Pats All Pro team (BB drafted only)

Random fun for the long offseason. Form a full starting roster (some backups if you want) of Pats players drafted by Belicheck. Basically a roster of the best players Bill has drafted at each position.

QB: Brady, Cassell
RB: Ridley, Vereen, Maroney
WR: Edelman, Branch, Givens
TE: Gronk, Hernandez, Graham
R/L Tackle: Light, Vollmer
R/L Guard: Mankins, Ohrnberger
C: Koppen, Stork
DE: Seymour, Warren
DT: Wilfork, Deadrick
LB: Collins, Hightower, Mayo, Banta-Cain
CB: Samuel, Hobbs, Dennard
FS/SS: McCourty, Eugene Wilson, James Sanders, Chung
K: Gostowski
P: Mesko

Make your own or suggestions to mine.

Spikes ahead of Banta Cain, though we could put Cain And Chandler Jones at DE/OLB because we sure can't leave out Chandler.

If UDFA are choices in this exercise, Stephen Neal trumps Ohrnberger...

Was Green-Ellis drafted or UDFA?

BB has been on a hell of a roll in the draft these last couple of years. I mean, just look at the defensive key pieces last year that we have drafted since 2010. McCourty, Hightower, Collins, Chandler Jones. That right there are impact players on all levels of the field, and this is with us drafting at the end of the rounds every year. That's impressive.

203Pat said:

Random fun for the long offseason. Form a full starting roster (some backups if you want) of Pats players drafted by Belicheck. Basically a roster of the best players Bill has drafted at each position.

QB: Brady, Cassell
RB: Ridley, Vereen, Maroney
WR: Edelman, Branch, Givens
TE: Gronk, Hernandez, Graham
R/L Tackle: Light, Vollmer
R/L Guard: Mankins, Ohrnberger
C: Koppen, Stork
DE: Seymour, Warren
DT: Wilfork, Deadrick
LB: Collins, Hightower, Mayo, Banta-Cain
CB: Samuel, Hobbs, Dennard
FS/SS: McCourty, Eugene Wilson, James Sanders, Chung
K: Gostowski
P: Mesko

Make your own or suggestions to mine.

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Nice list, not sure about Ohrnberger though.. Stephen Neal was a million times better.. and I'd take Mike Wright over Deadrick but other than that solid list

It's pretty sad that those were the best CBs BB drafted hehe..

I'd take Butler over Hobbs

Marinlik said:

BB has been on a hell of a roll in the draft these last couple of years. I mean, just look at the defensive key pieces last year that we have drafted since 2010. McCourty, Hightower, Collins, Chandler Jones. That right there are impact players on all levels of the field, and this is with us drafting at the end of the rounds every year. That's impressive.

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But Belichick the GM is a horrible drafter! Just ask some of our resident experts

patriot1136 said:

Was Green-Ellis drafted or UDFA?

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He was an UDFA.

another roster that would be fun to see:

"Buy Low/Off the trash heap", guys like Ninkovich, Vrabel, Corey Dillon, Welker, Rodney Harrison, Randy Moss... BB has resuscitated many careers that might have ended in obscurity and made them into household names

screw the killer, give me big ben watson!

Yea I was going to say UDFA too but then I wasn't sure who made their first stop in NE without being cut by another team/spent a year on another teams practice squad off the top of my head. Neal and BJGE are guys who speak to Bill's talent evaluation when it comes to no names.

Also I just kind of did this for a 3-4 but I would definitely put Chandler Jones in a 4-3 alignment. That's the case it's tough to find defensive tackles. Other than Brace and Dedrick I couldn't think of anyone behind Wilfork.

I think I'll get killed for it, but I'd take Meriweather over Sanders and Wilson. And if we're only including the first stint, even Chung. He played every game for us over 4 years, mostly as a starter the last 3, and made 2 Pro Bowls. He was over-rated for sure, but I still think he was better than those 3 guys.

convertedpatsfan said:

I think I'll get killed for it, but I'd take Meriweather over Sanders and Wilson. And if we're only including the first stint, even Chung. He played every game for us over 4 years, mostly as a starter the last 3, and made 2 Pro Bowls. He was over-rated for sure, but I still think he was better than those 3 guys.

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I hated Meriweather. Guy was the safety version of Lavar Arrington, a freelancer who made plays at the expense of the rest of the secondary. One of the least disciplined players I've seen in the BB era and not very bright as well. Sanders may not have been as athletic but he was a much smarter player.

convertedpatsfan said:

I think I'll get killed for it, but I'd take Meriweather over Sanders and Wilson. And if we're only including the first stint, even Chung. He played every game for us over 4 years, mostly as a starter the last 3, and made 2 Pro Bowls. He was over-rated for sure, but I still think he was better than those 3 guys.

