Wideout’s Release Marks Another Blemish In Bill Belichick’s Draft Portfolio

The Patriots rebuild will be a long and slow process, and one reason for that is Bill Belichick.

Let’s get two quick things out of the way. Yes, Bill Belichick is the greatest head coach of all time. No, this is not a “Robert Kraft is king” analysis. Ownership deserves its fair share of blame for the rut New England experienced since Super Bowl LIII. The internal turmoil between Belichick and the Krafts seems real to some degree, and it’s not fair to place the blame on the state of the franchise solely on its former head coach.

However, he does deserve some blame, specifically the draft. Free agent signings are the sexy and flashy part of the offseason. Teams throw egregious amounts of money at player,s not knowing when they’ll regret it in the future. But real team building happens in the draft.

Belichick was the master at this during the 2000s and early 2010s to sustain the Patriots’ legendary dynasty. Not every player in every class was a banger, but the hits were huge. The 2010 draft arguably was the best, with future Hall of Famers and consistent contributors in the first four rounds.

However, things started to go wrong later in Belichick’s final years at One Patriot Place. The 2022 draft, in particular, might be his biggest blemish. It’s only fitting that the Los Angeles Rams come to town as they set the tone when Sean McVay and Les Snead laughed at the Patriots for drafting Cole Strange in the first round. Strange has been OK in New England. He started the season on the physically unable to perform list and would be looked at better if he was drafted in the middle rounds as he was projected to.

New England on Saturday reportedly waived Tyquan Thornton, another player who might not have been looked at as the successor to N’Keal Harry if he wasn’t drafted in the second round. Thornton was drafted ahead of George Pickens, Trey McBride (possible tight end of the future) and Cam Jurgens (David Andrews insurance).

You can continue down the list of the 2022 draft class and see that only Strange, Marcus Jones and Kevin Harris are the only players remaining out of seven. That’s an awful return on investment in two seasons and rivals the 2019 draft class — where the aforementioned Harry was taken — as one of the worst in the Belichick era.

Belichick had his hits in the 2020s. Christian Gonzalez and Keion White look like legit foundational pieces. But the offense remained a mess after Tom Brady lef,t and consistently missing wide receivers and offensive linemen played a huge part in the troubles this season.

Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker certainly aren’t looking that great in their rookie seasons, but it’s still too early to make a determination on them. From Harry to the likes of Ras-I Dowling, Chad Jackson, Duke Dawson and Dominique Easley, there were too many misses that showed its effects in the long term. It played a part in Belichick’s dismissal from Foxboro, Mass., and it’s up to a new staff to try to learn from those mistakes.