Patriots 2021 Offseason Thread

David Andrews barely got more money than Karras...

 I was thinking the same thing, not many roster spots left. If the 2020 draft class was as good as it seems and they progress it doesn't leave much room for 2021 picks. If we are right does that mean BB consolidates picks to move up or push to next year, maybe a bit of both. Is this considered a strong draft? I am thinking they will come away with a QB with their #15, Mac Jones should be there at 15.

 Love this offseason so far.

This was a great point by Bedard:

www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2021/03/21/nfl-notebook-cam-newton-winds-patriots-qb-pressure-will-much-work/



You can say the Patriots should adjust and tailor their scheme to Newton. That’s fine and dandy, but at some point in time — probably several times — Newton is going to have to be a dropback passer and shred the opponent. You can’t do that rolling consistently. You can’t do that using playaction and read-option fakes. You just have to get into the shotgun, decode the defense and get the right target the ball.

And this is by far Newton’s biggest weakness, and I’m not sure he can master it. In addition to hours spent working on his mechanics, Newton also needs to take hours each day working on the Patriots’ system. He should be moving into Brian Hoyer‘s house and paying him to tutor him. There’s that much work to be done.

There will be much excitement and talk about what the Patriots can do with their weapons, how the two or three (with Devin Asiasi) tight ends – to say nothing of an athletic fullback like Dan Vitale or Dalton Keene — could be huge match up issues for defenses and those matchups will dictate what play the Patriots run.

It makes sense in theory. Put safeties against the tight ends, the Patriots will run it down your throat. Put linebackers out there, look out for the passing game. That’s the way it worked here before. People are kind of forgetting that Brady orchestrated all that. Brady would see what the defense was doing, make the checks, move people around, and attack the opponent.

Marcus Mariota scored a 33 on the Wonderlic test, same as Tom Brady. Cam Newton scored a 21, 20 is seen as the bare minimum to play QB. Jimmy was 29, Stidham was 27.

I've taken it, no practice, not even knowing the rules for a job interview just out of college and got a 20. If I knew you could skip questions and it was just about getting the most right it would have been much higher.

So you have to wonder if the most complicated offensive system in football is right for Newton. Mariota looks tailored made for our system, a more accurate QB that seems perfect for a dink and dunk offense.

I have no clue, Bill just doesn't look at things like we do. He could love Mac Jones, yet what does he rate him? The guy just stays true to his draft board. As Texas said earlier, don't be surprised to see him trade up for a non QB. It's why I want Mariota because I don't have faith Bill will do what many think he will. It wouldn't shock me if he targets Mills/Mond in the 3rd-5th rounds. He's all about picking guys at slots where the value makes sense.

Go watch Mac Jones tape, it's unreal. Yet it's so crazy easy also. I have no way of decoding that tape. There was no real challenges, I love seeing what a QB does when challenged. I loved watching what Trask did when under fire against Bama and Georgia. You see his warts, yet you also see his Big Ben like traits. That crap matters because you'll always be under fire in the NFL. It's a good thing Bill is good friends with Nick Saban.

I did a mock draft. I had one other pick that was cut off Van Lanen OT Wisconsin. I traded for Indy 2022 3rd, and 2022 5ths from Denver and Washington.

Traded back twice to get Mac Jones at the end of the round then back up to get Cosmi for a tackle of the future. I wasn’t planning to take a WR but Moore is too explosive to pass up there.

I haven’t done a ton of research on this draft but this is what I did

I'm getting ready to do a mock and Aarons Banks is certainly a target for me. Figure you could always slide Onwenu back over to OT and impact guards go much lower in the draft.

I think Mac Jones range is really top 10 to top of the second round.

I've so focused on the Patriots signing Mariota because his options don't look great. I might have overlooked the most important one, the 49ers. So focused on the rumored Sam Darnold trade, I forgot he makes a ton of sense to the 49ers if they actually want to move on from Jimmy.

If the Pats feel really good about one of Trask/Mills/Mond/Newman (or really don't like Mac Jones and can't get into the Top 5), it sure makes life easier. But if they feel good about one of them they should still be aggressive and at least use a 2nd rounder, which still shortens the draft a lot. Missing that 3rd rounder for video taping actually stings.

From what I read on WEEI.com, it sounds like if the Pats can't get Jimmy G, then their hope is to trade up to get Justin Fields in the draft, that they are really, really high on him, so that's what they might wind up doing.

Whether or not they'll get a QB or whether they even do it to get a guy that WE think they could get at 15, everything seems to scream trade up. Gotta believe that, whatever their board looks like, they could move up to the next "tier" of prospects and they have the ammo (draft picks) and motivation (not a lot of roster spots) to do so.

There’s a good argument to be made for a bad team to take a QB, but I’m going to mostly focus on why these teams shouldn’t:


Jets - haven’t traded Darnold - never gave him a real chance. However, I fully expect them to take one.

Miami - just drafted Tua high in the draft last year. It’s basically giving up on him already after a weird COVID year. However, last chance that are drafting this high so maybe they feel the need to cover their asses.

Atlanta - they extended Ryan to create cap space. They need to try and compete - if it doesn’t work they’ll be drafting high again. I don’t think they take a QB. Definite trade back candidate.

Cincy - not taking QB

Philly - certainly could but I think they like Hurts and it make little sense to repeat the mistake with Wentz by using a top 6 pick on a QB - makes more sense to try and build around the young guy you have.

Detroit - they wanted Goff they won’t use a top 7 pick on a QB before he even plays.

Carolina - it’s hard for me to argue in favor of Teddy B and they’ve been rumored in on Watson - they’ll target a QB if they can get one they like.

Denver - QB team.

Dallas - no

Giants - maybe, but I think they ride another year with Jones

San Fran a possibly, but makes sense to add talent to a team that if healthy can compete.

Chargers - no

Vikings - doubtful - too much money tied up in Cousins.