This week, I tweeted positively about a Patriots executive, Eliot Wolf, who seems on track to become the GM in New England after years of paying dues in Green Bay and Cleveland. Though there were literally dozens of positive responses from scouts, agents and others, there was also one knucklehead who blamed him for QB Mac Jones’ struggles over the last two seasons.

I know you can’t take people seriously based on one off-the-cuff remark on social media, but this kind of comment really bugs me. I guess it springs from a fundamental misunderstanding of how the draft works by people whose main claim to fame is making the playoffs in their fantasy league.

Anyway, here’s why that’s a dumb tweet.

• Jones had a great rookie season. It’s not like Jones has never performed. In his first year, he threw for almost 4,000 yards with a 22-13 TD-to-INT ratio and a. 92.5 quarterback rating. He did that without a 1,000-yard receiver (Jakobi Meyers came closest with 866 yards). That’s pretty good for a first-year QB following a legend.
• How a player is developed after the draft is critical to his success. Josh McDaniels has had his ups and downs professionally, but there’s no arguing that his 2021 season as offensive coordinator in New England wasn’t a good one. Prior to McDaniels’ departure to be head coach of the Raiders, Jones was seen as a rising talent and worthy heir to the Brady throne. Since then, Jones’ offensive coordinators have been a weird combination of two defensive coordinators (Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia) in 2022 and Bill O’Brien this past season. I’d argue that Jones’ confidence was pretty much crushed entering the ’23 season, and from what I’ve read of O’Brien, “nurturing” is not a quality that’s in his makeup. The point is, the player Jones was on draft day is very different from who he is today, and that has everything to do with how the team around him has encouraged his progress and helped him evolve. That’s not just true of Jones, but of every player ever drafted. 
• There are no picks “made” by one scout or executive. This is the part that really drives me crazy. Yes, there has to be accountability on who picks whom, but how is Wolf responsible for the team’s picks that haven’t worked out? Wolf was no more than a consultant — a murky title, for sure — in the 2021 draft, but even if he was Jones’ champion, it doesn’t happen until all of the team’s braintrust has seen him play multiple games; has interviewed him multiple times; and has put him through various tests and evaluated his pro day. This doesn’t happen, and can’t happen, with just one guy making the pick. The Patriots’ decision to draft Jones (and every decision by every team) was collaborative. That’s an essential part of every draft for every team. 

I don’t know Eliot exceptionally well, but here’s what I can tell you: he is universally respected because he’s thorough and almost without an ego, but more importantly, he’s won everywhere he’s been. Now that he’s brought in one of the best pure talent evaluators in the league in Alonzo Highsmith, I’d be buying stock in New England’s future. 

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