Why can't we draft receivers?

[VJCPatriot]

He is not the kind of player Bill would put up with.

You mean like Jack Jones?

Any character excuses go out the window with picks like that.

Tyquan Thornton is a flat out MISS! And the guy who went just 2 picks later is sitting on over 1,100 yards receiving and 5 TDs.

 

[skinnydog]

I think I could pick a Very Good WR Receiver Blind folded in this upcoming Draft. And BB would still miss even using those binoculars.

Just picking from the best available from Ourlads would have been better

 

[PatsFan2]

You mean like Jack Jones?

Any character excuses go out the window with picks like that.

Tyquan Thornton is a flat out MISS! And the guy who went just 2 picks later is sitting on over 1,100 yards receiving and 5 TDs.

BB's philosophy doesn't take into account that diva players can coach themselves up unlike those choir boys he can't Coach up. Even the Great BB can't make chicken salad out of chicken .

 

[doesntmatter1]

Our inability to draft a wr is annoying because it really isn't that hard. You can kind of tell our wrs suck just watching the highlights to be honest. Thornton's highlights look average and you don't see 4.2 speed. Harry was noticeably sluggish. We usually go out of our way to draft guy's that aren't dominant on the college level with some misguided idea that we can unlock their potential. Wrs that make extremely quick and sharp cuts fit what we want to do best. Think guys like Diggs and Cook. We didn't keep Cook but he produced and that is the mold that the majority of our wrs should have been like for the last 20 years.

1st round is risky but after that every obvious guy would be better than what we go with. When it comes to early picks, BB is best at identifying linebackers and defensive lineman. Not bad with early tight ends as well. Everything else is a crapshoot for him. I also wish we would stop using early picks on the secondary when we have proven on numerous occasions we can find them late.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I think it's a combination of multiple things...

1) The offense is really hard to grasp. I remember when Troy Brown was doing media before his time as a WRs coach and he said that basically every route on every play is an option route depending on coverage. It forces WRs to read the defense like a QB would, which I think contributes some to former QBs like Edelman/Meyers being among our best WR finds. There's a lot of really talented guys that I'm sure we took off our draft board because we didn't see the football acumen to grasp the offense, and then some guys where maybe we banked on being able to teach them the offense because they had the tools but they never could grasp it.

2) BB is very anti-diva and WR position is heavy on divas. Like the report about him not liking Deebo/AJ Brown's attitudes on visits here... his obsession with team over individual stats probably impacts his evaluation of prospects the most at this spot. And I'm not saying it's a bad philosophy, just that it might have lead to some guys taken off the board and slimmer pickings for us.

3) Lack of draft investment. We can rattle off a bunch of guys that stick out as busts, but overall it's a pretty low number of high picks invested in that spot. Only Harry in the 1st. Deion Branch, Bethel Johnson, Chad Jackson, Aaron Dobson, Tyquan Thornton in the 2nd. Brandon Tate and Taylor Price in the 3rd. Over the course of 24 years that's only 8 total WRs drafted in the top 3 rounds. That's really low. WR is a position where teams have at least 2 starters and then a 3rd guy who even if he doesn't start plays a ton. Even ignoring the draft misses on guys they did pick, they just haven't invested a ton there. Probably because of #1 above, they always have seemed to prefer vets.

Over the course of BB's 24 year tenure I'd say they drafted well at every other position besides WR. I think the above factors are either unique to the WR spot or just more prevalent there and lead to the poor results from a group that otherwise performed exceptionally over the balance of 24 years.

 

[Drunken Cicerone]

Lots of WRs are self promoting divas. Belichick probably thought they were icky and wanted guys who took war history electives in school and went to Rutgers

 

[Toofy]

Whatever you say we can conclude Bill had no absolute idea on how to draft a wide receiver in last 10 years . That's a fact . Whether we invest or not, bill never chose to plan for it because he had Brady, gronk fell to us and Edelman developed phenomenally . That's a decade back.

Bill just closed his eyes and brain on that side of the ball , so when these people moved teams or retired , Bill had no clue.

