What if the Patriots had always drafted according to new Raiders general manager Mike Mayock?

On Monday, news broke that the Oakland Raiders have hired Mike Mayock as their new general manager to replace recently fired Reggie McKenzie and rebuild the 4-12 team alongside head coach Jon Gruden. Mayock is a household name, but not for his success leading a club’s front office (in fact he never even worked in one): Mayock is well known and respected as a draft analyst for NFL Network.

Our friends at Blogging the Boys therefore had the neat idea to take a look at Mayock’s draft success over the years and compare it to the actual selections made by the Dallas Cowboys. The results are a mixed bag for the Raiders’ new GM. But how does he compare to the New England Patriots and his old pal and former coach, Bill Belichick? Let’s find out by taking a look at Belichick’s draft haul since 2009:

The Patriots made just eight first-round selections over the last ten drafts, with some obvious hits between 2010 and 2012: Devin McCourty, Nate Solder and Dont’a Hightower were all starters on two Super Bowl winning teams and for years part of the team’s core. Chandler Jones, meanwhile, was already a very good player in New England but has turned into one of the NFL’s elite pass rushers since getting traded to the Arizona Cardinals.

As impressive as the Patriots’ first-rounders look like in the early 2010s, as inconsistent has the team been since: New England made just four picks between 2013 and this year and had its fair share of ups (Sony Michel looks impressive early on in his career) and downs (Dominique Easley struggled with injuries before his release). In between is Malcom Brown, who has been solid but little more. Isaiah Wynn is missing his rookie season on injured reserve.

Belichick and company also opted to trade out of day one twice. They moved down the board in 2009 and 2013 to add additional picks in rounds two and three. In 2017, New England used its first round selection to acquire wide receiver Brandin Cooks (who has since been traded to the Los Angeles Rams for a higher first-round pick). The Patriots also lost their first-rounder in 2016 as part of the NFL’s ridiculous Deflategate scandal.

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at what new Raiders general manager Mike Mayock would have given the Patriots over the last 10 years:

Just like Belichick, Mayock has some solid selections on his résumé. The first of the picks he made is cornerback Darius Butler, who is currently a free agent but worked as a starter in the Indianapolis Colts’ secondary from 2012 to 2017. Butler originally entered the league as a member of the Patriots: he was picked 41st overall but ultimately lost his job to Kyle Arrington and was let go after only two years with the club.

Following the ex-Patriot, Mayock’s picks remained inconsistent: Jerry Hughes and Nick Perry have been solid contributors for their respective teams, while Jake Locker — in all fairness, Mayock predicted that New England might as well trade down from this slot — was a major bust for the Tennessee Titans as the eighth overall pick in 2011. Meanwhile, tight end Jace Amaro lasted only two years with the New York Jets after getting drafted in the second round in 2014.

Mayock’s best selections intended for New England both ended up on the Minnesota Vikings: Harrison Smith and Xavier Rhodes are two of the NFL’s better players at their respective positions and a big reason for the modest success the Vikings have enjoyed over the last few years. Smith was picked two spots ahead of where Mayock had him go to the Patriots, while Rhodes went off the board four selections higher.

The latest three picks made by Oakland’s new GM are also off to solid albeit unspectacular starts to their NFL careers. Randy Gregory has been solid as a sub pass rusher for the Dallas Cowboys, but has had issues with substance abuse. Meanwhile, the sample sizes for Kolton Miller and James Daniels are too small to properly evaluate their selections — but it is safe to say that things worked out well for both the teams that eventually picked them (the Oakland Raiders and the Chicago Bears) and the Patriots.

All in all, Mayock has done a solid at best job of making hypothetical selections for New England. In not even four months, we will see whether or not he can make the right picks when they actually count.