Evaluating the 2023 Patriots' draft
The NFL season is over one-third of the way done. The Patriots’ season is already lost. Bill Belichick is under fire with his team sitting at 1-5. A lot of the criticism surrounds the construction of the team. Basically, the team has no talent, specifically on the offensive side of the ball. So, with six regular season and three preseason games under our belt, maybe it is a good time to take a look at Belichick’s draft and see what the initial returns have been like. I am going to grade the picks not only on how the player is doing, but also grading the pick in terms of who was still available and what the obvious needs were for the Patriots
1st round pick - Christian Gonzalez. Pick grade: B+
I know, I know. How can I not give him an A, right? Gonzalez got extensive playing time in the preseason and proved his worth lining up opposite the likes of A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, and Garrett Wilson in his first three NFL games. His athletic skills were on full display when he got his first NFL interception on a great leaping catch of a deep throw by Tua Tagovailoa. He even recorded a sack (before he did an interception).
Those three games will be all we have to look at to evaluate Gonzalez this year as he won’t see the field again this season. He suffered a season-ending torn labrum injury making a shoulder tackle on a ball carrier in Dallas. As the saying goes, the best ability is availability.
Gonzalez was projected to be a top ten pick, but when New England’s turn came, Gonzalez was surprisingly still on the board at 14. Belichick was praised at the time for getting the steal of the first round. What people forget, though, is that Belichick traded down three picks and risked losing Gonzalez to another team.
More significantly is who else was on the board at 14. Sure cornerback was a need for the Patriots, but the offensive line and wide receiver were the priorities. And that is the reason for the lower grade. It has little to do with Gonzalez, although I do question his toughness and durability. Great, smooth, physically gifted athletes doesn't always translate to great NFL player.
The B+ has more to do with the Patriots passing on offensive tackle Broderick Jones. Reports out of Pittsburgh have been glowing about Jones. He made his first NFL start last week against the Baltimore Ravens and didn’t give up a sack and allowed only one pressure on 37 pass blocks. Could the Patriots use that right about now?
2nd round pick - Keion White. Pick grade: C+
Belichick was so enamored by Keion White that he considered taking him at 17. He also tried trading back into the latter stages of the first round for fear of losing White. Belichick was ecstatic when White was still there when the Patriots picked at 45.
The criticism again has little to do with the player. White was a force in the preseason, and played well in the season opener against Philadelphia. He has not been much of a factor since then, but the potential is apparent.
The problem with the pick lies again with the position selected. I said it at the time of the draft, the Patriots had too many holes on offense to be spending any of their top picks - never mind all of the first three - on defense. If Belichick was trying to trade back into the first round, he should have been focusing on trading to get a few picks ahead in the second round when the run on tight ends began. Sam LaPorta has 29 catches and three touchdowns this year and has been a huge part of a revitalized Detroit Lions offense. Luke Musgrave has 18 catches for Green Bay. The Patriots got a front row seat to how good the Raiders’ Michael Maher is when he caught 5 passes for 75 yards against them on Sunday.
If the Patriots wanted to address the offensive line, Matthew Bergeron went eight picks ahead of White. At the time, the Patriots had four fourth round picks and four sixth round picks they could have used to trade up.
3rd Round Pick - Marte Mapu. Pick grade: C-
Again, Mapu is intriguing as a prospect. His versatility and ability to line up all over the field - and play well - is very hard to find. However, a healthy Marte Mapu had zero defensive snaps against Las Vegas this past Sunday despite all the injuries and opportunities on the defensive side. The Patriots traded up to get Mapu. He could have been chosen a round or two later, maybe instead of picking a place kicker. The Patriots should have traded up another seven picks higher to draft Tank Dell who already has gone on to become the top target in Houston. Dell had a 5 catch, 145 yard performance in Week 3 against Jacksonville. He is averaging over 17 yards per catch. The Patriots are still looking for their first 100-yard receiving game from anyone on the team.
I will pause here to say I know this may seem like revisionist history or 20/20 hindsight, but I was saying these things on draft day. The only selection I am questioning today that I wasn't questioning at the time is Gonzalez. At the time, I was blinded by the thought of a top-ten talent falling in the Patriots' lap.
4th round pick - Jake Andrews. Pick grade: F
Finally, in the fourth round, Belichick addresses the offense and drafts a … guard/center. Didn’t the Patriots just draft a guard in the first round the previous year? Wasn’t their other starting guard, Mike Onwenu, their best offensive lineman from a year ago?
