Top 10 draft picks by Bill Belichick from 2000-18 (non-Tom Brady edition)
I've seen a few posts in the past couple of days about Belichick’s drafting. It has piqued my interest so I ran through some data I pulled together about a year ago. I have found that from 2010-20 Belichick drafts...
- above average in round one - ranked 10th overall
- poor in rounds 2-3 - ranked 30th overall
- is exceptional at finding talent late rounds - ranked 2nd overall in rounds 4-5 and ranked 3rd overall in rounds 6-7.
For what it’s worth, these are my top 10 Belichick picks from 2000-18. This is strictly data-driven (AV relative to pick spot) which isn't the be-all-end-all evaluation. Pats fans with more context and insight might disagree with these which I can appreciate. I’m not an expert on Belichick. I might dig in on BB drafting in more detail soon, but for now, here is my list of his Top 10 non-Tom Brady edition:
| Rank | Player | Round | Pick | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan Mankins | 1 | 32 | 2005 |
| 2 | Julian Edelman | 7 | 232 | 2009 |
| 3 | Rob Gronkowski | 2 | 42 | 2010 |
| 4 | Vince Wilfork | 1 | 21 | 2004 |
| 5 | Dan Koppen | 5 | 164 | 2003 |
| 6 | Matt Light | 2 | 48 | 2001 |
| 7 | Richard Seymour | 1 | 6 | 2001 |
| 8 | Shaq Mason | 4 | 131 | 2015 |
| 9 | Assante Samuel | 4 | 120 | 2003 |
| 10 | James White | 4 | 130 | 2014 |
Keep in mind, that this is not a ranking of each player, it's a ranking of each pick. It's how the player performed over their careers relative to where they were selected. Dan Koppen is NOT the 5th best player on the Patriots since 2000. He is ranked as BB's 5th best pick because he was drafted 164th and had a 9-year career as a regular starter and was a pro bowl level player for a stint, this is an anomalous career for a 5th-round player.
Again, this is based solely on data, it lacks context and knowledge that might change things. I'll sit back and let Reddit tell me how dumb I am now. Enjoy!
Posted May 4, 2022, 6:43 PM UTC