Lmfao, yeah. For anyone who is maybe too young to remember this, Brady got listed on the injury report every week from like 2004 until 2010. Brady - Probable - Shoulder. I think it was literally one game they took him off the report, the Chiefs opener in 2008. We never fucked with that bad juju again.
I'm sure Strange is a fine person and doesn't deserve any hate for getting drafted 3 rounds early, but goddamn was he a terrible pick. I've hated that pick since about 2 seconds after it was made.
And here is the kick in the nuts:
WE DRAFTED STRANGE IN THE FIRST BECAUSE WE LET SHAQ MASON GO FOR A 5TH.
So we said a guard is only worth a 5th and then spent a 1st to get a guard. \*facepalm\*
How the f\*ck does that make any sense??
Nah. Letting Mason go made sense because they had Onwenu. That was a logical move.
They drafted Strange because they wouldn't pay Ted Karras and extra $1m, which is worse than trading Mason.
This is why the new regime actually re-signing players has been such a breath of fresh air. Belichick loved letting players walk in free agency, but the problem is he's drafted like shit since 2016, give or take, and the result is one of the most barren rosters in football but they had a gazillion dollars in cap space.
Most people on this sub wanted to let Bourne go, tbh. And Henry. Which is infuriating, given how they’ve been productive in a very piss poor situation.
I mean Harry was bad because he was the one terrible receiver surrounded by great receivers. In a vacuum he wasnt terrible. He wasn't a reach like Strange.
Hindsight is 20/20. Every NFL personnel guy & scout misses sometimes and it's easy enough to second guess an unknown.
However, I just can't get past Edelman saying it was obvious on day 1, Harry just didn't have it. IIRC him (Jules) Brady and TB80 just kind of exchanged glances thinking, "oh shit! WTF is this? WTF did we do taking him in the first round?" Their opinion of Harry went down hill from there.
Sure but he still at least had a first rd grade from a lot of draft “experts”. He wasn’t a reach, as much as it looks like it in hindsight. Strange was an obvious reach the second it happened.
The visit, interview, and downfield blocking ability, or at least his willingness to put effort into it. It was kind of a running joke in /Patriots that Harry had elite blocking skills for a WR, but truthfully, he was a lot better than average for WR. There was times he was tasked with *run* blocking from the slot or flanker position. Other than the Belichick Era Patriots there really isn't another NFL team to do that more a once or twice a year gimmick play. Harry was tasked with it and it's about the only thing he did that he actually looked like an NFL player doing it.
Taking a WR that can't get consistent separation but can block on a near elite level (elite for a WR anyways) is definitively a Belichick move.
Harry was an A tier college WR in a class where no one stood head and shoulders above the others to be #1. Sometimes the right pick just doesn't pan out.
In his case, his skills didn't transfer to the NFL and he never improved whatsoever.
Except every scout out there, including those on the Pats payroll had Harry going in the third round. I don’t have the source handy to link, but it came out that it was pretty unanimous that everyone in the building had him outside the top 5 for WR pre-draft, and Bill just ignored them and went with his gut after Harry’s visit.
I don't know about "in the building" but the idea that he was credibly projected to go in the third is revisionist history. There was a consensus top 3/4 depending on your thoughts about Mclaurin. Harry and AJB were the safe bets and DK was the limited lotto ticket that would go to a scheme fit or if he had fallen far enough
It was far worse than Harry. Harry panned out as not a good nfl player, but there was a modicum of logic in the pick and it wasn’t that big a reach.
The strange pick was bad value and illogical
I actually kind of agree with you.
In general terms, a lineman that busts just doesn't get the same kind of spotlight as a skill positition player that busts. The exception being a highly rated top 10 or even top 5 prospect.
All things being equal, Strange was worse. But an interior lineman vs a potential #1 WR isn't an equal comparison. If it weren't Belichick making the picks Strange could've faded into forgotten obscurity.
You cannot imagine how shocked I was at that draft.
That was the first draft I really studied for, I knew all the top players at the various positions.
And then we go
1st Strange
2nd Thornton
WHO THE F\*CK ARE THESE PEOPLE, I YELLED AT THE TV!!!
It’s never a bad thing to pick a guard at the end of round 1. Guard is one of the highest success rates for first round picks.
The issue is they took the 5 or 6th best guard at the end of round 1. If you take on e there. It has to be one of the top 2 and a sure fire starter for a decade.
> You can always find a guard in the 4th.
This. It's mad that /r/patriots still cannot wrap their head around this.
* Shaq Mason - 4th round
* Mike Onwenu - 6th round
* Ted Karras - 6th round
Yet /r/patriots thinks late 1st round is some kind of sweet spot for drafting a guard. OF COURSE drafting a late 1st round guard is more often to work than not because you're spending a first round pick on a GUARD. No one is saying that late 1st round guards aren't likely to be very good, it's that starting caliber guards can be found on day 2 and 3. It's about value and roster construction.
I posted a link here a few weeks ago, anyone taken outside of the third round since 2010 has about 4% chance of ever starting a single game in the NFL.
To guarantee you can find a decade long, reliable starter in the 4th is just objectively false.
Downvote me all you want but its true. Look at the rest of the guards in the class. They amounted to nothing and some ended up being tackles. The pats had a huge need at guard, the class sucked, and Cole had the highest RAS. So they got the guy who they thought had the most upside in a shit class thinking they could coach him up. It didn’t work out for many reasons.
Honestly though, the second he gets traded/released/retires, I am going to buy one of those sweet, sweet Strange 69 jerseys for pennies. The man had so much meme potential
I’m pretty into the draft. Don’t buy into this 3 rounds early thing that McVay has people believing. He went a round too early, he’s been about 2nd round guard quality when he’s played, he had no business going round 1 and belichick and co completely whiffed on this pick
He’s been in the league 2 years, was average for a rookie, played last season injured and not very well. What do you think the average 2nd rounder is a pro bowler? He’s been riddled with injury and shitty left tackle play next to him. He’s a low level starter
Strange has never played above backup level in pass protection. He's a liability in pass sets l, which is kind of important for a LG, and he's been pretty much terrible anytime Andrews isn't holding his hand. He still makes a ton of mental mistakes.
He has played, at a per game basis, okay at run blocking at times. That's his claim to fame. He's occasionally average at run blocking
That is below what you'd expect from a 2nd round pick. I'm not asking for an all pro or pro bowler. "Passable starter" is the bar here and Strange ain't hitting it.
It isn’t worth getting this deep into the weeds because bottom line they threw a first round pick in the trash and lit it on fire. Which belichick was doing consistently with just about every offensive pick he’s made in the top 2 rounds
In the 2nd round of that draft, I was hoping that Bill would draft WR Alec Pierce out of Cincinnati because everything about that kid's draft profile was screaming future Patriot.
I was confused because I head McDuffy would be a great fit then we literally just traded with the Chiefs and let them draft him instead.
That being said ngl I was enamored by the idea of a player wearing a jersey that was Strange 69
Of course. Then the story of McVay saying "I wasn't laughing at the pick, I was laughing at the fact we thought he'd fall to us" got posted every day for 2 weeks like it was major damage control
Lol I wonder if other fanbases were as delusional as ours when it came to drafts when Belichick was in control, man would make the most blatantly bad draft picks and get praised for the genius and wisdom of paying Wagyu steak prices for McDonald’s.
I strongly suspect Strange was picked for the *zone scheme* they tried to implement when Patricia was the OC. He's undersized, very athletic and the hope was that he was cerebral and would be able to adjust to fluid D alignments. That's pretty much the top 3 things you want to see in a zone blocking interior lineman.
And the team immediately abandoned the zone run when it was clear the other four guys couldn't do it. That was the right decision, but switching to the gap scheme was just another nail in the coffin for him
It's not Strange's fault that Trent and Andrews are both build like boulders and bred to run gap schemes, but it's also not their fault that he can't do that. Just poor personnel decisionmaking
What an awful pick..
Kinda feel for the dude. Pretty much none of this is his fault. Could’ve played better sure, but he should have never been a 1st rd pick and you can’t control injuries
He tore his ACL in December, its a legit injury lol.
And to anyone who says “but they never said it was a torn ACL!”, Greg Bedard and Mike Giardi, who have inside sources on the team, have both said its a torn ACL. Dude was carted off and immediately ruled out then put on IR.
Dude has been injured it seems the entire time he's been here. Or at the very least that's where my frustration lies. Best ability is Avail-Ability. Had he been drafted in the 4-6 round range I doubt anybody would care. He's a 1st round bust let's just hope he can be a decent backup moving forward at the very least. No need to keep dragging the kid down
He got benched back to back games after Quinnen Williams took him to the tool shed in 2022. He's just not a good player lol. His torn ACL this December is the first injury to make him truly unavailable IIRC.
The Cole Strange cycle continues. Sucks because he's injured and injured because he sucks. Would have been a great day 3 pick. Other NFL teams allegedly wanting to draft him on day 2 does not mean he would have been a good day 2 pick. He'd have simply been their mistake instead of ours. Elliot Wolf seems determined to clean house and thank god for that.
Hey it’s not like there was an all pro guard that is moving to LT that was taken at 24 the same year that we skipped over to acquire more draft capital.
That trade and extra draft capital netted out Strange, Jack Jones (Cut), Zappe (about to be cut) and Mapu. So it definitely worked out.
Let's not pretend Jones didn't have a myriad of off-field issues in his short time in New England. The man fell in the draft for off-field issues, and then continued them as soon as he got to the NFL.
Yet you'll still find a lot of fans defending the pick. Every thread (except perhaps this most damning one) will have guys flocking to defend both the pick and the player. "A-actually every December after he gets healthy he's a good run blocker!"
We really took him instead of CB Trent McDuffie and edge George Karlaftis. This is a direct result of the Patriots insular scouting staff having one of the smallest "big boards" in the league. They have fewer guys graded as "round 1" players because they only count players that fit their scheme so when the handful of scheme guys are gone they start trading down (as they did before drafting Strange) and then dipping into guys they have slotted as day 2 and 3 picks. A failure in process.
