More on "The Patriot Way" or now the "The Bill Bellycheat way without Brady":
Bill Belichick may end up having the last laugh. He certainly had more inside information on the 2022 NFL Draft prospects than did any of the experts or media members.
But, boy, did everyone hate the Patriots’ draft class. They were almost universally panned for reaching on several of their 10 picks, and they were one of the only teams not to get an “A” or “B” from those who grade drafts.
Not to be overly pessimistic, but the Patriots’ draft class does look a bit odd. Their first three picks were a guard from Chattanooga (Cole Strange) that most experts had ranked as a second- or third-round pick; a pencil-thin receiver (Tyquan Thornton) who many experts believe was drafted three or four rounds too high; and a 5-foot-8-inch cornerback (Marcus Jones).
ESPN’s Mel Kiper
gave the Patriots a C+, tying them with the Cowboys for his lowest ranking.
“Are we allowed to question a draft from Bill Belichick?” Kiper wrote. “Value matters in the draft.”
He didn’t think Strange deserved to be a first-round pick, and said Thornton wasn’t among his top 25 receivers, as “he needs a lot of work on his all-around game.”
Kiper’s ESPN colleague, Swampscott native Todd McShay, was a little more diplomatic, but
still called it a “confusing” draft, with Strange as a “reach.”
“Tough class to find a real standout,” McShay wrote.
Chad Reuter of
NFL.com gave the Patriots a C+, ahead of only the Colts, who got a C.
And Pro Football Focus gave the Patriots a D. The Jaguars, Saints, Commanders, and Chargers got the next-lowest grades with a C+, which shows you how much PFF hated the Patriots’ draft. PFF had Strange as their 86th best pick (the Patriots took him 29th) and they had Thornton ranked 192nd (the Patriots took him 50th).
Immediate draft grades are a little silly. No one really knows how the prospects will pan out, and Belichick could be right about Strange, Thornton and the other picks.
But the grades are noteworthy because the experts, particularly official league partners from ESPN and NFL.com, rarely criticize a draft. Almost everyone gets an A or a B just for participating.
But the Patriots are getting ripped to shreds, and Belichick is not getting any benefit of the doubt.
A few other notes from draft weekend:
· The analytics crowd hates the Patriots’ draft, too. One chart making the rounds across social media compared the difference in a team’s actual draft capital vs. expected draft capital vs. the consensus ranking of prospects — basically a statistical look at which teams matched their picks most closely with the consensus of all the major draft experts.
Quote:Best drafts according to the consensus board goes to the Chiefs, Panthers, and Ravens. pic.twitter.com/Yc1TfzPsWZ
— Jack Lichtenstein (@jacklich10) May 1, 2022
The Patriots fared the worst by a mile. Nine of their 10 picks were considered a “reach,” with Thornton and fourth-round cornerback Jack Jones over-drafted, each by more than 100 spots.