Robert Kraft acknowledges New England’s recent draft failures

[SackMan518 5,836]

Ya think Bobby?

Robert Kraft acknowledges New England’s recent draft failures

 

The Patriots needed to splurge in free agency this month due in large part to the fact that the 2020 roster lacked talent. The roster lacked talent due in large part to the fact that the team hasn’t drafted well in recent years.

In a Wednesday conference call with reporters, owner Robert Kraft acknowledged that reality.

“Really, the teams who draft well are the ones who will be consistently good,” Kraft said, based on a transcript provided by the team. “I don’t feel like we’ve done the greatest job the last few years and I really hope and believe I’ve seen a different approach this year. In the end, it all comes down to what happens on the field and how people execute and you really don’t know how good a draft is for at least two years.”

That’s an obvious slap at coach Bill Belichick, who runs the football operations. It’s also an indictment of his primary table-setter since 2009, Nick Caserio — who’s now the G.M. of the Texans.

“We missed, to a certain extent in the draft, so this was our best opportunity,” Kraft later said of the all-in move during free agency.

It’s more than just bad drafting, in our view. It’s a combination of bad drafting and a failure to develop the players who were drafted. Either the players had a low ceiling or the coaching staff couldn’t get them to their ceiling, or both.

It’s also possible that Belichick has little patience for young players who don’t quickly figure out how to be solid pro players, expecting them to sink or swim no matter how big the stone tied to their ankle may be.

Regardless, it’s stunning to hear Kraft speak so candidly. Then again, like the guy who never uttered a word in his entire life until he said one night at dinner that “the damned mashed potatoes are cold” because, as he explained, the damned mashed potatoes had never been cold before, Kraft hadn’t had since 2000 any reason to be dismayed by the fact that his team was underperforming.

 

[nealpellecchia@yahoo 1,223]

40 minutes ago, SackMan518 said:

Ya think Bobby?

Robert Kraft acknowledges New England’s recent draft failures

The Patriots needed to splurge in free agency this month due in large part to the fact that the 2020 roster lacked talent. The roster lacked talent due in large part to the fact that the team hasn’t drafted well in recent years.

In a Wednesday conference call with reporters, owner Robert Kraft acknowledged that reality.

“Really, the teams who draft well are the ones who will be consistently good,” Kraft said, based on a transcript provided by the team. “I don’t feel like we’ve done the greatest job the last few years and I really hope and believe I’ve seen a different approach this year. In the end, it all comes down to what happens on the field and how people execute and you really don’t know how good a draft is for at least two years.”

That’s an obvious slap at coach Bill Belichick, who runs the football operations. It’s also an indictment of his primary table-setter since 2009, Nick Caserio — who’s now the G.M. of the Texans.

“We missed, to a certain extent in the draft, so this was our best opportunity,” Kraft later said of the all-in move during free agency.

It’s more than just bad drafting, in our view. It’s a combination of bad drafting and a failure to develop the players who were drafted. Either the players had a low ceiling or the coaching staff couldn’t get them to their ceiling, or both.

It’s also possible that Belichick has little patience for young players who don’t quickly figure out how to be solid pro players, expecting them to sink or swim no matter how big the stone tied to their ankle may be.

Regardless, it’s stunning to hear Kraft speak so candidly. Then again, like the guy who never uttered a word in his entire life until he said one night at dinner that “the damned mashed potatoes are cold” because, as he explained, the damned mashed potatoes had never been cold before, Kraft hadn’t had since 2000 any reason to be dismayed by the fact that his team was underperforming.

If they get Jimmy back what does that do to our perfect world? What kind of OL would bel provide him with? What kind of blocking backs...

[Crazy Legs 503]

15 hours ago, SackMan518 said:

Ya think Bobby?

Robert Kraft acknowledges New England’s recent draft failures

The Patriots needed to splurge in free agency this month due in large part to the fact that the 2020 roster lacked talent. The roster lacked talent due in large part to the fact that the team hasn’t drafted well in recent years.

For years I have been so tired of Patriots fans saying it was their "system" and it wasn't Brady.

Okay then, let's hope they flounder in 2021 significantly.   I would love that. 

[bv 9,451]

Kinda seems like Kraft is really running the show now

[Meathead 72,344]

17 hours ago, nealpellecchia@yahoo said:

If they get Jimmy back what does that do to our perfect world? What kind of OL would bel provide him with? What kind of blocking backs...

not much

you cant rebuild a team through free agency. thats been proven time and time again. you MUST draft well so that you have young guys in the pipeline learning the complexities of the pro game who can perform when their time comes

jimmy g wont be the answer for them, either. hes not reliable, hes got bad ankles and has played only around half the games since hes been on the team. thats why the niners gave up on him. his own former teammates on the cheaters called him mr. glass bc he was always getting hobbled. i HOPE they trade for him, that means cam will be playing half the games and hes horrible now

the only way i can see the cheaters becoming any sort of threat is if they work some deal to get somebody like darnold  or tua and they make a jump once they get out of perennially dysfunctional jetsland/fishland. even then, they still dont have the pipeline built up with developed players ready to make their mark. they might improve to 9-7 but i still think the bills will sweep them most likely

[Meathead 72,344]

3 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

For years I have been so tired of Patriots fans saying it was their "system" and it wasn't Brady.

