The New England Patriots have run the gamut when it comes to their past four draft classes.
The Patriots draft in 2019 can be classified as an abject disaster while 2020 really wasn’t much better. But things have turned around for New England as of late, as led by first-rounder Mac Jones, the Patriots are starting to get more out of the players they drafted.
But that still isn’t enough to shield the Patriots from their mighty struggles at the spring event. In a telling statistic from Over The Cap that signals just how poor New England’s recent drafts have been, the Patriots rank dead last in the NFL in the percentage of draft picks from 2019-2022 still on the active roster at 57.9%.
The stat is more alarming than it is surprising. The horrendous job the Patriots did in 2019 and 2020 at drafting players led to them going on a free-agent spending spree prior to the 2021 campaign.
Only four players remain from the 2019 draft class, headlined by Damien Harris and Jake Bailey while backup offensive lineman Yodny Cajuste recently landed on the injured reserve and cornerback Joejuan Williams won’t play at all this season. But that group, except for Williams, is overshadowed by the epic failures from the Patriots in that draft, most notably first-round selection N’Keal Harry. The Patriots finally cut bait with Harry this offseason as well as Chase Winovich, a third-round choice.
Aside from Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche and Michael Onwenu, the Patriots have received next to nothing from their 2020 draftees. Anfernee Jennings is like Halley’s comet, rarely seeing the field while Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene could never make an impact at tight end. And don’t forget the Patriots wasted a fifth-round draft pick on kicker Justin Rohrwasser, who never played in a single NFL game.
Last year’s draft trended in the right direction, thanks to Jones, defensive lineman Christian Barmore and running back Rhamondre Stevenson. But there were still some swings and misses as all the hype around linebacker Cameron McGrone hasn’t panned out yet and Ronnie Perkins, a third-round pick, has spent two straight seasons on the IR.
This year’s rookies have shown promise, and just might signal Bill Belichick isn’t losing all the zip off his fastball when it comes to the draft. While Cole Strange was a controversial selection in the first round, he has helped solidify the offensive line while Jack Jones displayed his potential in last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. Marcus Jones also flashed his punt return skills in that contest.
And maybe most important, what seemed like the Patriots taking a flier on quarterback Bailey Zappe in the fourth round has worked out so far. The Western Kentucky product turned in a serviceable performance when thrusted into emergency duty against the Packers and appears to be in line to get his first career start Sunday against the Lions.
The Patriots’ drafts have improved lately, but their failures in that realm can be pointed to as one of the main reasons why they have not had great success since Tom Brady left town.
