With the NFL Draft coming to a conclusion yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at how each pick "graded out." As you know, we ran a poll after each selection, asking you to grade the picks. I've put together a chart with each player, where they were picked, my grade for each pick, Pats Pulpit's grade (how you guys voted) for each pick, and how WalterFootball.com (who graded all 255 selections) graded each pick.
Each player's grade after the jump.
|
Rd |
Pick |
Name |
POS |
Greg's Grade |
Walter Football |
Pats Pulpit |
|
1 |
27 |
Devin McCourty |
CB |
B- |
B |
C+ |
|
2 |
42 |
Rob Gronkowski |
TE |
A |
A |
A- |
|
2 |
53 |
Jermaine Cunningham |
OLB |
B+ |
A |
B+ |
|
2 |
62 |
Brandon Spikes |
ILB |
A- |
C |
A |
|
3 |
90 |
Taylor Price |
WR |
B |
C |
B+ |
|
4 |
113 |
Aaron Hernandez |
TE |
B+ |
B |
A- |
|
5 |
150 |
Zoltan Mesko |
P |
C+ |
C |
A- |
|
6 |
205 |
Ted Larsen |
C |
A- |
B |
A- |
|
7 |
208 |
Thomas Welch |
OT |
C |
B |
B- |
|
7 |
247 |
Brandon Deaderick |
DE |
A |
A |
A- |
|
7 |
248 |
Kade Weston |
DL |
A- |
A |
A- |
|
7 |
250 |
Zac Robinson |
QB |
B |
A |
A- |
Thoughts: Unlike most years, it seemed like the majority of fans were really happy with the team's late round selections, as was I. The selections of Brandon Deaderick and Kade Weston earned A's across the board. The Zoltan mesko selection also got a surprisingly high grade from you guys. The most popular pick was certainly the Brandon Spikes selection, followed by the Gronkowski pick (which was the only other pick to earn A's across the board).
Overall, the Patriots worked the boards all three days, making a total of seven trades, while also selecting twelve players for the second straight year. It seemed that for the most part, there weren't many big reaches, and the Patriots filled some needs, while helping to re-establish their smash-mouth style of defense and giving Tom Brady some new toys to work with.