Cursed To First - Sox and Pats forever.

Patriots by position: CB

The Patriots lack a true shutdown corner on a par with Champ Bailey or Ty Law in his heyday. However, they actually have seven cornerbacks on the roster, and restocked at this position during free agency with the signing of Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden.

Both are unknown quantities at this point, with Springs having started only half the games on the Washington Redskins' schedule in 2008 and Bodden claiming the dubious honor of having contributed to the Detroit Lions' record-breaking 0-15 season last year.

The Pats also currently have Ellis Hobbs, not even close to the top corner in the league but familiar with the system and able to make plays from time to time.

Further down the depth chart, on special teams, Mike Richardson, drafted by the Patriots in 2007, has been slowly making his way to the active roster from the practice squad, and lead special teams in tackles last year. Antwain Spann has been a similar story since the Patriots signed him as a free agent in January 2006.

It would be easy to overlook the biggest wild card the Patriots currently have at cornerback: Terrence Wheatley, one of the many Patriots DBs bit by the injury bug after the Patriots drafted him in the second round last year. He showed promising signs in his first NFL start against the Colts last November, standing between Peyton Manning and deep completions to Marvin Harrison before leaving with a wrist injury that had him on IR two weeks later.

While a standout has yet to emerge among Patriots cornerbacks, I believe the team will save their draft picks for linebackers, defensive ends or safeties rather than looking to strike gold at the corner position. As a fan, I'm also hoping for a breakout year from Wheatley.

Patriots by position: OT

Offensive linemen, and particularly offensive left tackles, are among the most important players on the field. If it wasn't for their needs at linebacker and defensive back, I'd say the Patriots should use their draft picks to build this unit for the future.

The pipe dream pick in the first round for me would be Michael Oher, star of the excellent Michael Lewis book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. The book examines the development of football players from high school through the college recruiting process, and also tells Oher's extraordinary life story--he was essentially homeless and illiterate until he was taken in by a family during his high school years.

In the football world, even at the college level, the 6'5", 315-pound Oher is seen as a freak of nature, not only outsized but perfectly, almost preternaturally built to be an offensive lineman, with long arms and a low center of gravity in solidly built hips.

Most mock drafts project Oher will go to the Washington Redskins. Most mock drafts also project that the Patriots will use their first round pick to select a linebacker.

As with most positions on offense, this year, offensive tackle is a position to rebuild for the future, if at all, and to be frank, the Patriots would probably select a player with a reputation for being a bit more, er, cerebral than Oher.

Even the Patriots.com mock draft doesn't show the Patriots using any of their picks to add to the offensive line. I also highly doubt they'd spend any more in free agency on a new left tackle with Matt Light still serviceable and familiar with that position.

However, one mock draft I came across shows the Patriots picking Oregon Duck offensive lineman Max Unger. It appears Unger has spent most of his time in college playing center, but he'll occasionally move out to left tackle. Like many college players, Unger will probably move positions in the pros due to his size--6'5", 285.

I'm also intrigued by the potential of a former center, or possible substitute center, playing left tackle. Offensive line is a cerebral position, and center is the most demanding. A college player who could handle the center role would be a great addition to a Belichick offense at tackle.

Patriots by position: Quarterback

This post kicks off our series leading up to Draft Day evaluating the Patriots' needs and prospective strategies at each position on the roster. Today, we're starting with quarterbacks.

Obviously, with Tom Brady coming back, the role of starter is presumably filled. At the very least, he will be given quite a long time to make a comeback, and I don't foresee anyone else having a realistic shot at the starting spot. I also think it should be Brady's position to lose.

However, with the trade of Matt Cassel, the Patriots obviously need a backup. They have, in recent history, had great luck with their backup QBs, from Tom Brady himself to the highly professional Damon Huard to Cassel, who proved himself starting-caliber last year.

This offseason, the Patriots have a few possibilities in both free agency and the draft to try to continue that streak and fill the backup spot. As Brent mentioned yesterday, a potential draft solution to the backup QB problem, Pat White, was brought in by the Patriots for a workout this week. The senior at West Virginia University is not only a serviceable quarterback, but has also put in time at running back and wide receiver. The same football team that has employed Troy Brown must like the prospect of that--even if he rides the pine as a backup QB, he could potentially be put to work elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in free agency, there's Patrick Ramsey, whom the Boston Globe's Mike Reiss reported was also brought in by the Patriots for a visit in early March. Ramsey was jerked around for a while by Joe Gibbs and the Washington Redskins, going from backup to starter to backup again, before heading to the Bears and the Jets, who released him last fall. Since this isn't a position of glaring need for the Patriots, I don't underestimate the appeal to Bill Belichick of simply getting some inside info from a former player for the hated rival.

But between the big defensive needs and ongoing Julius Peppers intrigue, not to mention the salary-cap drama that could follow a Peppers signing vis a vis Wilfork and Seymour, I don't think the Patriots should waste a draft pick on this. A more veteran presence as a backup QB would be a nice to have, but the team also shouldn't spend overmuch--there's already Kevin O'Connell, whom you might remember being suggested as a replacement for Cassel even last season. Personally, I'd be just as happy to see O'Connell move up the depth chart--like Brady and Cassel before him, he's already been raised in the system.

Thank you, Matt Cassel

The first thing is to be grateful to Matt Cassel. For his hard work, not just over the past year, but over the three years that preceded it. That's the harder work--you're the backup to a legend, you don't foresee ever having to put the knowledge into action--and you pay attention anyway. You absorb and learn. That's a voluntary act that Cassel went through, not knowing if it would ever come to fruition. We should have a huge appreciation for that.

And we should also appreciate what he did on the field. He had a great coaching staff and the principal QB to advise him from the sidelines, but he was the only one who could go out and actually stare into the eyes of the defensive line on the other side. At a certain juncture, it was just Cassel vs. the expectations and the other team, in a situation where nobody necessarily expected him to do much. And he performed beautifully.

Clearly, he's an asset to any team who employs him. If we didn't already have an MVP at quarterback, we'd undoubtedly consider him our franchise QB going forward. 

So. Our team and its scouting and coaching staff have produced two relatively unknown quarterbacks who sat on the sidelines and then responded with aplomb when the lights were brightest. Is this lightning striking twice? Or should we expect the same from the next Cassel, whoever he is?

What we know is that our team has a lot of needs right now, and one of them is not at quarterback (ostensibly). Meanwhile, Mike Reiss has made some interesting arguments in favor of the trade that sent two mainstays of the 2008 Patriots to the Kansas City Chiefs (where Scott Pioli is currently employed) for a single second round draft pick. He says the team got the best value for Cassel given the state of the market and Cassel's franchise-tag salary.

Many fans, though, aren't buying it. Comments on Reiss's posts have veered into the hostile. In a poll on the site, 29.1% voted "This trade is terrible. There was no way KC could have gotten someone as good as Cassel with the 34th overall pick. And to lose Vrabel too? I am livid ... the Pats made a huge mistake."

But, interestingly, that's not the top vote. It runs second to the top finisher, with 34.1%, "Like the deal or not, the bottom line is this trade frees up cap space to make whatever moves they want. I'm expecting something big from the Pats in the coming days."

Right now, it's an unfinished story. The glass is either half empty, or half full.

Patriots riddled with question marks for 2008

With the number of questions that the Patriots face in the wake of their Super Bowl loss to the Giants, I'm amazed people are still even bothering with...what should we call it? Belichick Left the Field a Second Too Early-Gate?

Here are a few that have occurred to me when football finally wormed its way back into my brain after a good week or so of trying to block it out.

Please note: none of these questions will address all the Congress / NFL investigation stuff, which I'm not going to get into any more until more information comes out.

1.�What's the game plan for next season, Coach? After the Patriots lost to the Colts in the 2007 AFC Championship Game, Belichick went on the warpath with his players about conditioning, endurance, and staying mentally committed through 60 minutes of football. These improvements created a perfect regular season, but the Patriots looked flat and the offensive line completely physically overmatched in the Super Bowl. Was the idea sound, and the execution not up to par in the end? Or did the perfect regular season take a toll? How do the Patriots regroup strategically and what can they learn from this experience, similar to the way they learned from the loss to the Colts?

