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New England Patriots: Belichick had a huge miss in the fifth round

By Michael DeVito

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 20: Deonte Brown #65 of the Alabama Crimson Tide comes off the ball during the first half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Alabama won 58-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 20: Deonte Brown #65 of the Alabama Crimson Tide comes off the ball during the first half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Alabama won 58-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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New England Patriots
Deonte Brown Alabama Crimson Tide (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

The New England Patriots biggest draft miss may have come late in the draft in the fifth round when they had a golden opportunity to add a top guard to the team.

The Patriots pick in that round was an injury flier on Cameron Mcgrone, a Michigan linebacker on whom at least one draft publication had a second-round grade as has been previously reported.

Now, while Mcgrone may ultimately be a solid selection if he gets healthy, he’s injured and may not even play in 2021. The Patriots had a better option in the fifth round to select one of the best guards in the draft, Deonte Brown from a familiar university… Alabama.

Brown was ultimately selected in the sixth round by the Carolina Panthers who may have gotten a Michael Onwenu-like steal in the very same round the Patriots selected that great, and underrated talent in last season’s draft.

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The opportunity was there for New England to make another bold statement by further bolstering its offensive line, a familiar topic in this space, but they punted.

This writer has been criticized for not awarding the Patriots a straight-A for their 2021 draft. It says here it was more of a B. Everyone has a right to their opinion. Patriot’s Pollyannas can see the draft anyway they choose and so can this space.

Frankly, any immediate post-draft analysis is pure hogwash anyway. No one has any real clue. A draft’s real success or lack thereof can only competently be evaluated after about three years of play or non-play as the case may be for each individual player anyway.

So post-draft grades are pretty useless exercises, but they provide fodder for commentators who evaluate the entire draft or some, guilty here, who only really care about and evaluate one, the New England Patriots’ draft every year.

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