Aside From Tom Brady, Patriots 6th Round Has Been Unimpressive Since 2000
Brady has obviously been the brightest stars taken out of the 6th round for the Patriots.
Yesterday marked a significant moment in Patriots history, with April 16th, 2000 being a day that quietly changed the face of this franchise in New England thanks to the acquisition of a player who people thought little of when the pick was made.
No one could have ever expected quarterback Tom Brady to become who he is, and now that they've won four Super Bowls and have had one of the most successful NFL 15-year spans in football history, it clearly proves that you can't judge a player by where they were taken.
As we know, Brady was the 199th selection in the 6th round that year with a selection that was a compensatory pick, which prevented Bill Belichick from trading the selection away and it obviously ended up working out quite well for this football team. Going back through the list of 6th round draft choices during the Belichick era, there haven't exactly been a lot of gems coming out of there, or at least not guys who have turned into significant contributors compared to someone like 7th round pick, Julian Edelman.
Here's a look back at all the guys who have come out of that round over that span:
2014 - Pick #:179 - Jon Halapio OL - Pick #:Florida
2014 - Pick #:198 - Zach Moore DE - Pick #:Concordia-St.Paul (MN)
2014 - Pick #:206 - Jemea Thomas DB - Pick #:Georgia Tech
2012 - Pick #:197 - Nate Ebner DB - Pick #:Ohio St.
2011 - Pick #:194 - Markell Carter LB - Central Arkansas
2010 - Pick #:205 - Ted Larsen C - North Carolina St.
2009 - Pick #:198 - Jake Ingram C - Hawaii
2009 - Pick #:207 - Myron Pryor DT - Kentucky
2008 - Pick #:197 - Bo Ruud LB - Nebraska
2007 - Pick #:180 - Justin Rogers LB - SMU
2007 - Pick #:202 - Mike Richardson DB - Notre Dame
2007 - Pick #:208 - Justise Hairston RB - Connecticut State
2007 - Pick #:209 - Corey Hilliard T - Oklahoma St.
2006 - Pick #:191 - Jeremy Mincey DE - Florida
2006 - Pick #:205 - Dan Stevenson G - Notre Dame
2006 - Pick #:206 - Le Kevin Smith DT - Nebraska
2003 - Pick #:201 - Kliff Kingsbury QB - Texas Tech
2001 - Pick #:180 - Arther Love TE - South Carolina St.
2001 - Pick #:200 - Leonard Myers - Miami (FL)
2000 - Pick #:187 - Antwan Harris DB - Virginia
2000 - Pick #:199 - Tom Brady QB - Michigan
2000 - Pick #:201 - David Nugent -Purdue
Looking back at when he was drafted, Belichick's explanation for taking Brady was the value they felt he had over other players compared to who else was still available. Back then the depth chart also included quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe, John Friesz, and Michael Bishop. But they simply saw something in Brady that made them feel that he was too good to pass up.
"At that particular time Tom was rated by all the people who had seen him above any rating that anybody else had. I think quarterback is a position that is a valuable position," said Belichick via Patriots.com. "I can’t think of one time when a team that had such value at the quarterback position wasn’t able to recoup something for it. Whether it is Tampa Bay trading Rob Johnson or whatever the case might be. Too many quarterbacks is a lot better of a situation than not enough. Who the better players are and what they’ll be able to do, I don’t really know. We’ll put them out there and let them play. We’ve got five preseason games this year and they’ll get an opportunity to play and we’ll see how they perform. Who’s better and who’s going to do what, that’s out of my hands. That will be decided on the field."
Needless to say, it certainly worked out pretty well.