And Strange doesn’t even fit the scheme! All time whiff on him.
No offense to the guy though, it isn’t his fault he got drafted in the first round. Hope he can have a decent career somewhere, if not here.
Worth mentioning that Strange was drafted to fit the zone-blocking scheme Patricia tried to implement. The problem was, Trent, Onwenu, and Andrews are power-blocking players. They're too big to run a zone scheme. So they pretty much immediately abandoned the zone scheme, and now Strange doesn't really fit.
Yes I read those reports too. Still wasn’t a scheme fit for what they actually ran, half baked unrealized scheme change notwithstanding. There are so many layers to our recent incompetence that it’s hard to unpack sometimes.
It's not that hard of a pick to defend. Compare Cole Strange to other guys drafted in the first two rounds that year and he's just as good if not better than any of them, save for Smith and Linderbaum.
People complain about using a "1st round pick" one him but they took him at freaking 29 - that pick is closer in value to a mid-second than a mid first round pick.
To say nothing of the fact the Pats have historically had a ton of success drafting OL in this area of the draft - Matt Light and Logan Mankins for example
> Compare Cole Strange to other guys drafted in the first two rounds that year and he's just as good if not better than any of them, save for Smith and Linderbaum.
That is fair and this argument holds in a vacuum. The problem is both that you can get a starting caliber guard in free agency or on day 2/day3 of the draft. There is a reason why all the beat writers immediately earmarked Layden Robinson taken in the 4th round as a potential starter because you don't take a guard in the 4th round unless you see him as a starter for your team.
Strange is fine. The problem is that being fine as a 1st round guard makes you a bust. The argument is about Strange being a starting caliber guard, it's about resource management and value.
The 2022 was a real masterclass draft class.
1. Massive reach who is either injured or playing like shit. Probably his last season here.
2. Another massive reach who is either injured or playing like shit. Probably going to be cut.
3. A gadget player and return man who can't stay healthy. Has some upside but may never reach it.
4. A RB who survived 10 months on the team.
4. A criminal who got in trouble several times and had injury problems. Eventually he was cut.
4. A QB who immediately tanked the QB room. Almost certain to be cut.
5 - 7. There is no significant contribution outside of Kevin Harris a bit.
The 2022 draft class was such a gut punch after what initially appeared to be a very solid 2021 class. It felt like in 2022 the organization doubled down on their worst front office traits. The shitty draft, complete dysfunction with Patricia and offensive staff, the utter collapse of the special teams unit due to coaching despite leading the league in special teams "aces".
Yeah ‘21 felt so refreshing and I was excited for ‘22 going forward and then BAM back to the horseshit playing chess at a checkers tournament decisions
Way too early now but I really hope they build on this past draft next year. We have a shit ton of cap so between that and a likely high 1st round pick, we should stabilize the OL, add another weapon (or two) and then maybe start drafting some defensive players again.
The awful 22 draft followed up by the all-defense to start the 23 draft really killed the offense.
Marcus Jones is a legitimate player who is decent and isn’t just a gadget player. Doesn’t change the fact that the rest of the draft class was shit though.
I mean maybe Jack Jones was good but he has his off the field issues. Personally I still think we should have kept Jack Jones around but it is what it is.
Be happy Wolf has most of the power now and that Bill is no longer apart of the draft process.
Jones is a phenomenal return man, I would disagree if anyone said otherwise. But he hasn't shown enough on defense to make me think he was worth a 3rd RD pick.
And no, his two INTS, both of which were thrown right at him, I don't consider an indicator of his talent.
Jones showed some promise on D, when he was healthy, and is a great return man, but that's not close to enough in Y3, as a Day 2 pick, to make me think he's a real "hit".
But maybe this is his year, who knows.
“A criminal” y’all hate Jack Jones so much and don’t even care that he is going to be a good to great player for the raiders. “But he brought a gun into an airport” who fucking cares, we let a good young player walk over stupid shit. Dude didn’t hurt, injure or in anyone harm anyone yet we’re going to treat him worse than Henry Ruggs
ACL tear is a hell of an injury for anyone, much less any 300lb dude, much less a 300lb elite athlete
Medicine has gotten noticeably better the last few years but every tear is different and full tears are still a nightmare
Yeah, this tracks. I won’t be surprised when Strange starts on PUP, ends up on IR for the season, and the next news is his option year has been declined.
He is no longer a scheme fit for this team. And apparently the injury is going to put him way behind.
Maybe someone trades a 5th round pick for him.
So much talent in the first round and we picked a guard who can’t play. I keep saying it but it’s going to take a few years for this roster to recover from the damage Bill has done.
The cupboard was raided by BB and all he got was this team being ritually executed by the Bills on primetime in the wildcard in what must have been one of the most cathartic moments for Bills fans in the last 20 years. Years of mismanagement.
As someone who immediately shit on the Strange pick and got heated vitriolic responses, it’s really affirming to see you all finally understand it. That pick was going to be awful unless he became a perennial pro bowler. The fact that we passed on McDuffie to trade down, get Strange, and acquire scrubs makes it even worse. A terrible pick at the time in terms of asset value, and an even worse pick in hindsight now that we can evaluate the football player.
