The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

Top Draft Philosophies in the NFL Today - Part 1: The Belichick Philosophy - Windy City Gridiron

Good read and accurate as well

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

It's all true, as far as it goes. I think we've learned a lot about BB's draft philosophy that wasn't in the article.

1) BB drafts for need. Drafting Wilfork, Gostkowski, Light, Mayo, Meriweather, Gronkowski... all need picks. Tim Dimitroff said drafting for need was one of the most important things he learned while he was with the Pats.

2) BB looks for big strong physical defensive players. His DTs are 320#, his DEs are 300#, his LBs 255#. This is how NTs end up playing DE for him. Long arms and long frame are preferred (witness: Seymour, Warren) on the outside.

3) His o-linemen are lean 300# and not spilling over their belts. Mankins, Light, Vollmer... big guys, big frame, good feet. Has never shown any interest in the 320# road graders.

4) BB locks in on a specific player (McCourty, Chung, Mayo) reads what the other teams are looking for, and trades down as far as he can to still get that guy. If his guy comes off the board unexpectedly, he trades down or out instead of picking the next best guy at the same position.

5) BB doesn't put all his eggs in one basket. He will take many rookies on to fill the same need. Thus, Gronkowski and Hernandez; Wilson and Samuels; Mayo and Guyton. This feels more like an admission that between personalities and injuries, you can never be sure about any player.

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

BB drafts for VALUE. Need is just part of the equation. How many times does he, himself, have to say it before people will actually listen.

Sorry, but I believe that you don't understand the term road-grader. A road grader is a guy who is know for, basically, bowling people over in the run game. It's about strength and attitude more than being "320 lbs".

Everyone "fixates" on "their" player. BB only "trades down" when he has people on the phone asking him about the pick and he feels he can move down and still get his guy. You make it sound like BB is always, actively trying to trade down and that just isn't the case.

As for your examples of taking rookies to fill the same need, that is a huge stretch. First, Gronk and Hernandez are very different types of TEs. Mayo and Guyton are also very different types of ILBs. Again, you are stretching reality to the extreme to fit your hypothesis.

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

Regarding the article. BB drafts players where he believes they will provide the team with the highest value. To say that this team doesn't spend "high draft picks on O-line" is just BS. Especially when you see that Light, Vollmer, Klemm were taken in the 2nd round and Mankins at the end of the 1st.

Light has held down the LT position since Game 3 of the 2001 season.. Vollmer's 2nd team All-Pro nod tells me that we're looking at a guy who could be anchoring the right side for the next decade, or the left if he's comfortable there. Mankins is an All-Pro guard. He's easily top 5 in the league at LG.

Klemm was good when healthy, regularly winning the RT position out of TC only to get injured quickly.

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

when you list the O line players like that it shows that high in the draft we have had good recent success with our prospects. I am looking at Carimi this year i like his body type, reminds me of vollmer, Now i think his feet might be a touch slower tho

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

Especially when there is an immediate void to fill. With Neal gone and the futures of Mankins and Light in question, I don't see BB coaching up a 7th rounder to be a starter this year.

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

The bit in the article about drafting coachable players (and having good coaches to work with them) shouldn't be overlooked. There are owners/FOs that, year-after-year, draft uncoachable "studs" and/or never hire people to properly develop their draftees. The Lions are a prime example of the "anti-Patriot Way."

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

Rook, I'm not convinced that your examples support your thesis here. Last year, the Pats NEEDED 2 players to fill out their TE corps, were looking at one of the richest TE draft classes ever, and opted for two totally different, complementary players rather than redundancy. Wilson, of course, played safety instead of CB. And Guyton wasn't even drafted, so he can't very well count as evidence of a double-up draft strategy!

There are certainly plenty of examples of the Pats, like most teams drafting 2 players at the same position -- Wheatley and Wilhite, Deaderick and Weston, etc. But AFAIK there's not a single example of 2 in the top 3 rounds. (Many of us assumed Mankins & Kaczur were that, but as soon as camp started it became clear that the team considered one a guard and the other a tackle.) By the time you get to the later rounds, redundancy may just be a result of the shape of the draft class and the focus of the team's scouting that year.

For comparison, take a look at Jacksonville Jaguars, a team which does seem to take the strategy you describe. They've drafted the same position in rounds 1 & 2 three years in a row.

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

Seems like the BB philosophy got better once Flyod Reese came on board,,,,,,

Re: The Belichick Draft Philosophy
 

I absolutely agree. This one statement summarizes nearly completely BB's drafting philosophy. Most of what is in the article is an incomplete attempt to define "value" as BB would define it.

PS: I do believe that BB and his staff do an excellent job of "coaching up players" in the Patriot system. But they also are tremendous at adapting the system to fit an individuals skillset and that explains why so many UDFA's thrive in our system and why so many homegrown players that move on from our system, do not do all that well in other systems.

PSS: I myself have over the years questioned the ability of our defensive coaches to "coach up" OLB's. And while part of the problem is a complete lack of raw material to work with, ie: BB does not draft many of these position players; I think the biggest roadblock to developing homegrown OLB's is BB's inability to trust this position to inexperienced players. That is why Cunningham represents a huge shift in drafting philosophy for BB and why this year, we may finally see that elusive stud pass rusher drafted early.