2. How do we fill the holes? As Jamie already wrote, the Patriots have a slew of players eligible for free agency now that the season's over. Some of them are also eligible for retirement, and it's hard to ignore how the median age of the defense has crept up. The Patriots have traditionally shunned building through the draft for the short-term; will that philosophy be modified this year to get a youth movement going? At this juncture the Patriots would do well to follow the example of the Red Sox, and focus on developing more young talent for the next generation of Patriots football. In the meantime, the most crucial free agent question: does Asante stay or go?

3. What's the future for Tom Brady? It's clear opponents have determined that eliminating Brady is the key to defeating the Patriots. It's also clear that given the unanimous enmity the league seems to feel toward the Patriots, most teams will have no problem at least attempting to re-enact the Giants' blitzing performance when next they line up against the Pats.

Meanwhile, Brady has already racked up nagging injuries including shoulder separation, knee sprains, ankle sprains and a sports hernia. He's mobile in the pocket but not a scrambling quarterback; it's easy to say the Patriots should just get some better offensive linemen, but that unit already has veterans, Pro Bowlers and Super Bowlers alike--it's tough to figure how it�could be built better. Rather, rebalancing the offensive strategy to focus a little less on the pass might take some of the heat off Brady and improve his longevity in the league, but it's easy to see why the Patriots had no time for that idea this year with the way Brady was playing earlier in the season. So do they clip Brady's wings a bit or do they risk losing him too early, and for good?

Brady's also up for a contract extension and bump in pay, though he is signed through 2010, and the Globe points out his contract situation, regardless of which way the Patriots decide to go,�"would affect�all other offseason planning."

4. Where can we find the next Adam Vinatieri? There were, in retrospect, a number of questionable coaching decisions that affected the outcome of the Super Bowl, but none stands out more than the decision to go for the end zone rather than a field goal kick on 4th and 13. Mike Reiss points out that this decision in turn may have been influenced by�a lack of confidence in Stephen Gostkowski:

Belichick explained that there was thought given to the field goal, but he ultimately felt the kick was too long. In making that decision, he likely was factoring in Gostkowski's body of work this season, that his season-long field goal was 45 yards. Gostkowski had just one attempt from 48 yards or longer this season, a miss against the Steelers.

At the time Vinatieri was let go, the thought was that the Patriots shouldn't have so much of a dependency on the kicker; that they wouldn't get too far�relying on clutch three-pointers and instead should push for a�more solid lead.

But�with the exception of the first part of this past regular season, the Patriots have succeeded by focusing on each opponent�without looking ahead, and by doing just enough to win; this was also true of the Patriots throughout the latter half of this season. When you're playing a finesse game, three-pointers add up: the Patriots had won each of their Super Bowls by three points and lost this one by three.��

5. What's the post-mortem on the Randy Moss experiment? He behaved like a model prisoner this year...except for that little restraining-order debacle leading up to the AFC Championship Game. He broke records as a wide receiver during the regular season...and was a moping non-factor in the Super Bowl. Versatile targets like Donte' Stallworth and Wes Welker proved just as valuable for Brady this year, and they're going to want vastly less money. Which way do the Patriots go?

We're in uncharted territory as Patriots fans; it feels like the upward trajectory of the last five or so years is tapering off, and now the age of the team's best players, what proved to be a fallible game-planning / coaching strategy somewhere along the line, SpyGate and Handshake-Gate and Ankle-Gate (Pats Edition), leave the Patriots at possibly the most crucial impasse of the decade. How the team regroups from this loss, what kind of 'humble pie' the coaching and personnel staffs will be feeding themselves this spring, and how the team is built this year will play a big part in the future of the franchise for years to come.

Day 2: Draft Picks, and Moss Becomes a Patriot!

NFL Network's Adam Schefter a 4th round pick for WR Randy Moss deal is pretty much admitting this deal is all but done! Moss is in Foxboro today to undergo a physical!

If this deal goes through it is amazing to imagine the Patriots use their 2007 2nd and 7th rounder to pick up Wes Welker from Miami and only have to give up a 4th to the Raiders for a top guy like Moss!

I am sure his contract will be loaded with incentives for Moss to be the poster boy of perfect in New England and possible similar to the structure of the contracts the Patriots offered WR Donte' Stallworth and WR Kelley Washington.