Bill developed the defense to overcome multiple injuries but on offense it was treated as an afterthought.

 

[Zuma]

 

[turkeyneck]

I'm less concerned about meat on his bones than I am about meat between the ears. He didn't seem to get any smarter since he's been here.

 

[Zuma]

I'm less concerned about meat on his bones than I am about meat between the ears. He didn't seem to get any smarter since he's been here.

He deffo needs to work on his route running. But maybe the new offense (that is not as complex as before) will benefit him.

 

[slash83]

What if they drafted MHJ and NE turns him into a bust lmao

 

[State]

We can. Belichick didn’t.

 

[TheRainMaker]

What if they drafted MHJ and NE turns him into a bust lmao

A good player doesn't turn into a massive bust because of the team he's on. If he's any good, he'll be good. Douglas has shown promise from the get-go while Thornton is still behind. This looks like Meyers>Harry 2.0.

Edelman had said on his podcast that he knew right away when a WR the Pats drafted wouldn't make it.

 

[Jim Beankie]

<---- Still love this guy and he'll always be my favorite, but at the end of the day, he's the main one to blame, as much as it pains me.

I'm less concerned about meat on his bones than I am about meat between the ears. He didn't seem to get any smarter since he's been here.

 

[DaBruinz]

Why is it that this subject come up EVERY YEAR at least 3 times and every time people completely ignore the previous threads where it's debunked and shown that the Patriots never put a ton of resources into drafting WRs compared to teams like the Steelers. What makes people think that it's actually CHANGED?

 

[pazrul72]

Why is it that this subject come up EVERY YEAR at least 3 times and every time people completely ignore the previous threads where it's debunked and shown that the Patriots never put a ton of resources into drafting WRs compared to teams like the Steelers. What makes people think that it's actually CHANGED?

Same reason we have to have the flying elvis versus pat patriot debate twice a year. People dont like losing arguements and being in the minority.

 

[Ivan]

Why is it that this subject come up EVERY YEAR at least 3 times and every time people completely ignore the previous threads where it's debunked and shown that the Patriots never put a ton of resources into drafting WRs compared to teams like the Steelers. What makes people think that it's actually CHANGED?

That could well be the case, but even when they did Bill ****ed up the pick. Two examples, Aaron Dobson over Keenan Allen, and N’Keal Harry over Deebo Samuel, who was openly pleading for Belichick to take him. Belichick really had a blind spot when picking receivers.

 

[Ivan]

Personally I think it's because the brain trust tries too hard to find a player with skills that matches up with what they perceive to be a team weakness...

Iirc, correct me if I'm wrong, one of the (but not the only) reasons for the Harry pick was he was supposed to be good at snagging the jump ball, potentially offering up a good red zone target... They missed on him because they overlooked all the other red flags because they were looking for that aspect of game play/situational football... They were myopic in their assessments, all the while overlooking the skill sets of available wrs who were better on a basic level...

And I will add, BB does not, or appears to not value the position to a high degree in general... Kinda treats it as a plug and play running back... To some extent it's true, but not so much when you want/need an elite pass catcher... Skill and drive matters at the wr position at an elite level much moreso than the RB position

Bill also relied on his friends coaching in college too much. Herm Edwards toured the Harry pick to him big time, and Urban Meyer sent him scumbags by the boatload.

 

[Pape]

Bill also relied on his friends coaching in college too much.

for the life of me, i do not get this particular take - it makes zero sense

his friends spent a lifetime in football...

who else is he supposed to rely on?

 

[Ivan]

for the life of me, i do not get this particular take - it makes zero sense

his friends spent a lifetime in football...

who else is he supposed to rely on?

His scouts?

Sorry Pape but there are times where you should know that your friends have competing interests, and you shouldn’t lean too heavily upon their references. College coaches are always going to promote their players, and give biased takes on them because it helps their recruiting. Herm is always upbeat, and Urban Meyer was talking up a serial killer to him. I’m not saying that you should never listen to college coaches about their players, but I would probably give more credence to their takes on opposing players than on their own.