Pats Madness: Welcome to the Final Four!

Filling out brackets is a March tradition. It’s no different here at Pats Pulpit — Coronavirus be damned! Last year, we looked at the best games of the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick era, which was fun, but this year, we’re doing something a little different: we decided to take a look at the biggest busts of the Belichick era.

So, I know it’s been a few weeks since we last talked about this, but, with the Final Four being made up of all former draft picks, I figured it made sense to have our competition end as close to the draft as possible. With that in mind, we’ll have voting open on this round until Wednesday night, and then the championship voting will end on next Monday night. Also, voting for the Final Four and championship will be on Pats Pulpit and on Twitter as well. Okay, let’s get into it.

(Note: if you’re visiting via Google AMP or Apple News go to the full website version to vote)

#1 Chad Jackson vs #1 Dominique Easley

This is a battle of the Titans, or should I say, Gators. Both Jackson and Easley could easily be the biggest bust of the Belichick era, but if I were forced to choose one, I would probably go with Jackson: the Patriots traded up to get him, and he was drafted in a year where the team really needed a rookie to step up and play alongside wide receivers Reche Caldwell and Troy Brown. Jackson was unable to do that, and never reached the potential that seemed to be there when he came out of Florida. Easley’s career with the Patriots, on the other hand, was mostly undone due to injury.

#2 Jordan Richards vs #1 Ras-I Dowling

An epic showdown of second-round defensive backs. It’s a case of one guy who never played, versus another who Patriots fans wish never played. Richards had no business being taken when he was, as he was graded as a sixth-round prospect that was drafted in Round Two. He was a good special teams player, but couldn’t play defense — something he proved multiple times in Super Bowl 53. Dowling, on the other hand, was taken with pick number 33, meaning that Bill Belichick had the entire night to entice others to trade up. Instead, he took someone who simply could not stay healthy. You could make an argument that pick 33 was one of the most valuable that Belichick ever had, and it was wasted on Dowling. It’s a tough decision to make, but, if I had to choose, I’m choosing Richards, simply because he had no business being taken where he was. He ended up being exactly what everyone thought he was going to be: a bust.