Then, as now, the list you give wasn't exactly projected to be a set of studs. Most were projects.
I'm not sure how you define "stud" and "project". I don't think anyone expected Clay Matthews to step in and record double digit sacks as a rookie, or for Brian Orapko and Brian Cushing to make the pro bowl as rookie LBs. Certainly this time last year more people would have projected Everette Brown to be a "stud" than Matthews.
Most of the prospects for 2010 are "projects", if you mean players that can't realistically be expected to step in to the Pats' system and produce from day 1 on a veteran level. I would expect Jason Pierre-Paul, Carlos Dunlap, Von Miller, Sergio Kindle, Greg Hardy, Jerry Hughes, Von Miller, Greg Romeus, Austen Lane, Jeremy Beal, Ricky Sapp and Brandon Graham to all take time to adjust to the Pats defense, and wouldn't expect major production from any of them as rookies. Perhaps we might be pleasantly surprised, but the odds are against it. I would also expect that at least 2-3 of those guys (and it will be a crap shoot as to which ones those will be) will be impact players for whatever team drafts them, and that a year from now people on this board will be bemoaning why the Pats didn't draft that guy, as if their production for the Pats would have been instantaneous and the same as for some other team.
Willie McGinest was certainly a "stud" when we drafted him in 1994, but he produced only 4.5 sacks his rookie year. Connor Barwin has had 3.5 sacks as a backup so far this year, more than any Pats rookie since Tedy Bruschi had a whopping 4.0 sacks in 1996 (after setting NCAA records in college). Mike Vrabel only produced 3 sacks for us in 2001 and 4.5 in 2002, his first 2 years at OLB, and that was after 4 years in the NFL (during which time he had a whopping 7 sacks total, despite holding the Ohio St. sack record when he was drafted). You'd have to go back to Chris Slade in 1993 (9 sacks) for a rookie who made a major contribution as a pass rusher.
What exactly do you expect for rookie production for a "stud" vs. a "project"?