BB knew this was a non playoff year from the start

[203Pat]

2015 he took the underwhelming Malcolm Brown. A future all pro and 3x pro bowler in Landon Collin s went with the next pick at safety. Speaking of safety he took the worst Patriot I have ever seen in Jordan Richards with Tyler Lockett, Chris Conley, and Danielle Hunter still on the board.

2016 he took Cyrus Jones in round 2 with Von Bell, James Bradberry, Kevin Byard, and Yannick Ngakoue all going within the next 10 picks after.

2017 was just a mess of a draft so it isn't worth even bothering with.

2018 we all know which Georgia RB should've been picked along with the 2019 NFL MVP the pick after Sony, then Darious Leonard, Ronald Jones, and Courtland Sutton all going within the next 10 picks after we went at 31.

2019 has been beaten to death with who should've been taken over Harry.

The talent is there. Bill just isn't drafting the right guys.

 

[borg]

Will Bill be refunding the GM portion of his salary for his pre-planned "non-competitive" 2020?

Asking for the old guy in the next room at the newly opened Lotus Flower Spa in Palm Beach who keeps ranting "How many Belichicks am I paying now ?

 

[Ring 6]

You might have inferred that, but I never implied that.

Ok then who cares whether you field a top team with UDFA, trades, draft picks, whatever. The trade is just one means

 

[Ring 6]

So?

So that’s how you evaluate a player.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

He knew they needed to throw away a year in return for financial flexibility moving forward. After the opt outs he knew for sure.
If you consider all of the bizarre non moves on the roster for this year, there is no other conclusion other than...he knew no matter what they could not compete for a championship this year.
The "bill" finally came due for all of the salary deferrals and dead cap space. The price was sacrificing this year as a non competitive year.


1. No veteran TE's
2. Weak WR group
3. Cam was a "hail Mary" and I doubt he expected this would be a home run
4. No space occupying DT and no attempt to get one
5. No meaningful trades at deadline
6. No helpful waiver wire pick ups during the year

The bill has been paid now and once again BB can go shopping.

Bb shopping is a scary thought. He’s lost it. Can’t draft studs

 

[jmt57]

The whole "could have drafted this guy instead" is an incredibly weak argument, given that the person who makes that comment has both the benefit of hindsight, as well as one pick versus the entire field.


That's not an excuse for the NEP drafts over the last few years; make no mistake, they have been poor. I just find the "look at who they could have drafted instead" commentary to be incredibly lazy. The benefit of hindsight allows one to cherry pick all the picks that did pan out after the fact, while ignoring the very many from 31 other teams that did not.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

The whole "could have drafted this guy instead" is an incredibly weak argument, given that the person who makes that comment has both the benefit of hindsight, as well as one pick versus the entire field.


That's not an excuse for the NEP drafts over the last few years; make no mistake, they have been poor. I just find the "look at who they could have drafted instead" commentary to be incredibly lazy. The benefit of hindsight allows one to cherry pick all the picks that did pan out after the fact, while ignoring the very many from 31 other teams that did not.

the issue is it’s been ongoing for 6 years. passing up on consensus elite college talents for projects, special teams players, or Boy Scouts with average athleticism

bb hasn’t drafted a single pro bowl player since 2013 unless you count our punter.

 

[mgteich]

So the point remains that nobody knows - including Bill - what Stid can do under those circumstances because IT HAS NEVER BEEN TRIED.

Perhaps Bill has seen enough of Stidham to judge that Bill is comfortable that anyone picked up next year will be a better choice for 2021.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

They've had 2 full seasons to evaluate Stidham in training camps and practice

Yes. Belichick is a guy who was willing to bench his pro bowl huge contract QB for a part time college QB 6th round pick. He has balls of steel. He will play who is best. He will play undrafted free agents at CB and receiver.

Stidham has not impressed. Who knows why. Could be work ethic and commitment. Could be playbook knowledge. Could be being a leader. Could be checking home early. All we know is the most objective coach in the entire league won't play him. Time to find another QB.

.

 

[TheRainMaker]

2015 he took the underwhelming Malcolm Brown. A future all pro and 3x pro bowler in Landon Collin s went with the next pick at safety. Speaking of safety he took the worst Patriot I have ever seen in Jordan Richards with Tyler Lockett, Chris Conley, and Danielle Hunter still on the board.

2016 he took Cyrus Jones in round 2 with Von Bell, James Bradberry, Kevin Byard, and Yannick Ngakoue all going within the next 10 picks after.

2017 was just a mess of a draft so it isn't worth even bothering with.

2018 we all know which Georgia RB should've been picked along with the 2019 NFL MVP the pick after Sony, then Darious Leonard, Ronald Jones, and Courtland Sutton all going within the next 10 picks after we went at 31.

2019 has been beaten to death with who should've been taken over Harry.

The talent is there. Bill just isn't drafting the right guys.

It's been so bad since 2013, I'd have more confidence with anybody on this board to make the selections. He'd also have more success going by the draft rankings in a Lindy's, Athlon and SportingNews Magazines or Mel Kiper's/Todd McShay boards.

