BELICHICK HAS CHOICE OPPORTUNITY
Eight picks are big shot
Coming off a Super Bowl win, last year’s Patriots chose to plug some of their most significant holes with young established players, not draft picks. That meant as the 2017 draft played out, they were more bystanders than players.
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It was a different strategy, partly based on some of the team’s more recent high picks not living up to their billing.
In some ways, it seemed like a logical course of action, especially with a 40-year-old quarterback. And, as it turned out, swapping out draft picks for players with a little more experience (Brandin Cooks, Dwayne Allen, Mike Gillislee) did help the five-time champs get back to the big game.
But it doesn’t erase the fact that the all-important cupboard of draft talent is rather thin.
Looking at the big picture, the supply has emptied out in recent years. Whether the picks haven’t panned out or have been traded away for other assets, the Patriots need to make a splash this year. It’s time to replenish the supply of youth.
As drafts go, this is an important reload for Bill Belichick and the organization. Significant losses in free agency, namely left tackle Nate Solder, just heighten the urgency meter.
With two picks in the first round and four in the first two, the Patriots can’t afford to miss. They have to hit it rich, no matter how they maneuver those selections the first two nights.
The future largely depends on it, and to an extent, so does the present, with Tom Brady hitting age 41 in August.
“This is an important draft for the Patriots, I would say from a depth standpoint, because they took some hits,” ESPN analyst Damien Woody said recently. “Some key players moved on to different teams. They’re not as deep. This draft is going to be critical for them to replenish that depth and add some players who are going
to contribute, and contribute in a big way.”
The notion of having the draft be an important contributor is not something new. It’s always been the lifeblood of the team. The Patriots’ 63 Pro Bowl selections via the draft since 2000 is a league-leading total, followed by the Cowboys (62) and Chargers (50). They’ve also drafted the fourth most All-Pro selections (16) during the same time frame.
These players are the cores of the five Super Bowl-winning teams. Think Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones, along with many other regulars, backboning the last two winners: All arrived from 2010-2012.
It’s no secret Belichick has typically done well hitting on firstround picks, along with the draft in general. Only some of the team’s more recent first selections have not been what the team hoped. Dominique Easley, taken No. 29 in 2014, didn’t work out. Cyrus Jones — the team’s first selection in 2016 at 60th overall — had a disappointing first year, then suffered a season-ending injury out of the gate in his second.
Not having a first-round pick the last two years hasn’t helped with future development, so they’re a bit thin when it comes to being able to draw on quality talent from the system.
Maybe that’s ultimately why the Patriots spent to acquire younger players either via trade or free agency last season. The bottom line, however, remains the same. There’s a dearth of young talent on the roster, and they need to build that up through the draft this time around.
“You still need the draft,” Lions general manager Bob Quinn, the Patriots former director of pro scouting, told the Herald recently. “Free agency is a big unknown. Sometimes it works out perfectly. It’s a balancing act, but you can’t build a team through free agency. It’s too difficult. If you study the great teams through the years, that’s how the better teams are built, in my opinion.”
As it was, the Patriots were hit and miss with their free agents and their drafting last year. Kony Ealy, acquired for a second-round pick, was an early bust. They surrendered a first-round pick for Cooks, but got great value back for the receiver who was in the final year of his deal, acquiring the No. 23 pick in this year’s draft from the Rams.
The Patriots have done well over the years leaning on their success rate in the draft. So now, after using just four picks last year, they have eight this year including those four in the top 63.
“The way you stay competitive in the salary-cap era is through the draft,” said Woody. “They just keep acquiring all these assets, because the draft is such a crapshoot. The more assets you acquire, the more players you can get, the better percentage you’re going to hit on these players. That’s what’s really smart about what the Patriots do.”
Last year, the Saints became a playoff team after a terrific draft, adding running back Alvin Kamara, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, tackle Ryan Ramczyk and safety Marcus Williams.
The Patriots could further supplement their present and future much the same with a pair of difference makers on defense, perhaps a tackle to replace Solder, and — while he won’t be playing right away — securing the heir to Brady.
“A draft can change everything,” Woody said. “The Patriots, with those four picks in the top 63, if they hit on those picks, think about what it could do for them moving forward in years to come. It could be huge. So it’s a really important draft for them.”
‘A draft can change everything. The Patriots, with those four picks in the top 63, if they hit on those picks, think about what it could do for them moving forward in years to come. It could be huge. So it’s a really important draft for them.’ — DAMIEN WOODY, on the opportunity presented to Bill Belichick this week