Patriot's Drafts 2000-2010 By Position

[Armchair Quarterback]

YEAR ROUND OVERALL NAME POS
2001 1 6 Richard Seymour DL
2003 1 13 Ty Warren DL
2004 1 21 Vince Wilfork DL
2009 2 40 Ron Brace DL
2004 2 63 Marquise Hill DL
2003 4 117 Dan Klecko DL
2002 4 126 Jarvis Green DL
2007 4 127 Kareem Brown DL
2000 5 161 Jeff Marriott DL
2000 6 201 David Nugent DL
2006 6 206 LeKevin Smith DL
2009 6 207 Myron Pryor DL
2009 7 234 Darryl Richard DL
2003 7 243 Ethan Kelley DL
2010 7 247 Brandon Deaderick DL
2010 7 248 Kade Weston DL


2010 2 53 Jermaine Cunningham OLB
2008 3 78 Shawn Crable OLB
2007 6 180 Justin Rogers OLB
2006 6 191 Jeremy Mincey OLB
2000 7 226 Casey Tisdale OLB
2003 7 239 Tully Banta-Cain OLB


2008 1 10 Jerod Mayo ILB
2010 2 62 Brandon Spikes ILB
2009 3 97 Tyrone McKenzie ILB
2005 5 170 Ryan Claridge ILB
2008 6 197 Bo Ruud ILB
2007 7 211 Oscar Lua ILB
2001 7 239 T.J. Turner ILB


2010 1 27 Devin McCourty CB
2009 2 41 Darius Butler CB
2008 2 62 Terrence Wheatley CB
2005 3 84 Ellis Hobbs CB
2001 3 86 Brock Williams CB
2003 4 120 Asante Samuel CB
2008 4 129 Jonathan Wilhite CB
2001 6 200 Leonard Myers CB
2007 6 202 Mike Richardson CB
2004 7 233 Christian Morton CB


2007 1 24 Brandon Meriweather S
2003 2 36 Eugene Wilson S
2009 2 34 Patrick Chung S
2004 3 95 Guss Scott S
2000 4 1 J'Juan Cherry S
2004 4 113 Dexter Reid S
2005 4 133 James Sanders S
2001 5 163 Hakim Akbar S
2000 6 187 Antwan Harris S
2006 7 229 Willie Andrews S


2005 1 32 Logan Mankins OL
2000 2 46 Adrian Klemm OL
2001 2 48 Matt Light OL
2009 2 58 Sebastian Vollmer OL
2005 3 100 Nick Kaczur OL
2001 4 96 Kenyatta Jones OL
2009 4 123 Rich Ohrnberger OL
2000 4 127 Greg Randall OL
2006 5 136 Ryan O'Callaghan OL
2003 5 164 Dan Koppen OL
2009 5 170 George Bussey OL
2007 5 171 Clint Oldenburg OL
2010 6 205 Ted Larsen OL
2006 6 205 Dan Stevenson OL
2007 6 209 Corey Hilliard OL
2010 7 208 Thomas Welch OL
2007 7 247 Mike Elgin OL


2002 1 21 Daniel Graham TE
2004 1 32 Ben Watson TE
2010 2 42 Rob Gronkowski TE
2006 3 86 David Thomas TE
2006 4 106 Garrett Mills TE
2010 4 113 Aaron Hernandez TE
2001 4 119 Jabari Holloway TE
2000 5 141 Dave Stachelski TE
2001 6 180 Arther Love TE
2003 7 234 Spencer Nead TE
2005 7 255 Andy Stokes TE


2006 2 36 Chad Jackson WR
2003 2 45 Bethel Johnson WR
2002 2 65 Deion Branch WR
2009 3 83 Brandon Tate WR
2010 3 90 Taylor Price WR
2008 5 153 Matt Slater WR
2004 5 164 P.K. Sam WR
2009 7 232 Julian Edelman WR
2002 7 253 David Givens WR


2006 1 21 Laurence Maroney RB
2000 3 76 J.R. Redmond RB
2004 4 128 Cedric Cobbs RB
2007 6 208 Justise Hairston RB
2002 7 237 Antwoine Womack RB
2000 7 239 Patrick Pass RB


2008 3 94 Kevin O'Connell QB
2002 4 117 Rohan Davey QB
2000 6 199 Tom Brady QB
2003 6 201 Kliff Kingsbury QB
2005 7 230 Matt Cassel QB
2010 7 250 Zac Robinson QB


2006 4 118 Stephen Gostkowski K
2001 7 216 Owen Pochman K

2010 5 150 Zoltan Mesko P

2009 6 198 Jake Ingram LS



1. They have built the lines through the draft.

2. They've done OK with late round QBs and 7th round WRs.

3. Absolutely terrible drafting RBs.

4. Absolutely terrible drafting LBs (2000-2009) other than top 10 pick Mayo.

5. 2010 draft may be the best of the bunch, Gronk and Hernandez are the players the Patriots wished Graham and Watson would become. McCourty is a more well rounded player than Samuel and might be just as much of a ballhawk. Spikes, Cunningham, Deaderick, Mesko and even Price look to be quality players.

 

[MaineMan]

"Terrible drafting RBs"

Six picks in 11 drafts, only one before RD-3?

"Terrible drafting LB"

Leaving out Mayo and two rookies, you've got 2 guy out of 10 who were drafted before the 5th round, one of whom is with another team.

Of the remaining seven 5th rounders and below, Mincey (6th) started at DE in place of an injured Aaron Kampmann last season and arguably performed better. TBC was still playing and doing okay for a 7th-round sub-rusher (too bad for us that the situation required him to try to do more).

Perhaps you believe that every draft pick should make the team every time or it's worth a condemnation of talent evaluation?

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

"Terrible drafting RBs"


Yes, why even question this?
Laurence Maroney
J.R. Redmond
Cedric Cobbs
Justise Hairston
Antwoine Womack
Patrick Pass


Six picks in 11 drafts, only one before RD-3?

"Terrible drafting LB"

The actual quote was "Absolutely terrible drafting LBs (2000-2009) other than top 10 pick Mayo."

Shawn Crable
Justin Rogers
Jeremy Mincey
Casey Tisdale
Tully Banta-Cain
Tyrone McKenzie
Ryan Claridge
Bo Ruud
Oscar Lua
T.J. Turner

Leaving out Mayo and two rookies, you've got 2 guy out of 10 who were drafted before the 5th round, one of whom is with another team.

Of the remaining seven 5th rounders and below, Mincey (6th) started at DE in place of an injured Aaron Kampmann last season and arguably performed better. TBC was still playing and doing okay for a 7th-round sub-rusher (too bad for us that the situation required him to try to do more).


Mincey got playing time because of injury in his fifth year at DE for another team. He never played for the Pats. If you want this as evidence they did a good job between 2000-09 drafting LB, I don't know what to say.

Perhaps you believe that every draft pick should make the team every time or it's worth a condemnation of talent evaluation?

No of course I don't believe that and I never said anything close to that.
Perhaps you believe that any critique of the Patriots drafts, no matter how insignificant has to be vigorously defended.

I made this list for myself but figured I'd post it for reference or to create discussion. I made a few comments as to what stuck out to me. In addition to commenting on both the offensive and defensive lines as well as late round QBs,WRs and the 2010 class, it was simply an observation that IMO they did a pretty bad job of drafting LBs and RBs over the course of a decade. Again, I don't know how you could say otherwise.

 

[Off The Grid]

Ahhh...Great list, Brother ArmChair!! Terrific work, and easily navigated.

Thanks from all us Draft Geeks!!

As for the RB/LB argument, you guys seem to have that covered, so I'll just mosey along...

 

[MaineMan]

No of course I don't believe that and I never said anything close to that.
Perhaps you believe that any critique of the Patriots drafts, no matter how insignificant has to be vigorously defended.

I made this list for myself but figured I'd post it for reference or to create discussion. I made a few comments as to what stuck out to me. In addition to commenting on both the offensive and defensive lines as well as late round QBs,WRs and the 2010 class, it was simply an observation that IMO they did a pretty bad job of drafting LBs and RBs over the course of a decade. Again, I don't know how you could say otherwise.

Okay. My tone was a bit harsh. I simply have a tough time thinking that 5th, 6th and 7th rounders not making a fairly "stacked" team (when they were drafted) is indicative of "poor drafting" at that position. Even with 4th rounders, it's fairly "iffy" to have high expectations. Regardless of a prospect's nominal position, at that late level, it seems to me that you're really just looking for role-players, special teamers - guys who might be overachieving if they even developed into solid relief guys for the starters. Position just doesn't matter as much. I mean, yeah, SOMEtimes a guy really comes through (as do UDFAs) at their position. Sometimes you just get lucky. But, to include these guys seems kinda like inflating the numbers to make a point.

For me, I'd just take all the guys drafted from about #125 and later and lump them all together regardless of position and see what's emerged from that mess, percentage-wise. It's really just the guys drafted before that who matter a lot, positionally, IMHO.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

Okay. My tone was a bit harsh. I simply have a tough time thinking that 5th, 6th and 7th rounders not making a fairly "stacked" team (when they were drafted) is indicative of "poor drafting" at that position. Even with 4th rounders, it's fairly "iffy" to have high expectations. Regardless of a prospect's nominal position, at that late level, it seems to me that you're really just looking for role-players, special teamers - guys who might be overachieving if they even developed into solid relief guys for the starters. Position just doesn't matter as much. I mean, yeah, SOMEtimes a guy really comes through (as do UDFAs) at their position. Sometimes you just get lucky. But, to include these guys seems kinda like inflating the numbers to make a point.

For me, I'd just take all the guys drafted from about #125 and later and lump them all together regardless of position and see what's emerged from that mess, percentage-wise. It's really just the guys drafted before that who matter a lot, positionally, IMHO.

No worries, I understand about 5,6,7 rounders and their chances of contributing and what their expectations should be. It was an overall comment on the positions and the talent that was acquired over an eleven year span. It still amazes me that a BB coached team added only one drafted starting LB in a decade. 2010 brought two more potential starting LB and maybe 2011 will bring another.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I think the LB comment was a bit unfair. It's not as if we've invested a ton of top picks at the position, and when we have, we've had good results.

We've almost drafted more TEs (11) than OLBs (6) and ILBs (7) combined. We've only spent 5 top-3 round picks on the LB corps, and 3 of them have been solid hits, with misses in the 3rd round in Crable and McKenzie. 7 of those picks were 6th/7th rounders, so while most were "misses," that's not really a big deal. It does seem to suggest BB is very picky about LBs and as most are projects, he drafts them late.

If there's one area of concern, it's the 3rd and 4th round. We don't tend to hit many of these picks. We seem to do better with the later rounds than the mid-rounds. As Reiss pointed out recently, almost half of our roster is composed of UDFA, and we have more 7th rounders on the team than 1st rounders. We don't have many mid-round guys, regardless of position.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

This is why I scream every time someone suggests that the Patriots should take a RB in the first. The Patriots have not been very good at drafting WRs either. Last year was the first in a long time that they did well with TEs. The Patriots should stick what they do best in the draft; defense. For offensive skill positions they should use free agency....unless Julio Jones falls to them

 

[convertedpatsfan]

This is why I scream every time someone suggests that the Patriots should take a RB in the first. The Patriots have not been very good at drafting WRs either. Last year was the first in a long time that they did well with TEs. The Patriots should stick what they do best in the draft; defense. For offensive skill positions they should use free agency....unless Julio Jones falls to them

I disagree with that argument. Every team has hits and misses in the draft, but that doesn't mean they should stop drafting a certain spot.

