Draft, Vet players, Pioli's view on Players - Dallas Cowboys Forum

Nors · 02-03-2005

Great read going into Free Agency, Draft

For Pioli, Dillon was a perfect fit
By Kevin Mannix
Thursday, February 3, 2005

JACKSONVILLE - The Patriots [stats, news] have been to the Super Bowl before so it's not like Corey Dillon is leading them through uncharted waters.

Still, having the former Bengal runner in their backfield has definitely given the Pats a quality running game to go with their diverse passing attack, a combination that's made this team as formidable as it has been all season.

So what would have happened if the Patriots didn't get Dillon in that offseason trade with the Bengals? What if Cincinnati hadn't settled for a second-round pick and insisted on one of the Pats' two first-rounders? What if Bill Belichick [news] and Scott Pioli came away with less than a favorable impression of Dillon following their face-to-face meeting with Dillon back in April?

Where would Plan B have taken the Pats' hierarchy as they continued to search for a new lead running back to take Antowain Smith [news]'s place?

``I'm not sure what would have happened,'' Pioli said yesterday at the Patriots' headquarters. ``I don't think there really was a Plan B at the time. That tends to evolve. We would have continued looking at the draft. Maybe we would have found somebody there. Maybe a restricted free agent would have been the way to go. Maybe a player would have come available after June 1. Maybe somebody else would have become available in a trade.

``You never know what opportunities come up. We've used all available vehicles to build this roster and we would have continued to check out every option.''

None were needed. Pioli and Belichick did their research. They trusted Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and he had nothing but positives to say about a guy who was perceived to be a giant pain in Lewis' posterior.

So they brought Dillon in for a sit-down. They liked what they saw and heard from him in that meeting. They pulled the trigger on the deal. Today, they're back in the Super Bowl, a healthy favorite over the Eagles.

The Dillon trade surprised people because it came just before the draft and the Pats were in prime position to get one of the premium running backs available. Steven Jackson and Kevin Jones were both there on the 21st pick. Both were considered legitimate first-round picks and both had solid rookie years with the Rams and Lions, respectively.

Why not stay put and get a young player with a big upside rather than a veteran back who'd taken a pounding in seven years with a team that had no passing attack?

``We just thought it was an opportunity to get better,'' Pioli said. ``We felt Corey was a heckuva player and running back was not the only need we had. Making the trade gave us a chance to get a high-quality player at a tremendous value with a second-round pick (traded to Cincy).''

With the first-round pick they retained, the Pats took defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, who has alternated with veteran Keith Traylor at nose tackle.

Just what constitutes a ``Patriot'' in Pioli's eyes? Why were Dillon and Wilfork desirable?

``The makeup of the players is very important,'' Pioli said. ``We don't want high-maintenance players. My job is to bring Bill the right kind of players. That means we're always looking for selfless, extremely competitive, disciplined football players.
``When we came here (in 2000), we wanted to build a big, strong, smart, tough, disciplined football team that would consistently compete for a championship. To do that you have to find big, strong, smart, tough and disciplined players. Those are not cliches to us. We believe in those words.''

Nightshade · 02-03-2005

looks like dat dar boy dun gon let d' cat out d' bag!

weez gota go' nn get us summ dem thar big tough strong. uumm, uh what dat boy say gin?...... uh .... Oh yeah!!! SMART and uh... disssIpled football players.

Looks like those high faloot'n patriot egghead types gone an slipped up this time.

Nors · 02-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightshade

looks like dat dar boy dun gon let d' cat out d' bag!

weez gota go' nn get us summ dem thar big tough strong. uumm, uh what dat boy say gin?...... uh .... Oh yeah!!! SMART and uh... disssIpled football players.

Looks like those high faloot'n patriot egghead types gone an slipped up this time.

Past decade. We have been drafting high maintenance character risks, smaller on D, Fat on Oline and undisciplined players in general. And it showed.

Parcells is rebuilding this along these lines.

Nightshade · 02-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nors

Past decade. We have been drafting high maintenance character risks, smaller on D, Fat on Oline and undisciplined players in general. And it showed.

Parcells is rebuilding this along these lines.

Well in JJ's defence. The smaller faster linebackers and the huge bodied O-linemen are what helped build those championship teams.

The lack of discipline and high maintenance thing went out of control after Jimmy left. Although I think it started when JJ bought the team.

The Patriots are actually making a big statement. With Free Agency, the safest way to win is to build football teams the old fashioned way.
You have to get rid of the superstar and bring back the football player.
Just like Bum Philips, Lombardi, Paul Brown and George Halas did.

It's a good post, Nors.
I was just, you know, joking?!

Nors · 02-03-2005

That was some real bad vocabulary but didn't want to say anyhing if it was for real. Glad it was a joke!

keds · 02-04-2005

Wow, we possibly could have traded away our second pick (Rogers=wasted pick) and gotten Dillon teamed up with Julius. What a 1-2 punch. Then we could cut all of the other scrubs at RB because we'd have two legit RBs maybe keep one as a backup (Anderson or Lee).

Nors · 02-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by keds

Wow, we possibly could have traded away our second pick (Rogers=wasted pick) and gotten Dillon teamed up with Julius. What a 1-2 punch. Then we could cut all of the other scrubs at RB because we'd have two legit RBs maybe keep one as a backup (Anderson or Lee).

He understands value, The mass says "you can't" trade a #2 for a proven All Pro player at 30 or so. Yet there is no given that pick will ever deliver (Rogers?)

Nors · 02-04-2005

Trade down in One

Nab Spears, Merriman

Take tradedown booty and trade for Law/Surtain.

Still Have #2 Mark Clayton/Heath Miller.

Vet NT in FA.

Woods · 02-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nors

Trade down in One

Nab Spears, Merriman

Take tradedown booty and trade for Law/Surtain.

Still Have #2 Mark Clayton/Heath Miller.

Vet NT in FA.

I'm not sure how far you can trade down and pick up both Spears AND Merriman.

BOTH Merriman and Spears could be gone by the top 15 picks.

We could trade down to around 15 and hopefully pick up one of these guys, and then we could trade down with our original 20 down to 25-28 and pick up a guy like Pollack (play him at OLB).

But I think we'll probably not use the extra picks garnered from the trade down moves for player trades because if we're running the 3-4, we'll need to draft so many more players for depth, etc.

We'll need depth at NT behind our FA pick-up, we'll need an extra 1-2 LBs as well.