the most important draft question

[3 to be 4]

Is who our experts think the Patriots will go after. LITP, give it up.
btw, wheres Brady12 lately?

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by 3 to be 4

Is who our experts think the Patriots will go after. LITP, give it up.
btw, wheres Brady12 lately?

perhaps j. tressel of ohio state, let the cat out of the bag yesterday during his sirius interview. he said that no team has been more represented at their campus than the patriots. scouts, coaches, front office people. the pats will take b. carpenter. tressell mentioned how they used carpenter at rb and te before, so hes very versatile. belichick was a coach with the giants, when bobbys dad was rb there. you know vrabel is pushing for a fellow alumn. and it addresses their greatest need.

i was hoping the steelers would get a crack at him.

[Suitanim]

Or maybe THEY are looking at Santonio Holmes. Or Ashton Yobouty.

[tony hipchest]

very likely all 3 will be there when they pick too. of the 3 id say lb is their biggest need, theyve proven they can survive and get by with scrubs at cb, and with about 10 quality prospects at the position they probably go for 1 with the 2nd. bolstering their pass rush will be a good deoderant for their secondary. and carpenter will probably have a bigger impact right away, for any team he goes to, than any wr taken.

[clevestinks]

I can see them going after a LB, or defense end who may be able to play lb on the next level

[Suitanim]

I was watching some of ESPN's draft coverage, and also get ESPN mag, and Mel Kiper has 100% sold out that the Pats covet Holmes with their first pick.

Then again, it's Mel Kiper, so...

[tony hipchest]

i forgot about philly drafting #14. seems like jackson would be the reasonable fit there leaving speculation thet holmes would be perfect in denver. also denver might be thinking they can get l. white at #37. this is gonna be a fun draft.

holmes to pats would be the fiscally responsible thing to do cause they could let branch go and probably receive a comp pick for him.

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by 3 to be 4

Is who our experts think the Patriots will go after. LITP, give it up.
btw, wheres Brady12 lately?

Hey 3 to be 4,

Apologies for the tardy reply - I was on an enforced SF holiday...but more about that another time.....

I think the Pats will be looking LB in the first round - OLB nearly always have the higher draft value so i'd imagine that if they were planning to convert an OLB to an ILB then they may trade down a few places and get some extra picks (and then maybe use them extra picks to trade up in the 2nd round) and go with someone like Carpenter.

The Pats know how important a clock killin' Corey Dillon type player is - so if LenDale White were to fall within reach I can see us trading up (I am not one of those who thinks LenDale will drop to the 2nd round or even very late 1st) to grab him.

Our biggest, most fundamental need is LB - and this happens to be this years draft strong suit so I can see us maybe going for a run stuffing LB (in the Ted Johnson mold) in the rounds 3/4/5 - Kai Parham or Anthony Schlegel would be options.

One area of weakness for the Pats is their WR corps - but there is very little apparent value at this position in this years draft - plus Wr's traditionally take a year or two to settle into the pro- game - i'd love to see us land Donte Stallworth in FA to take the heat off Deion Branch.

One area I think we are set in is the CB/DB corps - we have plenty of young players with limited starting experience - Gay, Samuel, Hobbs should provide a nice rotation.

NM

[3 to be 4]

for years I have been hoping for a LB to get drafted. although i cant complain about the Patriots draft record it was hard to let guys like Jonathon Vilma and EJ Henderson pass by.
hopefully this is the year.
I understand the reasoning though, in Belichicks system it relies heavily on very intelligent and effective LB play and thats something he likes to have seasoned veterans handle.

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by 3 to be 4

for years I have been hoping for a LB to get drafted. although i cant complain about the Patriots draft record it was hard to let guys like Jonathon Vilma and EJ Henderson pass by.
hopefully this is the year.
I understand the reasoning though, in Belichicks system it relies heavily on very intelligent and effective LB play and thats something he likes to have seasoned veterans handle.

I think Belioli have been just waiting for a draft class deep enough at LB that they will be able to pick up first rate talent at a mid-to-late 1st round pick.

The problem picking up intelligent vets is that they often have a very high opinion of their own worth - guys like Tedy B and Mike V. are extremely rare - talented guys with realistic wage demands.

I think Beisel will step it up this year, and be a good guy to rotate in and out to give the 1st choice LBers a rest - he looked good in the latter part of last year when we weren't operating with a skeleton crew.

If you had to pick a player for the 1st round, who would you have?

NM