Khyber53

Somewhere in a Denny's near Annapolis, MD, a disheveled and bedeviled Bill Bellichick is scribbling furiously in a big green spiralbound notebook, finding wrinkles to exploit in the new kickoff rules. His wife just rolls her eyes and orders another cup of coffee. It's going to be a long day for her.

That's a heavy, heavy statement. And a true one, too. At least it looks like the HC understands his assignment. Now whether he can do something with it is the question.

I wish him luck if he gets drafted. But that guy is going to bring a lot of baggage and his own coach. Once he gets where he is going, he's going to use up almost all of the air in the room. He's being portrayed as a superstar in the making, but the tea leaves are predicting a bitter brew.

It's a small boon, but we really can't afford to not have it. Let's hope for some pennies from heaven then!

Let me answer my own statement here: ANYONE can make their own place on this team quickly considering how low effort, low grit and low drive most of our players (and coaches) showed last season. This has literally become a team where it really could be that anyone could earn a starting spot. Anyone drafted here should come in with that mindset and just try to out work anyone around them. I don't think more than one or two players kept over have their names chiseled in stone for a starting position. And UDFAs have a shot here, too.

So many needs, and we are in the place where BPA is the only way to go. Chop or Ladd could really make their place on this team quickly.

Out of that list, honestly, only CMC has proven to still be a star. The other guys looked like stars on our team, but to the outside observer, meh. Brown, I think, has star power. I really want to see him with a good team built around him.

Find and gather solid football players. Draft and develop stars. Don't buy someone else's cast off stars.

I think we'll grab McClonkey with our second pick in the second round. Now our first pick at 33? Because of the pretty wide base of excellent players in a number of different positions, someone, maybe multiple someones, will fall out of the first round that shouldn't have. And I really have no idea who that will be. There's a fantastic chance to grab a surprisingly good player at 33 this year. I'm kind of hoping for one of the top Centers or a DE, though.

He's a Panther now, so good luck to him and here's hoping he has a season that makes people wonder how they missed out on him in the past.

We can have all the crushes we want in this draft. The problem is that we'll still be outside trying to get past the bouncers while everyone else is hitting them up. We aren't getting any VIP treatment this time, there will be no tableside champagne service and the bar will be crowded four deep before we get in the door.

Grab a rookie QB and while he is on his cheap contract for four to five years (if you take the option) and invest like mad in veteran quality linemen and receivers. Push it to the brink on cap space. Then as those five years go by, start drafting to back fill as those linemen and wide receivers either age out, underperform or start wanting more money. That could give you maybe a 10 year cycle on offense that would work out financially. The problem is, of course, you still have to bankroll a defense. The Colts did this with Peyton Manning and well, they got one ring out of it. If you can really put up the numbers, then the defense is just there to slow the other team down and exploit an error or weakness once in a while. Actually, if you think about it, what they did there changed the whole nature of the game, including the rules that helped it happen across the league. You might even be able to hang the success of Fantasy Football (or blame it) on that approach.

This^ This is how you end up being the New Orleans Saints, barring some back-bayou voodoo. It is a recipe for one big winning season, a couple of decent seasons and then a long, long time in cap hell. Would we do it to get that ring? Should we do it to get that ring? The temptation is so very real.

There's been a lot of activity and we've grabbed quite a few "Who's that guy" players with some decent stats. We've stayed out of the races for the star players and on paper it doesn't look like we've sold the moon to get anyone. But right now, it's all on paper. We've been down this road before. Sometimes there's magic, sometimes there's a lot of nothing. My knock on Morgan has been that his scouting team and training have basically been Fitterer's. And that doesn't give me any confidence in him. I want him to prove me wrong on this. I really want him to prove me wrong. I'll happily eat roasted crow in exchange for a winning team with grit and determination.

Perhaps the problem is looking at it from the perspective of Tepper. What does an investment guru know about paying labor? Get the most work for the least money. Just one more wrinkle in the Tepper ownership that will screw the team again and again. I do so wish he'd sell the team and move back up north. Brown deserves the big pay check and honestly the sooner the better. You want to keep his performance up through out his career here. We don't need another guy just begrudgingly showing up and doing just enough to stay on the field and attract suitors.

I'm betting both Zappe and Howell will do better now with new coaching. Both were stuck in regimes that were collapsing. That's never good for, although way too common, for young QBs. Brock Purdy... well, talk about scouts missing on that one again and again and again... Bradyesque in some ways.

It watches fine on TV and you can get up, turn off the set and walk away at any time. Don't even need to walk out to the parking lot if you want out early. Really looks like they're trying to polish a turd and think people will really want to see that polishing job.

I like your draft picks and I'm completely on board with the first one.

We lost both Burns and Gross-Matos. That wasn't a bad thing, IMO. One fizzled out as it came time to talk about money (I think he had itchy feet to get to somewhere else for the paychecks) and the other guy just never developed into anything but a back-up, not even a real role-player. Luvu hurts, but like you said, he wasn't much help in coverage. It will be good to get Shaq back and he brings leadership and legacy there. He will make a difference. Losing Jackson, well, yeah. I think we're all on that page. And Bell was, umm, un-notable back there?

Okay, I am on board. That guy will put in a hard days work every single day, do all the tough stuff without complaining and never say a cross word to anyone no matter how things are going. I'll cheer if we snag him and cheer every time he gets on the field.

One of the guys leaving the team in a cloud of "Meh." So far, only Frankie Luvu stung, yanno?

We're all going to singing "Who let the Dawgs out?" again. Our GM let the dogs out, they ran off and have new homes now. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. The Padawan has become the Master now.

We'll take a Center in the second round and a DE.

Maybe after last season, Evero realized that this defense needed gutting and has a plan in place. The loss of Luvu for a relatively moderate price tag has me scratching my head. Burns, he wasn't performing and wanted out of here so no one should have been wanting to keep him. Jackson? Way over appreciated by commentators, but fans know he was a liability. I'm hoping we go back to a 4-3 defense and quit playing this hybrid BS that we've been saddled with since Tepper wrote the big, big check for the franchise. Maybe Evero can rebuild it. It will take time, though.

Almost every starting LT had a rough second season. It's the learning curve, not just of the player but of the opposing players who now have enough tape and sometimes head-to-head experience to know the player's tendencies and weaknesses. That sophomore slump is where the learning curve is at its steepest and the odds are in favor of the defense. Let's see how he comes back in the third season as a starter. Sometimes they don't make it and head to the bench and the second string. And most times, for the great ones, this is where they start feeling their place in the game and take ownership not just of their gameplay but of that patch of field they are standing on. I have faith that Icky will live up to his potential. Just give him someone steady beside him and have someone who can make the right play and protection calls.