To New England # 73 and #138 (225+37=262) From New England # 60 (300) 38 point net gain To Washington # 105 and #178 (84+20=104) From Washington #127, #144 and #152 (45+34+30=109) 5 point net gain total + 43 points = pick #129 or 1st pick of the 5th round.
I was very happy with the trade moving up with NE. In part, I was just happy to see that the Texans clearly knew who they wanted, did what it took to get him, and didn't overpay in the process. Not to mention that I think they got a great value for the player they picked. I'm a lot less certain about the Washington trade. At the time, I thought it seemed reasonable, but in retrospect, I'm not so sure. Two players I was interested in (Boling and Acho) went before our pick in the 4th, and I thought it would be OK to to trade back. But, several more players (that seemed as though they could contribute) came off in the next 22 picks - for me, Gates was the main one, but other options were Carter (who it seems most rating folks think would better than Carmichael), Matthews, Salas, Shorts, and Doss). I felt that we were left to pick through the scraps. I'm not excited about Carmichael (esp. given that we had just drafted Harris), I'm not at all sold on Keo (but I really hope I'm wrong, and that he will contribute as a safety), and I think the QB would have been there for our 6th round pick (not that I was wanting a developmental QB prospect, anyway). In short, I think the Texans might have been better off without the trade - I think they could have had more of a difference maker from one of those picks that went in between 105 and 127, than they will from Carmichael and Keo. I really hope I'm wrong, though.
