Whether true or not, New England Patriots fans believe the team typically drafts for old school style players that fit football schemes, while opting to pass on explosive playmaking athletes.
That might have been true when having the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, leading the offense. The team opted to select more intelligent, passionate players than flashy athletes they needed to develop.
But the truth is the Patriots did in fact draft high-end athletes. Let’s face it, they’re all elite athletes if they’re in the NFL, but in terms of comparing apples to apples (or NFL Players to NFL Players), they did so at a lower clip than most.
RAS, or relative athletic score, has been widely used to quantify just how athletic a player is based on their official combine performances for their position and size. Players are given a 0-10 score, which is derived from other players at the same position throughout history.
The closer a player is to 10.00—and there have been a few—the more “freakish” the athlete. Players like Calvin Johnson, Jordan Davis, and Anthony Richardson are examples of the short list of players since 1987 to score a 10.00 on the RAS scale.
Let’s take a look at the Patriots’ 10 most athletic draft selections in the Bill Belichick era.
10. Garrett Mills, FB/TE, Tulsa - 9.75
Mills was selected in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft out of Tulsa and scored the tenth-best RAS in the Belichick era. He only played in 16 career regular season games for the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles.
He is now the CEO of Rib Crib.
9. Lawrence Maroney, RB, Minnesota - 9.76
Lawrence Maroney was selected with the No. 21 overall pick of the 2006 NFL draft and went on to play five years in the NFL—four with the Patriots and one with the Broncos, amassing 2,504 yards and 21 touchdowns.
As of April 2022, Maroney lives in St. Louis and works in real estate.
8. Ken Webster, CB, Mississippi - 9.82
Webster was drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Patriots, but he never stuck around. He is currently a free agent who last played for the San Francisco 49ers in 2020.
7. Bethel Johnson, WR, Texas A&M - 9.83
Johnson was selected in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft and played in 50 games, grabbing 39 passes for 606 yards and four touchdowns in his four-season career.
6. Joe Thuney, G, North Carolina State - 9.85
Joe Thuney, who is considered one of the best guards in the entire NFL, was selected in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Patriots. Thuney has spent the last two seasons with the Kansas city Chiefs, making the Pro Bowl in 2022 and winning the Super Bowl in the same year.
5. Nate Solder, OT, Colorado - 9.90
Nate Solder was selected 17th overall in 2011 and spent seven seasons with the Patriots before signing with the New York Giants in 2018. He stayed with New York until being released in 2021 and has been a free agent ever since.
4. Chad Jackson, WR, Florida - 9.93
Jackson was the 36th player taken in the 2006 NFL draft and never reached his potential. He only played three seasons in the NFL.
3. Darryl Roberts, CB, Marshall - 9.94
Roberts was selected in the seventh round by the Patriots in 2015, but he never actually suited up for the team. In his seven NFL seasons, he spent four of those years playing with the New York Jets.
He most recently played with the Washington Commanders in 2021.
2. Cole Strange, G, Chattanooga - 9.95
Strange was selected in the 2022 NFL draft at No. 29 overall, and many thought the pick was a reach. However, in terms of RAS, Strange was the most athletic guard in the class and started to turn a corner at the end of the season.
1. Sebastian Vollmer, OT, Houston - 9.98
Vollmer was selected with the 58th overall pick of the 2009 NFL draft. He is widely considered one of the better lineman of the Brady/Belichick era. He started 80 games over his seven-year career, which all came with the Patriots.
