Quote:
Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl
The last truly impact defender the Pats drafted was Mayo back in '08. With ~25 round 1-3 picks since '08 the pats haven't drafted another true impact defender since. They have a ton of mediocre guys like Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Spikes from Belichiks good ol boy network but their best player (Wilfork) was drafted back in '04.
Everyone here loves to talk about the Chiefs '08 draft. Imagine going into every single draft with that number of good picks. That's pretty much the opportunity Belichik has every year and what he has to show for it is guys like Rob Ninkovich and Steve Gregory playing major roles.
Over that same time span he's hit on 2 offensive skill players in Gronkowski and Hernandez. Not a single above average receiver. Not a single above average running back.
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Hightower, Solder, Ridley/Vereen, Gronk, Hernandez, McCourty. Chandler Jones has upside. Added Talib off waivers. The team is a solid team all the way around. Of course their success post-Brady will be dependent on how good his replacement is, but that's sadly the new NFL. Every coach is going to be a product of the QB. Again, it will depend on how stubborn Bellichick is on applying the Parcells way to finding late round QB steals.