Talking about the NFL Draft regarding the New England Patriots is useless

I know many fans of the New England Patriots love to discuss the NFL draft and who are the New England Patriots going to take. I am telling you right now it is a "useless discussion" regarding the Pats. I am not going to fall for this talk again. Ever since Bill Belichick has been in charge trying to figure out who the Pats are going to draft is impossible. I heard a discussion on 98.5 the Sports Hub with Gary Tanguay and Scott Zolak regarding the draft. They had plenty of callers wanting to discuss who the Pats should draft. I couldn't take it anymore so I called in.

I told Gary Tanguay that this topic is useless because you can't predict what they are going to do. Does anyone really know what the New England Patriots are going to do in the draft? I am sick and tired of getting excited about the draft and being completely disappointed after the draft.


Let's just start with last year's draft. The Patriots had a pick in the early 20's of the draft. When there pick came what did the New England Patriots do? They traded down the pick twice to the second round. Now there was this huge need in linebacker. Did the Patriots draft a linebacker at the beginning of the second round? They ended up taking Patrick Chung a safety. I have to be honest with you I had never heard of him. I think he is going to be a good player, but at that point I was not aware of him. Linebackers like Clay Matthews Jr. and Rey Maualuga were in this draft. Why did they go after a safety with there first pick? Then they had 3 other picks in the second round. Did they draft a linebacker in the second round? The answer to this question is "no". They did end up drafting Tyrone McKenzie in the third round.

How about the 2008 draft? I was hearing all these names prior to the draft who the Pats were going to pick. They had I believe the 8th pick. Usually the media gets the pick wrong prior. This is the only case when someone in the media got the pick right. A day or 2 before the draft Michael Holley mentioned he had heard that the Pats were leaning towards Jerrod Mayo. The Pats ended up moving a few spots back in the draft, but ended up taking Mayo. Someone actually got it right.

The 2006 draft, the New England Patriots still had a huge need for linebacker. They ended up taking Laurence Maroney in the first round. Again I didn't see this coming. They also ended up moving positions in the second round to get Chad Jackson.

In 2005 the New England Patriots ended up taking a lineman in the first round that most experts had going in the later rounds. The New England Patriots ended up taking Logan Mankins from Utah. Again another player that no one in the media saw coming.

In 2004 the New England Patriots had 2 picks in the first round. They moved up to get Vince Wilfork which again was not on many experts' radar. They also drafted later in that round Ben Watson. At that time it didn't seem the Patriots needed a tight end. I didn't hear anyone predicting Ben Watson.

How about the 2001 draft and the first pick of the New England Patriots. The media were speculating that The New England Patriots were going to take David Terrell. They took Richard Seymour with that pick. If I remember correctly Ron Borges blasted the Patriots for that pick. How did that work out for the Pats? I think Richard Seymour was a great player for the Pats.


In many of these cases I think the Pats made good decisions on the picks. The big picture is, there isn't a fan or an expert who can predict what the New England Patriots are going to do in the draft. They might trade down or trade up. They could take a player that I think is not a need for the team. It is useless to discuss it. I would rather talk about free agents coming and going from Foxboro. After the draft is the time to discuss the Patriots draft picks. In the meantime, talking about the NFL draft in regards to the New England Patriots is completely "useless."