Patriots offseason priorities are clear and the pundits have it wrong
NFL draft pundits if they’ve selected wide receivers and cornerbacks in the first or second rounds for the New England Patriots have totally missed the boat on what should be the team’s actual priorities in the NFL’s 2023 draft. Throw those predictions out with the bath water.
The Patriots are a notoriously poor drafting team, a fact acknowledged even by their usually reticent owner, Mr. Robert Kraft before the 2022 version. Their overall draft strategy is flawed and on many occasions, their reaching selections are totally preposterous.
Look no further than their taking guard Cole Strange in the first round last season and then Tyquan Thornton in the second.
Both players were rated as significantly lower-round picks by most observers. Yet, the all-knowing Patriots selected them much higher than anyone else would have anyway.
Two areas in which they are notoriously bad, are drafting wide receivers and cornerbacks in the first two rounds. They can’t get it right and they should eschew even trying this year and any year that the Bill Belichick personnel operation is in charge.
In this draft, offensive tackle has to be the priority. Period. Let’s explore all of this in a bit more detail.
New England Patriots can’t draft wide receivers and cornerbacks high
We can debate who was more responsible for the New England Patriots’ success over the past decade for weeks. Was it Bill Belichick the coach and de facto General Manager, or Tom Brady? Belichick’s record (a fact) without TB 12 is under .500. That debate should be over.
Let’s talk about Belichick as General Manager. First, he failed Tom Brady and the team for two decades by not prioritizing two things every offseason. They were, securing top wide receivers and an iron-clad offensive line.
Provide those two assets and Brady would rip apart any and all defenses in the NFL. Belichick didn’t and Brady to his credit made chicken salad out of chicken … parts and won six Super Bowls anyway. A competent GM would have won double-digit SB titles easily.
Belichick wasn’t and isn’t, and that history is what it is. Meanwhile, after and/or without Brady, Belichick is a mediocre coach and nothing more.
Now as we approach the NFL draft, pundits are assuming that Belichick and his in-bred personnel operation can actually select a wide receiver or cornerback in the first two rounds and be successful. History says otherwise.
New England Patriots should do what they do well
The last major attempt at a wide receiver in the first round was N’Keal Harry. He was a total bust. The last major attempt at a cornerback in the second round, Joejuan Williams was a total bust. These are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are numerous other flops.
The fact of the matter is this, this Belichick draft team can’t draft these positions high in the draft and shouldn’t. It should concentrate on the positions in which it has actually had some draft success. Those would be tackles, both offensive, which should be the top priority in this draft, and defensive.
Taking fliers in the third round on wideouts and corners later on makes sense. Marcus Jones and Jack Jones in 2022 bear this out.
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In addition, this team has an uncanny ability to find diamonds in the rough, aka starters at cornerback, wide receiver, and other positions late in the draft and in Undrafted Free Agency (UDFA). It’s a wonderful asset and they should be applauded for that success.
They should go to their strengths in those positions later on in the draft and UDFA and do the same early. Stick to what works, not what hasn’t.
So, pundits who suggest that the New England Patriots go wider receiver and/or cornerback in the first two rounds of the draft beware. They are poor at drafting those positions early on and if they do, you will likely have egg on your faces for suggesting it.