Let's start from the widely recognized first year in the re-building process, 2008. The following are the DB selections with round and result included. Let's see if it's fair for anyone to question BB's decisions following the selections of DB's...
2008:
1. Terrence Wheatley (2) - Bust/No longer on team
2. Jonathan Wilhite (4) - Bust/No longer on team
2009:
1. Patrick Chung (1) - Bust/No longer on team
2. Darius Butler (2) - Bust/No longer on team
2010:
1. Devin McCourty (1) - Starting safety
2011:
1. Ras-I Dowling (2) - To date, has not played a full season/Trending bust
2. Malcolm Williams (6) - Special teamer
I'm not going to include the Tavon Wilson or Dennard picks because the jury is still out. Wilson, in particular, could still wipe away the mental mistakes that put him on the bench last season. But I considered everything up until 2011 fair game. Let's have a look. The team, since 2008, has drafted seven DB's, most of whom were in the first four rounds, where you're still pulling the trigger hoping for a starter out of that pick. Of those seven, four are busts and are no longer one the team. One is a starting safety that converted over from corner because he couldn't turn his head in press man. One is an injury plagued, trending bust whom most of us (even if we won't admit it) would be surprised if he wasn't cut during TC. The last is a late round special teamer (which was about the most anyone would expect).
Last year, the team took Tavon Wilson, unexpectedly, with their second round pick. To date, he's most known for blowing the exact same coverage on pretty much the exact same play in pretty close succession and then being somewhat of a ghost the rest of the season. Mental mistakes, even as a rookie, are usually the best way to be sat down by BB, and this certainly appears from the outside to be what happened. On the final day of the draft, the team selected Dennard, a hard nosed CB that excels in press man. This appeared to be a smashing success last year after Talib was brought in.
Now to the topic at hand: the reach of Harmon. First and foremost, the selection of Harmon may not bode well for what the team thinks of Wilson. Secondly, it's widely considered a reach. Even if you have your reasons for believing that the team *should* have reached for Harmon (i.e. - they must see something we don't/they must be worried another team would have got him), it's a pretty clear consensus that he was a reach based upon projections and where his fellow safeties went vs. where they were projected. Either way, it's somewhat of a disturbing trend, and Reiss has the right to question it. For a coach who incorporates a mixture of need vs. best available into how he drafts, this is now the second year in a row that he's made a big reach for need. He's reached before, yes. But never on the same position two years in a row... and multiple rounds up for talent that was either considered a late pick or a UDFA. The biggest problem that I have with Reiss in this article isn't that he questions the thought process and the selection. The selections of DB's over the years open themselves up for questioning. It's that he wavers. He starts out full of conviction, then seems to remember that he needs to say some good things to keep the relationship that he has with the Patriots intact, then ends the article on a weak note.
And look, this may come off as me slamming Belichick. I'm not. The guy is the best coach in the league, bar none. But some of his decisions as a personnel guy, particularly in the "re-building" era are head scratchers. They're also part of the reason why this team hasn't brought home the Lombardi Trophy since 2004.
