FanPost

You think Patriots are amazing at Drafting?...Think again



So I just happened to be bored at work and thought to myself, with all the picks the Pats have this year and had last year, they must be drafting amazing and doing so well, Right? Well not exactly. This past year I will admit they hit very well on their first two picks, Mccortney and Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, but thats 3 out of 12 and its way too early to evaluate rookies. So I looked at their picks since 2006, and lets just say these supposed "masterminds" really aren't all that impressive.

With other team
No longer in the NFL
2006 2007 2008 2009
Laurence Maroney Brandon Meriweather Jerod Mayo Patrick Chung
Chad Jackson Kareem Brown Terrence Wheatley Ron Brace
David Thomas Clint Oldenburg Shawn Crable Darius Butler
Garrett Mills Justin Rogers Kevin O’Connell Sebastian Vollmer
Stephen Gostkowski Mike Richardson Jonathan Wilhite Brandon Tate
Ryan O’Callaghan Justise Hairston Matt Slater Tyrone McKenzie
Jeremy Mincey Corey Hilliard Bo Ruud Rich Ohrnberger
Dan Stevenson Oscar Lua - George Bussey
LeKevin Smith Mike Elgin - Jake Ingram
Willie Andrews - - Myron Pryor
- - - Julian Edelman
- - - Darryl Richard

Of their 10 picks in 2006, only 1 is either still on the team or starting. Stephen Gostkoswki (Kicker)

Of there their 9 picks in 2007, only 1 is either still on the team or starting, Brandon Meriweather (Safety) who was benched a few times this year and he was their first round pick.

Of their 7 2008 picks only 1 is currently on their team or starting. Jerod Mayo (ILB) who was their first pick and I believe went in the top 15.

Of their 12 picks in 2009 they have 4 starters. Patrick Chung (Safety) Darius Butler (CB who I think lost his starting job) Sebation Vollmer ( OT who filled in for injured players but played well) Brandon Tate (WR) and Julian Edleman (WR).

Now for those who haven't done the math, in the past 4 years (not including last years draft because its too soon to evaluate) this team has had 38 picks and has pretty much wiffed on 30 of them. I'm sure some are sitting on the bench or practice squad and have some talent, but this just goes to show you that everyone is very critical of the Dolphins picks but don't realize how many other teams miss on their picks as well, especially the Holy New England Patriots who are the masterminds of the NFL.

Sure they got lucky with Brady and even Edleman turned out to be a great find but we signed the best slot WR in the NFL undrafted! Found Cam Wake for the CFL! And actually drafted very well the past few years. On Defense alone, we have Soliai, Langford, Misi, Vontae Davis, Sean Smith, and Chris Clemons all home grown on the past 4 years and on a defense who finished in the top 10. On offense, we weren't so lucky but regardless of the coaching our team has a ton of talent and the only two major players I could think of that we actually paid top dollar for and signed that were already established were Karlos Dansby and Brandon Marshall.

The rest of the players that we have we either drafted, or signed them when they were no body's and developed them like Polite, Bell, and Fasano. My point is people want to harp on the Pat White's and Patrick Turner misses and I agree it sucks to pass up other players that are now doing well, but lets look at all the guys we did find that are now turning into really good football players.

We still have 2 rookies from last year that got hurt but potentially can help our defense even more. Honestly, with a new OC and a new OL we aren't too far away from turning things around. I focus on those two things because QB and RB are very dependent on O-line and OC. We saw what an offense can look like when those two are in shambles. And I keep harping on the Bears. Look at them last year and even the beginning of this year! O-line in shambles and OC and QB weren't on the same page. Now all of the sudden Cutler is killing it and the team is doing very well. Just goes to show you what a difference those two positions can make.

Lets hope we hit on this year's draft and have Tony reclaim his credibility. I would love to see him pull a Tom Coughlin when they went 8-8 the year before they won the Super Bowl because he learned to change his coaching style. Now I don't expect it to happen but I do expect them to focus a ton on the Offense in FA and Draft and expect a drastic improvement given the talent we have on this team.

Just trying to stay optimistic...Your thoughts?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.