https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2017/04/29/patriots-2017-nfl-draft-class/, Rex Ryan thinks the Tom Brady vs. Bill Belichick debate is settled, Ex-Patriots CB explains why he thinks New England's 2020 season is still alive, What Cam Newton had to say about game-losing fumble vs. Bills in Week 8, Jakobi Meyers is shedding an unflattering light on N'Keal Harry's struggles, The Patriots' odds to win the AFC East vastly plummeted after loss to Bills, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The lack of talent is also due to poor drafting, with too many misses in the first and second rounds in recent years. Wise wasn't the same type of athlete (4.92-second 40-yard dash, 33-inch vertical), but he was athletic enough to log the third-most snaps (544) on the defensive line for New England in 2017, behind only Trey Flowers and Lawrence Guy. Unless another shift in front-seven deployment is coming in 2020, Wise looks destined to be a role player. The New England Patriots took a limited role in the 2017 NFL Draft by adding their smallest class in franchise history with just four players. Championships followed. But he has kicked around the AFC East since then, landing with the Bills after the Patriots waived him in 2017. Patriots’ 2017 draft class ranked as the worst in the NFL Related: Patriots great Logan Mankins gets selected third overall in 2005 NFL re-draft By … He must know that New England would need to make a tremendous turnaround, with 2-5 teams making the playoffs just 4.9% of the time since 1990. He was released the following spring after the Patriots drafted Isaiah Wynn in the first round and traded for Trent Brown. But in the running as their best rookie pickup from that offseason is Vanderbilt's Adam Butler, who arrived as an undrafted player. 72 overall to acquire Ealy. Who they could’ve had: Kenny Golladay, WR, Northern Illinois (Round 3, Pick 96). Listen and subscribe to Phil Perry's Next Pats Podcast here: 2016 Draft Rewind: Thuney the last man standing, Bean: Hindsight 2020 - Belichick's list of second-round misses are alarming. Last season, he landed on injured reserve before the season began. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Bill Belichick did not do a good job setting up the 2020 New England Patriots for success. Remember Duke Dawson? Former Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema lauded Butler for his ability to rack up "assists" on the defensive line, helping his teammates tally sacks by wiping out blockers beforehand. Otherwise, there seemed to be very little way he was going to make the team out of camp. The New England Patriots didn’t pick until the third round, and the result was a lost draft class with very few positives. Then they traded down 11 spots from that Carolina third and picked up an athletic, undersized pass-rusher from an FCS program. And so he doesn't seem interested in making promises about the rest of the Patriots' season. In 2016, the Patriots sent a sixth-rounder to Detroit in exchange for Kyle Van Noy and a seventh. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. Especially offensively. Wise is the choice by default, but he has also been a solid contributor on the Patriots’ defensive line. When the Patriots added Antonio Garcia on draft weekend, that group theoretically got even deeper. Like Rivers, Garcia ended up missing the entirety of his first season. 105. ...but named Garcia as the biggest miss of a shallow draft haul: Among the first 85 picks in the draft, three players have still not played in the NFL: [Malik] McDowell , Carlos Henderson and Garcia. 32 overall pick they acquired in the Cooks trade. The Patriots sent the No. The Patriots forfeited the highest of their 2017 fourth-round picks. Worked out well for them. When his rookie year was all said and done, he'd racked up 7.0 sacks. Blood clots in his lungs prevented him from doing anything more than participating in his few training camp practices with New England. The Patriots have two players remaining from the 2017 draft class on their 2020 roster: Rivers and Wise. It has been a busy offseason for the New England Patriots … They traded away all of their original picks (and some picks which weren’t originally theirs), and made selections they’d acquired from other teams. Following a series of trades, the New England Patriots entered the 2017 NFL draft without any selections in the first two rounds: one resulted in wide receiver Brandin Cooks, the other in defensive end Kony Ealy and additional draft capital. They had Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen at tight end. Running back James Conner went to the Steelers at pick No.