New England Patriots: 3 major reasons why the mighty have fallen

New England Patriots: 3 major reasons why the mighty have fallen – No.3: Bad drafting. Really bad drafting.

While this may seem a bit redundant (and, indeed, may very well be), it needs stating on its own terms. This team is clueless in drafting. Totally. The rationale for this unbelievably poor draft history was finally revealed by the inimitable Mike Reiss.

Reiss, in an article which once and for all explained the bizarre draft strategy employed by New England that has resulted in so many dumbfounding and unproductive draft picks for many years. As Reiss noted in his article, New England’s draft board is shall we say, restrictive,

"For two consecutive years, Caserio has acknowledged the Patriots made draft-day moves — giving up a volume of picks they had worked to accrue — because they were running out of players to select."

Excuse me, out of maybe 1200 eligible players, there aren’t 12 or 13 who can make the grade for New England? This, more than any other article/explanation this writer has seen, explains the total absurdity of the Patriots’ draft strategy.

This “strategy” has resulted in an abundance of truly awful picks over the years. Now, clearly, drafting is and always has been an inexact science or art, whatever. No team hits on all their picks.

But, the Patriots’ seeming lack of perspicacity in this area is beyond noteworthy. It’s monumental. They and their limited draft board strategy are not only bizarre but represent conduct detrimental to the team and its fans.

In short, it has been a dismal failure over the years. Look no further recently than their splash into the tight end market in the 2020 NFL draft.

Their two picks in the third round (Note: at least acknowledging a need to draft in that area was a positive sign) were Devin Asiasi from UCLA and Dalton Keene from Virginia Tech.

That need was acknowledged since after Rob Gronkowski‘s departure they have been absolutely abysmal at the position.

Unfortunately, however, the total catches from the two rookies this season at this point in the season, is one. One catch. This again begs the question, does this organization have any idea what they are doing in drafting, or in any personnel decision-making for that matter? The answer here is: seemingly, not at all. Clueless.

But to be fair and forthright, they did hit very, very nicely on a sixth-round pick, one Michael Onwenu from Michigan. He has been one of the top rookies in the league, at any position. Versatile, dependable, and tremendous.

So a suggestion, perhaps the Patriots should trade all their high picks for sixth-rounders (all from Michigan?) and waltz into the sunset with the Brady’s and Michael Onwenu’s of the draft. Just a thought.

The Patriots are at a crossroads. The era of good feeling is over. A new era is upon the team and its many fans throughout New England and beyond. “Back to the future” one might say.

In which direction should they go? Tough question. Glad it doesn’t have to be answered here. But one thing is certain, a new direction is necessary. Without Brady, it’s not working to-date. The question remaining is what will that direction be? We’ll wait to see. That’s why we’re fans.