 

[captain stone]

The whole "could have drafted this guy instead" is an incredibly weak argument, given that the person who makes that comment has both the benefit of hindsight, as well as one pick versus the entire field.


That's not an excuse for the NEP drafts over the last few years; make no mistake, they have been poor. I just find the "look at who they could have drafted instead" commentary to be incredibly lazy. The benefit of hindsight allows one to cherry pick all the picks that did pan out after the fact, while ignoring the very many from 31 other teams that did not.

Wrong.

 

[Tony2046]

This has been years in the making, not one season.

Covid and cap didn’t have anything to do with our drafting the last 6 seasons.

Covid did have something to do with the prevention of a great head coach from coaching his team up.

The coach who supposedly gets the most out of his players loses all of the preseason and weeks during the season wouldn't make a difference otherwise?

 

[State]

Yes. Belichick is a guy who was willing to bench his pro bowl huge contract QB for a part time college QB 6th round pick. He has balls of steel. He will play who is best. He will play undrafted free agents at CB and receiver.

Stidham has not impressed. Who knows why. Could be work ethic and commitment. Could be playbook knowledge. Could be being a leader. Could be checking home early. All we know is the most objective coach in the entire league won't play him. Time to find another QB.

.

Yeah, that was a long time ago.

And all we heard from supposed inside sources before Dimwit Superman’s appearance was how high the staff was in Stidham.

Once he got dinged up in training camp, he was dropped like last night’s conquest.

The fear of staying the course and, instead, going with the Proven Commodity, took over.

Bledsoe over Brady.

Except in this case it was a black Bldsoe in 2020 BLM America.

What a disaster!

Well, I hope D Hightower is staying in shape. We desperately missed him this year in the line backing corps.

 

[borg]

Yes. Belichick was a guy who was willing to bench his pro bowl huge contract QB for a part time college QB 6th round pick. He had balls of steel. He used to play who was best.

Stidham has not impressed though he throws for a TD every 15.5 passes while Cam throws for a TD every 65.6 passes. Who knows why. Could be work ethic and commitment. Could be playbook knowledge. Could be being a leader. Could be checking home early. Could be Bill values getting Cam an extra $250k over scoring TDs. All we know is the former most objective coach in the entire league has been recently hell bent on hiring his offspring as defensive coaches while letting the team's offense become the laughing stock of the NFL.

For accuracy purposes, I selectively edited your post.

 

[203Pat]

The whole "could have drafted this guy instead" is an incredibly weak argument, given that the person who makes that comment has both the benefit of hindsight, as well as one pick versus the entire field.


That's not an excuse for the NEP drafts over the last few years; make no mistake, they have been poor. I just find the "look at who they could have drafted instead" commentary to be incredibly lazy. The benefit of hindsight allows one to cherry pick all the picks that did pan out after the fact, while ignoring the very many from 31 other teams that did not.

I brought it up because someone said it’s because he drafts later in each round. Talent is there. He isn’t taking talented players.

 

[jmt57]

Wrong.

I'm not saying the Patriots have not drafted poorly - they have, there is no disputing that.

I just find the 'could have had this guy' game to be ridiculous, because the one playing the game has the benefit of hindsight, and can pick and choose whatever player did pan out - while at the same time ignoring other players chosen by other teams that did not work out.


Let's take the 2016 draft for an example.

1.) QB Jared Goff, Rams - could'a had Dak Prescott
2.) QB Carson Wentz, Eagles - could'a had Prescott, or Ezekiel Elliott, Ronnie Stanley, Jack Conklin, Joey Bosa, Chris Jones, etc.
3.) DE Joey Bosa, Chargers - good pick
4.) RB Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys - given the state of their defense, should'a picked DeForest Buckner; take Derrick Henry in 2nd
5.) CB Jalen Ramsey, Jaguars (forced trade) - malcontent; should'a picked Buckner, Michael Thomas, Ronnie Stanley
6.) OT Ronnie Stanley, Ravens - given the state of their offense, should'a picked WR Michael Thomas
7.) DE DeForest Buckner, 49ers - Prescott, Thomas
8.) OT Jack Conklin, Titans - WR Michael Thomas to go with 2nd year QB Marcus Mariota
9.) LB Michael Floyd, Bears (released) - Thomas, Derrick Henry, Prescott
10.) CB Eli Apple, NYG (now on 3rd team) - anybody else, such as CB Xavien Howard
11.) CB Vernon Hargreaves, Bucs (waived) - see above
12.) DT Sheldon Rankins, Saints - Chris Jones, Kenny Clark, Yannick Ngakoue, Matt Judon: all Pro Bowl DL taken later
13.) OT Laremy Tunsil, Dolphins (traded) - best thing he did for Miami was getting traded
14.) S Karl Joseph, Raiders (not re-signed) - bust; could'a had Keanu Neal, or Kevin Byard/Justin Simmons in the 2nd
15.) WR Corey Coleman, Browns (gone) - bust; fill in any name here
16.) OT Taylor Decker, Lions - WR Michael Thomas for Stafford; or defense (Myles Jack, or see DL players at #12)

See how easy the 'should have drafted this guy instead' game is?

