New England Patriots

Comparing the Patriots' draft record since 2010 to Cleveland's

Published Feb. 18, 2016 6:00 p.m. ET

foxsports

After reviewing the colossal amount of draft misses by the Cleveland Browns since 2010 in a post last week, many readers commented that such a list could be composed for any team.

Well, we've decided to put that theory to the test, but not by just picking any team. What better way to prove or disprove this than by looking at the organization with the best record since 2010 -- the New England Patriots, who are 75-21 while the Browns are 28-68, one game ahead of Jacksonville for the worst record during the span.

The same criteria will be used to evaluate New England's draftees against the Browns' picks. We'll look at the player drafted and analyze the ensuing players that came off the board leading up to the team's next pick to determine how bad of a miss the pick was. Only the first three rounds are covered since the draft is basically a crapshoot after that.

We begin with the 2010 draft:

2010 NFL Draft

Patriots pick	Better options	When the Browns drafted...	They could've drafted...
No. 27: Devin McCourty		No. 7: Joe Haden	No. 14: Earl Thomas
No. 42: Rob Gronkowski			No. 15: Jason Pierre-Paul
No. 53: Jermaine Cunningham	No. 54: Carlos Dunlap		No. 17: Mike Iupati
	No. 55: Sean Lee		No. 18: Maurkice Pouncey
	No. 60: Golden Tate		No. 22: Demaryius Thomas
No. 62: Brandon Spikes	No. 69: Jared Veldheer		No. 24: Dez Bryant
	No. 82: Emmanuel Sanders	No. 38: T.J. Ward, S	No. 42: Rob Gronkowski
	No. 87: Eric Decker		No. 54: Carlos Dunlap
No. 90: Taylor Price	No. 91: NaVorro Bowman		No. 55: Sean Lee
	No. 95: Jimmy Graham	No. 59: Montario Hardesty, RB	No. 60: Golden Tate
	No. 100: Everson Griffen		No. 82: Emmanuel Sanders
		No. 85: Colt McCoy, QB	No. 87: Eric Decker
			No. 91: NaVorro Bowman
		No. 92: Shawn Lauvao, OT	No. 95: Jimmy Graham
			No. 100: Everson Griffen
			No. 120: Geno Atkins

It's beyond safe to say that New England nailed its first two selections with McCourty and Gronkowski. McCourty is a two-time All-Pro defensive back while Gronkowski is the best tight end in the game. Things go south from there with second-round picks Cunningham and Spikes, both former Florida Gators who flamed out pretty quickly.

It's downright scary to consider that the Pats could've had Gronk and Jimmy Graham in the same draft. Aaron Hernandez wasn't a bad consolation prize in the fourth round, at least until he decided to start offing people. Perhaps Bill Belichick trusted his good friend Urban Meyer's advice a little too much.

2011 NFL Draft

Patriots pick	Other possible options	When the Browns drafted...	They could've drafted...
No. 17: Nate Solder	No. 24: Cameron Jordan	No. 21: Phil Taylor	No. 24: Cameron Jordan
	No. 27: Jimmy Smith		No. 27: Jimmy Smith
	No. 28: Mark Ingram		No. 28: Mark Ingram
	No. 30: Muhammad Wilkerson		No. 30: Muhammad Wilkerson
No. 33: Ras-I Dowling	No. 37: Jabaal Sheard		No. 35: Andy Dalton
	No. 43: Kyle Rudolph	No. 37: Jabaal Sheard	No. 58: Torrey Smith
	No. 46: Orlando Franklin	No. 59: Greg Little	No. 64: Randall Cobb
	No. 48: Stefen Wisniewski		No. 70: Justin Houston
No. 56: Shane Vereen	No. 58: Torrey Smith		No. 71: DeMarco Murray
	No. 63: Marcus Gilbert		No. 77: Jurrell Casey
	No. 64: Randall Cobb
	No. 70: Justin Houston
	No. 71: DeMarco Murray
No. 73: Stevan Ridley
No. 74: Ryan Mallett	No. 77: Jurrell Casey

No. 77: Jurrell Casey

No. 71: DeMarco Murray

Securing a starting left tackle in Solder is nothing to sneeze at. Dowling was a bust as the first pick of the second round. Without a need at quarterback (Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick), Jabaal Sheard is probably the best player the Patriots could've taken, but they made up for the mistake by signing him as a free agent last year. Vereen was a solid contributor during his four-year run with New England, but obviously Randall Cobb or DeMarco Murray would've been better options. Ridley also had his moments, including an excellent 2012 campaign, while the Pats never got a return on Mallett as Brady's backup of the future. Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey would've been a great fit up front in Belichick's defense.

