With The 24th Pick Of The Draft, The New England Patriots Select...
Well, it's that time of year again! The NFL Draft! Football in the spring! :)
The plans are all laid out: unless the Pats trip us up and trade up in the first round (they have the 24th and 28th picks) we should get to see the selections later in the afternoon. The draft starts at noon but the first round always takes forever because each team gets 15 minutes in this round. Each of the 32 teams gets 1 pick per round, but the Pats have two due to a trade. And teams can also get compensatory picks (those can't be traded) for the loss of restricted free agents. The Patriots have 10 all together, several of which are compensatory.
Mock drafts proliferate like plot bunnies. I'm a draftnik and will be checking out our division rivals' message boards this weekend and other teams to see their reactions to our picks and their own teams'.
The draft is a crapshoot. First-round picks can be a bust and lower-rounders can be stars. Tom Brady is the perfect example. He went in the 6th round (199th overall) and has turned out to be an absolute gem.
The first day covers the first three rounds and the second are Rounds 4,5,6, and 7. Usually you get journeymen in the later rounds or guys who don't even make the team, but you also get solid players here.
Anyway, we'll all have a little draft party, order pizza and have chips, salsa, soda, beer and all kinds of tailgating food. We'll talk, laugh, and ooh and aah over some of the picks ("WTF were *they* thinkin'?!). Not only are you interested in your own team, but it's interesting to see how the other teams do their thing. In the NFL, rookies can make important contributions in their first season, and a team can go from worst-to-first in a single season.
The Patriots made a lot of moves in free agency, and of course everyone thinks they know what they'll do, but every year they fool everybody and do the unexpected, so it should be fun! :)
The plans are all laid out: unless the Pats trip us up and trade up in the first round (they have the 24th and 28th picks) we should get to see the selections later in the afternoon. The draft starts at noon but the first round always takes forever because each team gets 15 minutes in this round. Each of the 32 teams gets 1 pick per round, but the Pats have two due to a trade. And teams can also get compensatory picks (those can't be traded) for the loss of restricted free agents. The Patriots have 10 all together, several of which are compensatory.
Mock drafts proliferate like plot bunnies. I'm a draftnik and will be checking out our division rivals' message boards this weekend and other teams to see their reactions to our picks and their own teams'.
The draft is a crapshoot. First-round picks can be a bust and lower-rounders can be stars. Tom Brady is the perfect example. He went in the 6th round (199th overall) and has turned out to be an absolute gem.
The first day covers the first three rounds and the second are Rounds 4,5,6, and 7. Usually you get journeymen in the later rounds or guys who don't even make the team, but you also get solid players here.
Anyway, we'll all have a little draft party, order pizza and have chips, salsa, soda, beer and all kinds of tailgating food. We'll talk, laugh, and ooh and aah over some of the picks ("WTF were *they* thinkin'?!). Not only are you interested in your own team, but it's interesting to see how the other teams do their thing. In the NFL, rookies can make important contributions in their first season, and a team can go from worst-to-first in a single season.
The Patriots made a lot of moves in free agency, and of course everyone thinks they know what they'll do, but every year they fool everybody and do the unexpected, so it should be fun! :)