Draft picks are overrated

[Simkin]

At least for us.

The 2006-2008 span, which should be giving profits now ( from 3rd to 5th year experience), was terrible for us and we are still a great team.


All what matters in football is to have a great HC, a great QB and a professional staff .

26 picks in that span has netted us Jerod Mayo and a Kicker (I mean Gost could probably gone undrafted )

My point is that Carson Palmer is really overpayed, but its fine trade picks for REAL players.

The 2 nd round for Welker was way more valuable than the amount of picks that we expend in Jackson, Johnson,Price, Tate...

 

[Darolyn72]

Wow, ignorance at its highest. The Coaching and QB is the only reason they were successful. If they could have drafted just a LITTLE better you would be talking about the team with the most Super Bowls in NFL History.

So they do matter, why don't you do some homework.

 

[Simkin]

Of course they matter, but still are overrated. You simply can't hit gold in every pick. We could get a dinasty too trading away the picks for players, that's what I'm saying

 

[hodgey]

At least for us.

The 2006-2008 span, which should be giving profits now ( from 3rd to 5th year experience), was terrible for us and we are still a great team.


All what matters in football is to have a great HC, a great QB and a professional staff .

26 picks in that span has netted us Jerod Mayo and a Kicker (I mean Gost could probably gone undrafted )

My point is that Carson Palmer is really overpayed, but its fine trade picks for REAL players.

The 2 nd round for Welker was way more valuable than the amount of picks that we expend in Jackson, Johnson,Price, Tate...

Amen! Could'nt agree more. I'll take a proven commodity over picks in late rounds any day. Brandon Lloyd for a 6th!! Taylor Price still cant get on the field. By the time he does he'll be playing on his second deal.
Good luck wait for the regulars to blast the you know what out of you, or even worse ignore the post.

 

[The Scrizz]

Except that players on their 1st contract are almost always cheaper than Vets(with the exception of top 1/2 of the 1st rd under old system).

There's a salary cap. You may not have heard. Ask the Jets what trading away your picks every year does for depth.

 

[mgcolby]

At least for us.

The 2006-2008 span, which should be giving profits now ( from 3rd to 5th year experience), was terrible for us and we are still a great team.


All what matters in football is to have a great HC, a great QB and a professional staff .

26 picks in that span has netted us Jerod Mayo and a Kicker (I mean Gost could probably gone undrafted )

My point is that Carson Palmer is really overpayed, but its fine trade picks for REAL players.

The 2 nd round for Welker was way more valuable than the amount of picks that we expend in Jackson, Johnson,Price, Tate...

Not that there weren't quit a few misses in that span in the higher rounds. But any rookie was going to have a hard time making the team in those years. The 06-08 teams were loaded with veterans.

On the flip side (the part that makes your post foolish) is that the majority of our starting defense last year had less than 3 years experience and they were all....wait for it....drafted by the Pats. And that doesn't include the young offensive starters and role players.

 

[RIpats88]

alot of people on this site act like every Draft pick is supposed to turn out to be a star and that there are teams that are drafting very well....sure theres "some" prospects uot there that are sure to be nfl ready. but for the most part, the NFL draft is a crap-shoot....you never really know how a player is going to turn out until they are out there on the field and you get tangible results.

over the last 2 years drafts, I would say the patriots have done a pretty good job...Aaron hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, devin mcCourty, steven ridley, nate solder...then theres guys like Taylor Price, shane vereen we havent seen what they can do yet but they could be good...

theres other ways to fill your teams roster as well like trades(welker, moss) and undrafted Free agents/guys other teams drop(woodhead)...its about evaluating talent the best that you can given the circumstances. and overall I think Bill Belichick has done better than most coaches in viewing potential that other teams seem to pass by.

 

[Shelterdog]

At least for us.

The 2006-2008 span, which should be giving profits now ( from 3rd to 5th year experience), was terrible for us and we are still a great team.

4th through 6th actually.

The 2007 first and the 2008 draftees would be the only ones still on their rookie contracts.

Drafts matter a great deal but only for a short period of time, and we're out of that window for 2006 and 2007.

