Vicariously Patriots: 2020 NFL Draft

Showing posts with label 2020 NFL Draft. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Packers take the Beatles advice on Draft Day, "All You Need Is Love!"

Aaron Rodgers saw one of the Best years of his career in 2016. He completed 65.7% of his passes and threw for 40 touchdowns. Rodgers touchdown percentage that season was a decent 6.6%, and In 2017 Rodgers only played in 7 games but his completion percentage fell to 64.7 while his touch percentage improved to 6.7%.

In 2018 Aaron's numbers dipped. He finished the year with a 62.3 completion percentage rate and a touchdown percentage of 4.2%. In 2019 the Packers went 13-3 but Rodgers numbers still weren't good as he only completed 62% of his passes and his touchdown percentage only increased to 4.2%.

Excluding the 2013 and 2017 seasons, Rodgers has thrown nearly 600 attempts a year since 2008. After two significant collar bone injuries, a dip in keys stats and the fact that the quarterback will be 37 in December, The Packers made a move.

I am not a packers and don't know whether or not the stat drop was due to extenuating circumstances. I'm also not going to pretend like I know if he's the same player he was prior to his injury. Nor do I know who's responsible for the Packers 2019 record.

Shane Mickle of Clutch point wrote "The Green Bay Packers have selected former Utah State Aggies quarterback Jordan Love with the No. 26 overall pick in the NFL Draft after a trade with the Miami Dolphins." This was shocking to many around the world.

"Aaron Rodgers in March on the possibility of the Packers drafting a quarterback: "No matter who you bring in, they're not going to be able to beat me out anytime soon." Tweeted Field Yates of ESPN at 1127 pm, probably right after the the Packers picked Love.

I am sure Aaron Rodgers has some strong feelings about this and it looks we'll get to find out soon enough, As Nico Beato of Clutch Point wrote in an article "Prior to the draft, Rodgers stated in the Pat McAfee Show that he will be the first to welcome the Packers’ newest member with a phone call. In light of recent developments, however, it will be very interesting on how the current dynamic plays out in Green Bay."

Two questions many have going forward are, Will Rodgers swallow his pride and mentor Love, and two will he be humble enough to make that phone call?

Packer fans for along time have fought with Patriots' fans over who's the G.O.A.T., Now that Rodgers has his "Heir Apparent", let's see him out play his contract and force the Packers to fall out of "Love" with Love. That's a G.O.A.T. move. Is Rodgers up to the task?

I doubt it, read what Mickle wrote on Love. "Jordan Love looks an NFL quarterback and has good mobility and athleticism that will help him in the NFL. Love will stay in the pocket, but he is also strong on the run and can make accurate throws. He has a quick release and his throwing motion is clear. He also has a strong arm and he knows it. He will air it out with great accuracy.

The big knocks on his game have to do with some football IQ. After the snap, he sometimes fails to read defenses changing which could account for some of his interceptions during the 2019 season. He can hit the deep ball, but at times he is too aggressive and will try to force the ball a place it probably shouldn’t go."

Love's risks remind me of Rodgers some how.

If the Packers can develop Love and put him in a situation where they can avoid his risks, Love might end up being a good quarterback. This is a big gamble but will it payoff, or did the Dolphins just sucker the Packers?

Monday, April 13, 2020

A Sleeper Pick At Quarterback For Day Three In New England

Cole McDonald completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 8,032 yards, with 70 touchdowns and 24 interceptions at Hawaii. McDonald had to split time his final year and chose to leave school early. McDonald is the dangerous kind of quarterback. He is a pocket quarterback with the ability to run and he showed that at the NFL Combine.

Cole had the fastest forty at the combine, running a 4.58-second 40-yard dash. In 33 games McDonald rushed for 880 yards and 12 touchdowns on a 3.5 yard average. McDonald also had a 36" vertical jump, a 7.13 three cone and 4.52 20 hard shuttle.

Anyone who has followed Hawaii knows McDonald can throw the ball well in wet conditions and is a great leader on the field. McDonald has good Intelligence but needs some work on his mechanics. McDonald could make a tall slot or flanker receiver if he wanted to change positions.

