Dispelling the "Bill Belichick is a Bad Drafter" Notion
Hey Guys! I am one of the new Pats writers for Patriots life. I offer massive amounts of opinions and homerism on the greatest team ever, The Patriots. This is my first post. You can follow me on twitter @CultOfBelichick, I am very active on there. Now without further adieu....
So, today I went back and looked at the drafts from the last four years. They are freaking awesome. No first round busts. Only one guy (Darius Butler) from the second round is no longer with the team, and then three third rounders, one in 2010, and two in 2009. 25 players from the last four years are currently on the Patriots roster. That is six and a half players per draft. That is an INSANE haul. Completely unheard of. Almost half of the entire roster. And, a lot of these are starters, denoted with a star, and others are major contributors to the team.We do have two potential busts from the last two drafts in the form of Shane Vereen and Jake Bequette. It is too small of a sample size, and if Vereen can stay healthy, he should be able to stay away from this, but thus far Bequette has not impressed.
Busts: People taken 3rd round or higher that are no longer with Patriots.
2010 3rd Round (90th Overall) – Taylor Price, WR, Ohio
2009 2nd Round (41st Overall) - Darius Butler, CB, Connecticut
2009 3rd Round (81st Overall) - Brandon Tate, WR, North Carolina
2009 3rd Round (97th Overall) - Tyrone McKenzie, LB, South Florida
2009 Draft:
2a Pat Chung, SS, Oregon*
2b Ron Brace, DT, Boston College
2d Sebastian Vollmer, OL, Houston*
6b Myron Pryor, DT, Kentucky
7a Julian Edelman, WR, Kent State*
2010 Draft:
1st Round (27th Overall) – Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers*
2nd Round (42nd Overall) – Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona*
2nd Round (53rd Overall) – Jermaine Cunningham, OLB, Florida
2nd Round (62nd Overall) – Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida*
4th Round (113th Overall) – Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida*
5th Round (150th Overall) – Zoltan Mesko, P, Michigan*
7th Round (247th Overall) – Brandon Deaderick, DL, Alabama
2011 Draft:
1st Round – Nate Solder, OT, Colorado*
2nd Round – Ras-I Dowling, DB, Virginia*
2nd Round – Shane Vereen, RB, Cal
3rd Round – Stevan Ridley, RB, LSU*
3rd Round – Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
5th Round – Marcus Cannon, OL, TCU
7th Round – Malcolm Williams, CB, Marshall
2012 Draft:
1st Round (Pick 21) Chandler Jones (DE, Syracuse)*
1st Round (Pick 25) Dont’a Hightower (LB, Alabama)*
2nd Round (Pick 48) Tavon Wilson (S, Illinois)*
3rd Round (Pick 90) Jake Bequette (DE, Arkansas)
6th Round (Pick 197) Nate Ebner (DB, Ohio State)
7th Round (Pick 224) Alfonzo Dennard (CB, Nebraska)
3 Way Too Early 2013 Position Targets:
Offensive Tackle: Vollmer is injury plagued and in the final year of his contract, and Cannon doesn't appear to be an NFL starter at Tackle.
Outside WR: This team could really use a big 6'3", 6'4", 6'5" physical freak outside WR to create even more versatility for the offense.
Guard/Center: Could use some depth inside here. Lot of solid players, but no studs (aside from Mankins). The offensive line got old the past few years, and it is the last position in need of an infusion of youth.
So, today I went back and looked at the drafts from the last four years. They are freaking awesome. No first round busts. Only one guy (Darius Butler) from the second round is no longer with the team, and then three third rounders, one in 2010, and two in 2009. 25 players from the last four years are currently on the Patriots roster. That is six and a half players per draft. That is an INSANE haul. Completely unheard of. Almost half of the entire roster. And, a lot of these are starters, denoted with a star, and others are major contributors to the team.We do have two potential busts from the last two drafts in the form of Shane Vereen and Jake Bequette. It is too small of a sample size, and if Vereen can stay healthy, he should be able to stay away from this, but thus far Bequette has not impressed.
Busts: People taken 3rd round or higher that are no longer with Patriots.
2010 3rd Round (90th Overall) – Taylor Price, WR, Ohio
2009 2nd Round (41st Overall) - Darius Butler, CB, Connecticut
2009 3rd Round (81st Overall) - Brandon Tate, WR, North Carolina
2009 3rd Round (97th Overall) - Tyrone McKenzie, LB, South Florida
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| Gronk and Hernandez highlight 2 of BB's best picks |
2a Pat Chung, SS, Oregon*
2b Ron Brace, DT, Boston College
2d Sebastian Vollmer, OL, Houston*
6b Myron Pryor, DT, Kentucky
7a Julian Edelman, WR, Kent State*
2010 Draft:
1st Round (27th Overall) – Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers*
2nd Round (42nd Overall) – Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona*
2nd Round (53rd Overall) – Jermaine Cunningham, OLB, Florida
2nd Round (62nd Overall) – Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida*
4th Round (113th Overall) – Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida*
5th Round (150th Overall) – Zoltan Mesko, P, Michigan*
7th Round (247th Overall) – Brandon Deaderick, DL, Alabama
2011 Draft:
1st Round – Nate Solder, OT, Colorado*
2nd Round – Ras-I Dowling, DB, Virginia*
2nd Round – Shane Vereen, RB, Cal
3rd Round – Stevan Ridley, RB, LSU*
3rd Round – Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
5th Round – Marcus Cannon, OL, TCU
7th Round – Malcolm Williams, CB, Marshall
2012 Draft:
1st Round (Pick 21) Chandler Jones (DE, Syracuse)*
1st Round (Pick 25) Dont’a Hightower (LB, Alabama)*
2nd Round (Pick 48) Tavon Wilson (S, Illinois)*
3rd Round (Pick 90) Jake Bequette (DE, Arkansas)
6th Round (Pick 197) Nate Ebner (DB, Ohio State)
7th Round (Pick 224) Alfonzo Dennard (CB, Nebraska)
3 Way Too Early 2013 Position Targets:
Offensive Tackle: Vollmer is injury plagued and in the final year of his contract, and Cannon doesn't appear to be an NFL starter at Tackle.
Outside WR: This team could really use a big 6'3", 6'4", 6'5" physical freak outside WR to create even more versatility for the offense.
Guard/Center: Could use some depth inside here. Lot of solid players, but no studs (aside from Mankins). The offensive line got old the past few years, and it is the last position in need of an infusion of youth.
