Patriots' Pre-season schedule announced, draft talk heats up

The Patriots' pre-season schedule was announced today by the NFL and looks as follows.
2010 PATRIOTS PRESEASON SCHEDULE
Aug. 12 -- vs. Saints (time TBA)
Aug. 19 -- at Falcons (8 p.m.)
Aug. 26 -- vs. Rams (time TBA)
Sept. 2-5 -- at N.Y. Giants (time TBA)

The Pats get the defending champ Saints in the first of the four meaningless games that are played to prepare for the regular season. They also play the Rams at home which will be interesting to see how the number one overall draft pick(Sam Bradford or Ndamukong Suh) play for the Rams in the most significant of the pre-season scrimmages.

Also today, the Denver Post released an article explaining how former Patriot defensive end, Jarvis Green, never considered coming back to New England. He talks about his desire to play for former fiery coach Josh McDaniels in Denver. The article quotes Green's explanation of how McDaniels' exuberant reaction to a regular season win over New England sold Green that an 8-8 team is where he wants to be. Green is quoted in the piece saying "I was in New England for all that time, and I was ready to move on, period," which I will rephrase as " Belichick didn't give a shit if I came back or not because players like me are dime a dozen in the NFL and he can just get a younger,better, cheaper version of me in the draft or free agency." Green's resentment may be justified towards Belichick who runs the organization like the business that it is but I will always stand behind the coach over an aging third down lineman.

Also many draft analysts are taking their best guess at who the Pats will take with their first round pick(22nd overall). Popular picks include Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle, Michigan linebacker Brandon Graham, Penn State defensive lineman Jared Odrick, and Clemson linebacker Ricky Sapp. There are other names being thrown around such as Florida QB Tim Tebow, whose visit with New England has been highly scrutinized. Some experts believe there is a possibility that it is a bluff to throw other teams for a loop and add trade value to the Patriots pick for a team who wants Tebow. Tebow is a projected late- first to second round pick but some believe he will be taken in the first by some team who wants a spark to their organization. Stay tuned for developments as the draft approaches in the next couple weeks. Below is a series of "experts" opinions on Tebow and the Patriots taken from ESPN Boston.

NFL Live produced a segment for ESPNBoston.com (above) asking the question: Is Florida quarterback Tim Tebow a good fit for the Patriots? Here are some thoughts:

-- Mark Schlereth thinks Tebow-to-New England is a “perfect scenario” for a guy like Tebow, who could “learn from one of the best” in Tom Brady.

-- Marcellus Wiley thinks drafting Tebow (“second round at the highest, maybe even third round”) would help the Patriots get more creative on offense in a Wildcat-like scenario.

-- Chris Mortensen put the brakes on the Tebow hype, wondering aloud whether Bill Belichick’s public gushing over Tebow and the quarterback’s trip to New England isn’t just a smokescreen by the Patriots’ coach.