From 2016-2020:
2016: C Jones, Thuney, Brissett, Valentine, Mitchell, Grugier-Hill, Roberts, Karras, Lucien
Thuney has been elite. Brissett has been a very good draft pick, even if he's no longer on the Patriots. Mitchell was a really good pick and was a huge factor in the Pats winning the Super Bowl that year. Then he got hurt and was out of the league. Injuries happen. He was a good pick and was going to be a really good receiver for them. Roberts has been a good NFL player, playing for two franchises, he's started 44 of 73 games in his 5-year NFL career. That's excellent for where he was drafted. Karras similarly has had a good NFL career. Mainly as a backup, but the last two years he's started 31 games out of 31 appearances for two teams that each made the playoffs. On the whole, getting one elite player, two legit, regular NFL starters, a guy who was off to a very promising start that helped lead you to a SB title but unfortunately got hurt, and a valuable backup QB who has stuck in the league and started for another team...that's a good draft by any reasonable measure, even if only one of the guys is still helping your own team.
2017: Rivers, Garcia, Wise, McDermott
No picks earlier than the third round. Why? The Pats made a bunch of trades that year giving up a lot of trade capital. Plus they lost a 4th round pick due to the ridiculous Deflategate penalty. They traded away #137 for Dwayne Allen, who was instrumental for them as a blocking TE, helping the Pats get to two SBs and winning one of them. Excellent use of a draft pick. They traded #64 to get Kony Ealy to shore up the pass rush. Whoops, that didn't work out so well. They traded #32 and #108 to get Brandin Cooks, who was terrific for the Pats (62 rec, 1,082 yds, 7 td), and #118, which is the pick the NFL took for Deflategate. After one year the Pats traded him to the Rams for #23 and a sixth round pick in 2018. They traded #72 and #200 for #83 and #124. The #83 ended up being Rivers, who hasn't panned out. Wise turned out to be pretty decent though and has survived in the league for a while. So we can point to the draft haul as being bad, but this draft also gave the Patriots Allen and Cooks, who were both excellent for the Patriots, and they were able to turn Cooks into something positive later.
2018: Wynn, Michel, Dawson, Bentley, Sam, Berrios, Etling, Crossen, Izzo
They got Wynn with that #23 they acquired in the Cooks deal. So long story short, that 2017 1st rounder they had turned into one very good year of Brandin Cooks, and a franchise left tackle. Pretty damned good work by BB. Michel was drafted too high, I think we'd all agree, but he's been a solid pro, a key member of the 2018 SB run. Dawson got hurt and did nothing for the Pats in 2018, but he's been an important contributor for the Broncos the last two years, so he hasn't been a bad pick; it just didn't work out for him HERE. Bentley isn't exactly Steve Nelson, but he's been a team captain and he's started 17 out of 32 games in his career. Clearly he's part of their future at LB. That's a really nice 5th round pick. Sam turned out to be nothing. Berrios did nothing with NE but he's been good for the Jets - that was a good draft pick. Etling was a flier at QB that didn't work out, but Crossen has been a solid pro, both in NE and Hou, and Izzo, while not great, has started 16 of 18 games he's played in for the Pats. That's great for a 7th round pick. Overall, a very nice draft getting a stud left tackle, a solid RB, a solid starting LB, and three other players that are contributing around the NFL.
2019: Harry, Williams, Winovich, Harris, Cajuste, Froholdt, Stidham, Cowart, Bailey, Webster
Harry has been a disappointment so far. Williams has seen regular snaps in a loaded Patriots' defensive backfield. Winovich has flashed signs of excellence and has clearly been a contributor. Harris looks like a breakout star in the making at RB. The OL guys picked up late...meh. Stidham we thought might be good but the jury is still out..not looking good on that. Cowart has been a nice contributor on the DL, Bailey is only the best punter in the game (all-pro), and Webster has been irrelevant. On the whole, probably a disappointing draft mainly because of Harry, but any draft that gives you an all-pro, solid contributors at 3 other positions, and a potential stud at one other position (RB) can't be considered a bad draft.
2020: Dugger, Uche, Jennings, Asiasi, Keene, Rohrwasser, Onwenu, Herron, Maluia, Woodard
Tough group to evaluate given that Covid killed their training camps. Still....Dugger was good this year and played a ton. Uche showed signs of being starting material. Jennings...we'll see. Asiasi was hurt all year, as was Keene, so they didn't contribute much. TEs as rookies in the Pats' system are notoriously going to not produce for a while. I'll NEVER understand the Rohrwasser pick...made no sense then or now. Onwenu was a phenomenal pick - the guy is GREAT. Herron contributed a lot this year on the OL. The last two picks...meh. But I see one stud (Onwenu), and a bunch of other guys that will be contributors for years. Hard to call this a bad draft.
So when I look at the last five drafts, I see excellent production from them on the whole. A few studs, a bunch of solid players, and contributors up and down the list, even if they're contributing for other teams. BB hasn't drafted poorly. He hasn't drafted flawlessly, obviously, and I've pointed out what I think have been some big misses. But EVERYONE misses. Every. Single. Team. Without. Exception. Misses a LOT.
And the one "terrible" draft (2017) actually turned into some excellent pieces for NE that helped them get to two Super Bowls and produced a stud left tackle. I might not say that the Pats have had the BEST drafts in the NFL over this stretch - but again, they had picks taken away from them, and they're ALWAYS picking at the end of rounds due to their success - but they've certainly not been disastrous like some people claim. Not at all.
