Belichick umpteen-uples down on DBs in the draft

Bill Belichick is still considered by many the Dark Lord of the Evil Empire and the most feared coach in football, if not in all of North American sports.

 

But his management of the draft from 2004 to 2009 reminds us of Adolf Hitler's management of the German military from 1941 to 1945: one disastrous decision after another.

 

Specifically, it's been New England's complete failure to harvest first-rate defensive backs in the draft since the Asante Samuel selection of 2003 that's largely responsible for the team's six-year run without another Super Bowl victory.

 

He knows it's been his biggest problem, too. Hell, how could he not know? The Patriots have proven incapable of shutting down an elite passer since their last Super Bowl season of 2004. And last year, the year-end numbers were respectable (81.8 Defensive Passer Rating) – but also misleading.

 

Remember, it was Belichick's once-proud defense that was shredded by Saints quarterback Drew Brees in a Week 12 performance of such profound mastery that no less an authority than the Cold, Hard Football Facts declared it the greatest passing day in NFL history.

 

If you uncap the variables used to measure passer rating, Brees produced a spectacular 206.8 rating that Nov. 30 night on national television.

 

And that's just one example. Peyton Manning is another. He could rarely do anything against the Patriots, back in Belichick's defensive glory days. But in recent years, Manning's walked all over Belichick's defense as if it were the Beligan Army in 1940 or the dusty old floormat outside Archie and Olivia's Garden District home.

 

And worse were the failures to stop even ordinary passers in big games. Let's put it this way: When your defense gets torched for two long fourth-quarter scoring drives, and two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, by Eli "79.2 career passer rating" Manning in one single Super Bowl, you got problems, our fine Croatian-American friend.

 

These failures are the reason why Belichick umpteen-upled down on DBs with first-round selection Devin McCourty out of Rutgers last week. He's the 13th defensive back the Patriots have drafted since 2004. And so far that faith in DBs in the draft has gone about as well as Hitler's faith that the real invasion was coming at the Pas de Calais.

 

Belichick must know that DBs are his soft underbelly because, certainly, Belichick knows his Cold, Hard Football Facts as well as anybody. And the Cold, Hard Football Facts are this:

Here's the proof.

Defensive Passer Rating of each Patriots team in the Belichick Era

 

The pattern is so easy to see, even Hitler himself could have figured it out on one of those big maps back in Berlin – you know, the one with the hot little frauleins moving the planes around so sensually with those long ... ahem.

 

The pattern is this. When the Patriots post a Defensive Passer Rating of

Which brings us back to 2010 No. 1 pick McCourty. We don't know if he'll succeed. We really don't. You don't know. Mel Kiper doesn't know. Hell, that guy Nawrocki from Pro Football Weekly doesn't know. And certainly, Belichick doesn't know.

 

But we do know this. In fact, Belichick knows this, too. He desperately needs McCourty to deliver. He needs him to become the great shutdown corner or playmaking gamebreaker that he's missed with all 12 DBs drafted since Asante Samuel in 2003.

 

Because, let's face it, Belichick's draft record in recent years has sucked. But it's specifically sucked in the area of DBs. And it's sucked so bad, that Belichick has had to devote nearly two picks a year (13 total) to the position for each of the past seven drafts ... a burdensome number of picks that, obviously, limits a team's ability to harvest talent at other positions.

 

Here's a look at every New England draft pick in the secondary since 2004, the year after Asante Samuel was drafted. There's not a single notable name in the bunch.

 

Safety Guss Scott (third round) – Started his only two NFL games with the Patriots in 2005; was out of football by 2006.

  

Safety Dexter Reid (fourth round) – Started two games with the Patriots in 2004 before two uneventful years with the Colts in 2005 and 2006.

 

Cornerback Christian Morton (seventh round) – Never played in a Patriots uniform; spent four years as a backup with the Falcons, Redskins and Panthers.

 

Cornerback Ellis Hobbs (third round) – Spent four largely uneventful years (8 INTs) with the Patriots. However,  he did start 49 games and was a spectacular kick returner. Best remembered for being toasted by Plaxico Burress for the game-winning score in Super Bowl XLII and was traded to Philly for two fifth-round picks in 2009.

 

Safety James Sanders (fourth round) – A serviceable safety, who was been a fulltime starter for two years (2007, 2008) with five picks in his five NFL seasons.  

 

Cornerback Willie Andrews (seventh round) – In a very bad draft that went almost exclusively to offense, the Patriots waited until their last pick to grab a player in the defensive backfield; Andrews spent two years as a back-up and special teamer and was busted for marijuana possession with intent to distribute two days after New England's loss in Super Bowl XLII. He was busted six months later on firearms charges. He's now out of football.

 

Safety Brandon Meriweather (first round) – So far, the promising No. 1 pick has been largely a disappointment, though he did appear to come into his own in 2009, starting all 16 games for the first time, with 5 picks and a TD. But he's yet to live up to the expectations of a No. 1.  

 

Cornerback Mike Richardson (sixth round) – Spent most of his two years with the Patriots on the taxi squad. He was signed by the Chiefs last year, after the Patriots released him. Started one game last year with Kansas City.

 

Cornerback Terrence Wheatley (second round) – Wheatley saw some playing time as a rookie, but was injured halfway through the season. To say he's had no impact (three tackles in two years) would be an understatement.   

 

Cornerback Jonathan Wilhite (fourth round) – He started the last four games of 2008 and eight games in 2009; with there picks in his limited playing time.

 

Safety Patrick Chung (second round) – A college teammate of safety Jairus Byrd, who led the NFL last year with nine picks, Chung started one game and recorded a single INT in New England's 59-0 destruction of the Titans.

 

Cornerback Darius Butler (second round) – Developed fairly well during his rookie season, ending the year with five starts and 3 picks, including a 91-yard TD return in the season finale against Houston. Byrd, a safety, was taken with the very next pick in the draft.

 

And that doesn't even get into the DB disasters in free agency, at least since the Rodney Harrison signing – back in that same 2003 offseason that produced Asante Samuel.

 

So there you have it. McCourty either succeeds and the Patriots return to Super Bowl contention by virtue of a Super Bowl-caliber defense to complement their Super Bowl-caliber quarterback, whose years as a Super Bowl-caliber QB are limited at this point. 

 

Or McCourty goes down as another hastily planned invasion of Russia or decision to ignore the initial reports of the invasion of Normandy – one of those decisions that, cumulatively, conspired to bring down the Evil Empire.