I think Peyton just pooped his pants and Dungy will need to start finding replacements for Nick Harper and Jason David.

This is a huge day for Patriot Nation after hours of waiting during Day 1 to only take S Brandon Meriweather and then watching the other Day 1 picks traded for Day 2 and Day 1 2008 choices.

So the Patriots started the first with 10 picks and still ahve 10 picks to work through 2007, plus in 2008 a first rounder from San Fran and a 3rd rounder from the Raiders.

Day 2 Picks:

4th Round - 11 (110 overall), 28 (127)

5th Round - 34 (171)

6th Round - 6 (180), 28(202), 34 (208), 35 (209)

7th Round - 1 (211), 28(238), 37 (247)

Beth's Take:

Um.

Well?

I guess "skeptical" would be the kindest word for me to use to describe my first reactions here. On the one hand, getting a wide receiver of Randy Moss's considerable natural talents for a fourth round draft pick and (presumably) short dough is a nice move. On the other hand...

Randy Moss's "character issues" are well known. And it's not just the off-field character issues; it's his admissions in the past that he "skips" plays if he doesn't feel like playing for reasons ranging from not getting the ball enough to just plain not feeling like it. That's what has me worried about Moss, and has had me arguing to anyone who brought it up over the last few years (ever since he left Minnesota) that the Pats might get him that he would never come here, and if he came here, he wouldn't make it here.

Well. Now he's here.

I believe in Bill Belichick and I believe in his system. I believe that he knows what he's doing with this move. But I'll admit at this juncture I don't understand. How is it we dropped Terry Glenn like a bad habit once and just now acquired Moss? Is Belichick turning into Bill Parcells? Is New England about to become another home for lost boys as Parcells' teams have become? Was the Corey Dillon experience enough to convince Bill that he can tame the likes of Moss?

Maybe there's another dimension to this we can't see yet. If this was baseball, I'd wonder if Moss would be flipped to another team for something the Patriots really wanted, but I don't know that they make trades like that in football too often. Maybe they'll bring in Moss and make him a punt returner for a season, just to let him know who's in charge. Maybe being irrelevant in Oakland for a while has made Moss ready to behave.

All I know is, right now, I'm still startled when I see the name next to a Patriots logo on ESPN's draft ticker. I will admit, I have my doubts.

P.S. Check out an interesting take on the Moss acquisition at the inimitable Cold, Hard Football Facts.� Boston.com also has a message board up for Pats fan to weigh in.

Belichick's take on Meriweather

More then a few fans in Patriot Nation are concerned about selecting Brandon Meriweather and his on/off field issues.

Bill Belichick's press conference gave insight as the Patriots selection wth the 24th pick and any character issues. (from the Boston Globe)

�We�ve had a busy last couple of hours here. On the 24 pick, as you know, it went right down to the wire on that. We had a number of options there, but we ended up selecting Brandon. He�s a kid I spent some time with at Miami. Versatile player. Played some corner. Played some inside nickel position on their sub defense. Played safety � both down and back. So we think he�s a real intelligent football player, has a real good understanding of concepts and the versatility. He�s played at a high level of competition, against a lot of good players. We�ll see how it goes in terms of his position, with all he can do. But he�s been a productive player for them in the passing game."

How important is it that he moves down and can cover?

�It�s a plus. He does a lot of things well. Again, there are good players that just do thing one well, and that�s a plus too. His versatility is one of his strengths. Like I said, he�s a smart player. He can do multiple things. He has physical skills to also be able to do those. That�s good.�

How does he shore up your defense?

�I don�t know. We�ll bring our players in, teach them the system, and work with them on the field and see what their role winds up being. He�s a versatile guy. We have other players, veteran players, at the safety and corner positions. That will all be decided on the field.�

He seems to play with an edge�

�I think he has a physical element to his play. He�s not 225 pounds. For his size, he�s certainly not afraid to get up in there and tackle and support the run, and be a physical player. But again, we�re not talking about a guy who is oversized for the position. That�s not what he is.�

He does have a lot of tackles.

