I wish It would list the players and probowlers.
Just FYI (probowls and all pro players BB drafted.
Brady 12 - 2
Slater 6 - 1
Mankins 6 - 1
Seymour 5 - 3
Wilfork 5 - 1
Gronk 4 - 3
Gost 4 - 2
Light 3 - 1
Mayo 2 - 1
Meriweather 2
McCourty 2
Samuel 1 - 1
Koppen 1
Collins 1
Hightower 1
Jones 1
(Butler if you wanna add him has 1)
So idk how they have their numbers. I count 56 and 16 (not counting Butler)
Boston/New England Patriots All-Pros and Pro Bowlers | Pro-Football-Reference.com
Yes it is good for the Pats but I would argue those numbers are deceiving somewhat.
Gost/Slater - had little if any impact on the last 2 SB wins. (10 probowls 3 all pros)
Meriweather - Somehow got 2 probowls but he wasn't good. It was a function of the fame of the team than his play (2 probowls)
I would take those 12 probowls off the board as not mattering much. That brings it down to 44 probowls and 13 all pros.
So while that isn't bad lets also remember 12 probowls and 2 all pros were Brady. Talent BB didn't really identify or he would have taken him higher.
Personally I think people are right to look at his draft history and not be overly impressed. I don't think it is bad but he doesn't have a great eye for it either.
What BB excels at is coaching and salary management. No one person can be a master of everything.
Why do people constantly make excuses for any metric showing our successes while ignoring the rest of the league for similar?
Like WTF is this "point" about some of our Pro Bowlers didn't make big enough plays in our recent Super Bowl wins, like that somehow invalidates their nominations? One, I disagree they didn't make big plays, but even besides that, the overwhelming majority of Pro Bowlers don't make big plays in recent Super Bowl wins because THEY AREN'T IN RECENT SUPER BOWLS!
Knock Slater and Ghost, but they certainly did more in the last few Super Bowls than DJ Alexander or Dwayne Harris or Justin Tucker or Matt Prater, this year's Pro Bowlers at the positions. It seems silly to discredit them for not making certain plays in the last few Super Bowls when you're not applying that ridiculously stupid standard to any other team and their nominations.
And I think there is value in drafting players who go to more than one Pro Bowl. You want to discount all of Brady's but nobody else gets discounted. I think it shows how good some of those stars can be. There are a lot of flukey Pro Bowlers, from Trent Dilfer to Elvis Grbac, but Brady's 12 shouldn't count?
And let's discount Meriweather's 2 for being on a good team but not a word about Peyton Manning being named in 2015, his worst season in the league when he potentially wasn't even the best QB on his team?
I also think people look at the draft the wrong way. It's not about hitting as many singles as you can to keep your batting average high. If that's the goal, pick safe prospects with high floors even if they have lower ceilings, then play them lots no matter what so they can get experience and help justify your "draft mastery."
BB has done it while winning, making draft picks fight to earn their playing time. Could some of those guys panned out more if they got to start? Sure. ****ty teams do this all the time and find revelations in the garbage.
But as Herm says, "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME. HELLO?!?"
BB has missed in the 2nd a lot, but he talked about it a bit when he was talking about the guys there generally being as talented as guys in the 1st round, but usually lacking the production for one reason or another. Some are risks, some are injury concerns and drop. Fans mock picks like Ras-I Dowling but cheer Gronk, even though they're the same type of gamble.
And there isn't even one word about how far back we draft, how it is more difficult because of our success to do well in the draft.
I could go on and on and on, but really, no point. BB is a pretty good talent evaluator, certainly not perfect, but he drafts a certain way that leads to some big hits and some big misses. While others are sac bunting their way to small gains, BB is swinging hard at times and may strike out more, but scoring more runs and winning more games because of it. Arguing over some 4th round failure in a Super Bowl winning team misses the bigger picture entirely.
