New England Patriots: Grading AFC East opponents offseason
Did the New England Patriots AFC East competitors do well in the 2020 NFL draft?
I have written extensively both before and post-draft about the New England Patriots success or lack thereof with their 2020 draft picks. I thought it was a mixed bag. I thought their strategy was totally flawed. They allocated their three top picks to defense. Bad decision.
The better and more necessary strategy was just the opposite: draft offense high and often. Tactically, they drafted some defensive players in their first three picks who may be decent. But, devoting their top 3 picks to defense resulted in a botched draft.
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The New England Patriots offense in 2019 cost them a run at a 7th Super Bowl title. Their all-world quarterback at the time couldn’t even rescue them from the poor stocking of their offensive skill positions. Those positions were totally inadequate.
Since the end of the 2019 season, the Patriots offense has, in fact, regressed. How could it not when they lost their hall of fame quarterback and not effectively replaced him? That alone consigns this offseason on offense to the NFL 2020 dustbin.
In addition, their defense lost in free agency. Big time. Key players went elsewhere. Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins, the underrated Danny Shelton, Elandon Roberts (a captain), and they dealt away Duron Harmon a big-play safety.
The Patriots may have stayed even on defense, maybe. But they didn’t get any better.
And their defense could not win against the best teams in the NFL last season. This bodes ill for any chance of being Super Bowl competitive in 2020.
So, in surveying the landscape vs. their AFC East opponents, one metric is, how did the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets do in their drafting? That’s as good a place as any to start.
This article will take a look at the New England Patriots AFC opponents success or lack thereof in their drafts to see how far all these teams’ draft efforts have taken them in trying to succeed New England as AFC East champions.