Saturday Night Soliloquy

By TOM

It's late, and I no longer know where I am. Did the Patriots just draft, or have I been living in one long unfathomable dream? The Pats had two Number One Picks, right? I watched and I watched and I watched and I wondered what was going on. I mean I studied this draft. I did the research. I watched the film. I watched the shows. I followed the draft rumors. I read the newspapers. I read the books. I read the magazines. I read Mocks from Tallahassee to Timbuktu. So what happened?

I was ready for every contingency BB, the mad scientist, could conceive. I had gone over a dozen players who could go in this spot. I even talked about Wide Receivers. I even watched as idiots declared, in the First Round, the Pats would take Brain Leonard (did you ever hear of Heath Evan and Garrett Mills? Hello?) and Ryan Kalil (Did you ever hear of Dan Koppen or Russ Hotchstein? Hello?). I was ready. BB would not fool me again this year. There was no player or situation I was not ready for. The draft comes, and I’m still not sure what happened, are you?

First they take Meriweather. Okay fine, I add him rated lower than most other pundits, but not the end of the world. Meriweather is great in coverage, a weak tackler, and has the knack for always being around the ball. He allows the Pats to move Eugene Wilson to Nickel Corner, where maybe he can stay health for a whole season. The pick Number 28 comes along, and the Pats trade down into the Forth Round (No. 110), for a First Round Pick in next years Draft? What?

Usually when you trade into next years draft your pick goes up a Round. To get only a Forth for trading into tomorrow is not a good deal. BB, “We got to the 28th pick and, again, there were several options for us, but we ultimately decided to trade that pick to San Francisco for a later pick this year and a first round pick next year. We felt like that was a good value. There were a number of good players on the board, but in the end, we just felt there was more value in that trade, so we went ahead and did that. It's still the same number of picks that we have, we just have one a little further back there and an additional pick next year. That's kind of where we are. We're just kind of killing a little time here for a little while until 91.” No BB, you’re killing Me. That was not good value.

Then, blurry eyed and apparently suffering from massive hallucinations while watching the Third Round, pick number 91 unfold. Who do they take? I don’t know? They trade out of that pick for a Third in next years draft and a Seventh (211, I think, but I’m still not sure. ESPN decided not to bother showing the details of the trade). That is not good value. When you trade a pick out of this years draft and into next years draft you receive a pick a Round Higher in return. When you trade a Third Round pick you get a Second in return.

Okay enough of my enraged rant, uh I mean my Soliloquy. What does this all mean? Brandon Meriweather. He is excellent against the Pass. In fact, I had him rated as the best Safety in this draft against the pass. He has enough Cover Skills to play Corner in some situations. What do you think about his versatility BB, “It's a plus. He does a lot of things well, but that's a plus. Again, there are good players that just do one thing well and that's a plus too, but that's kind of Brandon's versatility. That's one of his strengths. Like I said, he's a smart player that has shown he can do multiple things and (has) the physical skills to also be able to do those. That's good.”

Which makes him an excellent pick up, because the Patriots biggest need is getting somebody who can cover the TE running the seam (unless you forgot Dallas Clark running down the seam repeatedly in the AFC championship game). Now, you can question a lot of aspects of Meriweather’s play and character, but he is excellent at covering the TE. What do you think BB, why did you take him, “There were a number of options there, but we ended up selecting Brandon [Meriweather]. He's a kid that I spent some time with down in Miami. [He was] a versatile player for the University. He's played some corner. He's played some inside nickel position in their sub-defense, played safety, both down and back. I think he's a real intelligent football player. He has a real good understanding of concepts and some versatility at a high level of competition. He's played against a lot of good players. We'll just see how it goes in terms of his position and all he can do, but he's been a productive player for them in the passing game.” 

He is sub-5-11 (5-10.5), sub-200-pounds (194), and runs sub-4.5s (4.47). What do think BB, “I think he has a physical element to his play. He's not 225 pounds. But for his size, he's certainly not afraid to get up in there and tackle and support the run on the line of scrimmage and be a physical player. Again, we're not talking about a guy that's oversized for the position. That's just not who he is.”

The running game is when we get into some problems. He is not a super-impact run-stuffing Safety, like Rodney Harrison. He is more a clutch-and-grab tackler, and gets dragged along the field a little more than I would like. But, he will come up and make a big hit every now and again, like Eugene Wilson. He is great in coverage and I think he can start at FS next season, how about you BB, “I don't know. We bring our players in. Teach them the system. Work with them on the field and see what their role ends up being. Again, he's a versatile guy that can compete in a number of different areas. We'll see how it works out. I don't know. We have other players, veteran players, at the safety position and at the corner position. I don't know. That will all be decided on the field.”

Okay. He has smarts, instincts, and coverage ability. He lacks size, tackling skills, and thumping ability. But, I compared him before the draft to Harrison, in that he has that unteachable ability to always be in the right place at the most important times, “He's around the ball. He's around the ball. I think he's a very instinctive player that shows up around the ball and he gets his hands on a number of balls too. That's hopefully why we took him, a guy that can be productive from that position wherever it is in the secondary”