Super Bowl XLVI Shows the Importance of the NFL Draft
by Matthew Fairburn on Feb 6, 2012 12:53 PM EST
in 2012 NFL Draft
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PrintThere once was a time where Bill Belichick couldn't be touched. He and his golden boy quarterback were unstoppable on the field, winning three Super Bowls in four seasons. They made a run at perfection and broke records. Nobody in their right mind would question a Bill Belichick draft selection, because after all, Belichick must know something the rest of us don't.
Things have changed, and the so called "Patriot Way" is no more. Tom Brady has masked the fact that Belichick is no longer a master of the NFL Draft. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
After the jump, we'll break down the success of the Giants and Patriots in recent drafts.
Up until 2006, the Patriots were still effective drafters. Vince Wilfork, Logan Mankins and Ty Warren were all first rounders, and the team managed to find Asante Samuel, Matt Cassel and Dan Koppen in the later rounds. And that was all between the years of 2003 and 2005. The drafts prior had also been successful.
But starting in 2006, things haven't gone well for the Patriots. The secondary was obviously a major weakness of New England's this season, but in the last six drafts, Belichick has spent 10 draft picks on defensive backs. With Devin McCourty suffering from a sophomore slump and Patrick Chung spending most of the season injured, New England did not get significant contribution from any of those 10 players this season.
The Patriots deserve credit for the two tight ends drafted in 2010. Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski have proven to be huge weapons for that offense. If Devin McCourty can get back on track, which is a big if, than the 2010 draft class has a chance to be a success. Three significant contributors would warrant that label.
2009 was a disaster. The team hit with Patrick Chung, but missed on just about every other pick. Meanwhile, Jerod Mayo was the only decent player to come out of the 2008 draft, and Stephen Gostkowski was the only useful asset to come out of either the 2006 or 2007 draft.
That's not missing on a few picks or having an off year, that is absolutely terrible drafting.
The New York Giants, on the other hand, have been the model of consistency in the NFL Draft. Besides the homeruns of Eli Manning, Osi Umenyiora, Chris Snee and David Diehl in 2003 and 2004, the team landed three starters in 2005 with Brandon Jacobs, Corey Webster and Justin Tuck.
But to be fair, most of New England's failures occurred in 2006 and beyond. But in that time the Giants have drafted and developed seven defensive starters and another five offensive starters.
While the Patriots have patched together aging veterans at wide receiver, the Giants have drafted Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham, while signing Victor Cruz right out of New England's backyard (UMass). The Patriots were swinging and missing on secondary players, while the G-Men found Kenny Phillips and Aaron Ross to go with the already drafted Corey Webster. They even added Prince Amukamara to the woodwork a season ago.
Successful NFL teams are developed through the draft. The Giants, Steelers, Packers and Saints have proven that over the last half decade. One player and one coach can only take a team so far. Depth is created through solid, disciplined drafting. And the Patriots have not had that.
So, when the 2012 NFL Draft rolls around, don't blindly support a Bil Belichick draft pick. In fact, if you are going to blindly support any team's choices, the New York Giants seem to be a safe bet.
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wow, controversial.... love it !
Makes you wonder if Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli have been missed more than expected.
Peter King has often stated Belichick considers draft picks as “currency” and wondered out loud if it was time to cash in your chips. BB just cant help himself, as he continues to trade down, when a team that is so good might be better off with 3 great players (draft picks) per year
Of course they're missed
there’s only so much one man can do. You also look at what the patriots defense has been after Romeo Crennel left, they’ve been consistently an offensive juggernaut type team.
Every year Mark Ross, the directer of player personnel, is passed over for a GM job I kiss the ground. He’s Jerry Reese’ right hand man and has been excellent.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
go head, they're the Rams
they’ll just ignore it
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
And for the Giants you're forgetting a lot of solid picks
JPP for one was probably as big a steal at 15 as Hakeem Nicks at 29. Terrel Thomas was a solid starter, and hopefully still is when he comes back from surgery. Linval Joseph probably got the most consistent pressure in Indy, a 2nd round DT last year.
Will Beatty is another starter on IR, he’s the LT and a former 2nd rounder.
And I agree on the Patriots drafting. They might have revolutionized the TE position in the NFl, and I’ll also give them a lot of credit for Vollmer and Solder who should be their starting 6"9 bookends soon enough. But defensively they’ve really been bad when it comes to the draft.
