Cam Ward be a top 5 QB in the last years draft? Hard pass. I know you're playing and wouldn't do it, but nothing in this draft would get me to move off of Maye.
I wouldn't do it either. I was just playing with the thought experiment Wright introduced.
 

Saints Rest

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Per Tankathon, these are the Pats' current picks: 1, 36, 67, 79, 103, 138, 219, 220, 238.

That's 9 picks. I'm hoping to see a larger number. Per Baseball Jones above, PFN's mock draft simulator has the Giants offering NE #4, #35, #66, #102, and a 2026 2nd rounder for the #1 pick. That would mean they would have 4, 35, 36, 66, 67, 79, 102, 103, 138, 219, 220, 238 --- that's 12 picks next year (to say nothing of the additional 1st rounder next year). It would also give them the first two picks on day 3 of the draft, which might be a good time to leverage one of those into additional day 3 picks, maybe something like a 5th and two 6ths.
 

Ed Hillel

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Dec 12, 2007
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Per Tankathon, these are the Pats' current picks: 1, 36, 67, 79, 103, 138, 219, 220, 238.

That's 9 picks. I'm hoping to see a larger number. Per Baseball Jones above, PFN's mock draft simulator has the Giants offering NE #4, #35, #66, #102, and a 2026 2nd rounder for the #1 pick. That would mean they would have 4, 35, 36, 66, 67, 79, 102, 103, 138, 219, 220, 238 --- that's 12 picks next year (to say nothing of the additional 1st rounder next year). It would also give them the first two picks on day 3 of the draft, which might be a good time to leverage one of those into additional day 3 picks, maybe something like a 5th and two 6ths.
The Pats should have 33, not 36, right?