Patriots have lowest draft pick investment on offense

[long distance]

Wanted to share this article
Patriots have highest avg draft position on D/ST

Quote:
The offense ranks the lowest with an average draft position of the 32nd pick of the 5th round (~180). The offense only has one active player that was a Top 50 pick in Nate Solder (17th/2011) and Martellus Bennett being the only Day 2 pick. Of course the number is weighed heavily with Tom Brady (199th/2000) as the QB and the highest drafted RB and WR both being in the 4th round since Michael Floyd (13th/2012) hasn't played a down yet. It's pretty amazing that Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels has turned the lowest draft investment on that side of the ball into one of the game's best units.

Ditto.
Unreal.

 

[long distance]

I guess this is a big part of BBs chess. On one hand it is easier to hit with the pick on D because measurables are the bigger part of the equation. Undersized D players have it harder to succeed than on the O side f.e..
Also the quality drop in the lower rounds is normally greater on key D positions. And of course it is much more expensive to build a great D through FA than the O. Like Miguel likes to repeat, BB is economics graduate ..

 

[Deus Irae]

Gronk being out lowers the number, and, of course, Brady skews everything.

Starting QBs taken lower than Brady:

AFC:
Siemian

NFC:
None

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Wanted to share this article
Patriots have highest avg draft position on D/ST

Quote:
The offense ranks the lowest with an average draft position of the 32nd pick of the 5th round (~180). The offense only has one active player that was a Top 50 pick in Nate Solder (17th/2011) and Martellus Bennett being the only Day 2 pick. Of course the number is weighed heavily with Tom Brady (199th/2000) as the QB and the highest drafted RB and WR both being in the 4th round since Michael Floyd (13th/2012) hasn't played a down yet. It's pretty amazing that Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels has turned the lowest draft investment on that side of the ball into one of the game's best units.

Ditto.
Unreal.

Very fascinating, especially when you consider how impact-players at WR were drafted in the 7th round (Julian Edelman) or undrafted entirely (e.g. Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola). I'm hoping DJ Foster will soon join their ranks

Here's an interesting article I read around the time of SB XLIX, that brought up this same topic. It concluded that you don't have to tap into the high draft rounds, to find talent at WR.

Now, if we can just get the WR scouts from the Steelers to tell us their secrets!!!

 

[ALP]

And that's where you see GOAT w/ Brady (among all the other reasons)

I betcha mr Manning was nowhere near bottom of the league on his offensive buddies

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

Maybe Belichicks fascination with scooping up other teams' former 1st round picks (especially those in the top half), ala Jonathan Cooper, because he hasn't drafted there in the past decade and a half. Sort of like coveting the toys that your parents won't allow for you.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Indy SP ranked 32 is similar to Pats Offense, with Vinitiari driving the number down similar to Brady

 

[BobDigital]

Very fascinating, especially when you consider how impact-players at WR were drafted in the 7th round (Julian Edelman) or undrafted entirely (e.g. Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola). I'm hoping DJ Foster will soon join their ranks

Here's an interesting article I read around the time of SB XLIX, that brought up this same topic. It concluded that you don't have to tap into the high draft rounds, to find talent at WR.

Now, if we can just get the WR scouts from the Steelers to tell us their secrets!!!

I would take that article one step further and say besides a few key spots you don't need particularly physically talented guys by NFL standards to field a really good offense.

The only exceptions being LT, RT and TE. Those are spots you usually need to invest draft capital in if you want an NFL worthy starter. You can find a good G/C in the mid rounds you can coach up. You can find that specialty 3rd down back which is so important there as well. QB is about mental more than physical talent and a lot of the better ones even now where drafted outside the first or even second rounds. WR you can do very well if you get guys who run good routes hold on to the ball and fit a niche WR position.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I've thought it was amusing that people have been making fun of the Jets for not taking an offensive player in the first round since Sanchez in 2009, but as this article shows, the Patriots do the same. Under Belichick, he's only taken the following offensive players in the 1st round:
- Daniel Graham in 2002
- Benjamin Watson in 2004 (pick 32)
- Logan Mankins in 2005 (pick 32)
- Laurence Maroney in 2006
- Nate Solder in 2011

5 picks on offense out of 15 total made. Hitting on the QB in year 1 outside of the 1st round helps significantly, of course.

