I have compiled a list of who I believe are Belichicks best drafted players at each position. Nobody from Cleveland jumped out at me so forgive me for them all being Patriots. I started this thinking I’d get to say “see Bill is a god leave his drafts alone” but ended thinking it wasn’t as spectacular as I expected after 27 years. I would love to see someone do this with another coach like Andy Reed and see how it holds up. Some positions I gave a backup if I thought it was a coinflip or noteworthy. Defense I tried to stick to a 3-4
Undrafted honorable mentions
Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis RB, James Devlin FB, Stephen Neal G, Joe Andruzzi G, David Andrews C, Ryan Allen P, Lonnie Paxton LS, Malcom Butler Legend
QB The Goat 6th 2000, Jimmy G 2nd 2014
FB Patrick Pass 7th 2000
RB James White 4th 2014, Lawrence Maroney 1st 2006
WR Julian Edelman 7th 2009, Deon Branch 2nd 2002, David Givens 7th 2002
TE Gronk 2nd 2010, Ben Watson 1st 2004, No I’m not mentioning him but he’d start over Givens
LT Matt Light 2nd 2001, Nate Soldier 1st 2011
LG Logan Mankins 1st 2005
C Dan Koppen 5th 2003
RG Joe Thuney 3rd 2016, Shaq Mason 4th 2015
RT Sebastian Volmer 2nd 2009
DT Vince Wilfork 1st 2004, Christian Barmore 2nd 2021
DE Richard Seymore 1st 2001, Ty Warren 1st 2003
OLB Chandler Jones 1st 2012, Jamie Collins 1st 2013
ILB Jarod Mayo 1st 2008, Donte Hightower 1st 2012, Brandon Spikes 2nd 2010
CB Assante Samuel 4th 2003, Christian Gonzalez 1st 2023, Ellis Hobbs 3rd 2005*
FS Devon McCourty 1st 2010
SS Patrick Chung 2nd 2009, Brandon Meriwether 1st 2007, Kyle Dugger 2nd 2020
K Stephen Gostkowski 4th 2006
P Zolton Mesko 5th 2010, Jake Bailey 5th 2019, Bryce Barringer 6th 2023 Take your pick all about the same
Gunner Mathew Slater 5th 2008
*included because I wanted to show what Gonzo is being compared to
My biggest takeaway was that I thought P, DT, CB, and SS would be better. There are certainly other notable offensive lineman but mostly at G and mostly undrafted. Volmer was the quintessential Belichick reach that worked out, and good thing he did because next best is Marcus Cannon and not much else worth noting. 1st round defensive players is obviously what Bill does best.
That’s my list feel free to give your thoughts or tell me I’m an idiot because I missed your favorite player.
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“1st round defensive players is what Bill does best.” Hmm, I think my man should not be allowed to draft anyone this year and probably next year.
Andy Reid: ( Side note: he might past Bill on All-Time wins *) Always thought it would be Bill And Don sitting at the top.
QB Patrick Mahomes
QB Donovan McNabb
RB Brian Westbrook
RB LeSean McCoy
WR Tyreek Hill
WR DeSean Jackson
SR Jeremy Maclin
WR Todd Pinkston
WR Jason Avant
TE Travis Kelce TE Brent Celek
TEL.J. Smith
LT Eric Fisher
LG Todd Herremans
C Jason Kelce
OG Shawn Andrews
RT King Dunlap
DE Brandon Graham
DT Chris Jones
DT Corey Simon
DT Fletcher Cox
DE Trent Cole
DE Derrick Burgess
OLB Mychal Kendricks
ILB Stewart Bradley
OLB Chris Gocong
CB Marcus Peters
CB Lito Sheppard
NB Sheldon Brown
FS Quintin Demps
SS Michael Lewis
K Alex Henery
TIL David Andrews was undrafted. that’s wild. Also didn’t know we didn’t draft Develin. I miss my guy :(
Ya Andrews and Devlin being undrafted were a surprise to me. I kept scrolling back and forth for center and only finding Koppen
Develin also started at the bengals, which i had no idea about lol. Really felt like a career patriot.
Stevenson over Lawrence Maroney easily. I’d also pick prime Hightower over prime Mayo personally on the depth chart.
Mat Cassell?
After leaving the pats made the pro-bowl one year and was a solid starter for a few years.
Fell off hard after
I love Cassell as a backup but dear lord I will never forgive him losing 6 games with that roster. Safe to say he would be starting for us at this point this season
Yeah, but people seem to forget at KC he was quite good for a year or two.