2012 NFL Draft

Patriots pick	Other possible options	When the Browns drafted...	They could've drafted...
No. 21: Chandler Jones	No. 24: David DeCastro	No. 3: Trent Richardson	No. 8: Ryan Tannehill
No. 25: Dont'a Hightower	No. 26: Whitney Merclus		No. 9: Luke Kuechly
	No. 29: Harrison Smith		No. 11: Dontari Poe
	No. 31: Doug Martin		No. 12: Fletcher Cox
No. 33: Ras-I Dowling	No. 45: Alshon Jeffery		No. 21: Chandler Jones
	No. 47: Bobby Wagner	No. 22: Brandon Weeden	No. 24: David DeCastro
No. 48: Tavon Wilson	No. 58: Lavonte David		No. 29: Harrison Smith
	No. 60: Kelechi Osemele		No. 31: Doug Martin
	No. 67: Ronnie Hillman	No. 37: Mitchell Schwartz	No. 45: Alshon Jeffery
	No. 72: Olivier Vernon		No. 47: Bobby Wagner
No. 90: Jake Bequette	No. 92: T.Y. Hilton		No. 58: Lavonte David
	No. 97: Lamar Miller		No. 75: Russell Wilson
		No. 87: John Hughes	No. 92: T.Y. Hilton
			No. 97: Lamar Miller

Chandler Jones has been the team's best pass rusher with two double-digit sack seasons. While Harrison Smith, Alshon Jeffery or Bobby Wagner would've been better options for New England's second first-round selection, Hightower is far from a bust. Second-rounder Tavon Wilson has done little, while Jake Bequette done nothing and was converted from defensive end to tight end last year.

2013 NFL Draft

Patriots pick	Other possible options	When the Browns drafted...	They could've drafted...
No. 52: Jamie Collins		No. 6: Barkevious Mingo	No. 13: Sheldon Richardson
No. 59: Aaron Dobson	No. 61. Eddie Lacy		No. 20: Kyle Long
	No. 63: Travis Kelce		No. 21: Tyler Eifert
	No. 69: Tyrann Mathieu		No. 27: DeAndre Hopkins
	No. 76: Keenan Allen	No. 39: Josh Gordon (2012 supplemental pick)	No. 44: Kawann Short
No. 83: Logan Ryan	No. 85: Jordan Reed		No. 48: Le'Veon Bell
No. 91: Duron Harmon	No. 94: Brandon Williams		No. 61: Eddie Lacy
			No. 63: Travis Kelce
		No. 68: Leon McFadden	No. 69: Tyrann Mathieu
			No. 76: Keenan Allen
			No. 85: Jordan Reed

No. 76: Keenan Allen

Collins was the right pick here, but the Pats missed out on Le'Veon Bell by trading out of the late first round. Dobson had declined since a decent rookie season while Eddie Lacy, Travis Kelce or Tyrann Mathieu all would have been excellent fits, although the Patriots didn't find out about Hernandez's alternate life until a few months later. Logan Ryan was productive in his first year as a starting cornerback, while Ravens defensive tackle Brandon Williams would've been a stronger pick than Harmon in the third round.

2014 NFL Draft

Patriots pick	Other possible options	When the Browns drafted...	They could've drafted...
No. 29 Dominique Easley	No. 35: Joel Bitonio	No. 8: Justin Gilbert	No. 12: Odell Beckham Jr.
	No. 42: Jordan Matthews		No. 13: Aaron Donald
	No. 55: Jeremy Hill		No. 15: Ryan Shazier
	No. 61: Allen Robinson		No. 16: Zack Martin
No. 62: Jimmy Garoppolo	No. 63: Jarvis Landry		No. 17: C.J. Mosley
	No. 91: John Brown	No. 22 Johnny Manziel	No. 28: Kelvin Benjamin
	No. 92: Trai Turner		No. 32: Teddy Bridgewater
	No. 103: Devonta Freeman	No. 35: Joel Bitonio	No. 36, Derek Carr, QB, Raiders
			No. 42: Jordan Matthews
			No. 55: Jeremy Hill
			No. 61: Allen Robinson
			No. 63: Jarvis Landry
		No. 71: Christian Kirksey	No. 91: John Brown
			No. 92: Trai Turner
		No. 94: Terrance West	No. 103: Devonta Freeman
			No. 118: Martavis Bryant

No. 42: Jordan Matthews

No. 35: Joel Bitonio

No. 61: Allen Robinson

No. 91: John Brown

Ironically, the Browns outwitted New England with their selection of guard Joel Bitonio, six picks after Dominique Easley. Allen Robinson had a superb sophomore campaign in Jacksonville, but his numbers may have crossed into ridiculous territory with Tom Brady as his quarterback. The verdict is still out on Jimmy Garoppolo, but plucking Landry away from the Dolphins would've been a big lift for the offense. New England traded out of the third round and ended up with starting center Bryan Stork early in the fourth, but they also could've had Devonta Freeman if they stayed put.

Conclusion

The Patriots have a mixed bag of hits and misses, but they have obviously drafted better than Cleveland despite drafting later in most rounds. The Browns, on the other hand, have missed badly on the vast majority of their 20 early picks rounds from 2010 to 2014.