Even though the original poster seems to think this is black and white, he does raise a good point. Why don't the Patriots continue to do what works best for them? Sure, the value argument makes sense on paper, but in reality, look at our first round picks in the BB era through '08.
Richard Seymour
Daniel Graham
Ty Warren
Vince Wilfork
Benjamin Watson
Logan Mankins
Laurence Maroney
Brandon Meriweather
Jerod Mayo
When Laurence Maroney is the worst of 9 players, that's pretty damn good, considering he is an average NFL running back who has had some injuries. All of these other guys (with the possible exception of Watson) have contributed to the team's success and earned numerous honors.
When you look at the later rounds of the draft, the Patriots, like any other team, have had their share of hits, but also have tons of misses. I'm not talking about guys who didn't become stars; I'm talking about guys they've just whiffed on. For the sake of making this simple, let's look at the 2nd and 3rd round, which are usually the picks they trade for when sacrificing their position in the 1st round.
Adrian Klemm
J.R. Redmond
Matt Light
Deion Branch
Eugene Wilson
Bethel Johnson
Marquise Hill
Ellis Hobbs
Nick Kaczur
Chad Jackson
David Thomas
Terrence Wheatley
Shawn Crable
Kevin O'Connell
The '09 and '10 drafts may prove to be more valuable, but virtually all of these players were deemed "steals" at the time they were drafted. Of these 14 players, Light and Branch are the only ones whose talent and accolades could be considered worthy of the actual "steal" designation. Meanwhile, O'Connell, Crable, Wheatley, Thomas, Jackson, and Johnson barely saw a snap with the team.
The fact the Patriots have had so much success in the first round makes me wonder why they are so eager trade down.
It's always bad when the analysts praise the Patriots for a great draft, saying they made the "smart" decision. In recent years, the media has gotten out of control, proclaiming Belichick the king of every draft, when in fact these were some of the worst picks of any team in the league. Hopefully Vollmer will continue to prove to be a true "first-round value" who dropped into the second round, but until that happens, the last player they've drafted who fits that bill was Deion Branch eight years ago. Yes, eight.