Not quite sure how I missed this article from a few weeks ago but it is a definite must-read. The author put together a formula to determine the average draft slot of offensive players for each Super Bowl winner and 2010 playoff teams.
The results? The three Super Bowl winning Patriots teams had three of the bottom four rankings. This year’s 2010 Patriots had by far the lowest score of the twelve playoff teams. So in a nut shell, the average Patriots offensive players are drafted far lower than any other good team in the NFL. And before you point this out as the reason they haven’t won a Super Bowl in the last six seasons let’s remember that this offense was light years better than everyone else in the regular season. So remember to temper your criticism through that.
As the Patriots add more high round picks in 2011 they should only get more talented, and hopefully even harder to stop.
Here’s how they sum the 2010 Pats up…
The Patriots led the N.F.L. in points scored. They threw the most touchdowns passes. They committed fewer turnovers than any other team since the adoption of the 16-game schedule. They ranked second in rushing touchdowns and in net yards per pass attempt. And yet, as we’ve described, they are almost entirely powered by late-round and undrafted players. So how does Belichick turn an offense that appears marginal on paper into a dominant unit?
Tom Brady is the obvious reason, but New England’s offense has been less explosive with more talented teams during the Brady era. Even though Brady’s probably playing the best football of his career right now, the offense’s success is about more than the quarterback. Conventional wisdom would suggest that Belichick is both a master of the draft, finding gems with late-round picks, and a fantastic coach in the truest sense of the word, able to turn young men into elite players with his tireless attention to detail.
I’d argue it goes a step further than that. The Patriots, for the first time in the past few seasons, have regained a level of organizational clarity that few teams can match. When Scott Pioli and Belichick built the championship Patriots teams at the beginning of the decade, New England consistently added “their guys,” players who fit the Patriot profile. With the drafting of Hernandez and Gronkowski, and the re-acquisition of Branch, to go along with Welker and Brady, the Patriots are back to finding players who, first and foremost, fit their system. Green-Ellis, Woodhead and Branch wouldn’t succeed on a lot of teams, but Belichick knows exactly what he wants out of every roster spot and only looks for players who possess those traits. And that’s a big secret of his success.