and the worst part about Chris Canty was the draft pick we burned on him. Good old Bobby Grier.
Yeahhh, it was a first-rounder... but only pick 29. But late 90s first-rounders in retrospect? Not THAT bad...
1999, pick #17, your New England Patriots: Damien Woody (he done okay for us... two rings, right? Short career but not a fall-on-your-sword bust...)
pick # 28, your New England Patriots: Andy Katzenmoyer. Woulda coulda shoulda. Can't call him a bust or a success... just very sad, looking back.
1998, pick # 18, your New England Patriots: Robert Edwards. See 1999, pick #28. (*#$& the pro bowl.
pick # 22, your New England Patriots, Tebucky Jones. "Lucky Tebucky," instrumental for the 2001 team. Peaked kind of early.
1997, um, the bad Chris Canty.
1996, pick #7, your New England Patriots, Terry Glenn. She was pretty good for a while. Lower down in that same draft... Lawyer Milloy, Tedy Bruschi... and let's not forget, Marrio
Grier. Hmmmm. Nah. I know Parcells stormed out because he couldn't buy the groceries but... nah, couldn't be.
So those are just the #1s, plus the outcome of the 96 draft where Parcells got the nut-punch from Kraft (at least in his eyes) in favor of Grier, resulting in Terry Glenn.
Grier's greatest hits, bolding really key contributors
95, before The Grier Supremacy truly kicked in...
Ty Law, Ted Johnson, and Curtis Martin
96 -
Glenn, Milloy, Bruschi;
97 - pretty much ohfer
98 - Robert Edwards, Tebucky Jones (asterisks: for Edwards, OUCH. For Jones, lots of "yeah he sucked but did good" analyses out there at the time). Other than that nobody worth mentioning except
Leonta Rheams, but only because his name was so close to Leanne Rimes
99 - Woody not really a hit. Katzenmoyer not fair to call a bust.
Kevin Faulk, unarguable hit. Then a bunch of trash.
2000, just before his firing: Just complete **** tbh, until
pick #199. But a lot of people forget pick #239... Patrick Pass. Not bad for a 7. In respect to pick #199... yes, the narrative is that by then you're deep in the crap shoot. But one NFL exec, count 'em, one, called Lloyd Carr at Michigan about that skinny kid. Yes, Bobby Grier.
Pioli's greatest (draft) hits...let's not get into those deals that brought Moss, Welker, etc. etc. etc., just drafts...
2001 -
Richard Seymour, Matt Light, then ****.
2002 -
Dan Graham, Deion Branch, Rohan Davey (not because he was worth a damn, but because you gotta love a QB named after a country in Lord of the Rings), Jarvis Green, who gave us pretty good play, given his draft position, and
David Givens... at pick 253
2003 -
Ty Warren, some serviceable types but flawed (Eugene Wilson, Bethel "um how about the kick return game?" Johnson, Dan "I'm really good if I'm playing against the Pats" Klecko, then
Asante Samuel, a bargain where drafted,
Dan Koppen, and I'm gonna say at pick 239, Tully Banta-Kain. Come on. Pick 239, and he ever started a game? Give it to him.
2004 -
Wilfork, Ben Watson, then names you'd remember but really you can't think of as memorable.
2005 -
Logan Mankins, Ellis Hobbs (pretty productive), Cassel at 230, and goddammit, he came through for us that one year.
2006 - the grand-daddy of "Wahhh we cant draft anymore" drafts. Only hit:
Gostkowski. Busts: Maroney, Chad Jackson, all the non-kicker lower picks, except the moderately serviceable Dave Thomas (mainly significant b/c we could call him "Wendy's")
2007 - Oh wait, maybe this is the "we can't draft anymore" draft. Meriweather. And that's the high point. Not a hit. But still in the league, so - meh.
2008 -
Mayo, then
Slater if you count special teamers
Post-Pioli - recency creates questions about who to bold. If we hate guys now but they have played a while and did the job for a while at a high level... I'm granting a hit. So it's easier to be a hit here. I'll all-cap the real real hits.
2009 -
Darius Butler (?), Seabass Vollmer, and at pick 232...
JULIAN EDELMAN
2010 -
Devin McCourty, GRONK, Spikes when healthy sometimes, pre-killing-spree HERNANDEZ, The Zoltan (for a while.)
2011 -
Solder (for a while and possibly again at some point,)
Vereen to a limited extent,
Ridley, was just coming into his own this year
2012 -
CHANDLER JONES, Dont'a Hightower, Tavon Wilson, can't bold him but he does the job sorta, at 224,
Alfonzo Dennard (Combination of some good play and a truly low draft position)
2013 - Truly cannot judge this yet, but here's who I think have the chance to be the bolded among them after a lookback period:
Jamie Collins, Logan Ryan
2014 - See 2013, but moreso. Expected bolded:
Garoppolo, one day; semi-impressed at times with
Easley especially. Don't trust it... yet. The linemen are getting "blooded" early, and I wonder whether we won't have a few bolds out of that bunch by season's end.
Now the money category...
pre-Grier hits/busts in rounds 1 and 2 (where it's truly bad if you can't hit sometimes...)
1994, 1st round
- McGinest (lest we forget... there was some crap-talk about him early on)
2nd - Kevin Lee, WR
1993, 1st round -
Drew Bledsoe, then the names we'd remember are Chris Slade (was he a bust or just a meh 2nd rounder?) then nine miles of ****, then at 198,
Troy Brown
1992, pick 13, Your New England Patriots, outstanding bust of the decade unless you count Anna Nicole Smith:
Eugene Chung. We did get Sam Gash at 205.
And before that... well I guess we all remember the top picks in the early 90s/late 80s...
I just got started and couldn't stop.