It says a lot to the coaching tho, unfortunately cuz I think Darius Butler looked fairly decent in Carolina, but terrible in NE.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
Didn't mean to ignore those picks
It just would have taken a lot of space to list out all of the successful picks they have had. Instead I decided to highlight how many starters they have on both sides of the ball that have been successful. JPP was indeed an absolute steal. And Will Beatty has been strong as well.
mockingthedraft.com
by Matthew Fairburn on Feb 6, 2012 2:04 PM EST up reply actions
I remember thinking Mario Manningham was a steal for Round 5 or whatever it was he fell to
He was thought of as a first round talent before his last year at Michigan.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
he was a 3rd rounder
and it wasn’t really his talent, it was his 2 cent brain. Which still is probably the reason why he’s not the #1 WR on this team.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
The dynamics of a teams war room come to mind when analyzing draft performance
I love the failures of the patriots lately, I’m ready to watch that dynasty crumble. I still and always will, disrespect Belichick. The Giants are one of my non Ram favorite teams. I will always root for them when they aren’t playing us. I think what goes on during the draft is the key to it’s success. All teams do their scouting different ways and they all work to some extent but the difference is in the management of real time decisions. The Giants have done that well, so have the Packers. It’s what I thought the Pats were better than anyone else at.
Knowing when to pick a player for a position of need over one who has more upside is key, I think we give way too much weight to our needs when we shouldn’t and not nearly enough emphasis when the time is right. That has killed our draft processes for at least 10 years now. There’s no secret as to why we’ve sucked for so long. Even with high draft picks, we just don’t improve our team. I can tell, anymore, when a new regime is going to do well for us, just by how we draft. I’ll know it when we hit some homeruns of our own.
Wolf. Wolfgang Wolf
If there's anything the rams should have learned from this Super Bowl
it’s that having a strong d-line makes the whole defense way better. We have the DE’s in Long, Quinn, and Hall (although we should spend a pick on an eventual successor to Hall), now we need the DT’s. Fortunately, the new regime has ties to Jason Jones, Aubrayo Franklin, and Shaun Rodgers, all of whom are free agents this season. If we could add Jones and either Franklin or Rodgers, keep Robbins, and spend a relatively high pick on a DT, then I think our defense would have the foundation to become a top 10, maybe even top 5 defense. Of course, adding Cortland Finnegan and an OLB wouldn’t hurt either, but I think Fisher is going to focus on the d-line this offseason.
Turf Show Times writer and a proud rams fan.
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Tim Tebow to complete a pass against the Cover-2" - Jesus Follow @jmwehrle
sure as hell hope so
I just want a draft I can feel good about. It’s been so long I can’t remember the last time I thought to myself, ‘damn we did well in the draft’.
Wolf. Wolfgang Wolf
at least we have the community mocks to look forward to lol
Turf Show Times writer and a proud rams fan.
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Tim Tebow to complete a pass against the Cover-2" - Jesus Follow @jmwehrle
BB is a master of moving within the draft
however with picks like Ryan Mallet when your defense is subpar confuses me greatly. There’s got to be a time where you have to stop moving for the sake of moving and pick some potential gamebreakers on defense. Like stop relying on the Albert Haynesworths of the world and go draft someone.
Although to be completely fair to the NE Patriots
they were in the Super Bowl. Sure they lost, but it wasn’t exactly easy. The Patriots might not be at their unstoppable peak, but merely being in 2 SBs in the past 4 years isn’t something many teams can say. In fact, only one other team can say that.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
by Rorschach44 on Feb 6, 2012 1:41 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
agree the pats are a great team
the media is looking to far into this.
they will prob. be the #1 or 2 seed next year depending on the ravens, and have a shot every year 4 a SB title
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 6, 2012 8:12 PM EST up reply actions
The Pats beat 1 team better than 8-8 all year
And it was the Dissociate Identity Disorder Ravens – At home.
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Feb 8, 2012 6:53 PM EST up reply actions
The Giants, Steelers, Packers and Saints have proven that over the last half decade.
No love for Ozzie Newsome??? I know it hasn’t produced a SB (yet) but look at our roster and one has to be impressed with what Ozzie has done.
"Picture Me Rollin"
No doubt
He has built a solid roster. Just wanted to point to the Super Bowl winners that have gotten there with extremely solid drafting.
mockingthedraft.com
by Matthew Fairburn on Feb 6, 2012 4:12 PM EST up reply actions
Ozzie is a top notch GM
Die hard Giants fan since wide Right! I was 6...
I'm down wit JPP
Yea you know me
Win Ugly.
-Eli Manning for MVP
Stupid article
Other than McCourty, Chung, Gronk, Hernandez, Solder etc. etc., the Patriots haven’t drafted well.
