Agreed, won't argue that. I just find it annoying that when arguing about the draft, Pats fans here always fall back on the 'well we've been better than you for awhile now' argument. Why can't they just admit they've drafted rather poorly for the better part of half a decade. There's nothing wrong with it. They're still a top team in the NFL.
'02 doesnt fall w/in the last 7-8 years. Since about 2004 they have really struggled w/ the exeption of the TE draft 2 years ago. They hit on certain players like Wilfork, Mankins & Mayo in drafts but the overall drafts were not very good.
From '02-'05 they drafted very well. Since '06 they've drafted below average. If you change the parameters of the stat you'll get much different results.
HAHAHAHA OMG are you serious? Sanchez will never come close to sniffing the top 10, nor has he ever done so before. As I said before, your offensive philosophy is designed around limiting the amount of time your QB throws the ball. That will never be a top 10 QB.
THAT is the question around Coples. If he plays like he's capable he'll likely be a force but it's seems from an outsiders view that another "mercurial" head case to join the circus that is the JETs is not what the needed for their 1st pick. Even for Rex Ryan who is a great defensive coach. TIME WILL TELL. I like the Jets 2nd round pick. He looks like he has the potential to be a true deep threat. Jones for the Pats also has "questions" but coming to play is not what of them. He also is a physical freak type player. I love the Hightower pick. The Pats will now have a group of linebackers that include Mayo, Hightower and Spikes who are all football players and I like that. The Wilson pick is interesting. I hear Belichick is a pretty good defensive coach himself and the fact that the Pats got to the SB with a team half/filled with scrubs is not a negative. After that the Pats picks are the usual dice rolls. You're looking for a diamond in the rough with those picks.
I'll go by division. These are QB's I'd rather have over Sanchez: Brady, Fitzpatrick Dalton, Roethlisburger, Flacco Manning, Rivers Luck, Schaub, Hasselbeck Vick, Griffin, Romo, Manning Ryan, Brees, Newton, Freeman Bradford, Flynn, Smith Cutler, Rogers, Stafford That's 24 QB's I'd take over Sanchez any day of the week. Guys like Luck and Griffin haven't done anything yet, but I'd take them right now. Could even make the case for Matt Moore, Matt Cassel (probably exactly even).
I just have a huge problem with that article if you look at the players drafted objectively. No doubt, Coples earned his 'lack of motivation' reputation, but what about Jones? He has a ton of questions being drafted as a 1st round talent. He didn't put up great stats in the Big East of all conferences, while having his draft stock soar in the months leading up to the draft (this shows more Gholston to me then Coples, but whatever). They also drafted a safety that was unanimously tabbed as a 6th round prospect. Does that mean he will be a bad player? Absolutely not. But the value there is atrocious. Pats easily could've worked their trade down ways and reached for him in the 4th/5th round. Looking at it that way, does it really make sense to give the Pats an 'A' and the Jets a 'C-'? This is just another article IMO of praising the Pats drafts because it's 'Bill Belichick' and the 'Patriot way' yet they've drafted subpar for the last half decade (save a few players, a claim any team can make) yet continue to be universally praised.
There were not 10 QBs better than Sanchez in 2010, I don't base my rankings based on fantasy #s like most fans do. Sanchez put up decent #s but more importantly he stepped up in big situations to hlp his team win 11 games in the reg season and 2 more in postseason. AFC East: Brady AFC North: Ben AFC South: no one AFC West: if Peyton is healthy NFC East: I now move Eli into that category but a year ago he did throw 25 INTs. NFC North: Rodgers, Stafford NFC South: Brees, NFC West: none There are guys that put up great #s but always come up small when games matter- Rivers, Schaub, Cutler, Freeman, Ryan. There are other younger QBs that maybe in a year or 2 I change my mind like Newton, Bradford, Luck,... but right now I'd only take about 5-6 guys over Sanchez for our team. To put Ryan Fitzpatrick on that list is as laughable as it gets, for the fist time in his career he played somewhat meaningful games and he failed miserably. as bad as Sanchez was Fitz was MUCH worse in 2011.
I don't think Sanchez was ever a top 10 QB. I personally would put him in the 15-20 range, but what are you basing this list on? Winning a big game? I'll take Sanchez over a handful of players on your list because they haven't showed they can step up in crunch time when it matters most: Fitzpatrick (you have an obvious biased here. Sanchez played better than Fitzy last year despite inferior o-line, running back and receiver play) Flacco Hasselbeck (this is absolutely laughable that you would put him ahead of Sanchez, sorry) Griffin/Luck haven't played a down in the NFL Bradford (really? I get he's played with nothing, but he still hasn't proven anything) Flynn (again, really? based on a 1 game sample size?) Smith I find your list to be pretty comical, then again, you are a Bills fan.
