For the “I hated this draft” class, you’ll feel validated.
For the “In Bill we trust” crowd, you’ll feel violated.
Whatever group you’re in, however you felt about the Patriots 2022 NFL Draft, fact is, nationally, the people who evaluate the evaluators in Foxboro did not like it at all.
Thanks to an aggregate of grades following this weekend, the New England Patriots received the worst overall draft score of all 32 teams.
Among 18 analysts and draft experts polled, the highest grade the Pats received was a B-minus (twice)). The consensus nationally was that the Patriots reached several times for players that would likely still have been available a round or two later, and that several team needs mosts football analysts believed the team had were not met. Though as director of player personnel Matt Groh said the team wanted to address speed and toughness, both obvious targets throughout. That’s not the criticism from outside, not who they selected but when they selected them.
The Patriots, stop me if you’ve heard this before, go about things their own way. They do most things differently and in an unorthodox manner at One Patriot Place and typically don’t spend a lot of time focused on what other people think. The Pats drafted 10 total players through the seven rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft, plus signed several undrafted free agents in the hours following the draft.
The key word continues to be reach when surveying the landscape of post-draft analysis for the Patriots. And though on-field contributions matter most, the offseason analytics showcase the Pats not getting proper draft value, something their coach and GM, Bill Belichick lives and breathes for.
There will be both defenders and detractors of the Patriots surprise picks and unusual yet typically Patriots-style approach. Of course the critics are usually the loudest and easiest to find. Among them...
Peter King was not a fan of the Patriots first round selection of Cole Strange.
Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm gave the Patriots a C-minus though he did give their nationally lauded 2021 draft a B-, calling their acquisition of Carolina’s 3rd rounder in 2023 their best move of the weekend.
And Kevin Cole of Pro Football Focus said the Patriots had the worst WAR of the 2022 Draft.
Previous drafts have almost annually featured several players being referred to as reaches as well , notably 2010 when nobody lauded the early selections of Devin McCourty and Rob Gronkowski, and we know how that worked out. So here we are, in familiar territory, criticisms raining down, the “wait and see” approach in play.
The feeling following the 2021 draft was the Patriots knocked it out of the park, selecting players for need and getting them at great value like QB Mac Jones, DL Christian Barmore and RB Rhamondre Stevenson, al of whom made immediate positive impacts on the team. Whether three or more players contribute significantly from this class in 2022 is one of many questions the upcoming season will answer. While most draft experts and analysts agree New England didn’t have a good raft now, only time will tell whether the Pats or their critics were the ones doing the reaching in the end.