 

[Deus Irae]

At least for us.

The 2006-2008 span, which should be giving profits now ( from 3rd to 5th year experience), was terrible for us and we are still a great team.


All what matters in football is to have a great HC, a great QB and a professional staff .

26 picks in that span has netted us Jerod Mayo and a Kicker (I mean Gost could probably gone undrafted )

My point is that Carson Palmer is really overpayed, but its fine trade picks for REAL players.

The 2 nd round for Welker was way more valuable than the amount of picks that we expend in Jackson, Johnson,Price, Tate...

Why do people jump to take one point of correlation and pretend it's a unversal proof of fact?

1.) Without the draft picks, the Patriots don't have Moss or Welker

2.) The draft picks got Mayo who, along with Big Vince, is the anchor of the defense.

3.) Whether people like to admit it or not, Maroney was a key figure in getting the Patriots to the SB in 2007. The job he did in the S.D. game might well have been the difference.

4.) Draft failures don't necessarily impact a team immediately, especially when it's a top level team with some depth. The impact of the picks can be felt in the future, when other players move on. That's what happened with the Patriots, because they were not able to fill roles through either the draft of free agency.

5.) It's not just having the QB and HC, as teams have shown throughout history. Shula and Marino could spend hours pointing out just how much your post misses.

 

[mgcolby]

Amen! Could'nt agree more. I'll take a proven commodity over picks in late rounds any day. Brandon Lloyd for a 6th!! Taylor Price still cant get on the field. By the time he does he'll be playing on his second deal.
Good luck wait for the regulars to blast the you know what out of you, or even worse ignore the post.

Do yourself a favor and look at the most successful teams in the league over the past decade and see how they built/build their teams....its through the draft. The Pats, Steelers, Colts, Eagles and now the new bully on the block the Packers all of it through the draft.

The only thing your post shows is that you are ignorant to how teams win in the NFL. The core of a good team will come via the draft and then those teams will fill out the roster through FA and a trade here and there.

This isn't baseball ask the Redskins and this years Eagles team who got away from this philosophy.

 

[randomk1]

Packers had a couple of successful drafts and they seem loaded for the future right now.

 

[Snake Eyes]

There’s a difference between saying ‘drafting is over-rated’ and saying ‘drafting is worthless’, I think a few people are getting sucked into strawman thinking. Just like a good QB takes what the defense gives him a good GM takes what the market gives him, whether the best gamble is in trades, the draft, or free agency. That said, Michael Lombardi had an interesting comment when he said “you draft what you can’t buy”, that you won’t usually find good O-linemen in free agency, they’re simply too valuable to teams, so you need to draft them, same thing with Corners.

I think saving the draft for what you can’t buy/trade is the best way to minimize one’s errors.

 

[condon84]

They matter when we make great picks and not so much when they are busts

 

[Snake Eyes]

They matter when we make great picks and not so much when they are busts

Why wouldnt that apply to Free Agency and Trades?

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

The problem here is people have to get real about the fact the Patriots do not "draft" as a normal team.

Since 2007, a "normal" team would have had 10 total 1/2 round picks. That's ten players.

Since 2007, our 1/2 round has produced:

Welker
Mayo
Chung/Brace/Vollmer
McCourty/Gronk/Cuningham/Spikes
Solder/Dowling/Vereen

Also, Hernandez? and parts for future picks.

With Merriweather/Wheatley/Butler still in the league

Maroney was beaten out by an UDFA. The Firm is playing great. Do you fixate on the "bust"?

If you trade for a good player for nothing and that player is kept vs a player drafted (Tate), is that player a bust?

In the end, the draft is simply one method of getting players. The only thing the draft does is help supply talent. Based on players claimed after TC, we have zero problem with getting talent to compete for limited player slots.

 

[Amnorix]

Post doesn't make any sense at all.

First, the 2006-08 dearth of talent has hurt us consistently over the last few years. We've been one and done in the playoffs DESPITE HAVING THE BEST QB IN FOOTBALL the last two years.

We have invested a fantastic number of high picks in the secondary, and yet have one of the worst secondaries in the NFL, statistically speaking, partly because of busts like Butler, Wilhite and Meriweather.

