Across the NFL and better New England, the Patriots’ first two draft picks this week raised eyebrows for a similar cause: perceived over-drafting.
Chattanooga offensive lineman Cole Strange was a participant most consultants projected as a Day 2 prospect till the Patriots made him the twenty ninth total choose Thursday night time. He turned the primary inside O-lineman the staff has drafted within the opening spherical since 2005.
Later, the Patriots traded up within the second spherical for Baylor broad receiver Tyquan Thornton, one of many quickest gamers in all the class. Thornton blazed a 4.28 on the NFL Combine and completed with nearly 1,000 receiving yards final season. But most evaluators considered him as a mid-round choose, seeing Thornton’s pace and physique management as the one translatable traits in his sport.
After the Patriots drafted Thornton Friday night time, director of participant personnel Matt Groh addressed the notion the staff reached for each gamers.
His full reply is under:
“Yeah, I feel that’s very easy for individuals to say. Nobody is aware of what the groups are going to do behind you. When you come again up you don’t need to miss out on a participant. I feel it’s very straightforward. Sometimes you hear why — and never simply in soccer — why did they commerce for this man? This staff gave a second (-round choose), why didn’t we give a second? If they’d simply given it — effectively, if the opposite staff’s second is best than your second, then you definitely’re having to surrender a (first-round choose).
“It’s not all so reduce and dried with the place you assume a man goes to go, and also you’ve received to take a look at what the remainder of the board is telling you. If you worth a participant excessive sufficient, then you definitely need that participant to be part of your staff. That’s definitely how we really feel about Cole. We’re actually excited to have Cole aboard.
“You want to talk about value, the guy started at three positions on the offensive line. I think it’s kind of easy to pigeonhole him as a guard. He does a lot. This guy is really tough. He’s really smart. He’s almost 6-5, 300 pounds, and runs sub-5 seconds in the 40(-yard dash). There’s not a lot of humans out there that are doing that, benched 225, 31 times. This is a really big, strong, tough, athletic guy. If you value toughness, which we do, you value guys like Cole Strange.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com