Bill Belichick says 2011 Colts were team's inspiration for Jimmy Garoppolo pick

Curtis Painter, the face of the 2011 Colts

The Patriots were pretty clearly focused on their future in this latest NFL draft.

The clearest indication of that was their second round selection of Jimmy Garoppolo. Belichick noted afterwards that the team was looking to address their future without Brady early rather than late.

That's not the full story for drafting a quarterback the highest in franchise history since Drew Bledsoe. The team is also looking to keep competing even if they were to lose Brady for the season. In that regard, the 2011 Colts who went an entire season without Peyton Manning and only won two games, were the inspiration.

via NESN:

“I think organizationally, in our organization I don’t think we would put together a team the way Indianapolis did it when they lost Manning and they go 0-16, 1-15 or whatever it was,” Belichick said. “I don’t think that’s really what we’re looking for. Unfortunately when we lost Tom (Brady) in 2008 – we had a player that could step in and we won 11 games. We want to be competitive even if something happens to a player at any position. I think depth is always important. You never know when you’re going to need it. But I don’t think we’d be happy going 1-15 if we had an injury at one position. But other people have different philosophies. I’m just saying that the contrast to that example. I don’t think that’s really what we’re trying to do.”

Ultimately, that season worked out for the Colts. They ended up with the top pick in the draft and selected Andrew Luck. So, the franchise ended up OK, but not the guys calling the shots. GM Bill Polian was fired along with coach Jim Caldwell.

The downside of building your whole team around one person was clearly evidenced by that Colts team. The Patriots have made strides to avoid a similar collapse as their last two backup quarterbacks have been taken in the third and second rounds.