Plankton
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https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/04/30/nfl-draft-day-2-news-notes-patriots-mac-jones-eagles-devonta-smith
• The Patriots’ approach to the draft (and the quarterback position in general this offseason): Let the QB come to us. Similarly to how they didn’t make much of a play for their old flame Jimmy Garoppolo, they didn’t get overly aggressive on Thursday night either. One team they’d talked to in the top 10 called them ahead of picking, and their basic response about having an interest in trading up was: “We’re good.” Similarly, when the Giants were on the clock at No. 11, and the Bears were coming up for Justin Fields, the New York brass (helmed by Bill Belichick’s old boss, John Mara, and with a New England-bred head coach, Joe Judge) didn’t get so much as a phone call from Foxboro. And in the end, Alabama’s Mac Jones, a central casting fit for the offense Belichick, Josh McDaniels, Charlie Weis and Bill O’Brien have run the last 20 years, did, indeed, come to them. Had Jones not slipped to No. 15? I don’t know what the Patriots would’ve done. Maybe they’d have gotten more aggressive on Garoppolo. I don’t know. But it’s a non-issue now.
• Speaking of the Giants, it doesn’t always work out this way, but Eagles GM Howie Roseman’s read was correct: New York would have taken DeVonta Smith with the 11th pick, I’m told. (The Patriots in 2010 are one example of how it doesn’t always go that way. They leapfrogged the Ravens to take Rob Gronkowski that year, but the Ravens had actually failed Gronkowski on his physical. I’d say New England was O.K. with the deal anyway.) The truth on Smith is that, really, the weight issue was the only one teams had about the Heisman winner. He was completely clean overwise. “We asked all the SEC guys who the best player they played against was over the last couple months,” said one rival NFC exec. “All of them, every one, said DeVonta. And the Bama guys all said, ‘He’s the best football player I’ve ever been around.’ ”
• One more thing on that 11th pick. My understanding is the Bears were not the only team calling the Giants. The Vikings and Saints were too. It seems logical that Minnesota was looking to leapfrog the Chargers to get Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater. As for the Saints, the perception around the league was that they were calling up and down the top 15 looking for a corner. Thing is, by the time New York was on the clock, Jaycee Horn was gone to Carolina and Patrick Surtain II was off to Denver. So maybe Sean Payton was taking a swing at another position, like quarterback. Either way, as I heard it, New Orleans wasn’t putting a third first-round pick on the table, like San Francisco did, which probably made it tough for any team that high to contemplate moving back all the way to No. 28. (As such, the Saints never got close to making the massive move up the board that they had explored.)
• The Bears did actually call the Cowboys about the 10th pick, and a determining factor for Dallas was how far it was willing to go back. Falling all the way back to No. 20 would have meant falling out of the range to get first a-round-graded player. Trading with the Eagles, though? That brought home a third-round pick and kept the Cowboys inside the top 12—with a shot to land Penn State LB Micah Parsons, who should play a supercharged version of the K.J. Wright role in Dan Quinn’s defense (with some Bruce Irvin-style blitzing mixed in). Parsons gives the team the flexibility to move on from injury-riddled former first-rounder Leighton Vander Esch if it comes to that, and should help the team’s somewhat suspect pass rush. The plan is to be aggressive with him, which plays to his strengths.
• The Patriots’ approach to the draft (and the quarterback position in general this offseason): Let the QB come to us. Similarly to how they didn’t make much of a play for their old flame Jimmy Garoppolo, they didn’t get overly aggressive on Thursday night either. One team they’d talked to in the top 10 called them ahead of picking, and their basic response about having an interest in trading up was: “We’re good.” Similarly, when the Giants were on the clock at No. 11, and the Bears were coming up for Justin Fields, the New York brass (helmed by Bill Belichick’s old boss, John Mara, and with a New England-bred head coach, Joe Judge) didn’t get so much as a phone call from Foxboro. And in the end, Alabama’s Mac Jones, a central casting fit for the offense Belichick, Josh McDaniels, Charlie Weis and Bill O’Brien have run the last 20 years, did, indeed, come to them. Had Jones not slipped to No. 15? I don’t know what the Patriots would’ve done. Maybe they’d have gotten more aggressive on Garoppolo. I don’t know. But it’s a non-issue now.
• Speaking of the Giants, it doesn’t always work out this way, but Eagles GM Howie Roseman’s read was correct: New York would have taken DeVonta Smith with the 11th pick, I’m told. (The Patriots in 2010 are one example of how it doesn’t always go that way. They leapfrogged the Ravens to take Rob Gronkowski that year, but the Ravens had actually failed Gronkowski on his physical. I’d say New England was O.K. with the deal anyway.) The truth on Smith is that, really, the weight issue was the only one teams had about the Heisman winner. He was completely clean overwise. “We asked all the SEC guys who the best player they played against was over the last couple months,” said one rival NFC exec. “All of them, every one, said DeVonta. And the Bama guys all said, ‘He’s the best football player I’ve ever been around.’ ”
• One more thing on that 11th pick. My understanding is the Bears were not the only team calling the Giants. The Vikings and Saints were too. It seems logical that Minnesota was looking to leapfrog the Chargers to get Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater. As for the Saints, the perception around the league was that they were calling up and down the top 15 looking for a corner. Thing is, by the time New York was on the clock, Jaycee Horn was gone to Carolina and Patrick Surtain II was off to Denver. So maybe Sean Payton was taking a swing at another position, like quarterback. Either way, as I heard it, New Orleans wasn’t putting a third first-round pick on the table, like San Francisco did, which probably made it tough for any team that high to contemplate moving back all the way to No. 28. (As such, the Saints never got close to making the massive move up the board that they had explored.)
• The Bears did actually call the Cowboys about the 10th pick, and a determining factor for Dallas was how far it was willing to go back. Falling all the way back to No. 20 would have meant falling out of the range to get first a-round-graded player. Trading with the Eagles, though? That brought home a third-round pick and kept the Cowboys inside the top 12—with a shot to land Penn State LB Micah Parsons, who should play a supercharged version of the K.J. Wright role in Dan Quinn’s defense (with some Bruce Irvin-style blitzing mixed in). Parsons gives the team the flexibility to move on from injury-riddled former first-rounder Leighton Vander Esch if it comes to that, and should help the team’s somewhat suspect pass rush. The plan is to be aggressive with him, which plays to his strengths.
