Bill Belichick Might Have Been Given Too Much Credit
We all know Bill Belichick is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, coach of this generation. He’s won a lot of games and three super bowls. He has won consistently and in many different ways. He’s won with a shut down defense, a high powered offense, and with great special teams (kicker). He builds his teams through the draft. He’s famous for never staying put on draft day and acquiring as many picks as he can. But one thing Bill isn’t great at is something he gets too much credit for and that’s eying front end talent.
Don’t get me wrong, Belichick and the Patriots are good drafters and is smart by not spending a truckload in free agency like a lot of other organizations (looking at you Dan Snyder). He drafted Tom Brady and traded for Wes Welker but there seems to be a notion around the league that Belichick is great and turning around talent or “projects”. Of course this stems from the Tim Tebow signing on June 10th.
I know talking bad about “The Hoodie” might be considered blasphemous to some but a lot of people are saying that if anyone can get the most out of Tebow, it’s him because of how he runs the organization. I don’t see it that way. As much as Belichick has won, how many established players with talent has he taken and done nothing with. You can point to Albert Haynesworth, Chad Johnson and Adalius Thomas among others. Yes, he did set a record with Randy Moss and Corey Dillion but there aren’t many others. If anything Belichick might do his best with little know veterans like Rob Ninkovich. I’m not saying he isn’t a great coach because anyone who thinks he isn’t is delusional. I’m just pointing out that everything Bill Bellichick touches doesn’t turn to gold.