WR or LB for the Patriots
National Football League
Draft King Mailbag
February 17, 2005
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
From: Jay Fekete
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 2:56 AM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: Thanks
Just wanted to thank you for the reply, its great to see a mock draft site that puts thought and rational into every pick. BTW, D Cody great player but with the mental illness concerns and the Cowboys recent problem with Quincy Carters, a few years ago with Demitrious Underwoods (former #1 pick of Vickes), Barret Robbins name in the news every week, I think he's gonna fall like Kenechi Udeze did last year due to injury concerns. Thanks again!
Lou: Good point about Dan Cody and his psychological condition. I strongly suspect that the Cowboys and most other teams considering drafting him will send D. Cody through a battery of mental tests and psychological examinations. While he did leave the Oklahoma team to receive treatment for depression in 2001, he overcame the condition and returned with three very strong seasons of play from 2002-2004. Thanks to modern medicine, depression can be effectively treated. Obviously what happened with Demetrius Underwood was a most disturbing case, and Barret Robbins is an example of what can happen when a player fails to keep his condition under control, but it doesn't mean that D. Cody will face the same fate.
But I look at someone like Warren Sapp, a player who was rude to reporters, fans, and nearly everyone he encountered while in Tampa (and from what I hear, also while in Oakland). Nonetheless, the Bucs put up with him and his obnoxious behavior. Why? Because, in his prime, Sapp was the best DT in the game, and his pass-rushing skills from the DT position were truly remarkable. My point with this is that teams will put up with odd behavior if it will help them in the long run. And if Dan Cody can keep his head on straight, he could provide a tremendous benefit to the Cowboys, or whomever ends up with him. But your point on him possibly dropping because of this is worth noting.
From: Rigel Meketa
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 11:03 AM
To: Lou Pickney
Subject: New England Patriots Draft
As a lifelong and diehard Pats fan and an eight year diehard draft fan, I have a couple of questions for you. Why does everyone pick a DB for the Pats? They have youngsters in Wilson, Gay, Samuel, Scott, and Reid. This is not a unit that needs to get younger. I believe that the Pats need a younger linebacking core with McGinest, Phifer, Bruschi, and Vrabel all having mileage on them. Is there a young, (preferably 3-4, and inside) linebacker available that the Pats might jump for? Also, do you think (as I do) that a WR will drop to the Pats in the second round? Thank you for the forum to express myself, any expertise would be appreciated. Keep up the good work.
Lou: Until recently I had projected the Patriots as taking a CB in round one, if for nothing else because I suspect that Ty Law might be cut for salary cap reasons this off-season. But the point you make about the linebackers is dead-on, and it's why I think the Pats very well might look LB at the #32 spot. They might go ILB, though right now I have them projected to go OLB with Tennessee's Kevin Burnett. But with the Patriots you never can tell -- their evaluation system is interesting, where they find guys who they think will fit and go with them. Even before Tedy Bruschi's health problems crept up, age was a concern at the LB position, even though the Pats are loaded there. But as always, NFL=Not For Long.
If not a LB at #32, WR is a distinct possibility. It wouldn't surprise me if the Pats made a play to move up a bit to get someone like Mark Clayton or Roddy White. Clayton in particular seems like an ideal fit for the Patriots' system. There's talent at ILB that will be there at the end of round two, though I also concur that there will be WR talent as well on the board for them to consider. But if the Pats can come out of the first two rounds with some sort of LB/WR package, they should be happy.
