Patriots must make second-round magic this year – Boston Herald
There is a dramatic difference between Bill Belichick’s best and worst second-round draft picks during his 16 years with the Patriots.
This week, without the luxury of setting the tone in the first round, Belichick and the Patriots must be on the money when they’re on the clock at Nos. 60 and 61, assuming they use both selections or trade up with their assortment of latter-round picks as added collateral.
The highs have yielded franchise cornerstones, including left tackle Matt Light, wide receiver Deion Branch, right tackle Sebastian Vollmer, tight end Rob Gronkowski and linebacker Jamie Collins. But then there are the second-round busts such as wide receivers Bethel Johnson and Chad Jackson, cornerbacks Terrence Wheatley, Darius Butler and Ras-I Dowling and defensive linemen Ron Brace and Jermaine Cunningham.
No coach navigates the second round without flaws, but the perplexing issue with the Patriots is that their sterling record on first-rounders — most of those picks coming late in the round — make the second-round whiffs more puzzling.
“We go through the same process every year,” director of player personnel Nick Caserio said. “Sometimes, it works the way you think it’s going to. Other times, it doesn’t work. We’re looking at everything that we do in our program on a multitude of levels.”
The mixed results
The overall body of work is debatable. To this point, nine of Belichick’s 18 second-round picks from 2000-12 played out their rookie contracts. Light, Vollmer and Gronkowski are the only ones of that group who landed contract extensions, though safety Patrick Chung and linebacker Brandon Spikes signed elsewhere before eventually doing a second stint with the Pats..
Among the remaining nine players, Jackson, Wheatley, Brace, cornerback Darius Butler, Cunningham and Dowling were released prior to the conclusion of their rookie deals, and Branch and Johnson were traded before the expiration of their first contracts. Defensive lineman Marquise Hill died in a 2007 boating accident, after playing just three seasons.
Offensive lineman Adrian Klemm, safety Eugene Wilson, Chung, Spikes, running back Shane Vereen and safety Tavon Wilson played out their rookie contracts and signed with other teams in free agency.
On one hand, the Patriots can’t be thrilled that just three of those 18 second-round investments ultimately earned extensions. However, Wilson, Chung, Spikes and Vereen filled valuable roles at times before their value was inflated on the open market (Chung, Vereen) or the Pats didn’t want them any longer (Eugene Wilson, Spikes). Then there was Tavon Wilson, who was a solid special teamer for four years, but the perception of him as a second-round reach was validated when he couldn’t earn a steady defensive role.
Collins, wide receiver Aaron Dobson, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and safety Jordan Richards are the post-2012 second-rounders who are still playing out their rookie contracts. It’d be a stunner if the Patriots didn’t retain Collins. Dobson, meanwhile, is facing his final chance to live up to the first half of his rookie season. Garoppolo has provided peace of mind as Tom Brady’s backup, though the Patriots hope they never have to use him. Their investment in the quarterback might truly be measured by the team’s ability to trade him for an asset that has similar value. And it’s too early to know whether Richards will either be relegated to special teams work, like Wilson, or evolve into a quality defensive back, like Chung.
The success of a second-round pick can really accelerate the development of an organization. Light was a valuable asset in a 2001 draft class headlined by first-round defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Gronkowski proved the same kind of boon in 2010 behind first-round safety Devin McCourty. By landing a pair of franchise cornerstones in one draft, the Patriots added core pieces to future Super Bowl championship teams.
The Patriots selected Collins No. 52 overall in 2013 after trading out of the first round, and they’ve got a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate for as long as he remains in the fold.
But that 2013 class also illustrated the volatility of the Patriots’ second-round, as they nabbed Collins seven picks ahead of Dobson. The wideout had 35 catches for 492 yards and four touchdowns in the first nine games of his career, but he has been limited to 18 receptions, 206 yards and no TDs over the past two and a half injury-marred seasons.
Missed opportunities
Second-round misses aren’t nearly as crippling as first-round busts, but there’s a cumulative effect. Consider that in 2003, Anquan Boldin was the next receiver taken after Johnson. In 2006, the Patriots traded up for Jackson, and their trade partner (Packers) wound up with wideout Greg Jennings.
