At some point, you're going to have to dig deeper and see how many picks were traded (also, stolen) in order to keep the train moving for that last run. They played into late-January/February five years straight, kept dumping picks for guys like Hicks and Ayers and Cooks and a bunch of others.
I mean, one year, they had 4 picks, and the first wasn't until #83 or something like that.
They were also taking shots for players who might crack a rock-solid line-up (Easley, for example, Mitchell, too), or choosing an RB who could come right in and protect the franchise (Michel).
There was a great editorial on Channel 5 today saying that the biggest thing BB brought to New England were expectations. It's true. It also becomes wholly unreasonable.
It hasn't been until the last 3 years that the Pats had any real draft capital at all, and one of those actually blue chip picks had to go to QB, who turned out to, well, suck.