It's All Part of My Mock Draft Fantasy - Pats have the 4th Pick in the Draft!

Well maybe more of my ultimate Pats fantasy anyway...since September of 2009.   Once Richard Seymour was traded to the Raiders, I took solace in the fact that the Pats could end up pulling off one of the greatest returns on investment in NFL history.

Draft Seymour #6 in 2001, get nine years of all-pro performance and leadership, then turn him around for an equal or better pick in 2010.

Well, in reality the Raiders didn't hold up their end of the bargain (typical dysfunction - this time in the wrong direction) BUT in my mock draft Fantasy world THEY DID!

How could this happen?  What does it mean for the Pats?  My 2010 scenario that lands the Raiders in the top 5, and what the Pats should do after the Jump.

Okay the Raiders had a good season and really played a lot better then I expected them too - to the point where 16 teams have equal or worse records then they did.  Hardly Ideal for the Pats, so below I've got a quick and reasonable explaination of an 8 game swing for the Raiders, bringing them to 4-12 and into the top 5:

 

Game 1:  Oct 10th vs Chargers - The Norv Turner Principle. 

Raiders won this game by 8, but really any other coach with the talent of the Chargers would have won this game by at least 10.

Game 2:  Oct 24th @ Denver - The Josh McDaniels Principle.

Only our old friend Josh McDaniels could trade away the Franchise QB, #1 Wide Receiver AND get blown out at home to your biggest rival.   In a normal NFL universe no coach does any of these three things, let alone all of them in under 24 months.

Game 3:  Dec 5th @ Chargers - Norv Turner Part Duex.

This guy really still has a job in the NFL?   I can see a surprise upset, early in the season and on the road without some key players.  But losing to a division rival twice, the second time AT HOME, IN DECEMBER, WITH THE PLAYOFFS ON THE LINE?  It is completely viable to say this outcome should never have happened.

Game 4:  Jan 2 @ Chief - Charlie Weiss's FU (UF?).

Funny how former Pats coaches bite the Pats arse even in my fantasy draft world.  Any other coach, with a shred of dignity and respect for his current team would have waited until the season was over to announce this decision.  But not Charlie, he lets it league as the season winds down, sending his team into a funk that allows the Chiefs to have it handed to them, at home in a game where they had signficantly more to play for then their hated rival.  Once again, easy to see how this never should have happened.

So there you have 4 games, that really in any other NFL universe would have been L's but were W's this year for the Raiders.   They are now 4-12, not 8-8 and since Denver is one of the switcheroo's, they are now 5-12 and the Raiders are happily resting at #4 in the Draft:

1.  Panthers

2.  Bengals

3.  Bills

4.  Pats (via Raiders)

5.  Denver

So what do the Pats do?

Poll

Assume Fairley and Bowers go 1 and 2 in either order, who do the Pats take a 4?

3%

Trade up to #3 with the Bills and take Patrick Peterson, too good of a talent to pass up.

3 votes

11%

Draft Robert Quinn - who may be the closet thing to a Seymour replacement

11 votes

18%

Draft Von Miller - the best OLB in the draft

18 votes

28%

Draft AJ Green - the #1 reciever in the draft and a tremendous #1 for the Pats for many, many years

27 votes

3%

Draft Prince Amukara or Peterson if he doesn't go 3. Either DB is too good to pass up

3 votes

28%

Who are you kinding, #4 just gives BB even more value to trade down with! Move down to 8 or 10 and take Cam Jordan

27 votes

6%

Other - You missed the best option here

6 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed