NFL Draft 2022: Biggest Losers
The word “loser” may sound a little harsh here. But the teams that make it to this list did make questionable decisions or didn’t value/use assets according to consensus rankings. Some players are already in the NFL and have seen their teams select picks or decline to do so, to the detriment of the names mentioned here.
1. New England Patriots
People shy away from criticizing Bill Belichick because he is the greatest coach of all time, and the Patriots' way has been the gold standard for nearly 20 years. Still, we can only judge things at the time we’re at.
If you go through New England’s draft history since 2017, you'll be at a loss to find anyone else other than Mac Jones (who fell into their lap 15th overall last year), a couple of average starting offensive linemen, and running backs that you can hang your hat on.
Let’s start at the top with UT-Chattanooga interior offensive lineman Cole Strange at 29th overall. The process of moving back eight spots and picking up a third- and fourth-round pick each from Kansas City was notable. Strange will be a solid starter for them, but he is a third-round pick, and that’s where he was valued based on the consensus board.
It’s great if you have conviction in your picks, but don’t overestimate your evaluations to where you show no understanding of the board. He could have easily been there when they were back on the clock at 50th overall, where they selected Baylor speedster Tyquan Thornton, but more so as an early day-three selection.
If they end up with North Dakota State wide receiver Christian Watson and maybe Strange at 50, that’s entirely different. If not, interior O-line and wide receiver were arguably the two deepest position groups in this draft.
The two corners they picked next, Houston’s Marcus Jones and Arizona State’s Jack Jones, are remarkable players to watch as 5’8” corners with tremendous click-and-close ability and ball skills.
But before they got to a couple of depth pieces on the line, they drafted two more running backs and solid players. However, there are now seven on the roster, with five still on their rookie contract, and it's unclear how many of them they intend to carry on gamedays.
The Patriots then used a fourth-round pick on Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe, who will be a long-time backup in this league.
The value of having that guy on a rookie deal is understandable, but the Pats are not in a position to make luxury picks.
Suppose you take The Athletic's consensus draft return, which compiles the evaluations of 82 different analysts. In that case, the Patriots come in dead-last by a margin at -2031.1 (next-closest are the Jaguars at -1397.7).