Okay then, let's hope they flounder in 2021 significantly.   I would love that. 

that 'patriot way' crap annoyed the fuck out of me

it was so obvious the goat was the lynchpin of the whole thing. the keys were that he took that sweetheart deal to save the cheaters big dollars so they could stock the team with more talent. belicheat used that to get veteran backups to take less money for the chance at an easy ring, and as blackmail against his own players that if they didnt take the team friendly offer they were given at extension time, he shipped them off to some crappy team to intimidate the rest of the players to taking what was offered. that was a massive advantage

now with the goat gone, all of those advantages evaporate. he will have no leverage now so fas wont be likely to be bullied into taking less than market. he wont get a qb willing to take a lot less bc they wont have the massive endorsement deals the goat had. now he has to be a real hc and gm, and hes shown over and over again that he cant draft for shit and his players only put up with him bc they wanted the chance at the easy ring. hes an excellent dc but thats not nearly enough when youve got all the rest on your plate

he and kraft have been on the outs ever since bill wanted to trade brady and go with jimmy g and kraft overruled him. thats why he traded jimmy g for peanuts, to spite kraft. if this fa rebuild doesnt work, and it probably wont unless they get lucky and find a good qb somewhere, its quite possible another 6-10 season could get him fired. i would LOVE that

[Crazy Legs 503]

1 hour ago, Meathead said:

that 'patriot way' crap annoyed the fuck out of me

it was so obvious the goat was the lynchpin of the whole thing. the keys were that he took that sweetheart deal to save the cheaters big dollars so they could stock the team with more talent. belicheat used that to get veteran backups to take less money for the chance at an easy ring, and as blackmail against his own players that if they didnt take the team friendly offer they were given at extension time, he shipped them off to some crappy team to intimidate the rest of the players to taking what was offered. that was a massive advantage

now with the goat gone, all of those advantages evaporate. he will have no leverage now so fas wont be likely to be bullied into taking less than market. he wont get a qb willing to take a lot less bc they wont have the massive endorsement deals the goat had. now he has to be a real hc and gm, and hes shown over and over again that he cant draft for shit and his players only put up with him bc they wanted the chance at the easy ring. hes an excellent dc but thats not nearly enough when youve got all the rest on your plate

he and kraft have been on the outs ever since bill wanted to trade brady and go with jimmy g and kraft overruled him. thats why he traded jimmy g for peanuts, to spite kraft. if this fa rebuild doesnt work, and it probably wont unless they get lucky and find a good qb somewhere, its quite possible another 6-10 season could get him fired. i would LOVE that

....I am hoping, hoping for them to go 6-10.  We need to sweep them, and the Dolphins need to sweep them.  Heh heh.

[jc856 10,000]

Kraft should be happy. All those post-season games kept him from his real hobby.

[nealpellecchia@yahoo 1,223]

3 hours ago, Meathead said:

not much

you cant rebuild a team through free agency. thats been proven time and time again. you MUST draft well so that you have young guys in the pipeline learning the complexities of the pro game who can perform when their time comes

jimmy g wont be the answer for them, either. hes not reliable, hes got bad ankles and has played only around half the games since hes been on the team. thats why the niners gave up on him. his own former teammates on the cheaters called him mr. glass bc he was always getting hobbled. i HOPE they trade for him, that means cam will be playing half the games and hes horrible now

the only way i can see the cheaters becoming any sort of threat is if they work some deal to get somebody like darnold  or tua and they make a jump once they get out of perennially dysfunctional jetsland/fishland. even then, they still dont have the pipeline built up with developed players ready to make their mark. they might improve to 9-7 but i still think the bills will sweep them most likely

Well wining records get weak drafts. We are about to find out. Marquel has weak ankles too. Do we have a pipeline?? Bean does alot. Is bill just gonna go quietly? They had us beat with cam our easy ass divisional title without tom brady.

[Meathead 72,344]

winning records dont automatically get weak drafts. beanie has been plucking starters from the third round on down for years. theres no excuse for the cheaters weak drafts excepth they suck at drafting

marquel lee is a deep backup, not a starter at the most important position on the team. he probably doesnt even make the team

winners make plays to win games. cam was running without securing the ball and i think it was poyer, doesnt matter, who intentionally punched it out. the cheaters have been doing that for years. now that the bills are a well coached team that works hard at being ready to make those winning plays, this is their division

yes we certainly do have a pipeline. theres solid backups at almost every position on the team. opie and the bean have done that since they got here, constantly keeping aware of who is coming available and going after the ones they need. their track record of getting reasonable production out of cast offs is mostly excellent

bill is rebuilding through free agency because his team is so weak in so many areas due to their crappy drafting. that usually doesnt work, as history has shown us repeatedly. hes starting over and is going to have to draft A LOT better for them to become contenders again. if i was kraft i would strip the GM title from belicheat and make him focus on coaching. wont ever happen bc they are too full of themselves still to admit it was super tom that made them what they were, but another year of six wins would get him fired anyway, which i hope happens

