Super in depth article on Bill's drafting history

[RodThePat]

There were actually two QB succession plans.

1) Jimmy G but Tom outlasted him
2) Bill drafted Stidham.

Did you want Bill to spend $25m on Philip Rivers?

I want Bill to not have a second year 4th round pick that lost a start to Brian Hoyer when Newton got COVID as a succession plan. They traded Garoppolo in October 2017, there was plenty of time to do something about the position that didn't amount to drafting Stidham in Brady's last year.

 

[farn]

We didn’t thought. Bill has been doing the same thing the last 5 years as he did for the first 15 years. The only difference is that he drafted poorly the last 5 years forcing him to overpay for mid level veteran.

Now that Brady isn’t there people start to analyze more in depth Bill’s action the last 5 years and what got us here. What got us here is a mismanagement of the roster and most importantly the QB position.

We did. We cashed it all in. THis second half of the dynasty was driven by aging players (Chung, Revis, Browner, Brady, Hightower, Slater...) who gave it their all and produced wins in 2014-16-18 (and arguably had their best team in 15 before a massive streak of injuries). Now, unlike in the past, BB wasn't able to keep the ball rolling. For - so far - ONE season. It may become more, we'll see. But one season. A 7-9 season, not 1-15...

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

yes, you will have stretches of good drafting and stretches of poor drafting. Lets not forget 2006, 2007, 2008 as well. Those drafts were worse than any recent ones but 2017 where we traded a few picks. Id imagine if we pulled the same analysis from 2005-2009 as a whole we’d see similar results as this one because of that stretch. It happens, bad years happen, this is the nfl where it is incredibly hard to maintain or replace the talent you lose.

The major difference was in 2009 and 2010 we had the goat combo of qb and hc to drag meh rosters to the playoffs. This year we didn’t have the qb. Hopefully the next few years are better, until then bb gets a well deserved wait and see from me to right the ship before i start panicking.

 

[Steve102]

There's a lot of foot-stamping-see-I-told-you-he-sucks talk when it comes to Belichick around here. I don't get it. We've had one sub .500 season out of 20. Is it acceptable? No. Do I think that Bill finds it acceptable. No flippin' way. I think we have to wait and see what they do.

 

[Kontradiction]

Since we have no other option, that sounds like a good plan.

You have other options. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[ivanvamp]

They went 7-9 (not good for the Pats, but not an epic disaster either) in a year with:

- a global pandemic, which seriously impacted the team before and during the season
- godawful QB play, due in part to poor planning, but also due in part to Covid - both keeping Newton from practicing, and impacting him just as the team was doing well early in the year
- a number of key players opting out - more players than any other team (and the opt-outs happened basically after the team had been constructed, so there was very little BB could do about it at that point)
- their best defensive player (and reigning DPOY) having a subpar year and ultimately missing games due to injury

It's hardly a disastrous situation. Every other great team during the Pats' dynastic run (2001-present) has had down years:

- Pittsburgh: 6-10, 8-8, 8-8, 8-8, 8-8
- Baltimore: 6-10, 5-11, 8-8, 5-11, 8-8
- Indianapolis: 2-14, 8-8, 8-8, 4-12, 7-9
- Kansas City: 6-10, 7-9, 4-12, 2-14, 4-12, 7-9, 2-14
- Denver: 7-9, 8-8, 8-8, 4-12, 8-8, 5-11, 6-10, 7-9, 5-11
- Green Bay: 4-12, 8-8, 6-10, 7-9, 6-9-1
- New Orleans: 7-9, 3-13, 7-9, 8-8, 7-9, 7-9, 7-9, 7-9
- Seattle: 7-9, 4-12, 5-11, 7-9, 7-9

I mean, the Pats have had just this ONE bad year, with all the issues they had to face. Plus, no other franchise has had four draft picks (two 1st rounders, a 3rd rounder, and a 4th rounder) literally stolen from them.*

I mean, having ONE 7-9 season is really perfectly okay. If this continues, we have a problem.

*For the sake of discussion, I'm willing to allow that the 1st rounder for Spygate was possibly a legitimate penalty. I think it was way too harsh, but the Pats DID break the rules on that, so the forfeiture of SOME pick was ok.

 

[203Pat]

No one is not recognizing the last 20 years but analyzing where we are today and why.

This is what drives me crazy. God forbid anyone say "In the last few years Bill has drafted poorly." Bill's lawyers immediately storm in and proclaim "Six rings! Other teams don't draft well! How dare you complain after one bad year!" and all the same crap. I don't know why we cant look at strictly the drafting over the last five or so years. Yes they won games. Yes they won Super Bowls. But if you look at the last few drafts in a vacuum they were flat out bad and they are the main reason for the diminished talent on the roster.

 

[amfootball]

This is what drives me crazy. God forbid anyone say "In the last few years Bill has drafted poorly." Bill's lawyers immediately storm in and proclaim "Six rings! Other teams don't draft well! How dare you complain after one bad year!" and all the same crap. I don't know why we cant look at strictly the drafting over the last five or so years. Yes they won games. Yes they won Super Bowls. But if you look at the last few drafts in a vacuum they were flat out bad and they are the main reason for the diminished talent on the roster.

