Have the Patriots ever really had a draft bust?

[chibully]

It seems like every year, they have a really good draft, and get some impact players. Have they really ever missed completely?

I'm talking more this decade. All I can really think of is Chad Jackson. Of course, there was also Bethel Johnson, but he won two super bowls, so I guess you can't really consider him a bust...

 

[Tailgater]

It seems like every year, they have a really good draft, and get some impact players. Have they really ever missed completely?

I'm talking more this decade. All I can really think of is Chad Jackson. Of course, there was also Bethel Johnson, but he won two super bowls, so I guess you can't really consider him a bust...

They've had plenty of guys that never justified the spot they were drafted at. I don't think that is erased because they were on the roster when they won sb's.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Klemm, Redmond, Jackson, Johnson (all 2nd rd picks). Watson is about the only 1st rd bust at least to me. He's an athelete who never became a good rcvr. Maroney is getting close to that status, but I'm a homer and hope it's more because of injury than heart & smarts.

 

[Lilseb93]

They've had plenty of guys that never justified the spot they were drafted at. I don't think that is erased because they were on the roster when they won sb's.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Klemm, Redmond, Jackson, Johnson (all 2nd rd picks). Watson is about the only 1st rd bust at least to me. He's an athelete who never became a good rcvr. Maroney is getting close to that status, but I'm a homer and hope it's more because of injury than heart & smarts.

I would say Maroney is close to it, but he's been injured.

Everyone has busts. You never really know what you're going to get from the draft, even if they appear god-like in college, that dosen't mean it will carry into the NFL.

 

[nyjunc]

The pats haven't drafted well in a few years outside of a pick here and there.

 

[Tailgater]

The pats haven't drafted well in a few years outside of a pick here and there.

For the most part I agree. i liked the 2008 draft class and expectt more than a few starters to emerge this year from that class.

add in the players added by trading draft picks and i rank them as good drafts (Moss, Welker, Dillon). They also had their misses there (Gabriel, Starks).

The Colts & Eagles are the only teams I can think of offhand that have consistenly been drafting in the last 6 picks of each round that have exceeded the Pats success (or lack thereof) in the draft. Lets see how the Fins & Jets do when picking 30th in each round.

Of course, I lay the blame squarely on Piolis shoulders. Now that we got rid of that bum...:D

 

[nyjunc]

I wish we'd get a chance to draft around 30-32 every year.

 

[chris66]

The pats haven't drafted well in a few years outside of a pick here and there.

It would be hard for drafted players to make this roster during the 06-07 seasons. The only picks that really baffled me were the Watson pick in 04 and the Maroney pick in 06. Bill usually doesnt take an rb that high. If he hadnt the colts would probably have taken maroney with their pick and the pats could have got a decent back later in the second or 3rd, but hindsight is 20/20 and Maroney looked like a monster coming out of college.

 

[nyjunc]

It would be hard for drafted players to make this roster during the 06-07 seasons. The only picks that really baffled me were the Watson pick in 04 and the Maroney pick in 06. Bill usually doesnt take an rb that high. If he hadnt the colts would probably have taken maroney with their pick and the pats could have got a decent back later in the second or 3rd, but hindsight is 20/20 and Maroney looked like a monster coming out of college.

But the Pats drafts are celebrated every year so if they draft so well they should bring in good players, right/ have they drafted any players that couldn't make the team but went on to do well for other teams?

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Their drafts have not been very strong in recent years. They have been able to pick up so many free agents that it does not really affect them too much, however. Chad Jackson can crash and burn when you pick up Moss for a 4th round pick.

 

[Pinkboy]

It seems like every year, they have a really good draft, and get some impact players. Have they really ever missed completely?

The Patriots had terrible drafts in 2006 and 2007.

From the 2006 draft, the only real contributor to the team has been Gostkowski.

And in the 2007 draft, the only Patriots player worth mentioning is Merriweather, and he has been somewhat of a disappointment- ask Patriot fans.. Every other player in the 2007 draft is no longer on their roster.

It is a myth that the Patriots draft well all the time. The reason they are good is because of their coaching and game preparation. And the fact that they came out with the spread offense at the perfect time.. The Patriots were one of the worst teams in sacking opposing (and getting pressure on) QB's last season.. And their O-line sucked too as no QB in the league was pressured last year more than Cassel.

The fact is, over the past 4 years the Jets have drafted much better than the Patriots. It's no contest when you go down each pick one by one. That may be shocking to a lot of people, but nobody can deny it's truth.

