One thing that always bugs me, especially now that we're coming up on the draft, is how everybody always bows down to the idol of Bill Belichick and his draft strategy. For those who are unaware, Belichick's strategy is far different than the one our own beloved Jets frequently use. The Pats strategy is to obsessively stockpile draft picks throughout the draft. They frequently trade back (a move the Jets may amazingly enough use this year) to accumulate picks or trade veterans in exchange for picks. The Jets strategy is to trade up and try acquire the best talent possible. The Patriots go for quantity, the Jets for quality. The strategy used by Belichick is consistently fawned over by both the media and fans alike while the Jets system is usually derided as they are frequently left with very few picks. Is this fair though? Let's check it out.

Patriots (courtesy of NFL.com)

2006-2010

Jets

For the time being we'll set 2010 aside. Although it certainly appears as of now that the Pats had the better draft this past year, it's really too early to judge that draft. Meanwhile, let's see what we can take out of the years 2006-2009.

In those 4 years the Pats had 39 selections overall (20 after round 4) while the Jets had just 23 total (9 after round 4). The Patriots, for all their picks have very little to show for those drafts.

In 2006, the Pats had 10 picks and the only ones that became anything were Lawrence Maroney and Stephen Gostkowski. A now washed up RB and a kicker. In 2007, the Pats had 9 picks and the only to do anyhting was Brandon Meriweather, who's decent but wildly overrated. In 2008, the Pats had just 7 selections. The only one to work out at all was Jerod Mayo. He's awesome. The rest reeked. In 2009, the Pats finally showed some drafting decency. They collected an amazing 13 picks. Pat Chung, Ron Brace, Darius Butler, Sebastien Vollmer, Brandon Tate, Myron Pryor and Julian Edelman all have made at least some form of impact although none of them are particularly fantastic.

For those counting at home. That's 39 picks and just 11 players who have turned out OK and just 1 stud (Meyo) and 2 legit starters (not counting Gostkowski), Meriweather and Vollmer (and even Meriweather was benched last year).

As for the Jets.

In 2010 they actually had 10 picks (someone must've spiked Tannenbaum's coffee). They turned that into 2 studs (Mangold and Ferguson) and 4 decent players (Eric and Brad Smith, Leon Washington and Drew Coleman). In 2007, the Jets had just 4 picks and turned that into 2 studs (Revis and Harris) and one decent player (Stuckey had 40 catches last year for the Browns and 32 a few years back). In 2008, the Jets had 6 picks and turned it into 1 legit starter (Keller) and one decent player (Lowery). In 2009, the Jets had just 3 picks and got 1 stud (Sanchez) and 2 legit starters (Greene and Slauson). So out of 23 picks the Jets got 5 studs, 3 legit starters and 6 decent players.

Again for the math

Pats - 39 picks (1 stud, 2 legit starters and 8 decent players)

Jets - 23 picks (5 studs, 3 legit starters and 6 decent players)

And we're not even including the players the veteran players the Jets traded draft picks for (Holmes, Edwards, Cromartie)

So the next time someone wants to knock the Jets drafting down and prop the Pats up, show em this link.