The frustrating part is Bill tried to tell us that cap issues were from "going all in" the last 5 years. That is what started this whole convo because that is a complete and total fabrication. That is what has led the media to analyze his drafts and also his FA/trade moves from 2014-19. There has been no departure at all in our team building approach during this period. None. If anything, Brady was taking LESS money during that stretch as he was the highest paid QB from 2010-13. It is absolute nonsense and he deserves to be criticized for this behind covering excuse that he has trotted out all season.

 

[borg]

We've had one sub .500 season out of 20. Is it acceptable? No.

It's not like a sizeable chunk of their roster chose (at the end of July - months after both the draft and peak free agency) not to play or anything.

Is maintaining a 100% 'eight win or better' record over 1/5 of a century the agreed upon threshold of fan tolerance?

This board can be a fascinating place

 

[203Pat]

The frustrating part is Bill tried to tell us that cap issues were from "going all in" the last 5 years. That is what started this whole convo because that is a complete and total fabrication. That is what has led the media to analyze his drafts and also his FA/trade moves from 2014-19. There has been no departure at all in our team building approach during this period. None. If anything, Brady was taking LESS money during that stretch as he was the highest paid QB from 2010-13. It is absolute nonsense and he deserves to be criticized for this behind covering excuse that he has trotted out all season.

I agree that he brought on the added media scrutiny of his drafting by making that "sold out" excuse. He has basically made two "top dollar" free agent signings (Adalius Thomas and Gilmore) in his 20 years as a GM. Outside of that he generally signs guys like Chris Hogan, Brandon Lafell, and Lawrence Guy. Middle of the road free agents who aren't superstars but are solid contributors. They don't cost a ton but they definitely cost more than a guy you draft. His problem is that when you miss on Aaron Dobson and N'Keal Harry you need to sign guys like Hogan and Lafell or get desperate and trade for Sanu or take a major risk signing AB. Basically because Harry is a bust we invested the first round pick on him, $9 million on AB for a single game, and a second round pick on Sanu. That is whatever Harry is making plus what AB is counting against the cap this year and a first and a second round pick all to fill one receiver spot.

 

[ivanvamp]

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.

 

[FCB02062]

For the fanboys poo pooing the fact that "it's only one bad season guys! c'mon, in bill we trust [adjusts patriots footie pajamas]", did you watch just how inept this offense was last year? did you have blinders on the entire season? have you not realized just how awful the drafts have been? I've said it a million times, when the best player drafted in a draft is your punter you know you're in trouble.
I don't think people on here realize that with the new schedule format it is not as easy for 3rd or 4th place teams to "turn it around" the following season based on the schedule. In 2001 the Patriots played a "fifth place schedule" which meant they played alot of bad teams in that season. This isn't denigrating their super bowl; it's just the fact of the old nfl schedule. they played their 8 division games, 4/5 teams from the nfc division based on a rotating schedule, and at least 3 games based on your prior season finish. in 2001 those games were against 5th place teams from 2000 - cin, sd, and cle. they also played 2000 second place denver, so i'm not sure if that was based on prior season finish or not - but i do seem to remember it was like they played denver every season back then.
the point is, now with only 2 games based on your previous season it's not as easy to "fatten" up against bad teams by having superior coaching. think about how the Pats did against good teams this season - terrible. and they were decent vs bad teams. couple this with a slew of bad drafts, things are going to get worse before they get better.

 

[amfootball]

The point is, now with only 2 games based on your previous season it's not as easy to "fatten" up against bad teams by having superior coaching. think about how the Pats did against good teams this season - terrible. and they were decent vs bad teams. Couple this with a slew of bad drafts, things are going to get worse before they get better.

I think so too. I don't think we have hit rock bottom yet. We are going to lose some bedrock guys this off-season either through retirement or releasing them. We are light years behind the Bills and are also behind the Fins. My first goal and hope is that we identify the QB and go get him. It all starts there and that will go a long way to helping us climb back to the top again.

 

[203Pat]

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.

2016: Thuney has been a stud but and a great pick but I just wish we could hit on players outside of the O line. I always love the notion that X player is "still in the league" or plays well for another team. How does that make Jacoby Brissett a good pick for the New England Patriots? Mitchell was a solid player but his knee fell apart and he had knee issues in college so it wasn't like it came out of the blue. Roberts has was a solid role player.

Result: One bust, a great guard, a role player LB, and a backup lineman.

2017: wasn't a real draft

2018: Wynn has been solid but injured constantly. Sony is a JAG and lost his job in year 3. Bentley and Izzo are starters only because they had to be.

Result: Oft injured but solid when he plays tackle, JAG RB way overdrafted, a LB who should be just a role player, and a major bust in Dawson.

2019: Harry is a flat out bust. Joejuan Williams when not a healthy scratch played 17% of the defensive snaps in year 2 as a second round pick. He is a bust. Winovich is talented but looks like he may unfortunately just end up as a role player/situational pass rusher. I haven't completely lost hope but he didn't really step forward this year. Harris looks like he could be a good RB if he can stay healthy. Cowert looks like a rotational D lineman and Bailey is a great punter.

