Patriots 2016 Draft Picks

• 2nd Round (60): Cyrus Jones, CB, Alabama
• 3rd Round (78): Joe Thuney, OL, North Carolina State
• 3rd Round (91): Jacoby Brissett, QB, North Carolina State
• 3rd Round (96): Vincent Valentine, DT, Nebraska
• 4th Round (112): Malcolm Mitchell, WR, Georgia
• 6th Round (208): Kamu Grugier-Hill, CB, Eastern Illinois
• 6th Round (214): Elandon Roberts, LB, Houston
• 6th Round (221): Ted Karras, OL, Illinois
• 7th Round (225): Devin Lucien, WR, Arizona State

Players Patriots Should Draft

Once tonight's 1st round is over, the Patriots will be allowed to draft players.  Hooray.  They currently own the following picks...

2nd - 60 overall
2nd - 61
3rd - 91
3rd - 96
6th - 196
6th - 204
6th - 208
6th - 214
6th - 221
7th - 243
7th - 250

With those early ones they should go after...

• RB - C.J. Prosise, Notre Dame
• WR - Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh
• OL - Jason Spriggs, Indiana
• DL - Kenny Clark, UCLA
• CB - Sean Davis, Maryland

Enjoy the draft!

R.I.P. Lawrence Phillips

Former Nebraska RB and #6 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, Lawrence Phillips, was found dead in his jail cell early this morning.  (He was facing murder charges of his "former" cellmate...)  Phillips was 40.

Also one of the first ridiculous college football players I remember watching.  He was insanely good, and as it turns out, just insane. So R.I.P. to Lawrence Phillips, one of our favorites here at The Brief. And R.I.P. to Joe Thiesmann's draft night analysis of the pick.

Patriots 2015 Draft Picks

• 1st Round (#32): Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
• 2nd Round (#64): Jordan Richards, S, Stanford
• 3rd Round (#97): Geneo Grissom, DE/OLB, Oklahoma
• 4th Round (#101): Trey Williams, DE, Arkansas
• 4th Round (#111): Tre Jackson, OL, Florida State
• 4th Round (#131): Shaq Mason, C, Georgia Tech
• 5th Round (#166): Joe Cardona, LS, Navy
• 6th Round (#178): Matt Wells, OLB, Mississippi State
• 6th Round (#202): A.J. Derby, TE, Arkansas
• 7th Round (#247): Darryl Roberts, CB, Marshall
• 7th Round (#253): Xzavier Dickson, DE, Alabama

Patriots Potential Pick at 32

The Patriots own the last pick of the 1st round (32nd overall) in the NFL Draft which kicks off on Thursday night.  They will probably trade it for more 2nds, but let's say they use it.  Here's who they could take at each position that would likely be available... (or even later if they do trade back).

• CB - Marcus Peters, Washington
• DL - Eddie Goldman, Florida State
• LB/S - Shaq Thompson, Washington
• S - Jarquiski Tartt, Samford
• OT - T.J. Clemmings, Pittsburgh
• OG/C - Ali Marpet, Hobart
• RB - Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
• WR - Dorial Green-Beckham, Missouri
• DE/OLB - Mario Edwards, Jr., Florida State

So, we know, it won't be any of those guys.  

Players Attending The NFL Draft

• Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon
• Vic Beasley, DE, Clemson
• La'el Collins, OT, LSU
• Landon Collins, S, Alabama
• Bud Dupree, LB, Kentucky
• Cameron Erving, OT, Florida State
• Dante Fowler, Jr., DE, Florida
• Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
• Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska
• Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
• D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
• Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
• Byron Jones, CB, UConn
• Benardrick McKinney, LB, Mississippi State
• DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
• Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
• Breshad Perriman, WR, Central Florida
• Shane Ray, DE, Missouri
• Brandon Schreff, OT, Iowa
• Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
• Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State
• Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
• Laken Tomlinson, G, Duke
• Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
• Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
• Leonard Williams, DT, USC

Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston declined invitations, these 26 players will attend and 0 QBs.

Position Breakdown:

OL: 6

DE: 5

WR: 5

CB: 3

LB: 2

DT: 2

RB: 2

S: 1

Patriots 2015 Draft Picks

With the compensatory picks being announced tonight here is where the Patriots stand for April/May's NFL Draft.

1st (32)
2nd (64)
3rd (96)
3rd (97, compensatory)
4th (101)
4th (131)
6th (177)
7th (219)
7th (253, compensatory)

Patriots 2015 Draft Picks

1st Round (32nd Overall)
2nd Round (64th Overall)
3rd Round (96th Overall)
3rd Round (Compensatory, Projected)
4th Round (Via TB – Logan Mankins)
4th Round (Assigned)
6th Round (Via TB – Jonathan Casillas)
7th Round (Via TEN – Akeem Ayers)
7th Round (Via HOU – Ryan Mallett)



Needs?  
OG, RB, S, TE, K (if they do not re-sign Gostkowski)

Patriots 2014 Draft Picks

1st (29): Dominique Easley, DL, Florida

2nd (62): Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois

4th (105): Bryan Stork, C, Florida State

4th (130): James White, RB, Wisconsin 

4th (140): Cameron Fleming, OT, Stanford

6th (179): Jon Halapio, G, Florida

6th (198): Zach Moore, DE, Concordia

6th (206): Jemea Thomas, S, Georgia Tech

7th (244): Jeremy Gallon, WR, Michigan

Patriots Trade 3rd Round Pick to Jacksonville

Boo.

