Mailbag catch-up
National Football League
Draft King Mailbag
December 2, 2005
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
I've been a slacker on e-mail. My apologies.
From: BlueDevilsCBWR@***.com
To: Lou Pickney
Date: Oct 18, 2005 7:11 PM
Subject: Hey
Hey I seen your mock draft and you have the Pats drafting an OLB. We have Willie McGinest (free agent), Mike Vrabel, Rossy Colvin, Tully Banta Cain and Ryan Claridge (rookie, IR). I don't think we need an OLB, maybe an ILB but still. Like last year I think WR is a need. What's one thing Deion Branch, David Givens, Tim Dwight, and Troy Brown all have in commen.. there free agents. Even if we re-sign both Branch and Givens which is unlikely we still need depth at the position. There are a ton of average WR's in this Draft. I wouldn't mind seeing the Pats take Santonio Holmes, Chad Jackson, Martin Nance, Derek Hagan or Jason Avant in round 1. What do you think?
Lou: I think, with the talent in this draft at ILB, the Patriots would be well served to look to that position in the first round of the draft. Yes, Tedy Bruschi's comeback from a stroke was nothing short of incredible, but age is still a concern at the LB spot for the Patriots. As for the receivers you mentioned, any of them would make a nice addition to the team, though I think the better option there is to go WR in round two (or three, depending on how players fall.) Someone like Martin Nance could fall to them there; he has the physical skills to perform on the pro level, and he looked very nice with Ben Roethlisberger in 2003, but he also tore his ACL in 2004. I like the way you addressed them as "average WRs" -- with that outlook, I think it's all the more reason to shy away from using a first round pick on one, particularly with this year's Patriots team being one that will be, in all likelihood, drafting disproportionately low relative to its performance level due to the overall weakness of the AFC East (allowing the team to make the playoffs.)
From: Ray Scott
Sent: Tuesday, November 1, 2005 4:31 PM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: Latest Mock Draft 10/27/05
Dear Lou,
I follow your wed site "Draft King" daily. I am proud to say this ! You appear to know your business when it comes to football. I wonder why there is so much hype behind some of this years offensive tackles. Perhaps we can discuss my personal views later. With that being said, my son is JONATHAN SCOTT the left tackle @ the University of Texas. On your most recent Mock, you have him going to Tenn.. as your 6th pick. That would be just great. Provided the lord continues to bless and protect Jonathan, by the time he goes to the Combine and finishes up; and compete on his ProDay..... He will be the first tackle taken in the 06 draft. Oh yea' Justin Blalock will return for his senior year as well as Vince Young; Trust me when I say this. Please continue your great work !
Best regards,
Ray Scott
Lou: Jonathan Scott seems to be a pretty consistent choice among scouts as being a first-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Eric Winston has suddenly jumped way back up in the rankings, which puzzles me to a degree, though perhaps I judged him too harshly on his performance in the season-opener against Florida State.
Barring injury, I think D'Brickashaw Ferguson will be the first offensive tackle to go in the draft. No slight to any of the other top contenders, but Ferguson would've been a top 10 pick had he opted to leave Virginia early last year (Al Groh managed to convince two of three likely first round NFL prospects to return for their senior season; only Heath Miller, who has had a great rookie season for the Steelers, left for the NFL.)
Interesting insight about Justin Blalock and Vince Young returning to Texas; both of those seem like very viable scenarios, particularly with Young still chasing the Heisman. Unlike Matt Leinart, who was a lock to be the #1 overall pick, Young's draft position would be a very uncertain thing, so he'd be doing the prudent thing to return. And I don't want to hear any nonsense about Leinart caring about his education; he's taking one class this semester, ballroom dancing. Unless he's planning to try out for the next season of Dancing With The Stars, I fail to see the educational benefit there. Oh, and Leinart probably won't go #1 in the following draft because of his decision. But I digress.