15-20 range for Sanchez is probably about where he belongs. I listed 24 QBs there, so give or take away 10 of those guys as you subjectively see fit and that drops him down into that range. Fitz played the second half of last year with 3 broken ribs (the same injury Romo sat with) and a shoulder problem. We lost half our starters on offense to injury.
Fitzpatrick is 1-5 vs the Jets since Rex arrived including one loss to Kellen Clemens and the rest of the Jets JV Squad. He's 1-4 vs. Sanchez, and Sanchez has a combined qb rating of over 90 in the 4 Jets wins. Trivia: In what century did the Bills last make the playoffs?
Since Pioli left their drafts haven't been very good. You could also argue that the Jets drafts haven't been very good since 07.
No, it's someone who doesn't look at meaningless individual #s. Let's take a closer look. Fitz: laughable, never played in a big game, had a chance and was brutal in the 2nd half for Buf in 2011 after 5-2 start. Dalton: Sanchez led his team too 2 road playoff wins as a rookie, defeating Palmer & Cincy and Rivers & SD. Dalton couldn't beat TJ Yates and Houston. Flacco: better reg season QB, not close to January QB. He did have a good title game this year but that is one of the few good playoff games he has had. Rivers: everyone thinks Philip Rivers is great, how many years did we hear SD was the most talented team in the league? how many years were they a SB favorite? how many playoff wins does Rivers has? His lone title game app happened after he got hurt and Billy Volek led SD to the GW TD at Indy in 2007. Luck: hasn't played a down yet Schaub: great fantasy QB, has never led a team to postseason. Hasslebeck: 5-6 years ago I'd agree. Vick: close but he was brutal in their playoff loss 2 years ago. Griffin: never played a down romo: 1 career playoff win w/ the NFC version of the Chargers- expected to be SB contender every year. Ryan: ZERO playoff wins, brutal postseason QB Newton: off to good start Freeman: played w/ pressure for first time in his career in 2011 and was brutal- MUCH worse than Sanchez has ever been. Bradford: good rookie year, bad 2nd year. I love his potential but I can't put him ahead as of today. Flynn: almost as laughable as Fitz Smith: why? b/c he made ONE title game? in a weak division needing one playoff win at home? He has work to do to catch Sanchez. Cutler: one playoff app in his career, one playoff win over 7-9 Seahawks at home. Matt Moore: see Fitz, Flynn Matt Cassell:, see Moore, fitz, Flynn
These grades that teams are given are all over the place and there are a lot of them. For example, I posted one grade for the Patriots that was like a B-. So if you're looking to get aggravated, it's easy to do. Personally the grades and evaluations that I follow and trust the most are the local beat writers for the hometown Boston Globe and Herald, local ESPN guys for Boston like Mike Reiss. They know the team better and they take pride in doing the work. And yeah we have the Chicken Little types too. NY has a ton of sports writers and there has got to be a number you think are good (and some you think are a joke). I'm curious what they think of the Coples pick and the others. BTW am I rooting for Coples to be the next coming of Vernon Gholston? You bet your a** I do but only time will tell. The questions about Jones for the Patriots are related to the fact that he was hurt for 5 games last year but overall the feeling is that this guy has the tools to be a stud and Belichick can do it. The only criticism I hear about Hightower is that he's best as another ILB and the Pats have plenty but I think having good players and playmakers is more important and again, Belichick will find a way to use a guy like him. Most Patriots fans are thrilled that Bellichick 1) actually focused on the D this year 2) didn't trade out of the 1st round like he often does.
I saw Chandler Jones play every game, he was decent against the mediocre Big East. Made a few plays but wasn't a machine all over the field. At least Coples had production in 2010, he was decent in 2011. If you're saying Bellifag will find a way to use Hightower and extract the potential of Jones, then Rex will do the same thing with Coples. You can't have it both ways.
And what has all those "superior" drafts gotten the Jets from 2005? 0 AFCE titles 0 AFC conference championships 0 Super Bowl titles
All I got to say about this rant is U should be blaming the NYJs not the NEPs because the NYJs are the ones who have being failures in not overtaking the NEPs :sad:
2 title game apps and the most postseason wins in the division from 2008-2011(tied for most 2007-2011). 4 playoff wins last 3 years vs. 2 for the Pats.