�He�s around the ball. I think he�s a very instinctive player that shows up around the ball and gets his hands on a lot of balls. That�s hopefully why we took him, to be productive in that position, wherever it is in the secondary.�

People will see the video of him kicking the kid from Florida International�

�I think he addressed that.�

What is your take on that?

�Exactly what he said. He ran over there and made a bad decision. I don�t think that�s who he is. I spent time with him and a lot of people in that program, and I think football is important to him, he works hard at it, and he�s a good player. I think that�s more representative. It happened, he made a mistake, and he talked about it.�

He had an off-field incident in front of his apartment�you were able to reconcile those as isolated incidents?

�Again, we�re comfortable with the player we drafted. I don�t have anything else to add about it.�

What is the process you go through to reach that comfort level?

�Again, I think all of us have made mistakes. At least I have. I think some others have in this room. Maybe there are some that haven�t, I don�t know. I think what�s more important is not an incident that a person had, but really who they are, what their character is, and what you think that person really is, and what they�re about. I would say that about anybody.�

How did you ascertain that about Meriweather?

�We go through a lengthy process with every player. I don�t think we have time for all that. � Obviously, we�re comfortable with Meriweather and that�s why we took him.�

New England takes FS Meriweather

�The New England Patriots have chosen FS Brandon Meriweather (Miami)�with their 24th pick in 1st round.

Take a look at our newest team member in action.

Brent's Take:

Meriweather has been considered the second best pick behind LaRon Landry at FS and is a good need and value pick.� With SS Michael Griffin and Reggie Nelson off the board the Patriots have chosen the best safety and�Meriweather may�be starter depending on how veteran Eugege Wilson performs.

Going back through the Patriot Act articles safety was a concern and we should put this position as still a need as Rodney Harrison has no solid backup

In a display of classless New York hospitality the New York fans were booing even before Goodell was at the podium.� They all know the mistake the Jets made in moving up and giving up so many picks to take CB Darrelle Revis.

Beth's Take:

Scoreless in the Stadium with two out and...oh, right.

ESPN 'casters were still spazzing over The Brady Quinn Saga while New England was on the clock. Apparently today's events are a "testament to his mental toughness". Is hanging out with Suzy Kolber really that bad?

At Radio City Music Hall, they were playing "Dirty Water" for the Patriots. Cute, but off the mark--for the Patriots the song should be "Beautiful Day" by U2.

(It's safe to say I am sports-schizophrenic today. Kei Igawa's ugly face is mixing with Brady Quinn's strangely misshapen jaw in my mind's eye. Not pretty.)

The boos were huge for the Pats as they announced their pick, Brandon Meriweather, safety out of Miami; this is what happens when you have this event in New York City.

ESPN gives the following scouting report, referring to the pick as "different...": "New England is rolling the dice that he can return to his old form."

Then ESPN showed Meriweather stomping a dude in that big stupid brawl in Miami last year. Meriweather has also had a gun incident, apparently. Maybe this means we should also believe those Moss rumors.

It's hard to argue with a first-round addition to the Patriots' secondary. I was just off on where the addition would be, I guess. (Snif. I had my "Beast" signs all designed and everything).

Anyway. In seriousness, given his track record, it seems like Meriweather is�going to have to be broken in a little bit mentally, but I'm impressed with what I've seen in the video linked above. Some of those hits are just vicious. Maybe we're looking at Rodney Harrison 2.0?

Non-Pats Draft Day Livebloggin'

Your up to the minute coverage of the Brady Quinn Crisis!

(Photo: Another great sign�the Pats should pick Beason: a ready-made nickname of Beast.)

Pre-Draft: Finally! I have to confess that as a sports fan, the annual Seasons of Prediction and Speculation--the Hot Stove in baseball and Mock Draft season in football--are not my favorite things about the sports I follow. I get tired of the constant guesses built on top of guesses, the assumptions folded in, sprinkled with daubs of deep-sourced media leaks, kneaded by debate, allowed to rise under spotlights and "no comments", baked into assumption, sliced up on ESPN analysis and served up cold when the action finally begins.

Meanwhile, as the always-excellent Chad Finn so eloquently put it, "Knowing Belichick and Pioli, they'll probably take another tight end and a punter, thereby causing Mel Kiper's head to explode." (Finn goes on to guess that it'll be Beason, too, however.)

