Day One 

Belichick Conference Call Patriots.com

Well it appears we've just reached Reach City. I really like Jerod Mayo, but I like him a lot more at 15. They should have traded down again and picked up a Third or a Forth. However, it appears they were afraid Detroit was going to hop over them if they went down any further. I thought they panicked a little when Rivers went off the Board at 9, but I was wrong. Word out of New England is that they had settled on Mayo before Friday. The only question was how low could they go. "We were on the clock at seven, the timing, we did a little bit of prep work with the New Orleans trade last night and a little bit before we were on the clock. Things did go a little bit quicker than they had in the past. I’m glad we got that done," Belichick brags. "I felt that that trade was one that would help our football team. I feel good about that. But I think that pick in the third round will be helpful whether we end up using it to pick a player or trade up or whatever it is. We will see how that goes. You know, we added a good player on defense and added one last year. Hopefully we can continue to get a little bit younger on the defensive end of the ball going forward." Terrence Wheatley at 62? That is a colossal reach. There is no way he would not still be on the Board at the end of the Third Round, where the Pats have pick 94. Horrible horrible pick in Round Two. Okay, I wanted to get that out of the way before my natural Homerism overtakes my perception of reality. So, for the record both players were reaches, but Mayo much less then Wheatley. 

Mayo is the type of player, that even when you have him rated as a First Round Pick, the more you watch him the more you like him. Plus, it's like I always try to explain to everyone, the Patriots draft for Need. They are not a Best Player Available team, which is stupid. The Pats were sitting pretty at 7, with the 5th rated player on the Board, Sed Ellis, is available. However, if they had taken Ellis it would have been a disaster! They Pats are currently holding a grudge against Richard Seymour, and whispers of him being released after next season are starting to circulate. So idiots started speculating that getting Ellis would somehow help with the Seymour problem. Okay, now listen carefully, Ellis is NOT a 5-Technique D-End, he is an Under Tackle or a Nose Tackle. The player who Ellis would have replaced on the Depth Chart is Vince Wilfork. If they Drafted Ellis 18 Million guaranteed), then they could not resign Wilfork, period. So then they would lose Seymour and Wilfork? How stupid is that! Anybody who had the Pats taking Ellis should never do a Mock Draft again. 

Again, the Patriots draft for needs. Every year when you look at who they draft in the First Round, it is always in their biggest hole. The biggest hole this year was at Inside Linebacker. They couldn't go into next season without a serious upgrade at Inside Linebacker. Mayo, while you could consider him a reach at 10 (see how my Homerism is overwhelming me;-), if you put together Need and B.A.A., he was clearly the best Value at 10, and the Pats would have been foolish to pass on him (there I did it, Mayo is now the best pick in the draft;-). 

Okay, so I have no justification for Wheatley, who I didn't have rated in my Top 100. However, he does have that natural speed that you cannot coach, and he has rare quickness that most straight line speed guys don't possess. He is small, but small Corners don't bother me. When you want to play a lot of Man-to-Man Coverages, you have to have smaller quicker Corners. That is just a fact of nature. Shorter, as a rule, are quicker. Taller guys, as a rule, take a split second longer to react to quick action in front of them. SO I think all this guys who want big Corner just don't understand what they are expecting these guys to do. They have to run, full speed, backwards and mirror some of the fast world-class athletes, then suddenly stop and cut in the opposite direction, without warning or foresight. This is ridiculously hard to do, and the taller a CB is the harder it is to do. The WR receiver knows where he is going, and where he is cutting the CB does not. And WR spend year learning how to be deceptive in their cuts, breaks, and change of direct. Having a Corner who has the speed to run down field with these guys, and have the rare quickness to cut with this guys, like Assante, is a rare and special quantity, and one of the hardest players to find in a Man Defense. By all accounts, Wheatley does possess these rare traits, when he is healthy.      

I like this pick. Mayo maybe the only player in this Draft who can start on this team next season. With his intelligences, football smarts, and obsessive film-study habits, he will be ready to start on day one. " He had a very good combine workout but he was the guy, I think that everyone that scouted the SEC, our scouts that scouted that conference knew about him," Belichick said. "He was a very productive player down there for Tennessee and has been for a couple of years now. He had a good workout and he was a productive player in every game. He is a versatile guy. We brought him up, visited with him. He’s very intelligent player. He’s a good football player. He’s smart, he understands schemes and concepts. He runs the defense, makes the calls, makes adjustments and all those things. I think that he has a lot to offer." This guy is like Al Harris, the Tennessee Linebacker who went to Denver and became a tackling machine right in the middle of their defense for years. Mayo, with all do respects to Bruschi who is 35, Mayo will be the best Inside Linebacker on this team nest season. The top priority this off season was to get an ILB, or two, so they could keep Vrabel and Thomas on the Outside. Both Vrabel and Thomas are good ILBs who would be assets next to Bruschi. However, they both make big plays far more consistently on the Outside, and impact the game more effectively on the Outside. This team can win the Super Bowl with Thomas and Vrabel Outside, and Bruschi and Mayo Inside.

