Less genius than we give credit for

Right now is a prime time to be a sports fan, especially a Boston fan. The NHL playoffs are in full swing and the Bruins are actually playing like a real team (as opposed to playing like a high school team, which they managed to do for the entire regular season) and the NBA playoffs are alive and kicking with the Celtics appearing to have forgotten they’re six thousand years-old and managing to “put out the Heat.”

Having said all this, neither of these things were the highlight of these last few days for me. For me, the highlight was the now-three-day-long NFL Draft.

One of my friends summed up the NFL Draft perfectly while we were discussing it Wednesday night: the NFL Draft is the ultimate man holiday. It consists of long term predictions (that typically are wrong), analyzing every little aspect of every prospect and competition between fans about players most know nothing about. The only way this could be manlier is if the Hooters girls announced every pick instead of that eye sore Roger Goodell (sorry Goodell).

One of the staples of the NFL Draft is hearing about what drafting genius Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization possess.

I mean seriously, finding Tom Brady in the sixth round must have been as sweet as when that chunky freshman found out the DC serves ice cream all day long. Since then it has just been widely assumed the Pats will find a diamond in the rough or two every draft.
I was listening to a sports-talk radio show the other day and they asked a pretty valid question. Just how good are the Pats at drafting? Well, considering how much recognition the team gets, not as good as you would assume.

I’ll preface this argument by saying it’s more than likely too early to classify anything from last year’s draft as a bust or true successes yet.

Sebastian Vollmer, Pat Chung and Darius Butler have all shown flashes, but have yet to solidify their statuses as solid draft choices. Perhaps the most exciting pick out of that draft may end up being Wes Welker clone Julian Edelman. With Welker coming off a serious knee surgery, Edelman could make or break the Pats’ slot passing game.

Going back through the drafts until 2005 (what I consider the last draft that warrants the Pats “gem finders” status), it’s actually concerning how few valuable players were found after their first pick and that’s assuming their first pick is valuable.

In ’06, the Pats drafted Laurence Moroney in the first round. Moroney has been good at times, but frustrating at others. In one magazine article I read, he was selected as one of a few players expected to possibly eclipse the 2,000 yards rushing.

Needless to say, he hasn’t come anywhere near that marker. With ten selections in the draft, the only other player worthy of mentioning is kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who, in his defense, is one of the best kickers in the league.

In 2007, the Pats struck gold with Brandon Meriweather falling all the way to the bottom of the first round. Meriweather has improved every year since and will be a top safety in the league for a long time. Other than Meriweather, there literally isn’t a single player from the other eight selections that has accomplished anything notable.

Literally, not a single player.

The Pats had 6 selections in 2008, with number ten overall being used on Jerod Mayo. Mayo went on to win defensive rookie of the year and will be the rock in the Pats’ defense for years to come. Other than him though, the only other players worth noting is Matthew Slater, who is a solid special teams contributor.

Now, not to be the pessimist, but let’s total those numbers up. With 25 picks, four success stories hardly constitutes Belichick’s “Draft Genius” label. Sure, he has an unbelievable ability to trade picks for future higher picks, which is very valuable since the Pats have two first rounders and two second rounders next year, but when it comes to the actual picking, the Pats really aren’t in the league of their own many claim they are.

Now, the main reason I bring up these draft failures is because this year the Pats have potentially set themselves up for yet another.

After their first round pick, Devin McCourty was taken, the first analysis was, “He’ll be a heck of a special teams player.”

Now, I don’t consider myself anything close to Mel Kiper, but when your first round draft pick is immediately pegged as a special teams player, isn’t that something of an indication the player was a reach? I know BB loves to pick players that fit a role in his head, but couldn’t the gunner role have been filled a little later in the draft?

In Bill’s defense though, Brandon Spikes has playmaking ability and I think he was a steal as late as they got him. After watching some film on him, I truly believe he can be an impact player in the NFL.

While last year’s and this year’s picks are still debatable, the fact that the Pats have been labeled “Draft Geniuses” is a little over zealous.

Mike Steiner can be contacted at msteiner@keeneequinox.com