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What Are Possible Explanations for Patriots’ Failure to Address Hole at RB?
- Updated: May 2, 2016
This is not the first time that the New England Patriots have failed to address one of their glaring weaknesses in the NFL draft.
Entering this weekend’s selection process, the consensus across New England was that the Patriots needed a running back, and that the weekend would be a disappointment if the Patriots failed to come away with one of the draft’s top ball-carriers. So, when the draft came to a close and the Patriots didn’t add to their offensive backfield, there was naturally some head-scratching.
So the #Patriots don’t draft a running back, which was perceived as a big need. We’ll see what happens next.
— Mike Lowe (@MikeLowePPH) April 30, 2016
The Patriots failed to draft a running back for the second consecutive year in which it was viewed as a significant need.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) April 30, 2016
#Patriots had 9 picks, didn’t take a RB. Going for now with Blount, Lewis, White, Donald Brown, Bolden, Iosefa, Develin
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) April 30, 2016
There are a few possible explanations for the Patriots’ decision to avoid the position this weekend. We’ll explore all of them, but the likeliest and most time-proven explanation is that the Patriots simply don’t place as much value on their specific team needs as they place on other factors they deem more important.
It’s possible that the Patriots had their eye on more than one running back at certain points in the draft, but that those running backs were off the board before New England was on the clock with their next pick. Given the space of 96 picks between the Patriots’ 112th and 208th selections on Saturday, there’s a chance that this is among the explanations (regardless of what other reasons were at play).
There were 10 running backs selected between the Patriots’ two selections, representing more than 10 percent of the total picks in that range. Clearly, the NFL as a whole felt the value of the running back …
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