Youngblood

mwonow

mwonow

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 4, 2005
7,158
ESPN - which is rapidly rising in my personal antipathy list as "having no clue what is happening in NE" - released a ranked list of teams based on U-25 talent.

If you want to skip the click-through, the Pats rank 30th. Mac Jones and Michael Owenwu as "blue chippers." Damien Harris, Jacobi Meyers and (in the hard to believe category) All-Pro Jake Bailey are mentioned as real NFL players, if not 'blue chip.' JoeJuam. Uche and Barmore are in a kind of honorable mention paragraph.

What do you think? Is NE's futures cupboard really more bare than that of all but two other franchises?
 
lexrageorge

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,237
For under-25 talent, you are mostly looking at the last 3 drafts. And I personally would not put any stock into the latest draft as nobody from that draft has played a single down, no matter how promising a player may look early in training camp.

So, looking at their under-25 players that are not rookies:

Onwenu was a great value pick; seems like he's properly ranked.

Bailey is a punter.

Damien Harris had a breakout year last year, but he did get hurt at the end of the season after starting the season on IR.

Jakobi Myers has looked good and developed good chemistry w/ Cam, but his ceiling remains unclear

Gunner is their next ST ace.

This will be a key year for Joejuan Williams, but he will need to show improvement before he gains a consistent starter role.

N'Keal Harry has been discussed many times; given that he requested a trade, the ESPN article is not going to take into account his training camp accomplishments.

Bentley is one of the more polarizing players here, but his presence isn't going to move the needle on the ESPN U25 rankings. Too bad because he showed a lot of promise early on.

JJ Taylor turned some heads as an UDFA, but has all of 23 carries to his name, and may not make the roster.

Uche and Jennings both showed some promise last season, especially Uche, but both combined for a single sack and battled injuries.

Asiasi and Keene combined for 5 catches last season, and Keene is going to miss the season, while Asiasi is still on the CoVid list.

Myles Bryant was an UDFA and his spot on the depth chart is still TBD if he makes the team.

Cassh Maluia, Rashod Berry, Terez Hall (PUP), Michael Jackson Sr., D'Angelo Ross. Kristian Wilkerson, and Isaiah Zuber were primarly practice squad players.

Jake Dolegala and Bill Murray are training camp bodies.

Dugger is already 25 so doesn't qualify despite being in his 2nd season.

They really do need this most recent draft to pan out. Note that 2 of their later round picks have not come off the NFI list yet.
 
SMU_Sox

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2009
8,954
Dallas
Their talent under 25 is unfortunately TBD. Sadly that 2019 draft class looks bleak but 2020 looks promising. Uche and Dugger need to take the next step but like you noted Dugger was old when they drafted him. Draft cycles can be streaky and are susceptible to high variance. If Uche, Dugger, and Barmore pan out that would highly elevate the rankings. I would bet on Uche - and reports out of camp are glowing. The Pats are not in the drivers seat here but they at least have the right kinds of prospects to flip their position on this list. Meyers is a fine WR3/4 type who can handle the slot. I’m not sure if he is dynamic enough for them but personally I think he could eventually be a Sanu type.
 
SMU_Sox

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2009
8,954
Dallas
Damien Harris who I liked quite a bit impressed me last year. His ability to go from a very solid well rounded back to a guy who could break tackles was encouraging. Sadly RB is not as coveted a position as others.

I like Mac Jones, Stevenson, and Cam McGrone quite a bit for 2022. Also, Asiasi has a chance to develop. I’m not as bullish on Keene or Jennings but maybe Perkins could develop a role as a pass rusher? It’s not where a franchise like this wants to be with a lot of question marks but Onwenu and Bailey at least can be counted on. 2021 will be a big year for their development system. Bryant won’t be a headliner but I think he’s quality depth and could easily have an expanded role this year especially if Jones ever goes down.
 
mwonow

mwonow

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 4, 2005
7,158
johnmd20 said:
I thought this was going to be about the Rob Lowe/Patrick Swayze banger. I am disappointed.
Click to expand...
Hey, this is the Pays forum. Some Cam references aside, it's all about hope. You want disappointment, head on back to the Red Sox Grading the Trade Deadline thread.
 
RedOctober3829

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,499
deep inside Guido territory
mwonow said:
ESPN - which is rapidly rising in my personal antipathy list as "having no clue what is happening in NE" - released a ranked list of teams based on U-25 talent.

If you want to skip the click-through, the Pats rank 30th. Mac Jones and Michael Owenwu as "blue chippers." Damien Harris, Jacobi Meyers and (in the hard to believe category) All-Pro Jake Bailey are mentioned as real NFL players, if not 'blue chip.' JoeJuam. Uche and Barmore are in a kind of honorable mention paragraph.

What do you think? Is NE's futures cupboard really more bare than that of all but two other franchises?
Click to expand...
I think it's a load of crap. Beyond the guys they list there's Kyle Dugger, JC Jackson, Jonnu Smith, Christian Barmore just off the top of my head that are young and could be foundational pieces. Isaiah Wynn is only 24 years old. Davon Goodcheaux is only 26. There's a good amount of young talent on this roster. Certainly not 30th. This list is completely useless.
 
lexrageorge

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,237
RedOctober3829 said:
I think it's a load of crap. Beyond the guys they list there's Kyle Dugger, JC Jackson, Jonnu Smith, Christian Barmore just off the top of my head that are young and could be foundational pieces. Isaiah Wynn is only 24 years old. Davon Goodcheaux is only 26. There's a good amount of young talent on this roster. Certainly not 30th. This list is completely useless.
Click to expand...
Wynn is 25 and will turn 26 in December (born in 1995 - man, that makes me feel old typing that).

Agree that the list is worthless; it did remind me of the "manager rankings" back in the day, but with an even less rigorous approach.
 
Saints Rest

Saints Rest

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 6, 2003
11,233
Manhattan by day, Stratford by night/weekend
It's a silly premise to start with, almost like "who has the best farm system," as a team's success is not decided by an age range. It's almost Indy banner-esque.

Reminds me of how frustrated I would get when the NBA on CBS, would post a stat during a tie game like "Bench Scoring: Team A - 32; Team B - 8." When they could just have easily posted the inverse: "Starting lineup scoring: Team A - 64; Team B -- 88."
 
bankshot1

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,820
where I was last at
Come on people now,
smile on your roster

I didn't read the analysis past the first couple of sentence, (don't subscribe to ESPN+) but given BB's mixed success with some of his recent top picks and this off-season's fill the shopping bag full of vets roster building approach. its not that surprising under some criteria they would rank low in promising young players relative to the entire roster.
What's unfortunate is that IIRC ~5 years ago, even with old man Brady taking snaps, the Pats were one of the younger teams in the NFL.

I liked the Youngbloods WBW.
 
Last edited:
54thMA

54thMA

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2012
10,167
Westwood MA
So the Patriots are ranked 30th in talent under 25, but went to 3 out of the last 5 Super Bowls, winning 2 of them.

Apparently, one has nothing to do with the other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom