everyone's entitled to their opinion, but all the guys I mentioned were horrible picks
You can't say "Well these guys picked after were much better, so this guy was a terrible pick." It doesn't work that way. It's like saying the Jets made one of the worst picks in their history by taking Chad Pennington when they could've had Tom Brady in the 6th round. You have to look at what they did as a player. The whole Ray Agnew/Chris Singleton debacle might be an exception because just about every single player chosen around them was an annual Pro Bowler (Carrier, Turnbull, Lathon), borderline Hall of Famer (Kennedy, Webb), or surefire Hall of Famer (Seau, Smith).
Harlow was never drafted to be a LT. Remember that the Patriots had arguably the best LT in the league at the time Harlow was drafted. Harlow started for 7 seasons in the league. He may not have been a star, but he wasn't a bad player; in fact, after Armstrong and Light, he's probably the best tackle the Patriots have had in the last 20 years. Who's to say Erik Williams would have been any better with those terrible Patriots teams instead of the Cowboys where he had Nate Newton and Jay Novacek to his sides, plus a great RB to boot.
Russell was the rookie of the year in 1991. If we're going to put him on this list, then Robert Edwards needs to go on it before he does. Edwards only played that one year, while Russell had a few more decently productive years. Reggie Dupard, a far more deserving candidate for this list, never rushed for more than 320 yards in a season. Vagas Ferguson is more deserving too, as he played all of 2 years and his most productive year was an 820 yard season. Maroney, by the way, risks being thrown into this category if he doesn't shape up soon. God, one thing you realize is the Patriots have absolutely horrible with round 1 RBs (Edwards got hurt, and John Stephens was no superstar either).
Again, Tony Eason looks like a bad pick because of the rest of the quarterbacks taken in that draft, but Eason had two 3000 yard seasons and ended his career with a rating of 79.7, which isn't half bad. He wasn't a good quarterback by any stretch, and I'd probably make him an honorable mention on this list, but I don't think he'd be in the top 5.
Jones was taken as a cornerback/safety hybrid and was originally intended to play corner. Tebucky had a more productive (though shorter thanks to legal incidents) career than RW McQuarters and aside from one year, Brian Kelly (who was a product of the Tampa Cover-2, not talent). Darius had a couple good years but was never much better than Tebucky, either. This is a case of "the grass is always greener." And Tebucky had huge plays in the 2001 playoffs.
Irving Fryar's a guy who also belongs nowhere near this list (Terry Glenn would be just as deserving). I really don't think some of you realize how bad some of the Patriots' 1st round picks have been. Canty, Dykes, Matich, Singleton, Dupard, Chunk, Ferguson, Agnew, just about everyone prior to Plunkett... these guys are historically bad picks. I'll keep the Big Kat out of it because he had injury problems.
Sims wasn't historically bad (he had a decent length, average career like later fellow number one Aundray Bruce), but he was undeserving of the number 1 slot (though to be fair it turned out to be a weak draft) and his attitude was absolutely horrendous. I'd say after those guys, him and Eason would be "honorable mentions" followed by a swathe of horribly mediocre picks.
