Tag: Phil Perry

Patriots Acquire WR Isaiah Ford From the Dolphins

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The Pats just made their big move of the deadline, trading a 2022 7th round pick to the Dolphins for WR Isaiah Ford, a 2017th 7th round pick out of Virginia Tech.

My initial reaction in GIF form:

Ford hasn’t exactly lit up the stat sheet with just 18 catches for 184 yards and 0 TDs on the season, but he is a big body at 6’2″ who should help the suddenly barren WR room in New England.

It’s hard to fault anyone for not being familiar with Ford’s work, but Belichick does have a tendency to trade for guys with multiple skillsets, and guys who despite modest stats have lit him up in the past. Ford checks both of those boxes.

It’s not an apples to apples comparison because he ended up being one of the best receivers in Patriots history, but there is a similarity to another player Belichick acquired from the Dolphins. In 2006 the Dolphins’ Wes Welker had 9 receptions for 77 yards, returned 4 kickoffs, and returned 2 punts against the Patriots in Week 5. Belichick was smitten and despite a 1 catch performance in the Week 13 rematch, he traded a 2nd and a 7th for Welker that offseason.

I was just looking at the numbers and good lord you forget just how prolific Wes Welker was in this Patriots offense. He had triple digit receptions in every single year except his first season back from a torn his ACL. 112, 111, 123, 86, 122, and 118 receptions in each year in New England. Preposterous.

Now obviously that is best case scenario and one of the greatest trades in Patriots history so thats not a fair comparison, but there are parallels. He’s even got some slick moves in the slot for a guy his size!

If you believe Schefty it sounds like the Pats plan to stick him in the slot while Edelman is on the mend, which makes sense considering thats where the Dolphins have primarily used him this year.

I don’t know what to expect from Ford, but some Dolphins writers were calling him the biggest steal of the 2017 draft. So there’s that. He’s not exactly a burner with a 4.6 40, but check out some of the positives from his BR scouting report.

Often, on his deep targets the defenders stay on his hip and he must make spectacular catches, which he flashes the ability to do. As he showed with his broad jump of 127 inches, Ford has explosive leaping ability that he uses to outjump defenders He has great body control in the air and near the sidelines, showing nice adjustments to the football. His combination of size, leaping ability and body control give him an excellent catch radius.

Now I’m not encouraging everyone to take their pants off reading scouting reports and watching college highlights because look how that turned out with N’Keal Harry, but Ford does have some impressive body control in his Virginia Tech highlights.

So it’s not a sexy name or a big splashy trade, but those are rarely the ones that wind up being the most successful moves in New England so I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Drafting Georgia RB Sony Michel is the Most Patriots Move Ever

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The Patriots love to zig when everybody else zags. They absolutely love it, which is why drafting Georgia running back Sony Michel is the most Patriots move ever. Most teams these days seem to have all but agreed that the RB position is overvalued (except for the Giants). With absolute studs like Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt both drafted in the 3rd round, its no secret that you can find elite running backs after Day 1 so why waste the draft capital? So we’re all in agreement? Ok cool.

*Bill Belichick immediately drafts a running back in the first round*

Its the first time he’s even drafted a SKILL POSITION player in the first round since Laurence Maroney in 2006.

Zagging for days.

You saw it in recent years as the Patriots adopted the more commonly seen in college spread attack and hurry up offense, which all but eliminated the need for a fullback. Then most of the league gravitated towards a similar approach. Then the Pats shifted gears and started heavily utilizing a fullback in James Develin, who only made the Pro Bowl this past year. Or what about when the Patriots all of a sudden changed their offense on the fly and morphed into a two Tight End system? They proceed to wreak havoc on the league with a young Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Until one of them became a famous serial killer, but the point remains.

Sony was a beast at Georgia playing with the big boys in the SEC, where he averaged 7.9 yards per carry last year.

He’s also the guy that ended Baker Mayfield’s college career with the walkoff TD run in that epic Rose Bowl game earlier this year.

As Phil Perry points out, Sony’s ball control is a bit of a concern, fumbling 12 times in his career, but half of those came in his freshman year. The only thing Bill Belichick preaches more than Do Your Job is hold onto the football. Ball security is job security. So that’ll be something to watch. Perry also shed some light on another reason why the Pats may have fallen in love with Sony:

“But in the passing game is probably where Michel’s true value will be at the next level. He may be the best pass-protector at the position in this year’s class of backs (two hurries on 52 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus), and he’s a capable receiver (64 catches, 621 yards receiving in his career).”

The Pats love a guy that can play in pass protection. Thats your No. 1 priority. Then running the football, and if you can also catch the ball out of the backfield? Well now we’re cooking with gas. Too many times in recent years have teams been able to either stack the box or just sit back in coverage because the RB on the field was either a battering ram (Blount) or a receiver (James White). Dion Lewis was excellent as a runner and a receiver, but he’s gone so Belichick got someone who can do both.

The Patriots are the ultimate marketing arbitrage in the NFL, buying and selling where they identify the most value. Everybody devalues running back these days? Time for us to snatch up a potential stud while you’re all sleeping on him just because thats what the rest of the league says you should do.

They are the tastemakers of the NFL. They’re not trying to do business as business is done, no they’re setting the trends themselves and letting the rest of the league react. And thats why the Patriots will always be successful with Bill Belichick running the show.

Plus if you are a fan, not an NFL Draft Analyst that gets paid to scout and report on players, who gets genuinely angry about who your team does or doesn’t draft? Then you are lying to yourself because any rational human being realizes that the only thing we really know about the draft is that we don’t know shit. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.