Our pass-rush is non-existent partly because BB has generally declined -- for whatever reason -- to draft one highly. Drafting Cunningham, apparently a bust, also appears to have been a mistake.

Meanwhile, our BEST players are almost invariably draft picks, almost invariably high ones. Brady, Mankins, Mayo, Sea-Bass, Light, McCourty, Chung, Wilfork, Gronk, Hernandez.

You can use free agency to tweak things, but by and large whether a team has long term success if going to be determiend by how well it has drafted. I would argue, strongly, that our lack of playoff success the last few years is directly tied to the weak 2006-08 drafts (keeping in mind that 2007 was partly "spent" on Welker/Moss, for which we got great value).

 

[Amnorix]

The problem here is people have to get real about the fact the Patriots do not "draft" as a normal team.

Since 2007, a "normal" team would have had 10 total 1/2 round picks. That's ten players.

Since 2007, our 1/2 round has produced:

Welker
Mayo
Chung/Brace/Vollmer
McCourty/Gronk/Cuningham/Spikes
Solder/Dowling/Vereen

Also, Hernandez? and parts for future picks.

With Merriweather/Wheatley/Butler still in the league

Maroney was beaten out by an UDFA. The Firm is playing great. Do you fixate on the "bust"?

If you trade for a good player for nothing and that player is kept vs a player drafted (Tate), is that player a bust?

In the end, the draft is simply one method of getting players. The only thing the draft does is help supply talent. Based on players claimed after TC, we have zero problem with getting talent to compete for limited player slots.

This is all very accurate, IMHO. It also exemplifies BB's overall strategy -- knowing that the draft is a crapshoot and on average a team will hit on, say, 50% of picks -- all else being equal if you have more picks you will have more contributing players. I therefore LOVE his strategy of moving around to pick up players.

Until, of course, he gives up a Clay Mathews. But even with that, you can't fault the strategy, which is sound even if it has an occassional bad result.

 

[Simkin]

Obviously draft is important, no one says its not, but sometimes I just thing that the value is overrated.

For example, Seahawks reach a lot on giving up a first for Branch, was a steal for us in terms of value, but I still having nightmares with Heath Evans playing the last drives versus the Colts as WR...

 

[Deus Irae]

Obviously draft is important, no one says its not, but sometimes I just thing that the value is overrated.

For example, Seahawks reach a lot on giving up a first for Branch, was a steal for us in terms of value, but I still having nightmares with Heath Evans playing the last drives versus the Colts as WR...

Since the fall of the 90's greats, the teams at the top have been the teams that have:

1.) QB

2.) Great drafts


Look at the teams that have been the best contenders of the "2000s":

Patriots
Colts
Steelers
Chargers

They all got great QBs on draft day, and had great drafts early in the 'decade'. Also, every one of them got their QB via draft picks, and the one team in the group most clearly in decline has been the one who's drafted the worst in recent years (Colts). The last team to win a Super Bowl is built the same way, with Rodgers surrounded by a lot of successful Packers draft picks.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

At least for us.

The 2006-2008 span, which should be giving profits now ( from 3rd to 5th year experience), was terrible for us and we are still a great team.


All what matters in football is to have a great HC, a great QB and a professional staff .

26 picks in that span has netted us Jerod Mayo and a Kicker (I mean Gost could probably gone undrafted )

My point is that Carson Palmer is really overpayed, but its fine trade picks for REAL players.

The 2 nd round for Welker was way more valuable than the amount of picks that we expend in Jackson, Johnson,Price, Tate...

You are nuts!

Draft picks are the reason we have this team. Perhaps you meant to say that consistently drafting quality players each year is overrated. That may be true, because a few "home run" drafts can quickly erase the damage of some bad ones.

Had we drafted well in 2006-08, we are probably SB champions last year, with Greg Jennings holding up the Lombardi and Chad Jackson rotting somewhere in Florida (not that he isn't anyway.) Perhaps we have a slew of quality corners from those drafts, and we had the luxury of drafting for other needs.

Can you name 10 impact players on this team that we didn't draft?