Any list such as this one is by going to be subjective, but as a point of reference, a couple of aspects that I did consider while compiling this ranking. When a player was drafted is a major factor for both the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ groups. For example there may be cases where a late round pick like David Givens would be considered to be a better draft pick than Deion Branch because of their draft positions, even though the latter had a better career. Secondly, unforeseen injuries are taken into consideration; in some case they may keep a player completely off a list (e.g., Robert Edwards) while in other cases they may drop a player in the bust category (e.g., Andy Katzenmoyer).
Here are my choices:
Best draft picks from 1960-69
1. LB Nick Buoniconti (13.102, ’62)
Slipped way down in the draft because he was considered to be undersized, he went on to a Hall of Fame career and played in five AFL All-Star games as a Patriot.
2. RB Jim Nance (19.151, ’65)
Big Bo still hold the franchise record for rushing touchdowns; he was the AFL’s MVP in ’66 and twice led the league in rushing.
3. RT Tom Neville (7.55, ’65)
One of a select few Patriots to be named to two all-decade teams and played in 160 games for the patriots from 1965-77.
4. DE Larry Eisenhauer (6.42, ’61)
Four-time All-AFL and three time Pro Bowler was a nine-year starter for the Pats.
5. C Jon Morris (4.29, ’64)
Seven-time all-star played in 130 games and was named to the team’s Hall of Fame in 2011.
- On the bubble: RG Len St. Jean (9.68, ’64); CB/S Don Webb (24.186, ’61); LG Charley Long (8.58, ’61); TE Jim Whalen (3.23, ’65); Carl Garrett (3.58, ’69)
Worst draft picks from 1960-69
1. OT Karl Singer (1.3, ’66)
Consider this: in the same year that Singer was drafted third overall in the AFL, he was not drafted in the NFL until the 19th round. The Purdue Boilermaker started just one game before being released after three seasons.
2. DE Dennis Byrd (1.6, ’68)
Byrd was an excellent college player at North Carolina State, but he injured his knee his senior year and was never the same. Modern medicine is far more advanced now than it was then; that injury should have been a huge red flag to avoid selecting him so early. Problem was the Patriots hadn’t even read the Carolina papers; they didn’t have a clue about the injury. When Mike Holovak gathered the media around a speakerphone to call Byrd after he was selected, he asked the person who answered if they knew how to reach Byrd. The response elicited a few dropped jaws: “The hospital; he’s just had a knee operation.”
3. The entire 1966 draft
As big as a draft bust as Singer was, that choice was just the tip of the iceberg, exacerbated by a mind-boggling array of horrible selections. Jim Boudreaux (2.10) appeared in just 12 games over three seasons. DT Harold Lucas (3.19) signed with the Cardinals but deserved to be part of the early Pats folklore: he left $300,000 on the table when he walked out of summer camp and quit, upset about having to drop 20+ pounds to reach a team-mandated 280 pound weight limit. DT John Mangum (5.35) started five games in his two-year pro career, the 4th round pick was traded to the Jets, OT Dan Irby (6.43) never played a down, and Jim Battle (7.52) signed with the Browns. The Patriots selected ten of the first 102 players in that draft, and half of them never played a down in either the NFL or AFL. Of the 18 players drafted by the Patriots (the last being just 174th overall), twelve never played in either of the two leagues, only four ever played with the Patriots, and the most productive of those four was Doug Satcher, who was the starter for just one season with the Pats. The only positive was the trade of their 4th round pick to the Jets, for which they received WR Jim Colclough and two other players.
4. Sherwyn Thorson (3.22, ’62)
I’ll give the club a pass for their first couple of drafts, but by the third time around they should have figured it out a little bit. Thorson had no interest in the AFL because he could make more playing for Winnipeg in the CFL. How about a phone call, or even a letter to see if the guy you re selecting with the 22nd pick is interested? That oversight leads us to…
5. RB Tommy Mason (1.2, ’61), and others
Mason, who later married Olympic gymnast and actress Cathy Rigby, had a decent career – with the Vikings. If you have the second overall pick, shouldn’t you use it on a player you think will sign with you, rather than with the rival NFL? Similarly the Pats wasted draft picks in their formative years on WR Gary Collins (1.6, ’62), DT Jerry Rush (1.7, ’65), LB Lee Roy Jordan (2.14, ’63), LT Bob Vogel (3.23, ’63) and QB Fran Tarkenton (5.34, ’61).