Over 29 years of fanhood Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Pats strategy is pretty clear. They draft smart players and bellicheat is a master at finding and exploiting weakeness vs strengths. He also does some jedi mind stuff to his players to keep the locker room in order.... They had one of the luckiest picks in history, a 6th round qb that is in the top ten to ever play still in his early 30's. Then on top of that they are good at picking up cast off has beens that play key roles on th field(Ochoa, moss, seau, crmpler, on and on...) Even though their d stinks, thier NT is awesome and smart. That's it....
thewildrabbit Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Since the Patriots lost Thomas Dimitoff as director of college scouting to GM of the Falcons in 2008 they clearly haven't been as good at drafting as they were with him IMO.It appears that since Belichick isn't as positive as he used to be about late first round talent he now likes to trade back and acquire more picks, meaning more is better? Another aspect is that he thinks that the best talent available in the draft is mostly in the first 3 rounds, so he does everything he can to get as many 1-3 picks as he can, even if it means giving up the first. Funny how teams like the Patriots that are constantly drafting late in the first round year after year always seem to find better talent then the team drafting early in the first round every year
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Understood. Still, considering their perrenial playoff presence, it seems a bit of an embarassment of riches. Welker may well be on his way to irrelevancy Dear Lord, If Welker is a wide receiver on his way to Irrelevancy, could you have a couple of similar WR detour through Buffalo on there way there?
ryan42790 Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 I just can't wait for Tom Brady to retire. A HUGE weight will be lifted off our shoulders. As for their drafts, they haven't been that great in recent years, the only thing really keeping them afloat is Tom Brady, and Free Agency. When Tom retires the free agents will disappear, and the AFC east will finally be up for grabs.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Wow. I didn't realize the Pats had 2 first round picks in this draft, as well as 2 second rounders. They also have more salary cap room than any other team in the AFC east. My link How do they frickin do it?! -So much of this game is about setting your franchise up for the future. What exactly does OBD keep getting wrong? Ralph doesn't seem to be involved in the day-to-day operations, so it can't be just "The owner". This hit me pretty hard. -Even in football it seems the rich just get richer. Yeah they do this every year, probably why they are successful too.
#34fan Posted January 28, 2012 Author Posted January 28, 2012 (edited) I just can't wait for Tom Brady to retire. A HUGE weight will be lifted off our shoulders. As for their drafts, they haven't been that great in recent years, the only thing really keeping them afloat is Tom Brady, and Free Agency. When Tom retires the free agents will disappear, and the AFC east will finally be up for grabs. If that's the case, we may be waiting for a while. Brady wants to keep on playing. It's also possible that by then Ryan Mallett may have had several years to study one of the greatest ever to play at that position. Plus, if they picked up two stud recievers like McNutt, or kendall Wright, or Michael Floyd, they could be dominant for another ten years. If someone had told me in 1991, that the Bills would go 12 years without a single playoff berth, I would have summarily torn off their Dolphin jersey, and P*ssed on it. I get the fact that the Pats are good, I just don't see why it's so hard for us to mimic their behavior. These people are doing something profoundly right. IT CAN'T JUST BE LUCK. Edited January 28, 2012 by #34fan
maddenboy Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 A BIG part of it is 2-fold. 1) They develop players very well. So the players have value to other teams in trade. 2) They do a good job of getting rid of players right before they decline. Its easier when they have been developing that guy's backup. The steelers are also good at dropping guys a teeny bit early instead of a teeny bit late. But the steelers dont usually trade them, they just cut 'em. Pats are more active in looking to move guys, to pick up draft picks. The Bills could take a lesson from all of this. Dont be afraid to pay for top coaches to develop players. Dont be afraid to draft plenty of guys at key positions (except corner or running back) because if you ever have too many, you can trade 'em. See: Giants drafting D-line or Steelers drafting LBs. Part of the reason that Bills fans cry when we get rid of a "good" player is that we dont have anybody to fill the hole. Its not just that Ralph is cheap. Pats, Steelers, Giants always have a plan B who needs to get some playing time, not a scrub and not a dream of filling it in next year's draft.
Trader Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 If that's the case, we may be waiting for a while. Brady wants to keep on playing. It's also possible that by then Ryan Mallett may have had several years to study one of the greatest ever to play at that position. Plus, if they picked up two stud recievers like McNutt, or kendall Wright, or Michael Floyd, they could be dominant for another ten years. If someone had told me in 1991, that the Bills would go 12 years without a single playoff berth, I would have summarily torn off their Dolphin jersey, and P*ssed on it. I get the fact that the Pats are good, I just don't see why it's so hard for us to mimic their behavior. These people are doing something profoundly right. IT CAN'T JUST BE LUCK. I agree with you. The Pats are the road map to NFL success. Every team blows draft choices they can afford to bat .500 and still be successful. They can affod to take flyers on a boom bust player. They deal from a position of strength every year. They have a great owner and front office. I wonder how many of the critics that have posted here wanted Ryan Mallett as a QB. By the way Gronkowski who grew up in the Bills back yard is on his way to becoming the greatest Tight End in History. Hernandez is better than any Tight End the Bills have had in history, I would take Nate Solder over any Bills Offensive lineman. Would you rather have Tyler Thigpen or Ryan Mallett as your back up QB? Nix is right on about one thing he is not the smartest guy in the room that guy lives in New England.
Meathead Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 the nfl has created an environment where the better your qb is the less you need everywhere else, except perhaps oline to give him a little time. the cheaters have probably the best qb the game has seen in a while, as much as i hate to say it, who makes every reciever look like a star. they barely have a rb and their defense is one of the worse in the league but it doesnt matter personally i think thats ruining the game and id like to see them go back to allowing contact with the recievers down the field until the ball is thrown. but thatll never happen so for the forseeable future its going to be a ridiculously qb centric league
#34fan Posted January 28, 2012 Author Posted January 28, 2012 1) They develop players very well. So the players have value to other teams in trade. 2) They do a good job of getting rid of players right before they decline. Its easier when they have been developing that guy's backup. Absolutely true. I, for one, never thought they would trade Vrabel. After they did, it was all downhill for that guy.
playman Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 (edited) without reading the previous posts, they just deal smart. a late 1st rounder for next years one, an agng superstar for a boatload of picks, stuff like that. and if thats not enough, they cheat in every way possible -.- Edited January 28, 2012 by playman
Toshiero Posted January 28, 2012 Posted January 28, 2012 Wow. I didn't realize the Pats had 2 first round picks in this draft, as well as 2 second rounders. They also have more salary cap room than any other team in the AFC east. My link How do they frickin do it?! -So much of this game is about setting your franchise up for the future. What exactly does OBD keep getting wrong? Ralph doesn't seem to be involved in the day-to-day operations, so it can't be just "The owner". This hit me pretty hard. -Even in football it seems the rich just get richer. They are a great franchise, we suck and will until we change owners...like the Pats did.
billsfan89 Posted January 29, 2012 Posted January 29, 2012 A lot of their cap room will be eaten into by having to resign Wes Welker and if they keep all their draft choices they have to sign those. So I wouldn't worry about them simply because of their picks and cap status. In recent years they haven't hit on draft choices at a high rate like they use to. Their 10 draft was really good with Gronkowski and Hernandez. But their 07-08-09-11 drafts haven't had high hit rates. They also tend to trade away firsts for picks next year.
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