Patriots Top Five Best All-Time Draft Classes

[IllegalContact]

LOL, I hear you. Brady was a miracle and obviously the best draft pick of all time. I think if he was rating actual draft picks, there's clearly not an argument there.

outstanding point.......we are comparing drafts of various years against a miracle......2000 was a miracle

 

[Ian]

outstanding point.......we are comparing drafts of various years against a miracle......2000 was a miracle

That's one of the reasons why it drives me a little nuts when people lose sight of what an incredible period we're in right now. When you look at franchises that had an incredible QB and the drop off after they were gone, it really emphasizes how amazing this era has been. The only real exception I can think of is San Francisco where they went from Montana to Young and Walsh to Seifert. Aside from that, I can't think of any teams who have stayed at an elite championship level for sustained periods, at least not during the salary cap era.

God help us when it ends

 

[zydecochris]

So is an indictment of BB the GM that only one of his drafts were ranked in the Top Five?

Unfortunately BB's drafts have been severely handicapped for the last 15 years by picking near the bottom of each round. It is all the fault of BB the Coach (and GM), all of that consistent winning screws up where the Pats draft.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

So is an indictment of BB the GM that only one of his drafts were ranked in the Top Five?

The three 1970s drafts all had at least 1 top 10 pick and all had multiple 1st round picks. Belichick has had 2 top 10 picks in 17 drafts, and 2 seasons where he selected multiple players in the first round.

Basically, his drafts on the whole have been better than average, but his lack of home runs (partially due to draft position) is counterbalanced by a relative lack of duds (even 2006-2008 have had contributors; 2014 is really dependent on Stork at this point).

 

[Jimke]

So is an indictment of BB the GM that only one of his drafts were ranked in the Top Five?

BB the GM was lucky to have BB as his coach.

 

[oldrover]

Aside from (SF), I can't think of any teams who have stayed at an elite championship level for sustained periods, at least not during the salary cap era.

God help us when it ends

Well, having Kraft will help. Imagine a post/Brady-Belichick era with...



...Lady Remington.

 

[IllegalContact]

BB the GM was lucky to have BB as his coach.

Belichick the coach

lets Belichick the GM sleep

and laugh

 

[RobertWeathers]

If you are judging a draft by it's positive impact on the franchise it is the 2000 draft by the country mile.

If you are judging a draft by the quality of each pick then we can argue for days over a handful of drafts.

 

[brdmaverick]

If you are judging a draft by it's positive impact on the franchise it is the 2000 draft by the country mile.

If you are judging a draft by the quality of each pick then we can argue for days over a handful of drafts.

.....which is why we are going to go with the latter and not the former. It's much more fun to talk about something debatable on a fan forum.

 

[Jimke]

BB the GM was lucky to have BB as his coach.

Bill Belichick is probably average to above average at drafting. He puts together a competitive roster
each year by combining the draft choices with free agents, undrafted players, and by trading for players.

 

[brdmaverick]

The Patriots have obviously been a successful team, and it looks like from each draft we really only need one or two players to be real contributors.

The unfortunate part is that oftentimes the first round pick is one of those contributors, and we obviously don't have one this year. As such, our chances of finding one or two impact players has already gone down significantly.

 

[brdmaverick]

If Hernandez wasn't a killer the 2010 class would be up there considering the trio of McCourty, Gronk, and Hernandez.

 

[zydecochris]

Bill Belichick is probably average to above average at drafting. He puts together a competitive roster
each year by combining the draft choices with free agents, undrafted players, and by trading for players.

As you point out, BB is only average to above average in drafting, plenty of other GM's have outperformed him. Just look at SB Champion Denver, Von Miller (drafted #2 overall) terrorized us, and other team GM's draft other difference-making playmakers, like A.J. Green for Cinci, Patrick Peterson for the Cards, and Adrian Peterson for the Vikings (drafted #4, #5, and #7 overall), why can't BB draft those type of playmakers? Other GM's have selected real rocks for their OL, like Smith for Dallas and Thomas for the Browns (#9, #3 overall), or transformative DL like Watt (#11 overall). The last straw is that other GM's have had the foresight to set up their QB position for the next 15 years, like when the Colts drafted Luck and the Panthers drafted Newton (both #1 overall). Why can't BB have drafting foresight like these other GM's? If only we had one of those top drafting GM's, who bring in the true playmakers.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Two points:

First, to Ian, or whoever does this... that article was annoyingly laid out and took FOREVER to load/read. Five different clicks, five different images loading, not to mention I had to click twice just to get there in the first place... I made it to page 3 and then said the hell with it. FWIW... which may not be much. LOL

Second... while I'm one of those old guys who remembers those killer drafts in the 70's... the truth is:



No further discussion is needed.

Time to get a better internet connection and/or video card.

 

[pazrul72]

If you are judging a draft by it's positive impact on the franchise it is the 2000 draft by the country mile.

If you are judging a draft by the quality of each pick then we can argue for days over a handful of drafts.

I think the article was fine not including 2000 because it is talking the class not just a single pick. Obviously Brady is the single greatest pick in NFL history. He has performed like a #1 overall should at 199 for easily the greatest value in draft history with number two not even close. Take that double grand slam out and the rest of that draft sucked. Most draft classes you are doing well to get a starter and a contributer or two. The truely great classes are where you get a HOF and a couple starters. 2000 was not even remotely close to that. 95 was amazing and is a much better example of a single class changing the whole culture of a team. Before that the patriots were a joke the browns of the NFL. After that, along with better ownership from the krafts, the team has been playoff contenders ever since. Yeah Brady changed them from playoff contenders to Superbowl contenders but he is still a single incredibly lucky pick. A single pick does not make or break a class

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think the article was fine not including 2000 because it is talking the class not just a single pick. Obviously Brady is the single greatest pick in NFL history. He has performed like a #1 overall should at 199 for easily the greatest value in draft history with number two not even close. Take that double grand slam out and the rest of that draft sucked. Most draft classes you are doing well to get a starter and a contributer or two. The truely great classes are where you get a HOF and a couple starters. 2000 was not even remotely close to that. 95 was amazing and is a much better example of a single class changing the whole culture of a team. Before that the patriots were a joke the browns of the NFL. After that, along with better ownership from the krafts, the team has been playoff contenders ever since.

Yeah Brady changed them from playoff contenders to Superbowl contenders but he is still a single incredibly lucky pick. A single pick does not make or break a class

The Patriots were not really playoff contenders in 2000.

I understand your point and that is why I segregate the two.

I look at each NFL draft class as a mutual fund. Each fund has a mix of securities. Stocks, bonds, etc. Some risky. Some steady. Some go into the tank. If the 2000 NFL Draft class was a fund, it would be a mix of a couple socks that you want to short sell, some dogs, a couple that tanked but the risk was low and this little stock that just IPO'd at $18/share is now trading at $650 and has split numerous times over it's life.

Tom Brady is the Amazon.com of the NFL. He might be Google but it opened at $85/share and the analogy isn't as effective

 

[convertedpatsfan]

If Hernandez wasn't a killer the 2010 class would be up there considering the trio of McCourty, Gronk, and Hernandez.

Also a few years of starting LB out of Spikes, depth at DL in Deaderick, and punter Mesko.

BB the GM was lucky to have BB as his coach.

Yeah, but BB the coach is also lucky to have BB the GM.

First, Brady wouldn't have been drafted by BB the coach. They had a Pro Bowl starter in his prime in Drew, a veteran backup in Friesz, and a developmental guy in Bishop. A 4th QB wasting a roster spot? No way.

But more than anything else, BB the GM brings options to BB the coach. He brings competition at every position, and BB the GM doesn't insist anyone play over anyone else. Let them compete, and if the guy BB the GM traded for or traded up to get ends up losing the competition, so be it. There's no ego on BB the GM.

BB the GM also makes sure BB the coach has a competitive roster every year, not just stockpiling for a short window. I remember people complaining about BB the GM trading his second 1st-round pick in 2011 to the Saints, preferring we load up for Brady's closing window. That was Shane Vereen and most of Chandler Jones for Mark Ingram, both players part of our championship team 3 years later. So much for that closing window.

So yeah, BB the GM obviously benefits from having the GOAT coach, just as BB the GM benefits from having the GOAT QB. But both of those guys also owe quite a bit to BB the GM too.

 

[IllegalContact]

I think the article was fine not including 2000 because it is talking the class not just a single pick. Obviously Brady is the single greatest pick in NFL history. He has performed like a #1 overall should at 199 for easily the greatest value in draft history with number two not even close. Take that double grand slam out and the rest of that draft sucked. Most draft classes you are doing well to get a starter and a contributer or two. The truely great classes are where you get a HOF and a couple starters. 2000 was not even remotely close to that. 95 was amazing and is a much better example of a single class changing the whole culture of a team. Before that the patriots were a joke the browns of the NFL. After that, along with better ownership from the krafts, the team has been playoff contenders ever since. Yeah Brady changed them from playoff contenders to Superbowl contenders but he is still a single incredibly lucky pick. A single pick does not make or break a class

A single pick certainly made 2000.....but it was already deemed a miracle.....and it is not reasonable to compare any draft to a miracle.....

In fact, Tom Brady has brought more joy than ALL other drafts combined

 

[realtime]

As you point out, BB is only average to above average in drafting, plenty of other GM's have outperformed him. Just look at SB Champion Denver, Von Miller (drafted #2 overall) terrorized us, and other team GM's draft other difference-making playmakers, like A.J. Green for Cinci, Patrick Peterson for the Cards, and Adrian Peterson for the Vikings (drafted #4, #5, and #7 overall), why can't BB draft those type of playmakers? Other GM's have selected real rocks for their OL, like Smith for Dallas and Thomas for the Browns (#9, #3 overall), or transformative DL like Watt (#11 overall). The last straw is that other GM's have had the foresight to set up their QB position for the next 15 years, like when the Colts drafted Luck and the Panthers drafted Newton (both #1 overall). Why can't BB have drafting foresight like these other GM's? If only we had one of those top drafting GM's, who bring in the true playmakers.

I assume that this post is meant to entertain rather than to seriously dispute the characterization of BB as an average to above average drafter?

Obviously, we could take the reverse tack very easily (e.g. how does Belichick manage to land such great WR's in the 2nd round like Jackson, Johnson and Dobson, while buffoons like Kevin Colbert are foolishly trying to find play-making WR's in the 3rd round and later like Sanders, Wallace and Brown?) The kidding around in both directions ultimately finds BB in the average/above-average range as Jimke previously stated.

 

[wizwor]

Because the 2000 draft, aside from Brady and a couple of players, wasn't a great draft overall:

2 Adrian Klemm, OL, Hawaii
3 J.R. Redmond, RB, Arizona State
4 Greg Robinson-Randall, OT, Michigan State
5 Dave Stachelski, TE, Boise State
5 Jeff Marriott, DE, Missouri
6 Antwan Harris, CB, Virginia
6 Tom Brady, QB, Michigan
6 David Nugent, DL, Purdue
7 Casey Tisdale, LB, New Mexico
7 Patrick Pass, RB, Georgia

The premise was the best complete drafts, which was what he was basing it on. I get that you can say the Patriots selected Belichick in round one and Brady in the 6th, but that wasn't the spirit of the piece he put together.

One question: Would you trade any of those draft classes for this group of men? Of course not. I clicked through expecting to find 2000 in the #1 position. I then went back to see how I missed it. Then I realized the author missed it. 2000 is the Patriots' Best All-Time Draft Class.