DW Toys

Sorry should have said DB ABOVE.
Why is it shaky ground when the Pats two biggest needs in the 2013 season might be DB and WR? Why their track record the last 10 years should dictate them trying FA's or Trades instead of wasting Draft picks on those positions they really do not have a clue about for some strange reason:

I have made an evaluation chart of the Pats DB and WR picks over 10 years:

A+=12
A=11
A-=10
B+=9
B=8
B-=7
C+=6
C=5
C-=4
D+=3
D=2
D-=1
F=0

Notes:
A first rounder should become an elite NFL player.

A second round pick a very good player with some Pro Bowl opportunity

Understand that a third round Draft pick is determined to be a long term NFL starter to warrant that pick.

Fourth rounders should be high percentage developmental or that medically or personal issue challenged higher Draft value player who slips.

Fifth to seventh rounders are a little of the above and smaller school gambles.

Drafted players should fall into each category by where the Team expected his talent and skill set and thus uses that round to Draft said player.

The Pats have chosen 21 DBs in the last 10 years.
I have put what I felt was a fair grade on these DB’s:


Asante Samuel- Exremely good-Typical arrogant F.O. move to let him walk and we are still paying that fine today=B+
Eugene Wilson-Mediocre-Unexpected S conversion. A few good games=C
Christian Morton=F
Dexter Reid=F
Guss Scott=F
James Sanders-Fringe guy and with this forum's favorite verb “serviceable” (I did not think so, nor did BB in the end) Just so no one complains=C-
Ellis Hobbs-Way too small and brittle but Drafted because of the old Pats Favorite B.S. line “quick twitch” baloney excuse for Drafting smurf DB’s. Played hurt as a plus (see Dowling. Can we switch hearts?) . Made some plays. Some good games and some bad=C+
Willie Andrews-Smoke um if ya got em=F
Mike Richardson=F
Brandon Meriweather-Pretty stupid human-Barely still in the league. Wastefull high end pick so he loses big points=D
Matt Slater-No where near a DB, No where near a WR-Very good on special Teams only=B
Jonathan Wilhite=D-
Terrence Wheatley-Way to high a pick for this epic Draft waste=D-
Darius Butler= (SECOND ROUNDER?!!!!!Nyet)=F
Patrick Chung- A hard hitting , non covering, always injured, first round pick. For that wasted pick part I give him a =D
Devin McCourty-Became a failure at CB. Salvaged career with decent S (NOT GREAT!!!)=C
Ras-I Dowling-Who knows? If he ever hits the field he will be fresh!=D
Malcolm Williams-Did not even start in college????=F
Tavon Wilson-Wayyyyyyyyy too high of a Draft slot for this kid. Could have been taken in the fourth. Bill got snookered by rumors. That makes his pick a bad value but o.k. …….he might improve=C
Nate Ebner- Shot in the dark pick. Made the squad so I give him a =D+
Alfonzo Dennard-Great value pick. Could be the Tom Brady type pick version on Defense at least for now. Could be in the league a long time=B

The Pats grade for Drafting DB’s the last 10 years has been a dismal 2.8 grade or slightly higher than D.


The Pats have Drafted only 7 WR in the last ten years:

Bethel Johnson-Some plays. Too bad. Decent kid=C-
P.K. Sam=F
Chad Jackson-Nuff said. I was a supporter but…=F
Brandon Tate-Not much for a third round pick. Not impressive in college either. Had some returns for a postive. A clear miss for a third rounder=D+
Taylor Price=F
Julian Edelman-Good project showing results if he can ever get healthy=B
Jeremy Ebert-Oh yeah, we might as well Draft a WR as we have one left=F

The Pats grade for Drafting WR’s the last 10 years has been a dismal 2.1 grade or slightly lower than the less than stellar DBs.

Who out their still contends that the Pats should Draft DB’s or WR’s high on Draft day?
DW Toys

Deus Irae

Your evaluation is a terrible one, and there's not much reasonable about it.

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

TomPatriot

I stopped reading after the Asante Samuel evaluation.

CheeseMonkeys

I don't understand what warrants the rude comments above. It wasn't really that bad of an evaluation.

I disagree that a first round pick should become elite. A top 10/15 pick should become elite and the rest of the first rounders should become productive starters.

Some of your grades are questionable though. I would grade Chung and McCourty higher. Dennard and Samuel should both get an 'A'. Meriweather should probably get a 'C-'.

__________________
“These players, a lot of other people didn't believe in them, but they believe in themselves. And that is all that matters.” - Bill Belichick

Deus Irae

Asante Samuel, a 4th round pick who's also a 4 time Pro Bowler and 1 time All Pro, gets a B+

Patrick Chung somehow became a first round pick.

Ellis Hobbs, who only missed one game in New England, was "brittle"

James Sanders, who played 6 years in New England and was given a second contract by BB, wasn't "serviceable" and BB agreed with DW (so explain the contract....).


There are more, but those were enough to put the lie to the notion of this being a "reasonable" draft evaluation.

__________________
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

Lamanai

I think your subjective assessments/expectations are unrealistic. About a third of first rounders and half of second rounders are busts. To expect a first rounder to be "elite", for second rounders to be "pro bowl possible" and third rounders to be "long term starters" is absurd.

I think you are of the opinion that BB has been poor at drafting DBs and WR (and I happen to agree), but I think you are designing a process to back fill your theory.

I agree with your premise, but remain wholly unconvinced of your method for proving it.

AndyJohnson

The whole think is a nightmare.

Crazy Patriot Guy

I won't debate the rating given to each player we've taken, I simply don't agree with the idea that we shouldn't draft a WR or DB solely based on our past picks.

Before 2010, we had taken two 1st round TEs in Graham and Watson. While both were solid Pats, they never lived up to what we hoped. Add in the later round picks we used and the TE position was somewhat of a wasted one in 10 Belichick drafts. That changed drastically in a span of 3 rounds with Gronk and Hernandez.

By my count, we were 0-6 in trying to develop a RB through the draft. When the biggest success is Laurence Maroney, that's a bad thing. So we waste a 2nd AND 3rd round pick in 2011 on the RB position, knowing full well we don't draft well at that spot? The results in just year 2 was 1,714 yards from scrimmage and 16 TDs.

I don't totally dismiss the fact that our track record at certain positions in the draft isn't very good but as we've seen, things can change quickly. And I don't think we should pass on someone like Robert Woods (just using him as an example) because a WR we drafted back when Woods was 13 years old didn't pan out for us.

Salva135

The Patriots have a dismal record of drafting/developing WRs and DBs during the BB era. That is the big takeaway here, and it's news to nobody.

I was curious and actually looked up Chad Jackson... he's on the Omaha Nighthawks in the UFL. Fantastic pick.

It's pretty sad that letting Asante walk is now considered a huge blunder by the organization.

Helmet2Helmet

Today I learned that DW Toys believes the NFL gets an influx of 96 high caliber starters per draft.