One could argue that Graham and Watson were poor picks as 1st-rounders, and prior to last year's draft, the team had spent 9 picks on TEs with little to show for it. But they still drafted two great TEs despite the poor track record.

BB also spent 4 top-3 round picks on corners with mixed results, but that didn't stop him from taking McCourty in the late 1st, and thank goodness for that.

The implication of the RB thing is that the Pats can't evaluate the position, which is simply not true. The team hasn't spent many draft picks at the position because the FO seems to think they can get contributions without drafting players. But as far as the draft goes, the Patriots have spent 1 1st on a RB, and it wasn't great, but it wasn't a complete bust either. The next highest pick was a 3rd rounder that stayed with the team for 3 seasons, made a huge play in the Super Bowl, and lasted longer than the career average for NFLers. After that, it's late-round guys, one of whom also contributed to the dynasty years (Patrick Pass). It's not tremendous, but it's not a complete and abject failure either. 3 of 6 picks exceeded the NFL average, despite little draft currency being spent here.

The team has properly evaluated and gotten meaningful contributions from Lawfirm and Woody, while making the right move to trade for Corey Dillon. One could argue about whether Morris mattered, and Taylor was too injured to do much. But the implication that the team can't evaluate RBs is incorrect.

 

[Off The Grid]

This is why I scream every time someone suggests that the Patriots should take a RB in the first.

It would seem that you and I'ave found common ground, Brother Fred!!

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I think the LB comment was a bit unfair. It's not as if we've invested a ton of top picks at the position, and when we have, we've had good results.

We've almost drafted more TEs (11) than OLBs (6) and ILBs (7) combined. We've only spent 5 top-3 round picks on the LB corps, and 3 of them have been solid hits, with misses in the 3rd round in Crable and McKenzie. 7 of those picks were 6th/7th rounders, so while most were "misses," that's not really a big deal. It does seem to suggest BB is very picky about LBs and as most are projects, he drafts them late.

If there's one area of concern, it's the 3rd and 4th round. We don't tend to hit many of these picks. We seem to do better with the later rounds than the mid-rounds. As Reiss pointed out recently, almost half of our roster is composed of UDFA, and we have more 7th rounders on the team than 1st rounders. We don't have many mid-round guys, regardless of position.

When they do invest a high pick in them they seem to have success. Mayo (10th overall) is one of the best in the league at his position. Cunningham (53) and Spikes (62) look to be quality picks as well.

 

[MaineMan]

No worries, I understand about 5,6,7 rounders and their chances of contributing and what their expectations should be. It was an overall comment on the positions and the talent that was acquired over an eleven year span. It still amazes me that a BB coached team added only one drafted starting LB in a decade. 2010 brought two more potential starting LB and maybe 2011 will bring another.

And, of course, the one starting LB was also the only one drafted in the first round. It's not as if the Pats drafted 13 LBs in rounds one and two and only one of them worked out - THAT would be terrible drafting.

BTW - interesting irony (to me, anyway) WRT Mincey. The Pats drafted him #191 in 2006. We lost him to the Niners on his way to the P/S during final cuts, IIRC, which seems to happen to the Pats a lot. Though he's been a semi-regular reserve for JAX since late in the 2006 season (signed off of the SF P/S), his career didn't really "take off" till 2010. Ninkovich was drafted #135 by the Saints that same year, just before the Pats picked at #136 (we took O'Callaghan). Gotta wonder if Ninkovich might have "stuck" better (and be a much better player by now) if the Pats had gotten him originally.

 

[MaineMan]

When they do invest a high pick in them they seem to have success. Mayo (10th overall) is one of the best in the league at his position. Cunningham (53) and Spikes (62) look to be quality picks as well.

The other side of that is that, prior to guys like Bruschi and Vrabel getting old and creaky - somewhere around 2007, 2008 - BB wasn't drafting LBs high, because he didn't need to. And the two 3rd rounders - Crable and McKenzie - how do you predict that these guys are going to spend so much time on IR when they weren't particularly "injury risks" coming out of college?