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I don't like Meriweather, but I think I might agree with you. It's borderline though. Wilson was great for a stretch and Sanders was very solid. Meriweather had his moments in between the idiocy.

The draft is just one avenue for acquiring players, if you look instead at all acquisitions for the best Patriots in the Belichick era it is a very different story:

QB-Tom Brady

RB- Corey Dillon

TE- Rob Gronkowski

WR- Randy Moss

WR-Troy Brown

WR-julian Edelman ( tough call, Welker put up big numbers but Edelman was key to getting #4)

LT-Matt Light

LG- Logan Mankins

C-Dan Koppen

RG-Stephen Neal

RT- Sebastien Vollmer

K- Adam Vinatieri


P-Ryan Allen

DT -Ted Washington

DT-Vince Wilfork

DE-Richard Seymour

DE-T. Warren

OLB-M. Vrabel

OLB-W. McGinest

MLB-Jerod Mayo

S-Lawyer Milloy

S-Rodny Harrison

CB-Ty Law

CB-Darrelle Revis

203Pat said:

I hated Meriweather. Guy was the safety version of Lavar Arrington, a freelancer who made plays at the expense of the rest of the secondary. One of the least disciplined players I've seen in the BB era and not very bright as well. Sanders may not have been as athletic but he was a much smarter player.

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I agree, he lacked discipline and that sealed his fate. But I'd still take him over Sanders and Wilson.

And he definitely cost us some big plays, but FWIW, our pass defense in yards wasn't that bad in 2008 and 2009 when he was starting. We were in the 11/12 range. It wasn't until his last season that he got benched for his freelancing, and we dropped dramatically to 30th in passing yards allowed, and it didn't get better after he left when we finished 31st in 2011. So I wouldn't pin our passing defense woes all on just him.

convertedpatsfan said:

I agree, he lacked discipline and that sealed his fate. But I'd still take him over Sanders and Wilson.

And he definitely cost us some big plays, but FWIW, our pass defense in yards wasn't that bad in 2008 and 2009 when he was starting. We were in the 11/12 range. It wasn't until his last season that he got benched for his freelancing, and we dropped dramatically to 30th in passing yards allowed, and it didn't get better after he left when we finished 31st in 2011. So I wouldn't pin our passing defense woes all on just him.

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I will never understand why he just decided to go off the reservation that year. I don't know if his head got too big or what but he went from taking a few too many risks to just being a flat out liability.

Ivan said:

The draft is just one avenue for acquiring players, if you look instead at all acquisitions for the best Patriots in the Belichick era it is a very different story:

QB-Tom Brady

RB- Corey Dillon

TE- Rob Gronkowski

WR- Randy Moss

WR-Troy Brown

WR-julian Edelman ( tough call, Welker put up big numbers but Edelman was key to getting #4)

LT-Matt Light

LG- Logan Mankins

C-Dan Koppen

RG-Stephen Neal

RT- Sebastien Vollmer

K- Adam Vinatieri


P-Ryan Allen

DT -Ted Washington

DT-Vince Wilfork

DE-Richard Seymour

DE-T. Warren

OLB-M. Vrabel

OLB-W. McGinest

MLB-Jerod Mayo

S-Lawyer Milloy

S-Rodny Harrison

CB-Ty Law

CB-Darrelle Revis

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That team is a Superbowl favorite in any era

An undrafted FA team (a couple guys might have bounced around other practice squads first). This one was much tougher but this is a pretty good team for undrafted guys and you could make the argument that Welker was still a relative unknown when we brought him in as was David Patten but I didn't include them for the sake of this game.

QB: Brian Hoyer, Matt Gutierrez
RB: BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Brandon Bolden
WR: Kenbrell Thompkins, Brian Tyms
TE/FB: James Develin, Stephen Spach, Tyson DeVree
OL: Stephen Neal, Joe Andruzzi, Ryan Wendell, Tom Ashworth, Dan Connelly, Lonnie Paxton, Gene Mruczkowski, Josh Kline, Jordan Devey
DL: Kyle Love, Mike Wright, Joe Vellano, Justin Francis
LB: Dane Fletcher, Gary Guyton, Matt Chatham, Eric Alexander, Pierre Woods
CB: Kyle Arrington, Randall Gay, Malcolm Butler, Sterling Moore
S: Ray Ventrone, Sergio Brown, Nate Ebner
K: N/A
P: Ryan Allen

Gronkowski123 said:

screw the killer, give me big ben watson!

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He could have sucked as a tight end and would still get my vote for chasing down Bailey.