Anyhow, I guess the big difference is that with Brady, the Pats have had a great offense so it's understandable not to invest more in it. Whereas under Buttfumble, Geeeeno, Fitzpicksix, etc.....

 

[BTTA]

The only legit alternative approach seems to be what Dallas has done with the OL in the past few years, a story with an ending that's yet to be told.

 

[tasmlab]

I forget, who was our first round pick this year?

The second most important role on the Pats' offense is the Brown/Welker/JE11/Dola person who has to be drafted either in the 7th round or UDFA, which is kinda crazy to have to plan for.

 

[patchick]

Another thing to remember is that the Patriots have the lowest draft pick investments, period. They always draft near the bottom, and the Grinch periodically steals their first-round picks.

No active NFL player was drafted by the Patriots in the top half of round 1.

 

[slam]

I've thought it was amusing that people have been making fun of the Jets for not taking an offensive player in the first round since Sanchez in 2009, but as this article shows, the Patriots do the same. Under Belichick, he's only taken the following offensive players in the 1st round:
- Daniel Graham in 2002
- Benjamin Watson in 2004 (pick 32)
- Logan Mankins in 2005 (pick 32)
- Laurence Maroney in 2006
- Nate Solder in 2011

5 picks on offense out of 15 total made. Hitting on the QB in year 1 outside of the 1st round helps significantly, of course.

Anyhow, I guess the big difference is that with Brady, the Pats have had a great offense so it's understandable not to invest more in it. Whereas under Buttfumble, Geeeeno, Fitzpicksix, etc.....

The biggest difference in drafting strategies between the Jets and the Patriots is that that Patriots go for a high volume of picks by trading back, using the comp system, and only trading up judiciously whereas the Jets try to concentrate each pick by trading up or trading them for veterans.

From 2007 to 2016, the Jets have drafted 63 players. The Patriots have drafted 92. I'm pretty sure both teams are at the extreme end of the league for that time period.

So if the Jets miss on a 2nd round pick like Vlad Ducasse, they're forced to keep trotting him out for years in an attempt to get value on him and because they have no one else. If the Pats miss on a Ron Brace, in the same draft they get in the 2nd round pro bowl level starter Vollmer, Pat Chung, and still in the league but not with the Pats Darius Butler.

 

[Double TE]

Explains why they only scored 16 pts last week. They stink.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Man if only Bill knew how to draft?


Really unbelievable when you think about it. Brady and Bill are just a cut above.

 

[PatsDoc]

Not surprised. I wonder what our draft investment on the defensive side of the ball is. The number of top 3 round picks used on defense is staggering I'm sure. I hope the recent play is more indicative of the potential moving forward of this defense. This thread is another reason why it still dismays me that we live and die by our offense and not the other way around.

 

[captain stone]

When Brady is your QB, you can afford to invest less in the offense than you normally would.
His other-worldly greatness allows him to score points even with patchwork OLs, transient RBs,
and WRs best described as try-hard.

 

[slam]

Not surprised. I wonder what our draft investment on the defensive side of the ball is. The number of top 3 round picks used on defense is staggering I'm sure. I hope the recent play is more indicative of the potential moving forward of this defense. This thread is another reason why it still dismays me that we live and die by our offense and not the other way around.

Looking at Pro Football Reference's draft finder, and taking the period from 2007 to now, I count:

Offense:
1 1st Rounder
5 2nd Rounders
7 3rd Rounders
27 4th-7th Rounders

Defense
7 1st Rounders
11 2nd Rounders
7 3rd Rounders
23 4th-7th Rounders

A lot more imbalanced than I would have guessed.

 

[oldrover]

(Brady's) other-worldly greatness allows him to score points even with patchwork OLs, transient RBs,
and WRs best described as try-hard.

Or even...

...eye-hard. LOL