 

[Tailgater]

But the Pats drafts are celebrated every year so if they draft so well they should bring in good players, right/ have they drafted any players that couldn't make the team but went on to do well for other teams?

I find it amusing how the talking heads are afraid to even question any of BB's picks. The last time they did, it was about Mankins, how nobody else had him higher than a 2nd day pick, yadayadayada.

Now they are terrified of a) looking stupid, and b) getting locked out by Belichick when it comes to interviews, etc. Just ask Tom Jackson...:)

I think the Pats do draft good players. In many cases they just cannot crack the top 53 and the Pats can't get them thru waivers to the practice squad, or they get snapped up from the practice squad by other teams.

I expect they'll keep 6 or 7 of the guys they drafted this year, with 4 or 5 becoming starters by next year. A lot of that has to do with the # of picks inside the top 100. 20 - 60 was the meat of this draft.

Unlike other teams, the pats have no problem cutting a guy even if he was a fairly high pick. It takes other teams 3-4 yrs before they do it for the most part.

 

[gofins]

I'd say Tom Brady was a reach in the 6th.

 

[HughC]

The fact is, over the past 4 years the Jets have drafted much better than the Patriots. It's no contest when you go down each pick one by one. That may be shocking to a lot of people, but nobody can deny it's truth.

Nobody is immune to bad draft picks, even teams that are considered to be so good at drafting like the Colts, Steelers or Patriots. But off the top of my head, I don't know that I would consider the Jets to have done any better. When you say 'go down each pick one by one', the very first thing I think of is Gholston versus Mayo.

If a team is constantly selecting players near the end of the round, then it stands to reason they are going to end up with fewer impact players. In addition, if they are in that position they are going to have fewer starting positions available for new players. The difference with the Colts and Steelers is that they tend to do almost nothing in free agency, while the Patriots tend to be more active in adding several veteran free agents every year. As a result the rookies they select have even more competition and are that much less likely to start.

 

[nyjunc]

Nobody is immune to bad draft picks, even teams that are considered to be so good at drafting like the Colts, Steelers or Patriots. But off the top of my head, I don't know that I would consider the Jets to have done any better. When you say 'go down each pick one by one', the very first thing I think of is Gholston versus Mayo.

If a team is constantly selecting players near the end of the round, then it stands to reason they are going to end up with fewer impact players. In addition, if they are in that position they are going to have fewer starting positions available for new players. The difference with the Colts and Steelers is that they tend to do almost nothing in free agency, while the Patriots tend to be more active in adding several veteran free agents every year. As a result the rookies they select have even more competition and are that much less likely to start.

Look at '06-'08:

Jets:
D'Brickashaw Ferguson
Nick Mangold
Leon Washington
Darrelle Revis
David Harris
Dustin keller

Pats:
Stephen Gostkowski
Jerod Mayo

We have done a better job in recent years despite the Gholston pick which he's only played 1 year so he's not an official bust yet.

 

[HughC]

Look at '06-'08:

Jets:
D'Brickashaw Ferguson
Nick Mangold
Leon Washington
Darrelle Revis
David Harris
Dustin keller

Pats:
Stephen Gostkowski
Jerod Mayo

We have done a better job in recent years despite the Gholston pick which he's only played 1 year so he's not an official bust yet.

I would say the Jets do appear to have done better than the Pats in recent years, especially if you start with '06 - since in '05 the Jets top draft picks were Mike Nugent, Justin Miller, and Sione Pouha and the Patriots top picks were Logan Mankins, Ellis Hobbs and Nick Kaczur. But as I mentioned earlier, some of that would be expected when one team (a) drafts lower than the other one every year, and (b) has less holes to fill.

Another consideration is that in those three years the Jets had five first round picks while New England had only three, and then you should probably factor in what they got in return for those missing '07 draft picks: Randy Moss and Wes Welker. While not draft picks per se, they made an evaluation of those players as well as the college players that would be available, and made what turned out to be the right moves.

Lastly, if you're going to include David Harris among the positive Jets picks, shouldn't you also include Brandon Meriweather and Laurence Maroney? Meriweather seemed to play well last year and Maroney wasn't all that bad before spending last year on IR.

Bottom line is that I would say that the Jets recent drafts have improved over previous years, and have indeed been better than New England's has over the last three years - but, given the circumstance the Jets should have been expected to have better drafts over that time period also.


Good luck against New England, looking forward to playing you guys this year.