The pressure is on Bill Belichick.
That was one takeaway from Robert Kraft’s media availability from the NFL Annual Meetings on Tuesday. The Patriots owner acknowledged he is bothered by the fact that his team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2018.
Despite a slow offseason, in which the Patriots have added only four veteran players, Kraft expects his team to compete in 2022. The key, he says, is for Belichick to fix his draft past mistakes and put together another solid rookie class next month.
“I’ll just say – I’m a Patriot fan, big time, first,” Kraft told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida. “And more than anything, it bothers me that we haven’t been able to win a playoff game in the last three years. And I’m happy that I think we had a great draft last year. And it made up for what happened the previous four years or so. I look forward to hopefully having a great draft this year. It’s the only way you can build your team long term and consistently that you have a chance of winning is having a good draft.”
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Robert Kraft: Bothers me Patriots haven’t won playoff game in last 3 years … happy about last year’s draft after prior lean years … draft only way to build for sustained success. pic.twitter.com/xM2cIPTpmS
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 29, 2022
Kraft is referring to the Patriots’ recent failures in the draft, which at the time seemed to be covered up by having Tom Brady at quarterback. The inability to acquire young, cheap blue-chip prospects led to a decline in play in New England.
Between 2014-20, the Patriots drafted just one Pro Bowl player in punter Jake Bailey (2019). The Patriots still won three Super Bowls in that span. However, the draft classes between 2017-20 looked even worse. Players drafted in the first three rounds in that four-year span were Derek Rivers, Antonio Garcia, Isaiah Wynn, Sony Michel, Duke Dawson, N’Keal Harry, JoeJuan Williams, Chase Winovich, Damien Harris, Yodny Cajuste, Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene.
That group produced an injury-prone starting left tackle (Wynn), two solid running backs (Michel and Harris), a blue-chip starting safety (Dugger), a role-playing defensive lineman (Wise) and a raw pass rusher who’s still looking to unlock his potential (Uche). The draft misses piled up in 2019, where they lost in the wild=card round, and certainly in 2020 when the Patriots finished 7-9 without Brady.
Belichick – in his own way – acknowledged there needed to be changes. That’s why the Patriots coach said they used a collaborative effort in the draft process in 2021. That group included Dave Ziegler, Matt Groh, Eliot Wolf and of course, Belichick. They produced one of the best draft classes in recent memory last spring with quarterback Mac Jones, defensive tackle Christian Barmore and running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
Jones put together one of the best seasons for a rookie quarterback in NFL history en route to earning Pro Bowl honors (as an alternate). That made him the first offensive player Belichick has drafted to make the Pro Bowl since Rob Gronkowski (drafted in 2010). By drafting Jones, the Patriots at least know who their quarterback is for the next four seasons.
Kraft said he is “very high” on Mac Jones.
“We have a chance,” Kraft said. “Without a good coach and a good quarterback, no matter how good the other players are, I don’t think you can win consistently. I believe we have both an outstanding coach and a good young quarterback.”
The key is to build up the roster around Jones.
This offseason, the Patriots roster lost their No. 1 cornerback (J.C. Jackson) and starting left and right guards (Ted Karras and Shaq Mason), and two of their three starting linebackers remain unsigned (Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy). The answers to who will fill those spots won’t be known until after the draft. The Patriots have clear needs at guard, linebacker and cornerback. Their receiver group could use more speed, as well. If they play their cards right, perhaps they’ll find key players in the NFL draft. After a slow start to free agency, it certainly seems like that’s the plan.
When it comes to when we’ll see the Patriots make a playoff push, Kraft didn’t hold back. He’s tired of waiting.
“I expect it to happen as soon as this year,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Robert Kraft bothered by New England Patriots’ recent playoff failures