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

The other side of that is that, prior to guys like Bruschi and Vrabel getting old and creaky - somewhere around 2007, 2008 - BB wasn't drafting LBs high, because he didn't need to. And the two 3rd rounders - Crable and McKenzie - how do you predict that these guys are going to spend so much time on IR when they weren't particularly "injury risks" coming out of college?

I thought they needed to invest in the position a lot earlier than they did. They lost Roman Phifer and Ted Johnson after the 2004 season. Willie McGinest after 2005. Seau was already in his late 30's and retired when the Pats signed him. Eric Alexander started in the 2006 AFC Championship game. AD, Monty Beisel, Chad Brown and Derrick Burgess were brought in because they didn't have anyone in the pipeline.

 

[MaineMan]

I thought they needed to invest in the position a lot earlier than they did. They lost Roman Phifer and Ted Johnson after the 2004 season. Willie McGinest after 2005. Seau was already in his late 30's and retired when the Pats signed him. Eric Alexander started in the 2006 AFC Championship game. AD, Monty Beisel, Chad Brown and Derrick Burgess were brought in because they didn't have anyone in the pipeline.

Can't disagree at all with the idea that they should have started earlier. It would be interesting to go back through it all and see what (if any) more immediate and, perhaps, sudden problems presented themselves at other positions that maybe required BB to delay addressing the LB position until later than what even he might have thought was optimal. Sort of a draft/roster forensics adventure.

For instance, if Brady doesn't get hurt in 2008, Cassel never makes his splash. Then Cassel never gets the $15M franchise tag in 2009 that puts us so close to the cap that we can't make offers to Gaffney or Lonie Paxton. Then, McDaniels doesn't get the chance to steal those guys away just at the 11th hour before the Cassel deal to KC goes through (and we don't have to spend a pick on Jake Ingram). Maybe the side deal with Vrabel to KC was a concession to help "expedite" the Cassel deal and free up the cap space sooner. Between that and Crable going on IR for the second consecutive year (who would have expected THAT?), we were sorta left with TBC and the deal for Burgess .... and a "Damn you, Bernard Pollard!"

 

[patsfan-1982]

the one thing that stand out to me is only 6 OLB's drafted in 11 years on a team that runs a 3-4 thats a joke IMO and only one of them has more then 1 sack for the pats TBC

 

[convertedpatsfan]

When they do invest a high pick in them they seem to have success. Mayo (10th overall) is one of the best in the league at his position. Cunningham (53) and Spikes (62) look to be quality picks as well.

Agreed, which is why I thought the original post was a bit unfair when it said the LB picks were terrible.

I thought they needed to invest in the position a lot earlier than they did. They lost Roman Phifer and Ted Johnson after the 2004 season. Willie McGinest after 2005. Seau was already in his late 30's and retired when the Pats signed him. Eric Alexander started in the 2006 AFC Championship game. AD, Monty Beisel, Chad Brown and Derrick Burgess were brought in because they didn't have anyone in the pipeline.

Agree 100%.

 

[MaineMan]

the one thing that stand out to me is only 6 OLB's drafted in 11 years on a team that runs a 3-4 thats a joke IMO and only one of them has more then 1 sack for the pats TBC

Well, that relates back to my comment about "draft/roster forensics" immediately preceding.

Those 6 OLB draftees were, of course, supplemented by a couple of FA signings and, until around 2007 or so, the team seemed pretty well-stocked at the position. Then, too, it seems apparent that BB hasn't necessarily acquired OLBs for their initial "sack prowess". TBC, I think, wasn't initially drafted in the 7th as an OLB so much, but mostly to be a part-time situational edge-rusher (and he's not become much more than that, even though unfortunate circumstances appear to have thrust him into a much larger role).

Besides need, the other thing is to look at draft opportunities for OLB starting from the point at which the veterans began to deteriorate - but in the context of other draft needs, too - and how non-draft efforts to compensate worked out.

IOW, just going from the total count doesn't begin to tell the whole story.