Bill Belichick turns 69 this Friday.\u00a0 How does his advanced age affect the draft?<\/p>\n
The Patriots spent big bucks on free agency, quite the opposite of Belichick\u2019s Modus Operandi.\u00a0 Were the Patriots spending to hasten the rebuild of the team and was that related to Bill\u2019s advanced age?\u00a0 Will BB pull off a big trade-up to snag one of the top QB\u2019s in the draft?<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, I don\u2019t believe Bill’s age will have anything to do with it.\u00a0 \u00a0The spending on Free Agency was a brilliant stroke by Belichick.\u00a0 The Patriots had the cap space available.\u00a0 They spent the money on players that fit Belichick\u2019s model.\u00a0 The new TV revenue beyond 2021 fit into their strategy and played the remainder of the league in being aggressive.\u00a0 Add to this they had 30 Free Agents from last year\u2019s team.\u00a0 They signed who they wanted at their terms.\u00a0 Outside of the QB position, the Patriots as currently constituted are a legitimate threat in the AFC.\u00a0 Bill Belichick\u2019s age will have nothing to do with the draft.\u00a0 Bill will draft according to his strict evaluation system.\u00a0 I think he will not insert his opinion as much as he has in the past.<\/p>\n
In last year\u2019s draft, Bill Belichick went against his own tendency by selecting a Division II player as his 1st<\/sup> selection. \u00a0\u00a0The Patriots drafted relatively unknown Safety Kyle Dugger from Lenoir \u2013 Rhyme.\u00a0 Bill Belichick was able to attend the Senior Bowl practices last year.\u00a0 In the previous 19 years, he was unable to attend in person because the Patriots were in the playoffs.\u00a0 Belichick traded down and out of the 1st<\/sup> round to select Dugger as their 1st<\/sup> selection overall in the 2nd round.\u00a0 I personally loved this move, as Dugger was my favorite player in the draft.\u00a0 Belichick ignored his scout’s evaluations and made the selection on a player he saw with his own eyes.\u00a0 He then traded up in the 2nd<\/sup> round for Josh Uche, another player he scouted in person at the Senior Bowl.\u00a0 Josh Uche was more of an uncertain because of his limited play at Michigan, lack of instincts, and lack of height for the Edge\/ Lb. position.\u00a0 Further, Albert Breer reports that Bill Belichick overrode the evaluation of his scouts and selected N\u2019Keal Harry.\u00a0 Harry has been a bust and is reported on the trading block.<\/p>\n Belichick has pledged to be more receptive to his scouts.\u00a0 He did not attend the Senior Bowl this year (mistake).\u00a0 This should be an interesting draft.\u00a0 We have 20 years of draft history on Belichick\u2019s tendencies.\u00a0 With the major need of the Patriots being the QB position, the speculation of what he will do have run rampant. \u00a0Bottom line is that we have no idea what he will do.\u00a0 We conduct mock drafts and fall in love with certain players only to have Bill draft some unknown safety that nobody has heard of.<\/p>\n Finally, I need to address the comments made by a former Patriots advisor, a friend of Belichick, father of one of the Patriots coaches, Mike Lombardi.\u00a0 We got a glimpse inside the Patriots Draft process.\u00a0 Everyone is aware the patriots have a very strict and rigid evaluation process.\u00a0 For instance, they favor players from the SEC because the game in and game out competition is higher in this conference.\u00a0 They give players who are team captains extra points in the evaluation.\u00a0 They have standard height, weight, and other measurable standards such as 40-yard dash and 3-cone drill numbers.<\/p>\n