When the Patriots couldn’t re-sign cornerback Asante Samuel in the 2008 offseason, they failed to replace him with Wheatley (’08), Butler (’09) or Dowling (’11). It’s natural to second-guess the 2009 decision to work a deal with the Ravens and trade out of No. 23 — which the Packers acquired in another deal and used on linebacker Clay Matthews — for the No. 41 pick that got Butler, and two third-round picks, one of which was wheeled for the seventh-round pick used on wide receiver Julian Edelman.
Some picks to grow on
The Patriots were already equipped with the 60th pick this week, but they made a bold decision to trade defensive end Chandler Jones to the Cardinals for the 61st selection and guard Jonathan Cooper, who was the No. 7 overall pick in 2013. There are too many variables at play to know who won that trade, and the Patriots’ ability to land a quality player with the pick is as significant as anything in the fallout of the deal.
“We can’t control where we pick. It’s out of our hands,” Caserio said. “What we control is what we do with the pick when we have it, and that’s what we’re prepared to do.”
The Patriots aren’t necessarily drafting a pair of second-rounders this week to shore up immediate needs, whether it’s at running back, defensive tackle or another spot, but absent a first-rounder, the Pats do have to make good on these picks for the future of the franchise.
Their roster is already loaded for another Super Bowl run, so Belichick isn’t pigeonholed into focusing one or two positions at that point in the draft. But there’s less room for error than usual.
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BELICHICK’S BEST AND WORST 2ND-ROUNDERS
Belichick’s track record for selecting players in the NFL draft’s second round has been all over the place during his 16 years with the Patriots.
Belichick has made a total of 22 second-round picks during his Patriots tenure.
Here’s our evaluation on the best and worst of those picks.
THREE BEST SELECTIONS
• 1. TIGHT END ROB GRONKOWSKI (2010): After just two seasons, Gronkowski (above) was viewed as a dominant force who is on track to become the greatest tight end in NFL history. If he stays healthy, there’s no denying that possibility. He has 380 receptions for 5,555 yards and 77 TDs in six seasons. He has already set numerous tight end records
• 2. LINEBACKER JAMIE COLLINS (2013): One of the best athletes the Pats have ever signed, Collins was a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate last season before succumbing to a virus that sidelined him for four games. In three seasons, Collins has 9.5 sacks, three interceptions, 13 passes defensed, nine forced fumbles, four recoveries and one defensive touchdown in three seasons. He might soon land a contract that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in team history.
• 3. LEFT TACKLE MATT LIGHT (2001): Light will eventually land in the Patriots Hall of Fame, and he’s up there with Logan Mankins as the best linemen Belichick has coached in Foxboro. He started 153 regular-season games and all three Super Bowl victories during his tenure.
THREE WORST SELECTIONS
• 1. CORNERBACK RAS-I DOWLING (2011): Dowling might have been Belichick’s worst pick yet, as the injury-prone corner played just nine games in two seasons before his release. Even worse, there was much attendant hype that year as it marked the first time the draft was divided into three days, so there was an expectation the first pick of the second round would drum up additional trade interest between the conclusion of Thursday night and Friday’s restart. The Pats kept the pick and got nothing out of it.
• 2. WIDE RECEIVER CHAD JACKSON (2006): The Patriots were in the market for a receiver because David Givens left in free agency and Deion Branch was in the middle of a contract dispute. So the Pats aggressively traded up for Jackson, who was widely viewed as a can’t-miss prospect but caught just 13 passes in two seasons with the Pats. What’s worse, the Packers landed Greg Jennings 17 picks later in the Patriots’ original draft spot.
• 3. DEFENSIVE END JERMAINE CUNNINGHAM (2010): The third-worst pick could’ve been any number of players, including cornerbacks Terrence Wheatley or Darius Butler or defensive tackle Ron Brace, but one issue with Cunningham really compounded the problems with this pick. Belichick took Cunningham one slot before Florida teammate Carlos Dunlap, who has beat his baggage issues to become a Pro Bowler for the Bengals with 49 career sacks. Cunningham had 3.5 sacks before he was cut in 2013.
