Belichick And His Lack Of Drafted Pro Bowlers
I saw a tweet yesterday showing what the next anti-Belichick billboard in Boston will say. You know what I’m talking about, right? The one that initially looked like this…
Patriots fan trolls Bill Belichick with billboard ahead of Tom Brady’s returnhttps://t.co/mnZhUk3j05 pic.twitter.com/9FlsLuUEWa
— Boston.com Sports (@BDCSports) September 28, 2021
Well, now it looks like the genius behind this has another one planned for the big game. And I have to say, this one is much worse than the first.
There is an update coming to Jake in Boston's billboard on Route 1 today. pic.twitter.com/1iyUFaIRLV
— Marc Bertrand (@Marc_Bertrand) October 1, 2021
Now, I could easily sit here and swiss cheese this entire thing, but that would be too easy. Especially the overrated “Belichick has a losing record without Brady” argument which has been all the rage this week. I could easily tear apart the ‘coaching tree’ criticism as well because at the end of the day, that means nothing. It’s not Belichick’s job to make sure his coaches can succeed elsewhere and it in no way, shape or form is a reflection on his ability to coach his own team.
No Pro Bowlers
Instead, the point I want to hit on is the “Only ONE Pro Bowler drafted since 2013” comment. First of all, Jake in Boston is wrong. Jake Bailey made the Pro Bowl last year and the Patriots took him in 2019. So that would mean Belichick has drafted TWO Pro Bowlers since 2013. But regardless, I fail to see why that matters. Hear me out. Have “not enough” drafted Pro Bowlers kept the Pats from being successful? I could end the argument right there, but since I have some time on my hands, I’ll go a bit deeper.
Why It Doesn’t Matter if Belichick can Draft Pro Bowlers
Do you all really care about the watered down, popularity contest that the Pro Bowl has turned into? It’s the equivalent of award shows nowadays. Seeing Patriots fans complain about a lack of Pro Bowlers is silly when you look at the unprecedented amount of success they’ve had over the last 20 years. It’s about as ‘first world probs’ as you can get.
First and foremost, a Pro Bowler should be one of the best at his position, right? The Pats rarely have “the best” at any given position because it’s just not how Belichick teams are built. I know, I know. You’re probably saying “Why wouldn’t Belichick want the best at each position!?” I get it, but it’s more than that. There are a lot of moving parts to why Pro Bowlers don’t get drafted here.
It’s partly because of a system with a design to dull personal stats. Belichick has never been too fond of players who rack up tons of sacks, interception, etc. That’s because he builds his teams like a team. Instead of having one quarter, he has five nickels. Meaning that if one player goes down, it most likely won’t be the end of the world. Another player can step up and take his spot. How many times have you seen a big name player go down and the team flounders? That rarely happens with Patriot teams.
Secondly, it’s in part because of just who he picks. Belichick likes depth and he drafts accordingly. The players he selects are rarely going to be the big names you’ve heard of on Mel Kipers Big Board. Of course Belichick is still trying to draft good players, but he picks guys who he hopes will fit in HIS system. Instead of just taking the best available players, Belichick thinks more in depth. His faith in his system is unwavering and while it’s bit him in the past, he’s successful far more than he’s failing.
And as for “None of the players he’s drafted stay on the team!” Well, amongst many other things, a lot of those players excel, jump to another team on a big deal only to realize that a lot of their success can be chalked up to Bill. We’ve seen it happen time and time again for years. And while your team is now stuck with overrated players, Belichick now has a couple more draft picks.
Also, with his sheer dominance over the league for the last 20 years, Belichick hasn’t had the best picks to snag a future Pro Bowl college player anyway. For as long as Belichick has been here, he has generally had to pick towards the back end of the first round. That’s one of the side effects of winning so much. When you’re in the handful of final first round picks, a lot of those players may be reaches or considered a glorified second rounder. And we know Belichick likes to use draft picks as currency as opposed to taking a pick in the position it was intended.
Again, sometimes it’s frustrating, but can you really argue with the results?
Remember the good old days? When Patriots Nation scoffed at Pro Bowl nominations and almost looked down on the thing entirely? “You can have your Pro Bowlers, we’ll take our rings”. And we were right to say that. A Pro Bowl nomination, while a fine addition to a resume and oftentimes attached to contract bonuses, doesn’t always equate to winning Championships. Which, last time I checked, is what us fans want right? Or are we more concerned with personal awards now because we’re clamoring for something to whine about after the team has ONE bad year in 22 seasons.
Randy Moss, Dan Marino, Barry Sanders and Tony Gonzalez are all current Hall of Famers who were ALSO Pro Bowlers. Know what else they all have in common? Zero (0) Super Bowl Championships. But I thought Pro Bowl nominations were super duper important?
Additionally, just because you’ve never been to a Pro Bowl doesn’t mean you weren’t a great player. Julian Edelman, Bruce Irvin, Brandin Cooks, Joey Galloway, Chris Canty and Trumaine Johnson are all considered great players with multiple Pro Bowl worthy years, but didn’t get the nod for one reason or another. Oh, and 3 of those guys have won Super Bowls as well. Again, Pro Bowl nominations do not equal Championships.
In Conclusion: Can Belichick Draft Pro Bowlers?
The entire point of building a team is to make sure you have enough talent to win. And Belichick has done that. Via the draft, trades and free agency, he’s succeesful. If Belichick keeps getting Pro Bowl caliber players on this team, why do you care how they get here? And even if the players on this team aren’t Pro Bowl worthy, why does that matter? They’re still good. And quick question: since the Patriots don’t draft Pro Bowlers, why do teams still line up to trade for so many guys on this team? Almost as if having a Pro Bowl title next to your name doesn’t really mean as much as you think it does. Maybe it’s just another failed criticism created by national and local media because they simply don’t like big mean Bill.
So instead of searching for things to complain about when it comes to Belichick and the Pats, how about you enjoy the good things happening. Like oh, I don’t know, the maturation process of what looks to be the next great QB in Mac Jones? Or maybe just how promising this defense looks this season? Just a thought. Because I don’t know about you guys, when the Patriots start winning again, I won’t be pausing my excitement to say “This is awesome!….but where are the Pro Bowlers from the draft Bill Belichick!?”
(Featured Photo Credit www.nj.com)
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Mike Sullivan (@msully5433 on Twitter)