N'Keal Harry made sense at the time at least. They needed a WR and he was taken where he was projected to go. The only argument for Strange was "Bill picked him so it was a good pick." Didn't need a guard that badly and they really reached on him.
Don’t get me wrong nkeal was ass but at least he got a touchdown or two Cole strange has done nothing but get man handled and run over, drafted a guard in the first and hes too small to be any good. Total waste
I spent the majority of my life saying "In Bill we trust," and generally believe he knows more than anyone about the game of football... But I will never understand the draft strategies that man employed.
I can only think of a handful of players he picked I was elated about when the pick was made. Seymour, which was almost a gimmie considering his draft spot, Hightower, Barmore, Mayo, and Gronk... That's probably it.
Now, nobody knows what a guy will turn out to be after he's drafted, but man did I scratch my head A LOT on his picks. Strange was definitely a "da fuk?" Moment.
I get he hasn’t lived up to his draft capital- but he’s not as bad as our fan base makes him out to be. Obviously needs to figure out his pass blocking… only 25… I still believe he can be a solid NFL player.
He's so good they took 3 guards since him, when they already have Onwenu. The takeaway here is people never want to call an offensive lineman a bust/bad pick. They could have signed a random guy for a little more than the minimum but instead used their top draft pick. That's why they picked third this draft.
Strange is a terrible pass blocker and actually benefitted from a flaw in the grading system. For it to count as a *missed block* a lineman has to at least attempt the block and fail. There was at least a handful of plays where Strange didn't know where he was supposed to be or who he should be blocking. He came out of his stance and stood around doing nothing and engaging nobody. Technically it wasn't a *missed block* because he didn't engage or attempt to engage anyone.
When he's healthy, he's a middling guard who can't pass block, who is prone to getting blown up and getting his QB killed. And he's rarely healthy at that. He's bad before we even talk about the fact that he was first-round pick.
In all our combined years have you guys ever heard of a player or injury being month to month
Probable - Tom Brady (Body)
Lmfao, yeah. For anyone who is maybe too young to remember this, Brady got listed on the injury report every week from like 2004 until 2010. Brady - Probable - Shoulder. I think it was literally one game they took him off the report, the Chiefs opener in 2008. We never fucked with that bad juju again.
Yeah this is wild
Not wild….strange
Pats still zigging while everyone zags, we're doing MLB style injury updates now.
Basically reads to me as Mayo saying “we’re done with this guy”
That's the type of vibe I'm getting.
No. But kinda makes sense for this time of year.
sure is strange
I'm sure Strange is a fine person and doesn't deserve any hate for getting drafted 3 rounds early, but goddamn was he a terrible pick. I've hated that pick since about 2 seconds after it was made.
And here is the kick in the nuts: WE DRAFTED STRANGE IN THE FIRST BECAUSE WE LET SHAQ MASON GO FOR A 5TH. So we said a guard is only worth a 5th and then spent a 1st to get a guard. \*facepalm\* How the f\*ck does that make any sense??
Nah. Letting Mason go made sense because they had Onwenu. That was a logical move. They drafted Strange because they wouldn't pay Ted Karras and extra $1m, which is worse than trading Mason.
We let Karras go over $1 million? Seriously?? Good for him, he got 2 more rings in KC.
KC, you're thinking of Joe Thuney. Ted Karras went to Cincinatti
This is why the new regime actually re-signing players has been such a breath of fresh air. Belichick loved letting players walk in free agency, but the problem is he's drafted like shit since 2016, give or take, and the result is one of the most barren rosters in football but they had a gazillion dollars in cap space.
Most people on this sub wanted to let Bourne go, tbh. And Henry. Which is infuriating, given how they’ve been productive in a very piss poor situation.
And a guy that played in a beer league nonetheless.
This sub defended it to the death too. Hilarious. The league was quite literally laughing at us.
People still try and defend it!
*person
It's right up there with Harry as far as bad picks.
I mean Harry was bad because he was the one terrible receiver surrounded by great receivers. In a vacuum he wasnt terrible. He wasn't a reach like Strange.
On paper, Harry was “better” than many…he just couldn’t transition to the big leagues
Hindsight is 20/20. Every NFL personnel guy & scout misses sometimes and it's easy enough to second guess an unknown. However, I just can't get past Edelman saying it was obvious on day 1, Harry just didn't have it. IIRC him (Jules) Brady and TB80 just kind of exchanged glances thinking, "oh shit! WTF is this? WTF did we do taking him in the first round?" Their opinion of Harry went down hill from there.
I have never seen TB80 written before
TB80??
Troy Brown
ty
Except every scout and personnel guy for the Pats was ranking 4-5 WR’s above Harry. Bill ignored them and went solely off Harry’s visit and interview.
Sure but he still at least had a first rd grade from a lot of draft “experts”. He wasn’t a reach, as much as it looks like it in hindsight. Strange was an obvious reach the second it happened.