[Crazy Legs 503]

On 4/2/2021 at 2:32 PM, Meathead said:

bill is rebuilding through free agency because his team is so weak in so many areas due to their crappy drafting. that usually doesnt work, as history has shown us repeatedly. hes starting over and is going to have to draft A LOT better for them to become contenders again. if i was kraft i would strip the GM title from belicheat and make him focus on coaching. wont ever happen bc they are too full of themselves still to admit it was super tom that made them what they were, but another year of six wins would get him fired anyway, which i hope happens

The good news is the draft is a crapshoot....so the odds of Billy hitting on 3 impact starters in the 2021 draft are really slim.   I would be really surprised if his 2021 draft picks move the needle more than a wee bit.

Go Bills.

[Meathead 72,344]

yeah, and with his track record he could easily miss on all three

you dont just snap your fingers and become good at drafting. its dependant on the entire culture of the scouting department and how they are lead.  a lot of the players hated playing to belicheat so i suspect a lot of the scouting department does, too. youre not going to do your best work when you dont like the guy youre doing the work for

compare that to opie and his nearly miraculous skill at team building (team as in group of people). the team on the field improved fast bc they got really close personally and thus play as a single unit with each man one part of the machine. im pretty sure him and beanie run the scouting department the same way. so those guys are knocking down walls to find every morsel of information that uncovers gems in the dirt. thats why theyve been so successful in the later rounds of the draft

billy cant create that kind of chemistry. and even if he tries it would take a while to take hold since its been sub-par for so long

he got super lucky once and that fooled people into thinking he was a genius. his track record in many other areas indicates otherwise. i expect another mediocre team and no change in their poor drafting pattern going forward. hes used up all his luck already

[Albany,n.y. 2,105]

On 4/1/2021 at 3:52 PM, Meathead said:

not much

you cant rebuild a team through free agency. thats been proven time and time again. you MUST draft well so that you have young guys in the pipeline learning the complexities of the pro game who can perform when their time comes

jimmy g wont be the answer for them, either. hes not reliable, hes got bad ankles and has played only around half the games since hes been on the team. thats why the niners gave up on him. his own former teammates on the cheaters called him mr. glass bc he was always getting hobbled. i HOPE they trade for him, that means cam will be playing half the games and hes horrible now

the only way i can see the cheaters becoming any sort of threat is if they work some deal to get somebody like darnold  or tua and they make a jump once they get out of perennially dysfunctional jetsland/fishland. even then, they still dont have the pipeline built up with developed players ready to make their mark. they might improve to 9-7 but i still think the bills will sweep them most likely

Beane & McDermott rebuilt the Bills through free agency after Whaley & Nix handed over a bad roster.  Look at our starters, 3/5 of our OL, both S, at least 1 WR, possibly 2 in a 3 WR set and in 2019 our top 2 WRs were UFA, 2 DL & our P all came from free agency.  That's 9 starters of 25 who the Bills rebuilt with using free agency.  Without free agency we wouldn't be a Super Bowl contender.  Without free agency Josh Allen's best friend on the team would be the trainer because he'd be getting killed if the Bills waited to rebuild the disaster of a line in 2018 after Wood & Incognito left 2 gaping holes in Josh's protection.  

They had to use FA to rebuild from 2018 to 2019, it was the only way to get that quick a fix.  In 2018, probably because they didn't expect Josh would be the starter, the Bills offense gave Josh fewer weapons than the Jets have given Sam Darnold and we know where Sam Darnold is at this point of his career.  It was rebuild through FA or stifle Josh Allen's career.  Bean & McDermott did the right thing & it wasn't waiting for the draft choices to develop.  

 

[Meathead 72,344]

Yes but the scouting team is used to also evaluate free agents. And there's no way in hell the cheaters scouting team is as good as ours. It's a combination of their efforts to provide input to Opie and the Bean, and then those two having the ability to make the right selection's most of the time

Anybody thats followed football for a while knows full well that the overwhelming majority of the time rebuilding through free agency simply does not work out. Opie and the bean have created something special here that bucks that trend. I seriously doubt the fat cheater is going to have anywhere near the kind of success we've had, and more than likely will perform below-average like he always has when he didn't have the most accurate passer in human history fall in his undeserving lap

[Crazy Legs 503]

5 hours ago, Meathead said:

Yes but the scouting team is used to also evaluate free agents. And there's no way in hell the cheaters scouting team is as good as ours. It's a combination of their efforts to provide input to Opie and the Bean, and then those two having the ability to make the right selection's most of the time

Anybody thats followed football for a while knows full well that the overwhelming majority of the time rebuilding through free agency simply does not work out. Opie and the bean have created something special here that bucks that trend. I seriously doubt the fat cheater is going to have anywhere near the kind of success we've had, and more than likely will perform below-average like he always has when he didn't have the most accurate passer in human history fall in his undeserving lap

You can never, never underestimate what having a good QB does for your whole organization.

Let's see what Billy can with with Cam Newton as his franchise QB in 2021.   Ha.   Bills are taking the Patriots down again this year!