Ugh, the Monday after the draft. It's going to be a long two plus months before training camp opens with only mini-camp providing any kind of Patriots related excitement. But we've got some new players, the defense has gotten younger and things are looking promising for the upcoming season.
One thing I just have to laugh at is all the talk on Patriots Fan boards and on sites like SI.com is talk that the Patriots "reached" for some of their picks. First off I don't really care what the "draftniks" say. When it comes to evaluating talent I'll take Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli's opinion over Mel Kiper, Mark Schelereth, and of course Matt Millen any time. And what do these complaining fans know about evaluating football talent and projecting it into a pro scheme? The Patriots gave Pats fans everything they've been asking for this year - linebackers and cornerbacks. I love the selection of a quarterback. Why not? Brady isn't playing forever and as we saw with Drew Bledsoe it never hurts to have a good backup. All the complaining is just ridiculous and goes to show some people only follow pro sports so they can piss and moan about whatever the team does outside of winning games. I hate to say it but Boston might be the capital of that.
Regardless, this years draft is just another example of how I think the current Pats front office plans on being there for a while. Sorry NFL... On to a Rookie Free Agent edition of linkage...
The Pats have made some URFA signings already, the most intriguing of which so far looks to be Vince Redd, an OLB from Liberty. From SI.com:
Vince Redd, OLB, Liberty: Redd is an imposing defender who looks like a man amongst boys on the field. Twenty NFL teams have worked out Redd, a prospect who can play outside linebacker or defensive end. Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage made a special trip to scout Redd at his first pro-day workout.
Other URFA:
For those of you with some free time check out Bill Belichick's draft recap news conference on Patriots.com. If you listen carefully you can notice when Judas Tomase asks questions and the fire of hatred ignites in BB's eyes. His answers were especially short and pointed on all Tomase's questions. I can't even imagine what it must be like to walk into Foxboro for him these days.
Blog master Mike Reiss has five follow-up thoughts on the Pats draft.
New pick Matt Slater comes from a football family.
Kevin O'Connell fully plans on taking the starting QB position from Tom Brady. Or not.
The Boston Globe sums up the Pats picks with big, pretty pictures.
Reiss also tells us why the Pats did what they did this weekend. As if you needed reasons...
Chris Gasper sums up why Mayo was the first-round pick.
Rumors are swirling that Junior Seau would like to return for another year with the Pats. Can't say this enough... I would love love love to have Seau back. With Hobson and Mayo the ILB corps will be much improved from '07.
Keywords: New England Patriots Draft Jerod Mayo