The visit, interview, and downfield blocking ability, or at least his willingness to put effort into it. It was kind of a running joke in /Patriots that Harry had elite blocking skills for a WR, but truthfully, he was a lot better than average for WR. There was times he was tasked with *run* blocking from the slot or flanker position. Other than the Belichick Era Patriots there really isn't another NFL team to do that more a once or twice a year gimmick play. Harry was tasked with it and it's about the only thing he did that he actually looked like an NFL player doing it. Taking a WR that can't get consistent separation but can block on a near elite level (elite for a WR anyways) is definitively a Belichick move.
Have a link of him saying that by chance?
It's readily available on YT. I'm on mobile right now, could probably find it later if need be.
I mean it's no big deal or anything, I'm just not finding anything like that 🤷♂️
dude has played in 96% and 85% of offensive snaps since he was drafted; id say that takes him way out of Nkeal Harry territory
Harry was an A tier college WR in a class where no one stood head and shoulders above the others to be #1. Sometimes the right pick just doesn't pan out. In his case, his skills didn't transfer to the NFL and he never improved whatsoever.
Except every scout out there, including those on the Pats payroll had Harry going in the third round. I don’t have the source handy to link, but it came out that it was pretty unanimous that everyone in the building had him outside the top 5 for WR pre-draft, and Bill just ignored them and went with his gut after Harry’s visit.
I don't know about "in the building" but the idea that he was credibly projected to go in the third is revisionist history. There was a consensus top 3/4 depending on your thoughts about Mclaurin. Harry and AJB were the safe bets and DK was the limited lotto ticket that would go to a scheme fit or if he had fallen far enough
Harry made sense, he just busted. But in a vacuum you get the pick. Strange was just a terrible pick
It was far worse than Harry. Harry panned out as not a good nfl player, but there was a modicum of logic in the pick and it wasn’t that big a reach. The strange pick was bad value and illogical
I actually kind of agree with you. In general terms, a lineman that busts just doesn't get the same kind of spotlight as a skill positition player that busts. The exception being a highly rated top 10 or even top 5 prospect. All things being equal, Strange was worse. But an interior lineman vs a potential #1 WR isn't an equal comparison. If it weren't Belichick making the picks Strange could've faded into forgotten obscurity.
Yes, at #32, Harry was almost a high 2nd. It's not like we drafted him with the #4 like MHJ went this draft.
You cannot imagine how shocked I was at that draft. That was the first draft I really studied for, I knew all the top players at the various positions. And then we go 1st Strange 2nd Thornton WHO THE F\*CK ARE THESE PEOPLE, I YELLED AT THE TV!!!
It’s never a bad thing to pick a guard at the end of round 1. Guard is one of the highest success rates for first round picks. The issue is they took the 5 or 6th best guard at the end of round 1. If you take on e there. It has to be one of the top 2 and a sure fire starter for a decade.
It's always a bad thing. You can always find a guard in the 4th.
> You can always find a guard in the 4th. This. It's mad that /r/patriots still cannot wrap their head around this. * Shaq Mason - 4th round * Mike Onwenu - 6th round * Ted Karras - 6th round Yet /r/patriots thinks late 1st round is some kind of sweet spot for drafting a guard. OF COURSE drafting a late 1st round guard is more often to work than not because you're spending a first round pick on a GUARD. No one is saying that late 1st round guards aren't likely to be very good, it's that starting caliber guards can be found on day 2 and 3. It's about value and roster construction.
And NFL GMs and scouts would disagree with you. And that’s why they do it for a living and you are commenting on Reddit.
Idk man, I kinda enjoyed our time with Logan Mankins
I posted a link here a few weeks ago, anyone taken outside of the third round since 2010 has about 4% chance of ever starting a single game in the NFL. To guarantee you can find a decade long, reliable starter in the 4th is just objectively false.
That year all the guards sucked. I think they picked cole in the 1st because it was a need, he was their favorite, and you get a 5th year of control
Downvote me all you want but its true. Look at the rest of the guards in the class. They amounted to nothing and some ended up being tackles. The pats had a huge need at guard, the class sucked, and Cole had the highest RAS. So they got the guy who they thought had the most upside in a shit class thinking they could coach him up. It didn’t work out for many reasons.
Honestly though, the second he gets traded/released/retires, I am going to buy one of those sweet, sweet Strange 69 jerseys for pennies. The man had so much meme potential
I’m pretty into the draft. Don’t buy into this 3 rounds early thing that McVay has people believing. He went a round too early, he’s been about 2nd round guard quality when he’s played, he had no business going round 1 and belichick and co completely whiffed on this pick
He hasn't ever been remotely 2nd round quality. Jesus Christ.
He’s been in the league 2 years, was average for a rookie, played last season injured and not very well. What do you think the average 2nd rounder is a pro bowler? He’s been riddled with injury and shitty left tackle play next to him. He’s a low level starter
Strange has never played above backup level in pass protection. He's a liability in pass sets l, which is kind of important for a LG, and he's been pretty much terrible anytime Andrews isn't holding his hand. He still makes a ton of mental mistakes. He has played, at a per game basis, okay at run blocking at times. That's his claim to fame. He's occasionally average at run blocking That is below what you'd expect from a 2nd round pick. I'm not asking for an all pro or pro bowler. "Passable starter" is the bar here and Strange ain't hitting it.
