Wow, they have turned it up a notch for the playoffs.
The most glaring cog in their run game looks like the play of Gronk. Just poves to me our need of a good blocking and catching TE. Don’t be surprised if we have one targeted for round 2. JMO
Gronk is one of the greatest TE’s in NFL history. Everyone wants a guy like that.
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Gronkowski was drafted by the Patriots in the second round in 2010.
Just because we want a Gronkowski in the 2nd round doesn’t mean there is a Gronkowski in this draft. Taking a guy high doesn’t make him a Gronkowski (see Ebron).
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They haven’t turned up anything a notch IMO. It’s the Patriot way, when all things are equal talent wise, the team that works the hardest will win 99 out of 100 times especially late in the year when everyone else is worn down.
They definitely turned it from the point when Lions played them. Typical Pats. Getting better as the season went on.
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Thanks for the obvious 
All I’m saying is we need to put a focus on finding a talented TE and not let the Ebron draft turn us away from putting a high focus on finding a talented TE in the higher rounds. Even the first if the talent is there. Helps the run game, which also helps the D stay off the field and helps the pass game keeping the deep threat an option with KG & MJ plus ??
I oppose taking a TE in the first round, especially if it’s only a receiving TE.
I’d rather not take any offensive skill positions in the first round, or second. We’ve tried that route in spades when Millen got here and Mayhew continued it (if he wasn’t heavily part of that decision making while Millen was the figurehead, I’d be surprised). I think OL, DL, LB and DB are more important places to place our talent resource. Guys that are in on most snaps. TEs and WRs are generally not significantly involved in every single play.
Disagree completely… I want to spend high picks on elite skill players or pass rushers, that’s where you get the most bang for your buck. Keep reloading on weapons and develop the trench players. Hand (4th rounder) Robinson (2nd rounder) and Harrison (undrafted) are starters and most here would say our DL is looking pretty good. We have 3 top 100 picks spent on the OL and they’re just average and everyone expects the 5th rounder (Crosby) to be a starter as soon as next season. CBs take WAY too long to develop to draft them high, and unless there’s a LBer that can get to the QB, I wouldn’t spend a 1st rounder on them either.
We have our #1 RB. We have our #1 and #2 WR.
I’m with you on Trench players. I consider LBs to be pretty much trench players. There are 3 LBs. We need depth there. There are 2 each of DE and DT.
Skill positions on the offense
I’m fine investing in the future on DBs because you need a lot of them. 4 starters and you want solid backups in case of injury.
I see needs for at least depth everywhere on the D. I want a playmaker pass rusher (be it LB or DE or DT) with the first pick. Period.
I’m not interested in TE in the top rounds. I think we’re set at WR and RB, although I’d take a later round (not top 3 rounds) RB and/or QB, probably, if I were in charge, It would be just our luck for Stafford to finally have the light bulb go on and start playing to potential and then get dramatically hurt. Need another rooster.
So you don’t think a TE is a high priority in the offense we will be running?
If you feel this is a priority position for the offense we will run, are you OK with our current situation. Obvious answer is no. Where do you fill this high priority need?
Just asking your honest assessment.
How do I know what offense we’re running before we get an OC?
So I’m not sure how priority it is.
I also don’t agree that the only way you get a quality TE is in the top of the draft.
Top 2 TEs in receiving yards this year were picked in the 5th and the 3rd. The TE from the first round in yards was our buddy Ebron. And we tried him already.
I’m happy with a TE if he can block so we get an extra blocker in the run game. I’m not confident that Stafford uses TEs well. We’ve given him 2 first round TEs and neither worked out. It could be that they both just sucked, but the guy we picked 10th overall just made the probowl and had more TD catches in one year than he did in all the time he was here combined…
Re-sign Tolillo, find a FA, and draft a TE later in the draft that can block. If he can also catch or learn to, bonus, but I want blockers, not big slow receivers.
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Pettigrew didn’t suck, he wasn’t worth the #20 OA pick, but he was a more than adequate player for us for some time. We also tried drafting a TE in the 5th (Roberts) and he can’t seem to run the right routes. I’d like a FA TE like Jesse James, they don’t break the bank the way RBs and WRs do.
I have zero issue with a FA. I’m just not wasting high draft picks on a TE.
The 2nd round could be funny… at pick 8 you’re looking at 1 of 2 things… A guy you had mocked in the 1st that slips to you in the 2nd or someone from the top of your height/weight/speed prospect list. There might be a TE in that h/w/s group.
While you or I may think of the 3rd as being even too high, it wouldn’t surprise me to see one taken in the 2nd.
I see greater value in other position groups, but if that Graham/Gronkowski guy is there in the 2nd, Quinn might make the call to grab them.
Personally, I’m hoping the 1st is an Edge rusher and the 2nd is a DB.
In the first three rounds I’d like to see:
(In no particular order)
Dline
LB
CB/S
I’d love to find a dark horse TE/WR in the 3rd-5th round
We also need to keep taking developmental QBs
My impression of things is that our odds of landing a good CB is much higher in the 2nd than the 3rd. LB? Probably not as big a drop going from from 2nd to 3rd.
This is one of those years where post-draft you’re going to see room on the roster for a 2nd 2019 draft. Just too many spaces to fill with too few picks.