ESPN.com -- "Belichick is NFL's master draft pickpocket"
Smithee
Bill Belichick seems like the kind of schemer who'll find a way to win
somebody else's solitaire game.
The dude is shrewd.
Like a grifter who knows he can't hover in one place too long,
Belichick has drifted around the league through the first two days of
the draft, working his hustle in the Carolinas, out in the desert, up
in the Rocky Mountains, along the gulf and in the Bay Area.
Belichick made six trades within five divisions, collecting more draft
picks while somehow managing to improve the average value of each
selection.
The New England Ponztriots have peddled eight draft picks so far and
accumulated 10, including the Carolina Panthers' second-round choice
next year. If we assign that pick a middling value of 48th overall,
then the average draft position of the picks the Patriots acquired the
past two days is 70.3. The average slot of the picks they surrendered
was 84.7.
I'm not saying The Hoodie hoodwinked everybody, but when the Patriots
can gather more picks and earlier in the order, his elaborate process
sure looks like a swindle.
The operation is fascinating to follow -- if you can. To some, it's
more like trying to find the red queen in a three-card monte game.
"I mean, some of those guys I don't know how they know where the hell
they draft," Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix said Friday
night. "If we know we're going to gain an advantage, we'll do it.
Otherwise, we'll just stay there and try to get us a good player."
New England continues to massage its roster by masterfully
accumulating draft picks in a way that's difficult to comprehend.
Belichick should conduct seminars to teach other front offices how to
pull it off. Maybe charge them a second-rounder.
The Patriots' main AFC East competition has been headhunting. The New
York Jets are assembling a supergroup of veterans to make a run at the
Super Bowl. The Miami Dolphins have made two of the offseason's
sexiest individual moves, signing linebacker Karlos Dansby and trading
for receiver Brandon Marshall.
The Patriots, meanwhile, have tried to maintain success by re-signing
their own players, adding a couple of complementary free agents and
stockpiling draft picks with methodology other teams either aren't
savvy enough to implement or simply don't have the patience to grind
out.
The Patriots went into the draft with the most selections. Part of
that was because they received a league-high four compensatory picks,
which cannot be traded.
Even without those picks, the Patriots dominated the draft order. They
went into Friday with a league-high three second-round selections.
They made three, but only one in the spot they owned when the night
began. They spun them into more assets and along the way probably
duped the Jacksonville Jaguars into footing the tab for the draft room
catering.
They drafted Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski, Florida outside
linebacker Jermaine Cunningham and Florida inside linebacker Brandon
Spikes in the second round and Ohio receiver Taylor Price in the third
round.
"There was quite a bit of movement, of course, with us moving up and
then moving back," Belichick said late Friday night. "We ended up
taking the three second-rounders, not quite where we started, but
still in that round, and then gained that extra third-round pick which
is now a second-round pick next year.
"We felt that was good value in making that trade there with, uh, who
was it? Arizona?"
Hard to say. I have the entire list of trades here in front of me, and
I can't tell you which trade Belichick was referring to. The past two
days they've found willing trade partners with the Denver Broncos,
Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys and
Panthers.
This year's draft still has four rounds left, and already the Patriots
have two picks in each of the first two rounds in 2011.
New England previously acquired Oakland's 2011 first-round pick for
defensive end Richard Seymour. On Saturday, New England dealt a third-
round pick, 89th overall, which it obtained from Arizona, for
Carolina's second-round pick next year.
By 2016 they'll own the entire second round and 12 picks in the third.
"We should continue to be able to replenish the team with the assets
we have next year," Belichick said, "and I feel like we certainly
improved our team today and yesterday with the five picks we made."
It's a scheme with which Belichick intends to keep the Patriots atop
the NFL's food pyramid for years to come.
Remy McSwain
news:51a4ee0f-f8f9-41e5...@g11g2000yqe.googlegroups.com,
Smithee <ssmit...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13115/belichick-is-nfls-master-draft-pickpocket
>
> Bill Belichick seems like the kind of schemer who'll find a way
> to win somebody else's solitaire game.
He might be adept at improving the Pats draft position, but then he
blows it with mediocre drafting, at best. I'd rather have a guy who
simply stands pat, and does a great job of drafting.
Ray OHara
"Remy McSwain" <Paradi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:aLGdnZHw3t9UOUjW...@giganews.com...
the Pats haven't been successful enough for you?
Remy McSwain
Ray OHara
I'd say his players selection works out fine.
Remy McSwain
Ray OHara <raymon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> "Remy McSwain" <Paradi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:jPidnQwzCL1sfEjW...@giganews.com...
>> In news:hr4dir$24d$1...@news.eternal-september.org,
>> Ray OHara <raymon...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> "Remy McSwain" <Paradi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:aLGdnZHw3t9UOUjW...@giganews.com...
>>>> In
>>>> news:51a4ee0f-f8f9-41e5...@g11g2000yqe.googlegroups.com,
>>>> Smithee <ssmit...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13115/belichick-is-nfls-master-draft-pickpocket
>>>>>
>>>>> Bill Belichick seems like the kind of schemer who'll find a
>>>>> way to win somebody else's solitaire game.
>>>>
>>>> He might be adept at improving the Pats draft position, but
>>>> then he blows it with mediocre drafting, at best. I'd rather
>>>> have a guy who simply stands pat, and does a great job of
>>>> drafting.
>>>
>>>
>>> the Pats haven't been successful enough for you?
>>
>> Most certainly they have been. Why do you ask?
>>
>
> I'd say his players selection works out fine.
That's fine, but I disagree. I think that BB has his pluses, and
has his minuses too. I know that it's heresy to say so in some
quarters, but I'll take that chance. My point is that while I think
BB is near genius at game planning, and at getting his players to
understand not only the game specific plan, but also the overall
team approach to football, I also think that after the first couple
of yeas at the Pats, and for whatever reason both the Pats drafts,
and their free agent signings (a la Thomas), have been mediocre, at
best. Moreover, I think the slide in the teams fortunes despite
always having very many draft picks, is evidence of that point.
Ray, I think the notion that as long as the team is winning, the
fans should keep their specific concerns and criticisms to
themselves is a bit silly. There might well be a very compelling
argument that I'm wrong here. But I've yet to see it.