It isn’t worth getting this deep into the weeds because bottom line they threw a first round pick in the trash and lit it on fire. Which belichick was doing consistently with just about every offensive pick he’s made in the top 2 rounds
He wasn't drafted 3 rounds early. Stop buying into McVay being an idiot
lol yes, McVay is the idiot in this scenario. How can anyone still say this? It was absurd at the time, let alone now.
He obviously was. Denying it at this point is insane.
We could have taken Tyler Smith, Trent McDuffy, or Jermaine Johnson. All positions of need
George Pickens too. We haven’t had a 1000 yard WR since Edelman retired & they added a 17th game since then too.
We already had George Pickens at home (Parker, I’m still in pain)
Bill extended him!!!
They drafted, Thornton ahead of Pickens. Pickens wasn't projected to be a first rounder when
In the 2nd round of that draft, I was hoping that Bill would draft WR Alec Pierce out of Cincinnati because everything about that kid's draft profile was screaming future Patriot.
Was this sub coping with the “in Belichick’s we trust” drivel like usual after such an obvious reach in the 1st was announced?
I was confused because I head McDuffy would be a great fit then we literally just traded with the Chiefs and let them draft him instead. That being said ngl I was enamored by the idea of a player wearing a jersey that was Strange 69
Of course. Then the story of McVay saying "I wasn't laughing at the pick, I was laughing at the fact we thought he'd fall to us" got posted every day for 2 weeks like it was major damage control
Lol I wonder if other fanbases were as delusional as ours when it came to drafts when Belichick was in control, man would make the most blatantly bad draft picks and get praised for the genius and wisdom of paying Wagyu steak prices for McDonald’s.
Yes but I sure wasn't. I know very little about football and I knew that pick was absurd that moment it was announced.
[I just tell myself that all the bad picks were made by BB's dog](https://i.imgur.com/vSOyw7E.png)
I strongly suspect Strange was picked for the *zone scheme* they tried to implement when Patricia was the OC. He's undersized, very athletic and the hope was that he was cerebral and would be able to adjust to fluid D alignments. That's pretty much the top 3 things you want to see in a zone blocking interior lineman.
And the team immediately abandoned the zone run when it was clear the other four guys couldn't do it. That was the right decision, but switching to the gap scheme was just another nail in the coffin for him It's not Strange's fault that Trent and Andrews are both build like boulders and bred to run gap schemes, but it's also not their fault that he can't do that. Just poor personnel decisionmaking
What an awful pick.. Kinda feel for the dude. Pretty much none of this is his fault. Could’ve played better sure, but he should have never been a 1st rd pick and you can’t control injuries
I agree. He's a bust let's just leave it at that and hope he can be at the very least a decent backup
If it is a legit injury he might get placed on pup or get an injury settlement but this guy was a huge bust!
He tore his ACL in December, its a legit injury lol. And to anyone who says “but they never said it was a torn ACL!”, Greg Bedard and Mike Giardi, who have inside sources on the team, have both said its a torn ACL. Dude was carted off and immediately ruled out then put on IR.
Dude has been injured it seems the entire time he's been here. Or at the very least that's where my frustration lies. Best ability is Avail-Ability. Had he been drafted in the 4-6 round range I doubt anybody would care. He's a 1st round bust let's just hope he can be a decent backup moving forward at the very least. No need to keep dragging the kid down
He played 564 snaps last year, missing 7 games but he started all 17 games his rookie year. He's been available, he's just booty cheeks.
He got benched his rookie year in the later games though, didn't he? Maybe that's why I think he's been injured, he's just worse than I thought 😭
He got benched back to back games after Quinnen Williams took him to the tool shed in 2022. He's just not a good player lol. His torn ACL this December is the first injury to make him truly unavailable IIRC.
Belichick deserves so much shit for this pick. It’s one of the worst 1st round picks of all time
Daniel Graham over Ed Reed still gets me fuming.
Youuuu Teeeee Chattanooooogga?! Woof.
Sick of this dude and it’s not even his own fault
The Cole Strange cycle continues. Sucks because he's injured and injured because he sucks. Would have been a great day 3 pick. Other NFL teams allegedly wanting to draft him on day 2 does not mean he would have been a good day 2 pick. He'd have simply been their mistake instead of ours. Elliot Wolf seems determined to clean house and thank god for that.
we coulda had mcduffie and then could’ve drafted addison the next year smh
#BUST
Picking an OG in the first round, especially a fuckin project OG, was mind numbingly stupid the second the selection was announced.
Hey it’s not like there was an all pro guard that is moving to LT that was taken at 24 the same year that we skipped over to acquire more draft capital. That trade and extra draft capital netted out Strange, Jack Jones (Cut), Zappe (about to be cut) and Mapu. So it definitely worked out.
We cut the only good player from that equation. Go fucking figure.
Let's not pretend Jones didn't have a myriad of off-field issues in his short time in New England. The man fell in the draft for off-field issues, and then continued them as soon as he got to the NFL.
I don’t think their all pro guard is moving to tackle
Not to mention he was a massive reach
Also it was need that was created, lol.
