The NFL Draft: Here We Go Again
I think I'll start my draft research today. I've gotten plenty of questions about specific prospects but I don't pay any attention to college football or the draft until now, when the Pats' season is over.
I find that three-plus months is more than enough time for the goat rodeo that goes on each spring. There are plenty of draftniks out there that study far more film than I do and they do it year-round.
I don't claim to be an expert at scouting, I only claim to understand the kind of players that fit the Patriots scheme and the kind of players that they look for. If you want to see how I've done in each of the last three seasons with my Patriots draft board, you can find out here: 2011, 2012, 2013.
Draft analysis has almost become a competitive sport at this point, but I just try to do it for myself for fun. People get so attached to prospects, angered at random mock drafts, or into vehement arguments regarding who will be drafted where. At the end of the draft, almost everyone is 90% wrong about everything.
Here's a secret - even the NFL teams don't really know what they're doing, much less the countless amateur draftniks out there. Again, I don't want to take away from all the hard work that many out there do, but trying to predict the completely unpredictable and then getting mad about those who disagree is silly.
A huge percentage of these prospects we spend so much time debating will be out of the NFL in a matter of years, if not months. And that one player you love for the Patriots? Yeah, they're probably not going to draft him.
So let's just try to have fun with it. My favorite part of the draft is when it's over and the speculation is done. The Pats will have a handful of rookies and then we can dive into the real analysis.
I'll be focusing on free agency in most of the posts here in the coming weeks, while slowly crafting my big board. "Needs" at this point are pointless in relation to the draft. The Pats will fill every hole they have in free agency so they're free to take the best player available in the draft.
So our focus will remain mostly on free agency for now but the time has come once again to hit the draft pipe...
