New England Patriots personnel & coaching vacancies are opportunities

New England Patriots new Director of Player Personnel candidate: Louis Riddick

Louis Riddick would be the perfect candidate to replace Ziegler as the Patriots Director of Player Personnel. The terrific ESPN analyst has years of experience in NFL personnel with the Washington Football Team and the Philadelphia Eagles. Riddick would be an absolutely terrific addition for the present, and a fabulous choice to potentially take over as general manager when Bill Belichick decides to retire.

A club doesn’t always need to promote from within an organization to remain strong. In fact, it’s more than advisable to expand its horizons by bringing in new talent, less the organization becomes insulated and stagnant.

Talented people from outside provide new insights that your club doesn’t possess. And Riddick is an insightful, tremendous talent.

It would be no surprise if Riddick in his first draft could immediately rectify the horrendous team record drafting both wide receivers and defensive backs.

Too many high picks have been squandered on those positions resulting in sub-standard coteries of receivers and cornerbacks, each requiring significant expenditures in free agency to remedy. Otherwise, these positions have hindered the team.

Absent the team’s uncanny ability to sign undrafted free agent (UDFA) cornerbacks and to some extent wide receivers lately, they would have been left adrift without a rudder in both of those positions.

Such UDFA examples at cornerback are the excellent pro-Bowler, J.C. Jackson (whose contract situation the team has totally botched), Malcolm Butler, Jonathan Jones, and others.

At wide receiver, hits have come recently with Jakobi Meyers and the emerging Kristian Wilkerson. But the team’s drafts have more often than not delivered duds. No doubt Riddick would change all in a hurry. Riddick clearly has tremendous football acumen, and his insights could help the Patriots take the next step forward.