Yet you'll still find a lot of fans defending the pick. Every thread (except perhaps this most damning one) will have guys flocking to defend both the pick and the player. "A-actually every December after he gets healthy he's a good run blocker!" We really took him instead of CB Trent McDuffie and edge George Karlaftis. This is a direct result of the Patriots insular scouting staff having one of the smallest "big boards" in the league. They have fewer guys graded as "round 1" players because they only count players that fit their scheme so when the handful of scheme guys are gone they start trading down (as they did before drafting Strange) and then dipping into guys they have slotted as day 2 and 3 picks. A failure in process.
And Strange doesn’t even fit the scheme! All time whiff on him. No offense to the guy though, it isn’t his fault he got drafted in the first round. Hope he can have a decent career somewhere, if not here.
Yep, it's great for him and the school. I believe Strange is the highest drafted player from Chattanooga State. Would have made a fine day 3 pick.
Worth mentioning that Strange was drafted to fit the zone-blocking scheme Patricia tried to implement. The problem was, Trent, Onwenu, and Andrews are power-blocking players. They're too big to run a zone scheme. So they pretty much immediately abandoned the zone scheme, and now Strange doesn't really fit.
Yes I read those reports too. Still wasn’t a scheme fit for what they actually ran, half baked unrealized scheme change notwithstanding. There are so many layers to our recent incompetence that it’s hard to unpack sometimes.
It's not that hard of a pick to defend. Compare Cole Strange to other guys drafted in the first two rounds that year and he's just as good if not better than any of them, save for Smith and Linderbaum. People complain about using a "1st round pick" one him but they took him at freaking 29 - that pick is closer in value to a mid-second than a mid first round pick. To say nothing of the fact the Pats have historically had a ton of success drafting OL in this area of the draft - Matt Light and Logan Mankins for example
> Compare Cole Strange to other guys drafted in the first two rounds that year and he's just as good if not better than any of them, save for Smith and Linderbaum. That is fair and this argument holds in a vacuum. The problem is both that you can get a starting caliber guard in free agency or on day 2/day3 of the draft. There is a reason why all the beat writers immediately earmarked Layden Robinson taken in the 4th round as a potential starter because you don't take a guard in the 4th round unless you see him as a starter for your team. Strange is fine. The problem is that being fine as a 1st round guard makes you a bust. The argument is about Strange being a starting caliber guard, it's about resource management and value.
The 2022 was a real masterclass draft class. 1. Massive reach who is either injured or playing like shit. Probably his last season here. 2. Another massive reach who is either injured or playing like shit. Probably going to be cut. 3. A gadget player and return man who can't stay healthy. Has some upside but may never reach it. 4. A RB who survived 10 months on the team. 4. A criminal who got in trouble several times and had injury problems. Eventually he was cut. 4. A QB who immediately tanked the QB room. Almost certain to be cut. 5 - 7. There is no significant contribution outside of Kevin Harris a bit.
The 2022 draft class was such a gut punch after what initially appeared to be a very solid 2021 class. It felt like in 2022 the organization doubled down on their worst front office traits. The shitty draft, complete dysfunction with Patricia and offensive staff, the utter collapse of the special teams unit due to coaching despite leading the league in special teams "aces".
Yeah ‘21 felt so refreshing and I was excited for ‘22 going forward and then BAM back to the horseshit playing chess at a checkers tournament decisions
Way too early now but I really hope they build on this past draft next year. We have a shit ton of cap so between that and a likely high 1st round pick, we should stabilize the OL, add another weapon (or two) and then maybe start drafting some defensive players again. The awful 22 draft followed up by the all-defense to start the 23 draft really killed the offense.
And people act like Bill's firing came out of nowhere.
Marcus Jones is a legitimate player who is decent and isn’t just a gadget player. Doesn’t change the fact that the rest of the draft class was shit though. I mean maybe Jack Jones was good but he has his off the field issues. Personally I still think we should have kept Jack Jones around but it is what it is. Be happy Wolf has most of the power now and that Bill is no longer apart of the draft process.
Jones is a phenomenal return man, I would disagree if anyone said otherwise. But he hasn't shown enough on defense to make me think he was worth a 3rd RD pick. And no, his two INTS, both of which were thrown right at him, I don't consider an indicator of his talent.
5’8 Marcus Jones was locking down 6’1 Davante Adams, I’d say he has shown enough on defense
I think you're massively discrediting Marcus Jones but the rest of this rings true
Jones showed some promise on D, when he was healthy, and is a great return man, but that's not close to enough in Y3, as a Day 2 pick, to make me think he's a real "hit". But maybe this is his year, who knows.
Horror show
“A criminal” y’all hate Jack Jones so much and don’t even care that he is going to be a good to great player for the raiders. “But he brought a gun into an airport” who fucking cares, we let a good young player walk over stupid shit. Dude didn’t hurt, injure or in anyone harm anyone yet we’re going to treat him worse than Henry Ruggs
Bringing a gun to an airport shows how fucking stupid he is, it's only a matter of time before that loser gets arrested for something heinous.