Pats deal #93 to the Jags for #105 and #179

Patriots Draft Going Into The Weekend:

1st (29) - Dominique Easley, DT, Florida
2nd (62) - Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, Eastern Illinois

4th (105)
4th (130)
4th (140)
6th (179)
6th (198)
6th (206)
7th (244)

Patriots Select Eastern Illinois QB Jimmy Garoppolo at #62

Patriots Select Florida DL Dominique Easley at #29

5 Best & Worst Patriots Draft Picks of the last 5 Years

The jury is still out (as they say) on most of these guys, especially those from the 2013 draft.  But as I see it these are the 5 best and 5 worst of the last 5 years.  Taking into account where they were picked and just how good or bad they were/are. 

5 BEST

1. Rob Gronkowski (2010 - 2nd Round, 42 overall)

The injuries stink but he's the best TE in the NFL when he's on the field. Hard to beat in Round 2. 

2. Julien Edelman (2009 - 7th Round, 232 overall)

He didn't get real good until after his rookie deal expired but still points for getting him in the 7th. 100 catch, 1,000 yards is nothing to sneeze at. 

3. Sebastian Vollmer (2009 - 2nd Round, 58 overall)

Some injury concern but getting a solid, starting o-tackle in round 2 is impressive when most teams use Top 10 picks on them. 

4. Nate Solder (2011 - 1st Round, 17 overall)

The pick they got from the Raiders for Richard Seymour.  Surprised they held on to it, but Solder seems legit. 

5. Devin McCourty (2010 - 1st Round, 28 overall)

Pro Bowl CB as a rookie then a terrible CB and now a solid safety.  I'll take it. 

5 WORST

1. Ras-I Dowling (2011 - 2nd Round, 33 overall)

The 1st pick of the 2nd round. Dubbed Ras-IR Dowling, he never played. (8 games). Awful.  

2. Ron Brace (2009 - 2nd Round, 40 overall)

Did you know he played 39 games?  Me either. 

3. Brandon Tate (2009 - 3rd Round, 83 overall)

He was picked 1 spot ahead of Mike Wallace. 

4. Tavon Wilson (2012 - 2nd Round, 48 overall)

Surprised everyone. That's not always a good thing. 

5. Patrick Chung (2009 - 2nd Round, 34 overall)

He wasn't the worst but after trading Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel you hoped for something better.  

Honorable Mention Worst:

Darius Butler

Tyrone McKenzie

Jermaine Cunningham

Taylor Price

Ryan Mallett

Jake Bequette

Duron Harmon

And in a bizarre turn of events Aaron Hernandez probably belongs on both lists.  So I decided to just leave him off all together. 

Players I Like And Some I Don't In The NFL Draft

Round 1 of the NFL Draft is Thursday night at 8:00pm

Round 2 and 3 = Friday 7:00pm

Rounds 4-7 = Saturday 12:00pm

Some (15) players I like...

Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo
Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh
Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA
Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LSU
Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State
Jimmie Ward, S, Northern Illinois
Marqise Lee, WR, USC
Dri Archer, RB, Kent State
Bruce Ellington, WR, South Carolina
Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska

Some (10) players I don't like:

Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama
Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State
Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
Cody Latimer, WR, Indiana
Tom Savage, QB, Pittsburgh
Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
C.J. Mosley, LB Alabama
Andre Williams, RB, Boston College

NFL Draft Green Room

30 draft hopefuls will be in the house on Thursday night for Round 1 of the NFL Draft.  There are only 32 picks on night one, so I'm hoping a lot of these dudes got multiple nights in their hotel rooms.  

That's a LONG night.   Even Aaron Rodgers and Brady Quinn didn't have to sleep over.  You think Teddy Bridgewater is thrilled with his decision?  (Hint: He won't be.)

But good luck to these gentlemen:

Sports On Top Of Sports On TV: What Do You Do?

Your Big 4 sports are all in action tonight.  Your move.

NFL Draft - 1st Round (NFL Network/ ESPN)

Red Sox (Clay Buchholz) vs. Houston Astros (NESN)

Bruins vs. Tampa Lightning (NESN+)

NBA Playoffs
Heat vs. Bucks - Game 3 (TNT)
Nets vs. Bulls - Game 3 (NBA TV)
Clippers vs. Grizzlies - Game 3 (TNT)

Decision time.  For me it's not close.  I'm a Draft guy.  NFL and NBA, two of the best events on the calender.  But for the Pats-Fan-Layman you're not going to have much action for awhile.  1st round starts at 8:00pm, Pats have the 29th pick, that'll be post Sox and B's.

I'd go Draft, Sox (because I own Buchholz in Fantasy), NBA playoffs, and then last the Bruins.  3 games left in the regular season and we all just want the playoffs to begin, especially the Bruin players.  They've been bad. 

Good luck to you and yours.


Keefe