My Binky, one of our biggest draft screw-ups...

[shakadave]

Post-injury, Garrett Mills is what percent of his former self, physically?

 

[rookBoston]

How can you be down on a late round player who spent his rookie year buried behind Graham, Watson and Thomas on the depth chart? At this time in his career, Troy Brown was on the practice squad and Tedy Bruschi was barely a hope and a dream.

The name that comes to mind for me as a draft screw up is Bethel Johnson. His athleticism has never been in question, but spending a 2nd on a guy who doesn't have the right attitude and work ethic (two things you should be able to scout pretty reliably) is pretty unexcusable. Mills could wash out altogether, and I still think it was a pretty good shot.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The name that comes to mind for me as a draft screw up is Bethel Johnson. His athleticism has never been in question, but spending a 2nd on a guy who doesn't have the right attitude and work ethic (two things you should be able to scout pretty reliably) is pretty unexcusable. Mills could wash out altogether, and I still think it was a pretty good shot.

I'd hold on that Bethel Johnson example. You might have a better one soon.

 

[mgteich]

Thanks for the analysis. We have certainly gotten lots of contributers in the 4th round. I suspect that our performance is much better than in the 3rd.

I think you can see how the Pats 4th rounders are all 'potential' picks. They 'risk' the high second day picks and try to hit on the high first day picks. I think I like the philosophy.

2007 - New England Patriots
4 127 Kareem Brown DT Miami (Fla.) - Who knows.

2006 - New England Patriots
4 106 Garrett Mills RB Tulsa - the Jury is out.
4 118 Stephen Gostkowski K Memphis - came on strong after a tough start to the season. Looks like an NFL kicker.

2005 - New England Patriots
4 133 James Sanders SAF Fresno State - Work in progress.

2004 - New England Patriots
4 113 Dexter Reid SAF North Carolina - Contributed on Special teams and moved on to another team. Flop.
4 128 Cedric Cobbs RB Arkansas - Flop.

2003 - New England Patriots
4 117 Dan Klecko DT Temple - played for a bit, moved on to another team, but still in the NFL. Not a bad 4th rounder considering he was totally undersized.
4 120 Asante Samuel CB Central Florida - The other arguably best 4th round pick of the BB era, panned out well.

2002 - New England Patriots
4 117 Rohan Davey QB Louisiana State - Drafted to be a backup to Tom Brady. Backed up Tom Brady. Whoop.
4 126 Jarvis Green DE Louisiana State - Arguably the best 4th round pick of the BB era, great value for his draft position.

2001 - New England Patriots
4 96 Kenyatta Jones T South Florida - Played in the NFL. Not sure if he's still out there somewhere, but we got some use out of him while he was here.
4 119 Jabari Holloway TE Notre Dame - Didn't pan out. Flop

Garrett Mills fits in with their 4th round MO and could easily either pan or flop at this point. I don't think his fate is yet decided.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I agree, the 3rd round is usually the round that BB gambles on high risk/high reward guys. So far BB hasn't hit on many. I still can't believe we took Brock Williams in the third round.

I'm always happy when BB trades away his third rounders.

Maybe in 2008, he can package them and trade up for another 2nd round pick.