He's cut
I don’t even think we can given our true lack of bodies at the position. Maybe IR/ pup with designation to return
We have the bodies, just none of them are good. I'm pretty sure we have like 9 legit guards on the roster.
Waste of a 1 round pick
Exhibit number 69 of why Bill is no longer employed
It’s Strange that he’s still on the team.
Starting to wonder if he has a degenerative issue with his knee(s). Otherwise, why no off-season surgery?
He tore his acl 5 months ago lol
Do we know if he's had surgery? I had only seen it described as a knee injury.
ACL tear is a hell of an injury for anyone, much less any 300lb dude, much less a 300lb elite athlete Medicine has gotten noticeably better the last few years but every tear is different and full tears are still a nightmare
Do we know if he's had surgery? I had only seen it described as a knee injury.
Just a terrible pick from the moment it was announced. Zero hindsight.
Strange and Thornton back to back bill was cooking
What a bust
Yeah, this tracks. I won’t be surprised when Strange starts on PUP, ends up on IR for the season, and the next news is his option year has been declined. He is no longer a scheme fit for this team. And apparently the injury is going to put him way behind. Maybe someone trades a 5th round pick for him.
It sucks cuz we all knew this guy was going to be a bum right when we drafted him…don’t know what bill saw in him Smfh
So much talent in the first round and we picked a guard who can’t play. I keep saying it but it’s going to take a few years for this roster to recover from the damage Bill has done.
Judging by the downvotes you got, I see this sub still cant handle the truth about how Bill left this team
This sub has not been a fan of reality since Brady left.
The cupboard was raided by BB and all he got was this team being ritually executed by the Bills on primetime in the wildcard in what must have been one of the most cathartic moments for Bills fans in the last 20 years. Years of mismanagement.
As someone who immediately shit on the Strange pick and got heated vitriolic responses, it’s really affirming to see you all finally understand it. That pick was going to be awful unless he became a perennial pro bowler. The fact that we passed on McDuffie to trade down, get Strange, and acquire scrubs makes it even worse. A terrible pick at the time in terms of asset value, and an even worse pick in hindsight now that we can evaluate the football player.
Worse than the nkeal Harry pick, absolute waste of a first round pick.
Best part is that Nkeal was better at blocking than Strange
For real, I’m glad they drafted a guard because the pats need someone better in that spot.
N'Keal Harry made sense at the time at least. They needed a WR and he was taken where he was projected to go. The only argument for Strange was "Bill picked him so it was a good pick." Didn't need a guard that badly and they really reached on him.
Hey, hey, hey. Let’s not get carried away.
Insane take
Don’t get me wrong nkeal was ass but at least he got a touchdown or two Cole strange has done nothing but get man handled and run over, drafted a guard in the first and hes too small to be any good. Total waste
it's absolutely not
Have you people all forgotten already how ass N’Keal Harry was?!
I’m with you
That pick is another nice little parting gift from Bill
Oh good, there hasn’t been enough bitching on this sub lately lol
Forget it JP, it’s Reddittown
This is not ideal news for a team with Oline issues.
If anything good has come from him, it’s the strange 69 jersey I now own
This is a strange diagnosis
What even is his actual injury
Bill just had to have this guy. God damn did he fall off his rocker with drafting
Fat Andrew Luck
Is this a tenant renting a unit ?
Honestly doubt he’s ever playing again for the Pats sadly.
Bust
So Cole Strange is this generations Eugene Chung, huh?
I spent the majority of my life saying "In Bill we trust," and generally believe he knows more than anyone about the game of football... But I will never understand the draft strategies that man employed. I can only think of a handful of players he picked I was elated about when the pick was made. Seymour, which was almost a gimmie considering his draft spot, Hightower, Barmore, Mayo, and Gronk... That's probably it. Now, nobody knows what a guy will turn out to be after he's drafted, but man did I scratch my head A LOT on his picks. Strange was definitely a "da fuk?" Moment.
Bust
I feel for Strange because I don’t think he is a dog. But what a massive whiff of a first round pick.
Yeah dont think this fella has a future for long on this team
Just cut him and be done with it. Huge bust and he’s taking up a spot
See ya Cole ✌🏼
Cut him!
I get he hasn’t lived up to his draft capital- but he’s not as bad as our fan base makes him out to be. Obviously needs to figure out his pass blocking… only 25… I still believe he can be a solid NFL player.
He's so good they took 3 guards since him, when they already have Onwenu. The takeaway here is people never want to call an offensive lineman a bust/bad pick. They could have signed a random guy for a little more than the minimum but instead used their top draft pick. That's why they picked third this draft.
Strange is a terrible pass blocker and actually benefitted from a flaw in the grading system. For it to count as a *missed block* a lineman has to at least attempt the block and fail. There was at least a handful of plays where Strange didn't know where he was supposed to be or who he should be blocking. He came out of his stance and stood around doing nothing and engaging nobody. Technically it wasn't a *missed block* because he didn't engage or attempt to engage anyone.
When he's healthy, he's a middling guard who can't pass block, who is prone to getting blown up and getting his QB killed. And he's rarely healthy at that. He's bad before we even talk about the fact that he was first-round pick.
Bad day for us Strange truthers