Well at least Mayo has good taste. He is genuinely excited about coming to the Patriots. "It's like a dream come true, pretty much," Mayo exclaimed. "You don't expect a team that only lost one game last year to have a top 10 pick. But, at the same time, they were winning before me and they would be winning even if I'm not there." While I may be crazy to picture him as a starter, he doesn't see himself as the opening day starter just yet. He is wrong. "They pretty much have their team set in stone," Mayo speculated. "These guys only lost one game last year. I just want to come in and make a contribution, whether it's on special teams or as a starter." It will be as a. starter. Learning from Thomas, Bruschi and Vrabel will certainly help with the transition. All three linebacker are great players, great teammates, and exceptionally smart. However, most importantly he will be helped by the winning tradition that has overtaken Foxboro. "There wasn't an atmosphere that you felt the winning tradition like you did when you walked into the building with the Patriots," Mayo said.

Belichick seemed almost as giddy as Mayo that he was coming to Foxboro, "...we are excited to have Jerod [Mayo] join our organization. He is a pretty versatile player, did a lot of things down at Tennessee.," Belichick informs, "played at a very high level of competition in the SEC, played against a lot of the best players in the country." His versatility is one thing, but he played a position similar to Inside Linebacker in the Pats defense, and that trend will continue. "Well I think he was pretty good when he was outside," Belichick said. "I think he played well at Mike and Sam and Will so those are all 4-3 off-the-line positions and in the 3-4 defense we have only two off-the-line positions but sometimes we can adjust the front and he plays in those different spots and so forth." So Mayo will be playing Inside Linebacker, which there primary off the line position, but he might swing Outside if Thomas or Vrabel put a hand down and rush as a D-End.

The best thing Belichick likes about his Mayo is his versatility. He will start at Right ILB, and shift outside in 4-3 sub packages. He also will be there Nickel Linebacker, as he excel in pass coverage, and he is their best cover LB, righ now. "(Mayo) Played inside, played outside played in sub defense, played in the kicking game," Belichick continues. "He is a smart kid, runs well, pretty physical player and I think he will be a great addition to our football team. Where that fits, we will have to wait and see and how that goes with all the other players on our team." Belichick know exactly where he will go, just to the right of Bruschi."We added a good player on defense" Saturday, Belichick said. "We added one last year. So, hopefully, we can continue to get a little bit younger on the defensive side of the ball." Younger and faster. Defensive speed will be the buzz word of this Draft.

My Pre-Draft Opinion:

Jerod is a player who is moving up quickly into the First Round. He is a terrific young man. Very intelligent, and his intelligence really shows in interviews where he is blowing coaches and GMs away. He has already graduated. He is a player that coaches want on their team, because he out works everybody on the field and an especially in the film room. He played Outside Linebacker his whole career, then moved inside last season to help the team, even though he was not comfortable playing inside. He struggle in Training camp and didn't feel comfortable for the first two games. Then it all came together for him and he had a  great season, as he garnered 140 Tackles, 8.5 TFL, 1.5 Sacks, 5 Pressures, 1 FF, 2 PBU, and 1 INT, which he returned for a TD. Understands team concepts and how to help team. A coaches dream. He does everything you ask him to do well. He has great instincts on the field and plays fast. He can get outside fast when he reads the play correctly, which he did last season with terrific consistency. Really read plays better last season and wasn't fooled by play action and misdirection as much as earlier in his career. Presents a dilemma on Passing Downs, he is a good blitzer, but is so smooth and fast in coverage that he was asked to drop into coverage more and more, and last season did not blitz as much as you would have liked. He really shows his superior athleticism in coverage: he has great feet, good hips, he can twist his hips and out run most Tight Ends, and he cover smaller faster RB out of the backfield. The more you watch him the more you like him. Had a good Sophomore season where he had 83 Tackles, and 5 Sacks. Has interviewed with teams as high as Pats at Seven. If the Pats start trading down, don't be surprised if he is their guy.

Super athlete with super production. He has worked his way into the First Round. A player who does everything well. Coaches in the later stages of the First Round are apparently raving over this guy. He does what coaches love. He is a film room junkie. A cerebral player, who studies the game like a coach and is like a coach, or mike Vrabel on the field. GMs will miss the small stuff that coaches fall in love with instantly. He will be a First Round Pick, and should be a top 15 Pick, but I can't seem to find a place for him in the top 15. 

