FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady’s magical season isn’t the only reason the Patriots are 14-2 and hurtling toward their fourth Lombardi Trophy in 10 years.
A draft class for the ages has gone hand-in-hand with Brady’s brilliance in turning what was an average team just a year ago into what has all the appearances of a juggernaut this season.
Led by Rutgers product Devin McCourty, the 2010 draft haul by New England boss Bill Belichick and right-hand personnel man Nick Caserio made an immediate impact while potentially fortifying the Patriots for years to come.
Eight of the Patriots’ 12 picks made the roster, as well as three undrafted rookie or first-year free agents. Three of those picks — McCourty and tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez — are already budding stars, while linebackers Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham aren’t far behind.
That’s an astounding success rate reminiscent of the 2007 class that powered the Giants to a Super Bowl win over the Patriots, and an even bigger surprise considering New England’s recent run of draft misfortune.
Just don’t expect Belichick to brag about it.
Asked last week if this was the best draft class he had ever overseen, Belichick said: “Oh, I don’t know. We’ve had a number of good players from other drafts.”
Conventional wisdom around the league had Belichick and the Patriots headed for hard times when two of his top personnel men, Scott Pioli and Thomas Dimitroff, landed respective general manager jobs in Kansas City and Atlanta two years ago.
That line of thought hardened when Belichick — fresh off an embarrassing home playoff loss to the Ravens — entered this year’s draft with just three players total still around from his combined 2006-08 classes, including zero from 2006.
Even after this year’s draft, Belichick was getting more praise for quantity than quality after experts deemed McCourty as a first-round reach. They also wondered if Belichick was gambling with three picks — Hernandez, Spikes and Cunningham — from the same University of Florida that had produced several busts in recent years.
But the Belichick-Caserio plan turned out to be not just a home run but a grand slam. McCourty made the Pro Bowl while fighting for the league lead in interceptions, Gronkowski and Hernandez set team receiving records for tight ends and Spikes and Cunningham became productive starters.
Even the punter Belichick grabbed in the fifth round, Michigan’s Zoltan Mesko, set the NFL record for a rookie with a 38.4-yard net average.
Talk about being in a zone — it turns out Belichick and Caserio had the hottest of all hands last April.
“I think, as a group, they have a pretty good future,” Belichick said deadpan last week.
The reason is simple, Belichick added, lots of snaps.
“Some guys have had significant playing time or significant roles,” he said. “As a group, I’d say that they’ve worked hard and for the most part, they’ve been on the field on a regular basis. So if a player works hard and he’s on the field, then he should get better. And those guys have.”
And don’t look now, but the Patriots are in prime position to one-up themselves in this year’s draft thanks to an almost unbelievable bounty of picks.
Thanks in part to the Randy Moss and Richard Seymour trades, New England will have two selection in each of the first four
rounds when late April rolls around.
Said veteran running back Fred Taylor: “That’s got to scare the heck out of the league right there.”