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NFL Draft Study Is an Ugly Look for Bill Belichick and the Patriots
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- NFL Draft Study Is an Ugly Look for Bill Belichick and the Patriots
We fully acknowledge that it's hard to feel bad for longtime New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, especially when you consider his icy attitude and his disastrous start with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Why should we expect anyone to shred an ounce of sympathy for a 10-time Super Bowl champion who built a reputation for burning bridges at the cost of winning?
Thankfully for the AFC East-leading Patriots, they've managed to fix much of the damage Belichick created during his final years in Foxborough. The Athletic published a study earlier this year, which resurfaced on social media on Tuesday, that determined which teams drafted most efficiently from 2020 through 2024. Unsurprisingly, the results aren't pretty, at least in New England .
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The Patriots and Los Angeles Rams tied for 29th of the 32 teams, with their 5.58 scores beating out only the Tennessee Titans (5.0) and Arizona Cardinals (4.9). Nick Baumgardner used various metrics, including top 50 picks, Pro Bowl selections, and starting seasons, to properly grade each team. He also applied Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value system, all of which proved what we already knew: Belichick's final draft classes were, shall we say, lackluster.
"Despite his yearlong ESPN public relations tour, there are reasons why Bill Belichick's time in New England needed to end," Baumgardner wrote .
The Detroit Lions (10.53) topped the list, with the Kansas City Chiefs (9.46), Baltimore Ravens (8.95), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8.94), and Dallas Cowboys (8.76) rounding out the top five.
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Mac Jones Headlines Bill Belichick's Final Patriots Draft Classes
The overall numbers on Belichick's last four draft classes aren't pretty. Of the 40 players selected over that five-year period, only quarterback Mac Jones (No. 15 in 2021) made a Pro Bowl. Although the easy counter is that a Pro Bowl nod doesn't mean what it once did, that makes the lack of selections even more glaring.
Speaking of Jones, The Athletic named him the Patriots' worst pick, likely because he only lasted three seasons in New England. However, not all of that is on Jones, who the Patriots traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the spring of 2024.
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New England replaced Jones with 2024 No. 3 pick Drake Maye , who impressed as a rookie and has thrived under Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels. The Athletic considered Maye the Patriots' best pick over that five-year stretch, and we don't disagree. Of course, the Patriots drafted Maye months after parting ways with Belichick, so the second-year quarterback's success doesn't apply here.
With that said, Belichick deserves credit for using a 2020 sixth-round pick (No. 182) on Michigan offensive lineman Mike Onwenu, who has started 81 games in six seasons. Onwenu earned the "best value" honor, and Pro Football Focus currently ranks him 22nd among 81 qualified guards.
If it's any consolation, the Patriots weren't alone in having their worst pick be a quarterback selected in the 2021 draft's first round. Still, it's never a positive indictment when a Belichick-led organization shares such a category with the New York Jets ( Zach Wilson , No. 2), San Francisco 49ers ( Trey Lance , No. 3), and Chicago Bears ( Justin Fields , No. 11).
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Oct 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