Result: 2 complete busts, 2 lineman who couldn't get on the field, a pass rusher who might have a chance to develop, a promising RB and a great punter.

2020: Looks promising but too early to judge.

 

[ivanvamp]

We are talking about the draft, not about BB's coaching or other items. If a GM drafts a player and he has a long, productive NFL career, but with another team, it's not a bad draft pick. It may mean something else happened independent of draft picks. Maybe you traded him for something else that's useful. For example, Jimmy G was a terrific draft pick. Lit a fire under Brady (so the reports say, kind of like how Love lit a fire under Rodgers this year), provided nice backup QB insurance, and then was traded away for other useful pieces. He will spend the bulk of his career with someone else besides NE, but that was a terrific draft pick even though he will end up with very little actual production with the Pats.

Your evaluation of the draft assumes that certain players are complete busts. Which is an unfair statement to make *AT THIS POINT* in the respective careers of Harry and Williams. If JMac is gone and Williams becomes a starter and is solid, suddenly that pick is excellent. I mean, I think BB drafted him because he liked the player and was thinking long-term at the position. Anyway, you certainly have the right to judge players however you wish, but understand why others see things very differently from you.

 

[Steve102]

It's not like a sizeable chunk of their roster chose (at the end of July - months after both the draft and peak free agency) not to play or anything.

Is maintaining a 100% 'eight win or better' record over 1/5 of a century the agreed upon threshold of fan tolerance?

This board can be a fascinating place

Back a while ago, I read somewhere that many Yankee fans were not fans of the Yankees, but fans of winning. I think the same might be true here, at least to a certain point. The band wagoners will jump off.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I wish there were a site or group who used the AV value to look at amateur draftniks like Zierlein, Miller, Brugler. It's a decent measure and would shed light on the industry. TBhelmut was looking into it with mine and others but work (covid) has sidetracked him big time.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

yes, you will have stretches of good drafting and stretches of poor drafting. Lets not forget 2006, 2007, 2008 as well. Those drafts were worse than any recent ones but 2017 where we traded a few picks. Id imagine if we pulled the same analysis from 2005-2009 as a whole we’d see similar results as this one because of that stretch. It happens, bad years happen, this is the nfl where it is incredibly hard to maintain or replace the talent you lose.

The major difference was in 2009 and 2010 we had the goat combo of qb and hc to drag meh rosters to the playoffs. This year we didn’t have the qb. Hopefully the next few years are better, until then bb gets a well deserved wait and see from me to right the ship before i start panicking.

It's so interesting. 2005-2008 and 2013-2019 were terrible drafts. But Belichick had great drafts from 2001-2004 and 2009-2012. Hmmmm....

.

.

 

[203Pat]

We are talking about the draft, not about BB's coaching or other items. If a GM drafts a player and he has a long, productive NFL career, but with another team, it's not a bad draft pick. It may mean something else happened independent of draft picks. Maybe you traded him for something else that's useful. For example, Jimmy G was a terrific draft pick. Lit a fire under Brady (so the reports say, kind of like how Love lit a fire under Rodgers this year), provided nice backup QB insurance, and then was traded away for other useful pieces. He will spend the bulk of his career with someone else besides NE, but that was a terrific draft pick even though he will end up with very little actual production with the Pats.

Your evaluation of the draft assumes that certain players are complete busts. Which is an unfair statement to make *AT THIS POINT* in the respective careers of Harry and Williams. If JMac is gone and Williams becomes a starter and is solid, suddenly that pick is excellent. I mean, I think BB drafted him because he liked the player and was thinking long-term at the position. Anyway, you certainly have the right to judge players however you wish, but understand why others see things very differently from you.

You can make the argument that drafting Jimmy lit a fire under Brady but I don’t think you can call one player a good pick because of what another player did. You can also make the argument that Bill didn't maximize value in his return for Jimmy so we basically developed him for 3.5 years only to get back what we used to get him. I am talking about Bill's drafting and what the guys he took did to help the team. I don't give him credit because Jacoby Brissett is a solid backup for another team or because Berrios caught some passes for the Jets. His picks need to help the team he is drafting for and if they don't then they aren't good picks. The whole point of the draft is to build your team with young cheap talent not to be a farm system for other teams.

If you want to say that it is too early to call Harry or Williams a bust because they're still on the team then I have no real issue with it. I disagree but you are definitely entitled to that opinion. I would love to be wrong and see Williams step into a starting role next year and play well but based on what we have seen I don’t think that will happen. I think the 2020 class looks to have the most promise out of the last few years and I am hoping Bill can go on a hot streak like he did from 2010-2012 and jumpstart this rebuild.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

It's so interesting. 2005-2008 and 2013-2019 were terrible drafts. But Belichick had great drafts from 2001-2004 and 2009-2012. Hmmmm....

.

.

I wouldn’t say any were terrible with the exception of 06,07,08,17. But while fairly solid they have been lacking the hof caliber pick of a Seymour / Brady/ Gronk level. Or a slight notch below like wilfork /Edelman / DMac.. we definitely need to hit on a few of those the next few years.