The Patriots Deserve All the Credit for Putting Together the Best Rookie Class in Franchise History

Conventional wisdom says that you can't assess a team's draft class for at least three years. Which of course never stops any of us from handing out grades within (at most) three hours after the Mr. Irrelevant pick is in. Which is how you get the 2019 Patriots draft class given the consensus highest grade in the league. That would be the one that netted them the motherlode of talent that was N'Keal Harry, Joejuan Williams and Chase Winovich, among no others. 

What we can do however, is assess how good that classes rookie season was. With that, all we have to do is wait 17 games. Which we've obviously already done. And by that standard, the Pats Class of 2025 is nothing less than the best in the history of the franchise. Or to be more precise, the best I've seen in my lifetime. Which covers a lot of territory. But I'll leave the Boston Patriots of the AFL to someone with more pelts on his saddle than me.

To be clear, I'm not calling 2025 the best draft the team has ever had. Only time will tell on that. And the draft of 2000 would retire that trophy even if they'd drafted Tom Brady plus six rescue pets from the local animal shelter. What I'm focused on is how good they were right away. And by that measure, this group has been the most beautiful rookie class these eyes have ever seen.

Previous candidates, working backwards, would be:

--2010: Devin McCourty and Rob Gronkowski came with the first two picks. Brandon Spikes, a plug-and-play middle linebacker came in the 2nd round. And a promising tight end from Connecticut via the U. of Florida came in the 4th. How that guy fell all the way to the 113th pick, I have no idea. Instead I'll just mention that McCourty was a cornerback then, and had the best rookie season by a CB I've ever seen. Better even than two Hall of Famers who appears later in this list.

--1996: Bill Parcells infamously got vetoed on his first pick and ended up with a 90-catch season by the Terry Glenn he didn't want. And despite his pissy mood in Rounds 2 and 3, nabbed Lawyer Milloy and Tedy Bruschi. Plus added UDFA Adam Vinatieri and, not coincidentally, took this team to the Super Bowl.

--1994: While still calling all the shots, The Tuna came out hot, with Ty Law, Ted Johnson and Curtis Martin in the first three rounds. Two Hall of Famers and a run-stuffing middle linebacker is a batting average anyone would take. 

--1977: Chuck Fairbanks was the coach and the legendary Bucko Kilroy was the head of player personnel when they landed Raymond Clayborn, Stanley Morgan in the 1st round, and Horace Ivory and Don Hasselbeck in the 2nd. The first two are in the team Hall of Fame. And if Morgan was on better teams, he'd be in Canton given he produced over 10,000 receiving yards and in insane 19.2 yards per catch over his career. 

--1975: Again Fairbanks and Kilroy. This was conception of the first truly good team in franchise history. With four selections in the first 35 picks, they got Hall of Famer Mike Haynes, Pete Brock, Tim Fox and Ike Forte. 

That's history lesson enough for one day. Let's live in the moment, shall we? Because this Class of 2025 deserves to be celebrated. Not enough can be said about how well Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf scored in Green Bay in late April. But I'm going to try my best to say more than enough. Without multiple 1st rounders. Using the 3rd rounder they surprisingly got for Matt Judon to load up on later picks, they hit a Powerball jackpot of talent:

Will Campbell

Despite the resistance to him from the Arm Measurement Industrial Complex, he was the anchor for a line that produced the second most points in the league. And protected their most prized possession to the point Drake Maye led the league in completion % and yards per attempt. Which is simply unheard of. He had the highest Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade in his rookie class. And even though their sack % was 7th highest in the league, I can promise you Maye set an NFL record for Most Scrambles Back to the Line of Scrimmage That Were Later Ruled to be 0-Yard Sacks. For the first time since Nate Solder was allowed to walk, this franchise is all set at this crucial position. 

TreVeyon Henderson

After just 5 total yards against Tennessee in Week 7, Henderson was averaging 21.8 rushing yards and 14.1 receiving yards per game. After that he became one of the most dynamic all-purpose backs in football. A true home run threat with four touchdowns of 50+ yards. He led his rookie class, in YPA, rushing TDs, and was Top 4 in virtually every receiving category including receptions, yards and catch %, and finished 30th in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage. 

Kyle Williams

In a crowded receiver room in which he's the back up X-receiver to Kayshon Boutte, Williams is still a work in progress. But he did more in one season than the combined career totals of previous highly-drafted wideouts Tyquan Thornton, Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker combined. He caught 10 passes in total, but averaged 20.9 yards per catch and three of them were touchdowns. Along with Boutte, he's something this franchise has been lacking forever: A legitimate deep threat who has to be accounted for at all times.

Jared Wilson

Whatever his other swings and misses in the draft, one thing Bill Belichick had a genius for was mining for interior offensive line gold in the mid-rounds. Wilson looks to be carrying on that legacy, despite missing some late-season games with injuries. There was understandable concerns about having the left 40% of your O-line being rookies, but those fears went away quickly as Campbell and Williams proved they are starting-caliber NFL talents. In 460 pass blocking snaps, he's been held responsible for just 4 sacks, 7 QB hits and 28 pressures total. That's an efficiency rating of 96.5, which is within the margin of error for the best among all rookie guards. And he's only 22. 

Craig Woodson

Without a doubt, Woodson has been the steal of this Pats draft. The 106th overall pick, he was installed as a starter from Week 1 and never relinquished the job. His emergence in training camp allowed Vrabel to move on from Kyle Dugger. Since then all he's done is lead the defense in snaps, finish 4th in tackles, prove he can play free safety (543 snaps) in the box (257) and the slot (124). While making the calls and adjustments in the back of the secondary of the defense that gave up the 4th fewest points in the league.

Andy Borregales

This franchise has gone through a lot of kickers. And expended a fair amount of draft capital on some Chad Rylands and Justin Rohrwassers. For a couple of weeks there, it looked like Borregales would be the latest waste of resources. In Week 1, he missed a 35-yard field goal. In Week 2, he blew two extra points. Since then, he missed on two kicks of 40+ yards, both in blowout wins), and had an attempted blocked in another blowout win over Miami, while being perfect on XPs. More to the point, when they counted on him to make clutch ones like the game winning 52-yarder at Buffalo or that Gillette Stadium-record 59-yarder just before the half as the Dolphins just made it a close game, he's delivered. What more can we ask after a shaky start to his career?

I'll skip the other draft picks. Julian Ashby is a fine long snapper. Joshua Farmer is a service depth guy in the interior D-line rotation. As has UDFA Elijah Ponder. And Bradyn Swinson and Kobee Minor have been making the active roster and saw garbage time reps in the wins over the Jets and Dolphins at the end of the year. 

Meanwhile the great hope of the undrafted rookie class has finally gotten his chance with Mack Hollins on IR. And is making the most of it:

Efton Chism III

Three catches is a small sample size. But he's already shown the flash we all saw for ourselves in preseason. Chism has a huge opportunity to make a name for himself in the postseason and make the coveted Year 2 bounce. 

The contribution of all of these guys on a 14-3 team would be impressive if you acquired them over two or even three offseasons. Doing it all in a year where your coach was signed in mid-January is the stuff Dynasties are built on. Give somebody in this front office the Executive of the Year. 

Oh, and don't forget they've got 11 more picks to play with in the next draft to do it all over again with.

Cue the Timbuk 3: