The phrase hangs on a sign in the New England Patriots’ facility. It has been Bill Belichick’s calling card since his arrival in New England at the outset of this millennium, with the head coach constantly hammering home this mantra to players, coaches and staff members. It’s a call for accountability that has defined the Patriots’ two decades of domination. Observers envy New England’s ability to avoid excuses in the face of adversity and compete for the Lombardi Trophy, year in and year out.
That’s why my ears perked up when I heard Belichick try to explain away the 2020 Pats’ disappointing 2-5 start.
“Look, we paid Cam Newton $1 million. I mean, it’s obvious we didn’t have any money. It’s nobody’s fault,” Belichick said Monday on his weekly WEEI radio spot. “That’s what we did the last [six] years. We sold out and won three Super Bowls, played in a fourth and played in an AFC Championship Game. This year, we had less to work with. It’s not an excuse — it’s just a fact.“
While it’s quite surprising to hear these kinds of sentiments come out of his mouth, Belichick is absolutely correct in his assessment of New England’s current roster. These Patriots lack blue-chip pieces across the board, and the talent disparity between New England and the heavyweights around the league is one of the reasons why the team is spiraling toward mediocrity.
But honestly, Belichick has no one to blame more than himself. The future Hall of Fame has not done his job on the personnel front.
This team is short on star power and the new quarterback hasn’t been able to mask the team’s deficiencies like his predecessor. To be fair, Tom Brady played with a better supporting cast in 2019 than the one surrounding Newton this year. TB12 had the luxury of leaning on one of the NFL’s top defenses, with Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore enjoying a career campaign. Although the overall talent on the 2019 Patriots’ roster still fell short of the championship standard long espoused to me by a pair of Hall of Fame executives — Ron Wolf and Bill Polian each told me that title teams feature 10-12 blue-chip players — Brady and a solid core of veterans found a way to guide New England to a 12-4 record.
But in the wake of free agency attrition and COVID-19 opt-outs, the Patriots’ talent deficiencies have been laid bare for the football world to see. New England is finally feeling the effects of repeated draft-day failures, with Belichick unable to scheme around the team’s lack of speed, athleticism and playmaking ability on each side of the ball.
With a lack of star power and overall talent, the Patriots can’t hang when they’re unable to strictly play the game on their terms. In fact, the talent disparity between the Pats and most of the playoff contenders in the AFC makes it hard to consider them legitimate threats to make the postseason tournament — even with the expanded playoff field.
I know New Englanders don’t want to face this reality after a 20-year run of dominance, but the Patriots’ descent into AFC irrelevance could last a while based on their personnel woes. The team has not sufficiently mitigated the exits of several key contributors over the past few years. New England has failed to acquire and develop young talent. Honestly, the overall lack of depth and talent on the roster is shocking — though not exactly surprising once you review the team’s recent draft history.
New England hasn’t drafted a single Pro Bowler since 2013 (Jamie Collins), and it’s hard to identify any potential stars on the horizon. Take a look at the Patriots’ last five draft hauls:
2020: S Kyle Dugger (Round 2/No. 37 overall), LB Josh Uche (2/60), LB Anfernee Jennings (3/87), TE Devin Asiasi (3/91), TE Dalton Keene (3/101), K Justin Rohrwasser (5/159), OG Mike Onwenu (6/182), OL Justin Herron (6/195), LB Cassh Maluia (6/204), C Dustin Woodard (7/230).
2019: WR N’Keal Harry (Round 1/No. 32 overall), CB Joejuan Williams (2/45), LB Chase Winovich (3/77), RB Damien Harris (3/87), OT Yodny Cajuste (3/101), OG Hjalte Froholdt (4/118), QB Jarrett Stidham (4/133), DT Byron Cowart (5/159), P Jake Bailey (5/163), CB Ken Webster (7/252).
2018: OT Isaiah Wynn (Round 1/No. 23 overall), RB Sony Michel (1/31), CB Duke Dawson (2/56), LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (5/143), LB Christian Sam (6/178), WR Braxton Berrios (6/210), QB Danny Etling (7/219), CB Keion Crossen (7/243), TE Ryan Izzo (7/250).
2017: DE Derek Rivers (Round 3/No. 83 overall), OT Antonio Garcia (3/85), DE Deatrich Wise (4/131), OT Conor McDermott (6/211).
2016: CB Cyrus Jones (Round 2/No. 60 overall), OG Joe Thuney (2/78), QB Jacoby Brissett (3/91), DT Vincent Valentine (3/96), WR Malcolm Mitchell (4/112), LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (6/208), LB Elandon Roberts (6/214); C Ted Karras (6/221), WR Devin Lucien (7/225).
Over the past five drafts, the Patriots have acquired around a dozen or so players that are currently starters/key contributors. Considering the lack of elite talents or blue-chip prospects in that group, are we really surprised that New England has taken a big step back without TB12 and a host of veterans sustaining the Patriot Way?
That’s why we need to hold Belichick’s feet to the fire for vastly underperforming as a de facto general manager despite his unrivaled success as a head coach. He’s done such a poor job of replenishing the roster with young talent in recent years that his exceptional tactical ability can’t bail him out. Now, it’d be foolish to completely bury Belichick’s Patriots. The coach can still come up with a game plan that’ll allow the Pats to work around some deficiencies and win some games. But Belichick needs to take a long, hard look at how his organization goes about the draft process. Because right now, it’s not working.
Reportedly, the Patriots’ extensively sift through eligible players until their draft board consists of 75 names. That prospect menu is significantly smaller than most other organizations, whose general managers prefer a big board of 125-150 players. New England routinely weeds out players who aren’t deemed as good fits and focus on bringing in guys who possess the requisite intelligence, versatility and playing ability that Belichick covets in each position.
That’s why Belichick must fall on the sword for failing to bring in stars and starters with his top picks. He’s intimately involved in the process. He knows exactly what he wants at each position and has the autonomy to pick whatever player he believes best fits. He is the judge and jury on each pick, so he has to take accountability for New England’s draft flops in recent years.
It’s impossible to dispute the Patriots’ results under Belichick, with six Lombardi Trophies in the past 20 years. But the lack of blue-chip players currently on the roster should prompt Belichick and Co. to rethink their methods for talent acquisition.
Considering how the Patriots have created a championship culture with everyone held accountable for their performance in their respective roles, it’s about time for someone to call out Belichick for failing to do his job as a team-builder.