 

[BTTA]

I'm not saying the Patriots have not drafted poorly - they have, there is no disputing that.

I just find the 'could have had this guy' game to be ridiculous, because the one playing the game has the benefit of hindsight, and can pick and choose whatever player did pan out - while at the same time ignoring other players chosen by other teams that did not work out.


Let's take the 2016 draft for an example.

1.) QB Jared Goff, Rams - could'a had Dak Prescott
2.) QB Carson Wentz, Eagles - could'a had Prescott, or Ezekiel Elliott, Ronnie Stanley, Jack Conklin, Joey Bosa, Chris Jones, etc.
3.) DE Joey Bosa, Chargers - good pick
4.) RB Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys - given the state of their defense, should'a picked DeForest Buckner; take Derrick Henry in 2nd
5.) CB Jalen Ramsey, Jaguars (forced trade) - malcontent; should'a picked Buckner, Michael Thomas, Ronnie Stanley
6.) OT Ronnie Stanley, Ravens - given the state of their offense, should'a picked WR Michael Thomas
7.) DE DeForest Buckner, 49ers - Prescott, Thomas
8.) OT Jack Conklin, Titans - WR Michael Thomas to go with 2nd year QB Marcus Mariota
9.) LB Michael Floyd, Bears (released) - Thomas, Derrick Henry, Prescott
10.) CB Eli Apple, NYG (now on 3rd team) - anybody else, such as CB Xavien Howard
11.) CB Vernon Hargreaves, Bucs (waived) - see above
12.) DT Sheldon Rankins, Saints - Chris Jones, Kenny Clark, Yannick Ngakoue, Matt Judon: all Pro Bowl DL taken later
13.) OT Laremy Tunsil, Dolphins (traded) - best thing he did for Miami was getting traded
14.) S Karl Joseph, Raiders (not re-signed) - bust; could'a had Keanu Neal, or Kevin Byard/Justin Simmons in the 2nd
15.) WR Corey Coleman, Browns (gone) - bust; fill in any name here
16.) OT Taylor Decker, Lions - WR Michael Thomas for Stafford; or defense (Myles Jack, or see DL players at #12)

See how easy the 'should have drafted this guy instead' game is?

Thanks for doing this.
I also like to see each team's draft points spent (using that Cowboy's table) in the past 10 years, compared to their draft outcomes. Pats would be at the bottom of the points list, with winning all the time plus losing picks for BS reasons. In other words, their draft "budget" has been much smaller than average, and probably the smallest in the league by a sizable margin.

 

[jmt57]

Thanks for doing this.
I also like to see each team's draft points spent (using that Cowboy's table) in the past 10 years, compared to their draft outcomes. Pats would be at the bottom of the points list, with winning all the time plus losing picks for BS reasons. In other words, their draft "budget" has been much smaller than average, and probably the smallest in the league by a sizable margin.

I would think that Patriots' starting draft capital over that time span would have to be the least, by far. It doesn't help that the league offices have taken draft picks away either.

Another consideration is that the Pats probably traded away draft picks more often than most teams over that ten year time period. Trent Brown, Eric Rowe, Cordarrelle Patterson, Danny Shelton, Jason McCourty, Kyle Van Noy, Josh Gordon, etc. In most cases the Pats used late round draft picks, but regardless it was much more often a situation of receiving a player and losing a draft pick than it was the other way around. Prior to the last couple of seasons it made sense to do that, considering the rosters at that time were already at or near super bowl caliber. But the bottom line is that those trades resulted in even less draft capital being available.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I would think that Patriots' starting draft capital over that time span would have to be the least, by far. It doesn't help that the league offices have taken draft picks away either.

Another consideration is that the Pats probably traded away draft picks more often than most teams over that ten year time period. Trent Brown, Eric Rowe, Cordarrelle Patterson, Danny Shelton, Jason McCourty, Kyle Van Noy, Josh Gordon, etc. In most cases the Pats used late round draft picks, but regardless it was much more often a situation of receiving a player and losing a draft pick than it was the other way around. Prior to the last couple of seasons it made sense to do that, considering the rosters at that time were already at or near super bowl caliber. But the bottom line is that those trades resulted in even less draft capital being available.

Yet even when we trade for large draft capital (Jimmy G Trade)..we end up with a bowl of porridge

 

[Biffins]

He knew they needed to throw away a year in return for financial flexibility moving forward. After the opt outs he knew for sure.
If you consider all of the bizarre non moves on the roster for this year, there is no other conclusion other than...he knew no matter what they could not compete for a championship this year.
The "bill" finally came due for all of the salary deferrals and dead cap space. The price was sacrificing this year as a non competitive year.


1. No veteran TE's
2. Weak WR group
3. Cam was a "hail Mary" and I doubt he expected this would be a home run
4. No space occupying DT and no attempt to get one
5. No meaningful trades at deadline
6. No helpful waiver wire pick ups during the year

The bill has been paid now and once again BB can go shopping.

Great. And what will the excuse be next year?