So they won the AFC this year – both the regular season and playoffs
And lost to a team that drafts Super awesome by an astronomical four points.
Clearly, if the ball had bounced the other way, the NFL draft would be meaningless.
Point taken...one catch by the always reliable Welker, or one drop by the often inconsistent Manningham, and perhaps this article is not written.
But, had New England won, they still would have won with one of the worst all time worst defenses, which is a main focus of this article.
New England allowed 411.1 yards/game in the regular season, which barely trailed the 15-1 Green Bay Packers (411.6) for worst in the league.
Not only were they the two worst this season, but it ranks as the second and third worst ever in a 16-game season in NFL history.
Both the Patriots and Packers also rank as the two defenses to allow the most passing yardage in a season in NFL history.
And yet the Patriots were 15th in points allowed
And of course, as they were ahead a lot, the other teams played catch up ball.
I understand the Patriots’ defense wasn’t historically good. But they were injured most of the year.
Clearly, if the ball had bounced the other way, the NFL draft would be meaningless.
Um, did I just read this?
"Picture Me Rollin"
he's a pat fan gotta give him a little leeway today...
And when we win, we want to dominate. We want to take guys out. We want to hurt guys. We want to win. We just want to dominate, hit them in the mouth. - Rathman
Follow @manraj76
I was showing the premise of this article was inane
“Superbowl shows importance of the draft”
Aka – The Giants won, so the draft is important
By that logic, if the Patriots had won, the draft wouldn’t be important.
but the patriots didnt win?
i dont see your point.
if i had played the correct lottery #’s id be a millionare
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 6, 2012 8:14 PM EST up reply actions
your just blinded by your own ignorance.
he was right, u said “If” this happened then he’d be wrong.
but it DID NOT HAPPEN.
you can say IF all u want. ur point is incorrect, his statement was right.
i dont know how to explain it to you, its something you should just understand.
how bout this:
But you wouldnt have won the money IF the other Dog won the race"
but the other dog didnt win the race. the dog i picked did, so i won the money
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 7, 2012 7:32 PM EST up reply actions
pfftahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
"It’s time people started realizing just how good a player Carlos Dunlap already is, and that starts with the Bengals. They gave him a season-high 58 snaps and what was the result? Carnage on the right side of the Seattle line." -Pro Football Focus
bitter.
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 6, 2012 8:13 PM EST up reply actions
Not really.
I’ve moved on.
But the premise of this article is stupid.
The Patriots drafted poorly? so they only finished with a 13-3 record and lost in the Super Bowl.
While the Giants drafted well so they finished with a 9-7 record and won the Super Bowl.
The Steelers, Packers and Saints have drafted so well the last half decade that none of them were even in the game.
I’m looking for that relevance to the title: “Super Bowl XLVI Shows the Importance of the NFL Draft”
the point is:
The pats havent won a superbowl in the era he pointed out.
while the saints, giants, steelers, and packers have.
now the pats are just that good of a team that they still made it twice in that time, but they didnt win. they have had a poor draft in this era, whilst all the other teams he pointed out had terrefic drafts.
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 7, 2012 7:34 PM EST up reply actions
The Saints?
Sure they have drafted the likes of Carl Nicks and Jimmy Graham. But without the Free Agent acquisition of Drew Brees, they’re still the “Aints.”
Youre damn right I’m still bitter over the 09 NFCCG.
"At this point, what we got to lose, right? So we might as well throw caution to the wind and hit people in the face."
--Vikings DE Jared Allen
and without woodson, the pack prob. dont make the SB last year
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 6, 2012 8:15 PM EST up reply actions
JPP
Anyone else remember big blue faithful on this site lining up to jump off the cliff? Experience is a word old people use to hate on pure talent. Not saying experience is worthless, just that it can be acquired. Hopefully the corporate world takes a lesson from sports.
Winning
Raises hand. I was one of those cliff jumpers two years ago. I'm so glad I was wrong.
"We will not be denied." - Antrel Rolle
by BigBlueIntervention on Feb 6, 2012 2:48 PM EST up reply actions
experience is seeing something 100 times
so on the 101st time you know whats going to happen. Some people don’t need to see something 100 times to know what is going to happen next.
And when we win, we want to dominate. We want to take guys out. We want to hurt guys. We want to win. We just want to dominate, hit them in the mouth. - Rathman
Follow @manraj76
Some people don’t need to see something 100 times to know what is going to happen next.
Then I will draft these guys, those who can learn from others. Also included in my criteria will be insane measurables. You can have the four year starters with experience, and we will see who makes more money
Winning
I'll never doubt Reese again
tho the JPP pick was really the only time I ever did. Amukamara looks like a friggin beast too, but that was to be expected.
Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows
Pissed the Chargers didnt take Amukamara
When a guy thats good falls draft him. Sometimes I think clubs get tunnel vision with their first pick. Which is fine at 5 but not a 15. I think the Giants will draft another CB this year for whatever that’s worth.
Winning
The Pats lost because they did not get Chad Ochocino the ball!
"You know the new iPhone? It’s faster, more powerful and smarter. It’s revolutionary. Why can’t the quarterback be like that? Why can’t you be a big, tall, fast, quick, strong, smart, mobile quarterback who’s unstoppable?"
-Cam Newton
by carolinapillpusher on Feb 6, 2012 3:35 PM EST reply actions
I love that nickname.
"We will not be denied." - Antrel Rolle
by BigBlueIntervention on Feb 6, 2012 4:40 PM EST up reply actions
that has a nice ring to it
Die hard Giants fan since wide Right! I was 6...
I'm down wit JPP
Yea you know me
Win Ugly.
-Eli Manning for MVP
as a Rams fan i'd love to hve the Patriots' drafts from 06 onwards
Only picks I’d still want in STL over the talent acquired by New England in that span are Sam Bradford, Chris Long, James Laurinaitis and Robert Quinn
http://brotherspork.wordpress.com/
by Infemous on Feb 6, 2012 5:06 PM EST via mobile reply actions
sure
we’ll talke Cassel and we can give you Bradford. It’ll just cost you your first 3 picks and your 1st rounder next year too.
Turf Show Times writer and a proud rams fan.
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Tim Tebow to complete a pass against the Cover-2" - Jesus Follow @jmwehrle
why would you want Bradford?
And when we win, we want to dominate. We want to take guys out. We want to hurt guys. We want to win. We just want to dominate, hit them in the mouth. - Rathman
Follow @manraj76
by manraj7 on Feb 6, 2012 11:04 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
I still don't think he's that good
And when we win, we want to dominate. We want to take guys out. We want to hurt guys. We want to win. We just want to dominate, hit them in the mouth. - Rathman
Follow @manraj76
Made me think of "The Wizard of OZ"
….and your little dog Too!
by Steve_Chiefs on Feb 6, 2012 11:07 PM EST up reply actions
agreed
finaly some1 noticed
Dear fox.... Fire Aikman and buck. they suck
Desean Jackson IS a punk....................UNLEASH Eli
"We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees." –Jason Kidd
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it" -Yogi Berra
SBXVI Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I told YOU ALL... 5 months ago i was the only one who bELIeved, HELL YEA!!!!
by Lawrence Taylor The Real LT on Feb 6, 2012 8:08 PM EST reply actions
I have to agree with this about the Pats
Last season they were praised for taking random players like the two RBs, and the guys in the later rounds like they were incredible steals or talents
And the home of the .... JETS!!!
Now lets get a G-D snack!!!
"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f**k it, I don't care what you think."-Roy McDonald
Pats fan here
Yes we lost the super bowl. That doesn’t mean we’re bad at drafting, in fact quite the opposite. From 2009-2011, the draft classes look quite good. We all said how 2006-2008 we’re basic clear failures. It can happen. But some of the judgments being made here are incorrect in my opinion.
We may not hit on every pick, but the strategy that belichick has of getting as many picks as possible and still getting value out of the picks he uses. Just from this year we had Solder as a rookie start at RT for almost the entire year. We had Ridley contribute. We have Mallett as a backup, we had Marcus Cannon playing at times when others were injured. That was just their rookie years. From last years class Devin McCourty had one amazing season and one okay season where he started really badly but was above average but nothing special for the second part. We have the 2 TE’s that dominated the majority of this season. Brandon Spikes who is the emotional leader of our defense and a pretty good player. We got Zoltan Mesko as our punter and our 7th rounder Deadrick has played well enough to earn a starting spot in the super bowl, and before the super bowl had been playing at a decently high level. From 2009 we have 3 guys (Chung, Vollmer and Edelman) who all play big parts for the team. Some of the guys (Like Ted Larsen) play major roles for other teams from that class. While not being on the Pats isn’t advantageous for the draft class, it’s hard to make the roster of a team that for the past 10 years has had a lot of success and maintained it. 2006-2008 sucked, 2009 was okay, 2010 is a great draft class and 2011 so far has contributed. And we still have 2 1sts and 2 2nds this year. And that’s because Belichick knows that drafting is an inexact science, but the more attempts you have the more likely that you’ll hit a homerun.
I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it
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