Table from NFL.COM:

*Terrence Wheatley- 5-9.5, 188, 4.37, 38.5" Vert  CB Colorado. 101st Rated Player- 8.6.  I compare him to Assante Samuel CB Terrence Wheatley Highlights PFW in Progress Terrence Wheatley Highlights SI.com Terrence Wheatley Conference call PFW in Progress Terrence Wheatley Boston Globe

Wheatley is what you would call pure speed. From an onfield speed stand point he is a top ten player in this years Draft. He has an explosive burst of speed that really separates him his competitors. Some considered him to be the best "Cover guy" in the Big-12 Conference. Belichick certainly knows the versatile Wheatley offer, "(the) Wheatley pick, Terrence has been a very productive player for Colorado," Belichick said. "He’s played inside and outside on the corner positions, he played the slot, he’s a good kick returner, a good special team player, good hands and another smart kid and a very experienced player in a good passing conference, and hopefully he’ll give us some good depth in the secondary and a little bit of position flexibility." 

He had a very serious wrist injury in 2003, where he separated his wrist (ouch!). Had two surgeries in two years and it still wouldn't heal. Finally had to have surgery for the third time in 2006 where they literally fused the bone together. Here's the cruel scout side on me, played tentative, and looked afraid of contact, openly favored his bad wrist. However, last season he seemed to finally return to the aggressive player he was before 2003, when he supported the run with zeal. He is a terrific little cover guy. Like Assante Samuel, he is an impressive blend of cover-ability, smarts, and speed. And, like Assante he has exceptional hips. He might have the loosest hips in the Draft. His hips have been called, "Great", "amazing", and "the best in the draft". Why are hips so important? Because, Corners need to transition out of their backpedal into a full sprint running next to some of the fastest people in the world. They have to twist their hips, and turn their body and legs in a full 180 degree turn without losing a step and increasing speed, in an instant. This whole rotation is done in the hips. A Corner with "Fluid" hips, means they twist and turn their hip like water twists, without loss of speed or any visible loss in transition. Greta Cover Corners have great hips. Elite quickness, sprinter speed, and Fluid Hips to a Corner, are like vision, intelligence, and accuracy to a QB, you can't play either position without either talent. Wheatley has elite quickness, sprinter speed, and Fluid Hips. His problem has been durability and toughness, both of which he displayed last season.

His production in college fluctuated, as the pain in his wrist. IN 2003 he played in 12 games primarily on Special Team, but saw action on Defense in 6 games. He played in every game in 2004, but looked tentative and uncertain of contact, because of injuries. Didn't play in 2005. However, in 2006 he was outstanding. He was on the field 776 plays, to led everybody. He returned Kicks and played Corner, garnering some impressive stats: 57 Tackles, 5 INTs, 11 PBU, 4 TD saves, 11 Third Down Stops, 4 TFL, 1.5 Sacks,  2 QB Hurries, 2 FR, 1 FF. His Senior season, he garnered 42 Tackles, 5 INTs, 10 PBU, and 1 FF. Plus, he showed more physicality, especially against t, and continued to make big plays in bog situations when his team needed him most. This is the type of guy you want on your team. He makes his impact on Third Downs and in the Forth Quarter. He played through, and finally recovered from, a crippling injury that required three surgeries, and finally radical fusion surgery, just so he could get on the field.

I don't know if this is good news or bad news, but NFL.com compared him to Ellis Hobbs:

"Compares To: ELLIS HOBBS-New England...Like Hobbs, Wheatley is a solid shutdown cornerback, thanks to outstanding timed speed and a good understanding of route progression. He is fully recovered from wrist problems that hampered him earlier in his career and showed much better tackling form and power behind his hits as a senior. He has excellent timing and leaping ability competing for the ball in flight and brings added value as a kickoff returner. He makes good adjustments on the move and is an efficient cut tackler who knows how to lower and drive with his shoulder to take the blockers out of action. He will need to continue adding bulk to his frame, but that should not impact his exceptional acceleration. Like Hobbs, he is smart enough to play a variety of roles in the secondary and his versatility will be a plus earlier in his pro career."

Table from NFL.COM:

Interview before the Draft with Terrence Wheatley, from NFL.com:

Growing up, who was your favorite NFL player and why?

Don't have one. I was more of a track fan growing up.

In college, what player hit you the hardest? Who was the recipient of your best hit?

Greg Jones; Joe John Finely

What TV-show marathon will keep you on the couch all day?

Storm Chasers or Family Guy.

What are the five most-played songs in your iPod? What's the one song you hope nobody ever finds out is in your iPod?

Last Night; All my life; Impacto

What celebrity would play you in the movie version of your life and why?

Denzel Washington because he can play any role.

What is one thing your teammates don't know about you?

I am a weather nerd.

What reality TV show would you like to be on and why?

American Gladiators. You've got to love competition on a big stage.

What's your proudest moment in football? Proudest moment off the field?

My three-INT game vs. Texas Tech; Going to my graduation.

When you play Madden, what team do you use? Do you put yourself on the team?

Seattle. I try to draft myself from the NCAA.

Who has been the biggest influence on your football career and how?

Position coach Greg Brown. He has helped me fine tune my game and my overall football knowledge. He allows me to play with complete confidence.