"Big frame and a strong arm. Has ideal size for the position. In the run-and-shoot offense, McDonald is a natural when it comes to making the most of his size by pushing the ball down the field with distance and velocity. He’s a fearless thrower who will challenge coverages and take the chances necessary to win football games. Has a good sense of pressure and knows when to bail on a pocket." - Sikkema TDN

"McDonald has plenty of NFL traits. He has prototypical size for a pocket passer and good arm talent for the NFL level, capable of maintaining zip on the ball on off-platform throws. He’s also a pretty good athlete, capable of extending plays and a threat to scramble for yardage. He’s an anticipatory thrower who’s more than willing to test tight windows. He’ll stare down the gun barrel and absorb contact as he throws. Cole McDonald certainly looks the part when comparing him to other quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Hawaii signal-caller has the size and arm talent necessary to succeed at the next level. But he's far from a finished project and will need to find a team that's willing to refine his mechanics while living with his gunslinger mentality." - Athlon Sports

"Cole McDonald projects as a developmental quarterback at the NFL level. McDonald has several desirable traits, including flashes of arm talent, athleticism and the size of a prototypical passer — but he is a point and shoot passer by design in Hawaii's Run-N-Shoot offense. The mental side of the game is going to need to be reconstructed from the foundation and as such McDonald should be considered a low risk, high reward prospect late in the NFL Draft. Great tools but a long way out." - Crabbs TDN

Getting to develop behind Brian Hoyer in a Josh McDaniels system would help any flaws McDaniels has. Stidham spent a year learning behind Tom Brady and could pass off any positives picked up from Brady on to McDonald. The Patriots have better receivers than the 2019 Warriors fielded and because the Patriots don't throw the ball deep on almost every play, McDonald's accuracy would improve greatly.

"If you want a low-risk long-term project, Cole McDonald is your guy. His work ethic and love for the game are unmatched, and teams will surely fall in love with that.

His playstyle is perfectly applicable to the current NFL landscape, and at worst he can be a backup for many years to come. The fact he played for a small school is clearly a concern for most, but I don’t think it’s a big deal at all. In games against higher competition, he seemed fairly comfortable and showed his arm talent transferred at that next level.

There’s obvious talent here. He has much more talent and a higher ceiling than most are giving him credit for. In a couple of years, McDonald could be a legitimate fringe starter in the league. A team would be wise to use a mid to late-round flyer on him as they might’ve just found the next diamond in the rough." - Xaiver Aguiar

"If Grier, a quarterback with vastly inferior arm talent to that of McDonald, can land in the top-100 of the draft, then there is no reason that the Rainbow Warrior himself should not merit the same recognition. Sure, McDonald can be a bit reckless with the ball far too often, but with some solid coaching around him, some team may be able to sharpen him into a solid NFL quarterback in the near future." - Cory Kinnan

Go Bows 🌈

Friday, March 13, 2020

My 140 man Patriots 2020 NFL Draft Big Board

The Patriots have a lot of needs and even more uncertainty as the off season grows near. Tom Brady is gone, McCourty and Slater resigned. Gostkowski was cut.The Patriots been signing special teamers but all three phases of the game are at risk. There is plenty of depth but the team needs starters. The Patriots could go after big names or the players considered the the top athletes in this draft or coronavirus willing, they could go after the best fits in the draft based on team needs.

I have heard people wanting top tier talent. People also want legacy players such as Jacob Eason or Thaddeus Moss. While Tony Eason and Randy Moss had their moment in the sun, are their kids on the same level? One thing is for certain, Bill Belichick is going to do him. That means nobody knows anything until it happens and then even that's not a guarantee.

The Patriots have no tight end core. Hightower is the only star linebacker. The defensive backfield is old. The middle of the defensive line is open. The offensive line needs depth to compete with Cajuste and Froholdt. The Patriots need a deep ball receiver, and nobody is kicking threes.

With that said, Here is my Patriots big board for the best fits in the 2020 draft and the draft network link. Yes, I finally ranked all 140 players. There are a lot of names people are going to be looking for, that you won't find. There were maybe 5 players not available on the site, That I wanted to add. If you want to know who they are, go back and read my earlier two blogs where I talked about 2020 offensive, defensive, and special team Prospects.

I started with Draft Network's ranking and then moved guys down if they were higher than the guy a head of them on my list. There were some last minute additions and thus they're much lower than on normal lists.Grade my board and give me some feedback, please.

To Start, here are where I ranked the Top position players on the Board:

1) Ross Blacklock IDL from TCU

2) KJ Hamler WR from Penn St

4) Malik Harrison LB from Ohio St

6) Jalen Hurts QB from OKU

8) Darrell Taylor Edge from Tennessee

9) Natane Muti IOL from Fresno St

18) Julian Blackmon S from Utah

21) Lamar Jackson CB from Nebraska

22) Albert okwuegbunam TE from Missouri

44) Calvin Throckmorton OT from Oregon

103) Jonathan Song K from TCU