The Patriots held onto all four of their fourth-round picks up to this point, foolishly. The Patriots would go on to draft three offensive linemen. Andrews has had the least impact, hardly getting any playing time despite the offensive line being ineffective and beat up.
4th round pick - Chad Ryland. Pick grade: C
The Patriots surprised everybody by taking a place kicker this early. Incumbent Nick Folk was considered too old and didn’t have enough of a leg. Folk was traded to Tennessee for a 7th-round pick ... in 2025. He is currently a perfect 16-for-16 on field goals, including three from over 50 yards.
Ryland hasn’t had much opportunity as the Patriots offense has struggled to move the ball anywhere close to the opposition's end zone. He has also been the victim of bad weather and bad snaps on his way to converting 5-of-9 field goals. We also haven't had a chance to see Ryland's big leg other than kickoffs.
4th Round Pick - Sidy Sow. Pick grade: C-
Sow was a guard in college. This is another case of Belichick trying to be smarter than everyone else. Despite the Patriots needing a tackle, Belichick drafted two guards in the fourth round. What everyone didn’t know was that Belichick viewed Sow as a tackle. Sow got destroyed in the role of right tackle in the preseason and he has been injured or ineffective during the regular season. I give him a passing grade for, at least, being a starter. He has also played slightly better at guard than tackle - you know, the position he actually played in college.
5th Round Pick - Atonio Mafi. Pick grade: C+
Atonio “Don’t Call Me Antonio” Mafi has gotten the most playing time of all three offensive linemen drafted thanks in large part to Cole Strange missing 90% of the season. He has struggled, but I think he will be the best of the bunch and prove to be a starter for years to come. How good of a starter remains to be seen.
6th Round Pick - Kayshon Boutte. Pick grade: D
The Patriots, inexplicably, had four sixth-round picks. Belichick loves stockpiling late round picks. With his first pick in the 6th round, Belichick finally chose to address wide receiver. Maybe Belichick was tired of being embarrassed by whiffing on all his early round wide receiver draft picks over the years (ever?). Belichick has had better luck with late picks (see Julian Edelman).
Boutte was perceived as a possible steal. Many speculated that he could have been a first round pick had he come out of college a couple of years earlier. He had one of the few highlights in the preseason when he took a short slant and took it to the house. He was active for the first regular season game against Philadelphia, but failed to get two feet in on 4th down late in the game deep in Philadelphia territory. In typical Belichick fashion, he has been benched ever since.
6th round pick - Bryce Baringer. Pick grade: C
With Belichick’s next pick, he became the first GM to draft a place kicker and a punter in the same draft since 2000. Baringer has struggled. Like Ryland, weather and some poor snaps from Joe Cardona (who got an extension from Belichick before the season making him the highest paid long-snapper), have contributed to some of his issues. Bottom line though is he is averaging only 44.1 yards per punt with a net of 39.2, both ranking him in the bottom five of the league. That is not good enough for a drafted punter.
6th round pick - Demario Douglas. Pick grade: B
Kudos to Belichick for this one. The grade, similar to White and Mapu, reflects more the idea or concept of Demario Douglas rather than the reality so far. He may score an A if he was used more. Douglas was treated like a six-year veteran in the preseason, seeing only a handful of plays. His speed, quickness, and elusiveness were praised by reporters. In the second game of the season, however, Douglas got stripped from behind as he was fighting for extra yards. For his efforts, Belichick benched him the remainder of the game.
In the fifth game of the season, Douglas had the only highlight against the New Orleans Saints by making a nice leaping grab in the first quarter. Unfortunately, he suffered a concussion when he fell to the field and banged his head on the turf. He missed the rest of that game and the following one against the Raiders. Douglas only has 10 receptions this year, but he has become a fan favorite. He is viewed as the only playmaker this team may have on offense. He hasn't really shown it yet, however.
6th Round Pick - Ameer Speed. Pick grade: C-
I give him a passing grade for making the team as a late 6th round pick. Speed is the type of player Belichick loves - a special teams specialist. He is one of the type of players I hate, like Brenden Schooler and Cody Davis - taking a roster spot away from someone who may actually contribute to the team on offense or defense.
7th Round Pick - Isaiah Bolden. Pick grade: D
Bolden was on his way to making the team as depth at cornerback. He also showed some explosiveness on kickoff returns. However, his season came to an end when he was put on IR when he suffered a head injury in the last preseason game. I like his prospects more than Speed.