Patriots Draft History Spotlight: Busts

Part III of the spotlight focuses in on the Patriots who failed to live up to the hype throughout franchise history. The following are players who were selected in either the 1st or 2nd round of the NFL Draft by New England.

Cyrus Jones – CB/PR/KR (Drafted by the Pats in 2016; Rd. 2, #60^th overall)

- The lowest drafted player on this list, Jones was an absolute bust in New England. I don’t care what anyone says. Jones appeared in a grand total of 12 games for the Pats and fumbled five freaking times on 24 kick/punt returns for the Pats. That’s a fumble on more than 1/5^th of his returns. Bill cut him two weeks into the 2018 season and Jones latched on with the Ravens. Go figure, now he’s a threat in their return game, averaging 12.4 yards per punt return in Baltimore.

Aaron Dobson – WR (Drafted by the Pats in 2013; Rd. 2, #59^th overall)

- It was not one of Bill Belichick’s finer moments as a drafter when he took Dobson near the end of the 2^nd round in 2013. Dobson never put up eye-popping numbers while at Marshall, and sadly his rookie season of 37rec/519yds/4td was his finest. Dobson hauled in just 16 catches for 179 yards over from TB12 over his final two seasons in New England, and was out of the league after his age 24 season.

Eric Coleman – DB (Drafted by the Pats in 1989; Rd. 2, #43^rd overall)

- Man, 1989 was not a good draft for the Pats. Hart Lee Dykes was the team’s first rounder (we’ll hear from him later) followed by Coleman in the 2^nd round. The Wyoming product played in eight games for the Pats as a rookie and seven games during the '90 season. And that’s all she wrote.

Chad Jackson – WR (Drafted by the Pats in 2006; Rd. 2, #36^th overall)

- Bill Belichick may be the greatest football mind the world has ever seen, but for whatever reason, the guy just can’t seem to draft a wide receiver near the top of the draft. Jackson caught 13 passes for 152 yards and three TD his first season. Two years and six games later, he was out of the league after catching just one more pass for 19 yards.

Kevin Lee – WR (Drafted by the Pats in 1994; Rd. 2, #35^th overall)

- Lee never caught for more than 510 yards or 1-TD while playing his college ball at Alabama, but to be fair, ‘Bama didn’t throw the ball much back then. Lee earned himself a second-round selection in the ’94 draft, however, that pattern of not catching much followed him to Foxboro. He caught eight passes for 107 yards his rookie season, then appeared in two games for San Francisco in ’96. For those scoring at home, his career totals – 8rec/107yds/0td in nine games.

Ras-I Dowling – CB (Drafted by the Pats in 2011; Rd. 2, #33^rd overall)

- Yeesh, Bill reaaaally missed on this one, when he took Dowling with the first pick of the second round in 2011. Dowling played in nine games with the Pats in ’11 and ’12, and just 12 games total in parts of three seasons.

Vagas Ferguson – RB (Drafted by the Pats in 1980; Rd. 1, #25^th overall)

- Good ole’ Vagas (real name: Vasquero Diaz) rushed for 818 yards and found the endzone twice in his rookie campaign. He then totaled just 345 yards in 15 games, while finding the endzone thrice from ’81-’82. He was out of the league after the ’83 season and appeared in just 33 games as a pro, rushing for 1163 yards.

Laurence Maroney – RB (Drafted by the Pats in 2006; Rd. 1, #21^st overall)

- Maroney galloped onto the scene out of Minnesota and proved to be a solid back in his first two seasons, compiling 1580 yards and 12 TD over his first two seasons. Injuries hit in 2008 and he had a semi bounce-back year in ’09, rushing for 757 yards and 9 TD, though that proved to be his final season in New England. Maroney was out of the league after the 2010 season by the age of 25 and retired with just over 2500 rushing yards in parts of five seasons.

Robert Edwards – RB (Drafted by the Pats in 1998; Rd. 1, #18^th overall)

- Edwards was the Pats first overall pick in the ’98 draft out of Georgia and for a single year, he lived up to the hype. Edwards ran for 1115 yards and nine TD’s and added 331yds/3TD receiving. Then he went to Hawaii and blew out his knee in the NFL rookie flag football game during the Pro Bowl week. The injury was so severe, he nearly had to have his leg amputated below the knee. That was the end of his time in New England. Four years later he resurfaced in Miami and rushed for just 107 yards and 1 TD. Sadly, that was the end of what was once a promising career.

Hart Lee Dykes – WR (Drafted by the Pats in 1989; Rd. 1, #16^th overall)

- Dykes was the first wide receiver off the board in the ’89 draft when the Pats nabbed him at 16. Coming off almost 1300 yards and 14 TD in his senior season at Oklahoma, Dykes caught 83 passes for 1344 yards and seven TD’s…over the course of his 26-game, 2-year NFL career in Foxborough. That’s it.