Assuming Bill has recovered from the 2006 disaster that was Chad Jackson, why do the Pats never draft receivers? Since 2010 they have drafted 6 receivers, none of whom made any sort of impact on the team and are now out of the league.
It’s no secret that Bill does not value receivers the way the rest of the league does. Whether that is entirely or partly due to having Tom Brady we don’t know; if Tom wasn’t the quarterback I would assume he would put at least a little more thought into drafting a receiver but we don’t know for sure. And it is hard to argue with his success. They’ve done ok without drafting a receiver I’d say.
Maybe it’s because he knows one of his and his staffs weaknesses is developing receivers. Outside of Deion Branch and Julian Edelman no receiver drafted has panned out for the team. Whether thats because of a lack of talent or a lack of coaching ability is up for debate. But them not even sniffing a receiver in the first round literally ever leads me to believe that coaching is a part of it. It’s not like they can’t identify talent at the position. Dozens of receivers have gone right after they have selected in the first or second round that have had very successful NFL careers. Maybe with a new receivers coach this year (still TBD) a receiver will be selected early in hopes that their new coach actually knows what he is doing.
But, really, I think it comes down to smarts. The Patriots offense is the most complex in the NFL. Two of the best receivers of their time, Reggie Wayne and Chad Johnson, flamed out because they couldn’t understand the complexities of the position in that offense. Which is why Bill is always trading for receivers or signing them in free agency.
Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Brandon LaFell, David Patten, Danny Amendola, Brandon Cooks, Josh Gordon, etc. were all acquired after they started their NFL careers. After 3 years of film you can get an understanding of whether or not a player is smart. All of those guys have incredible football IQ’s that they demonstrated in some capacity with former teams, attracting Bill like a shark with a seal. And, usually, he gets them for cheap. So instead of using high draft capital on a receiver he gets them for a lower round pick or a cheap, veteran free-agent contract.
While I’m sure its a combination of all the things I mentioned I truly believe it comes down to if Bill thinks a player can learn the offense. You don’t know that when they’re coming out of college. Especially with the state of college offenses. Most schools run a one read and go offense where the stud athletes star and any else gets left behind. Let someone else take the chance on them in the draft and poach them in a few years when that team inevitably is rebuilding while Bill and Tom are marching towards another ring.
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