Enough. Let's see what actually happens.

Pick 1: Great quip by Deadspin on first overall pick JaMarcus Russell:

Russell can throw a football 60 yards while seated. That'll come in handy if he goes on a Golden Corral binge an hour before kickoff. At 265-pounds and growing like Dow Jones Industrial Average, Russell is big enough to be his own blocker, another skill that will help him in Oakland.

*Snicker*

Pick 2: I love all these great big boys with their mamas at Radio City. Calvin Johnson's tiny, petite little mama kissing him after he got picked second overall by the Lions? Priceless.

Pick 9: When do you suppose the last time was that Brady Quinn was passed over nine times while people were picking teams? Nursery school? Even then? He's trying to remain upbeat, but every pick that passes without his name being called makes his public-relations smile tighter and tighter. Suzy Kolber is vacuum-sealed to his side for as long as he remains in the green room. I feel a little sorry for him right now. But only a little.

I thought for sure Miami would pick him, and then I'd be coming up with derogatory nicknames involving Abercrombie and Fitch for a division rival already drawing ridiculous comparisons to Tom Brady essentially because of his name. Looks like Finn was a little off in the timing of his Mel-Kiper head-esplody prediction; Kiper was in full meltdown mode following Miami's pick.

With this amazing development it was time for the first phone call of the day from my Dad,�who as an Ohio�State fan first and foremost wanted to gush about Ted Ginn Jr. (who is full-named at all times in our house--TedGinnJr!), and�who pointed out the same thing happened to Leinart last year. "And he turned out to be the best quarterback out of all of 'em in 2006."

Pick 14: Jets fans...shudder. And there are of course about 800 of them in there, because they all probably live in cardboard boxes a few blocks down the street. The pause while all the Jets hooligans' eyes darted back and forth for a second trying to figure out who the hell Darrelle Revis is (Pitt CB, Steelers had been eyeing him)? Priceless. Then they all just said�hell with it and started bouncing around hollering "YAAHHH!!!!" I guess they'll figure out who they have later.

Only about six months before we're pelting them with iceballs in the 3rd deck at Gillette Stadium again. Good times.

With palpable chagrin, ESPN just has to keep�running all the promos they shot using Brady Quinn as spokesmodel for the draft, even as the commentators remain verklempt about�the boy�not being picked yet.

Another ESPN side note: at first I was deeply apprehensive about spending six hours today with Keyshawn Johnson on my TV, but so far he has been far better than I expected (although what I was expecting was pretty much Michael Irvin 2.0, so consider the context.)

Pick 20: I didn't think there could be anything more obnoxious than Jets fans. Then it turns out, there are Giants fans. I have limited experience with Giants fans (as opposed to at least once-yearly contact with Jets fans, so my contempt there is better-defined). But now that I see them on TV it's clear to me several of them were probably part of the crowd that fled Yankee stadium in droves last night, now pouring their hearts out into the Giants. That's how bad the Yankees are right now: Yanks / Giants New Yorkers (as opposed to the Mets / Jets ones described above) are throwing themselves on the mercy of Eli Manning.

Pick 22: Oh snap. Was supposed to be the Cowboys, Cleveland Browns are now on the clock while the ESPN announcers tearfully plaster Brady Quinn's four-year-old picture in a little Browns uniform across the screen. Berman's going to need a moment.

Berman: "So Brady Quinn is going to the Cleveland Browns, where Romeo Crennel is the coach, and he was the coach at New England with Charlie Weiss, when they won Super Bowls." Yes, Berman, less than six degrees of separation! Behold the Second Coming of Tom Brady!

Brady Quinn has now checked off three items on the Official Peyton Manning Quarterback Hatred Checklist for me: 1) Favorable, yet asinine�comparisons to Tom Brady. 2)�Stupid name 3)�National sportscasters like to look at his baby pictures.

Pick 25: Keyshawn Johnson's Carolina Panthers' (tm) selection following New England's pick of Brandon Meriweather at 24�means I've spent the last two months thinking an inordinate amount about Jon Beason for nothing. Great.� Best wishes down in Carolina, Beast.