PRICE: Belichick in position to welcome an unprecedented amount of young talent -- and he knows it

FOXBOROUGH — Bill Belichick has jokes.

At his pre-draft press conference Friday morning at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots coach tossed off a few one-liners aimed at some critics who might think his team is in a weakened state at this point on the calendar.

“I saw the preseason schedule was released, and I noticed on that schedule that there are no games in May or June or July,” he said. “The preseason games are in August. The regular season is going to start in September this year. That’s four months of team-building.”

So why is the coach so (relatively) loose?


Maybe it’s because he’s in position to welcome an unprecedented amount of young talent to his roster later this month, a point that was hammered home time and again at Friday’s gathering.

Belichick and the Patriots have two first-round picks and a pair of second-round picks. It’s the first time in his career he’s approaching the draft with two picks in each of the first two rounds. That alone will give him the sort of draft weekend flexibility he hasn’t enjoyed the last few years.

“This year, it’s a little bit different than the last couple of years. Going into those past two drafts, we were able to eliminate a lot of players just based on where we were selecting. This year, it’s a little bit different than that. This year, we need to know the draft from top to bottom.

“There’s a handful of players who are out of reach, but realistically, just about everybody is in play, other than a handful of guys.”

Realistically, just about everybody is in play.

It's a statement that should warm the hearts of New England fans, and put a chill into the rest of the NFL. (Frankly, I'm not sure it’s ever been said at a Belichick pre-draft presser.) Not saying he’s going to push all his chips to the middle of the table and come away with the likes of Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen or Bradley Chubb. But the limits around what the Patriots might be capable of come draft weekend are significantly less than they were in previous seasons.

“Primed to reload,” was the way one NFC personnel man described the Patriots' pre-draft positioning to me this week.

And in addition to a single third-round selection — five picks in the top 100 — he also has a pair of third-rounders from last year in Derek Rivers and Tony Garcia who never saw the field. You toss in the draft status of Rivers (taken 83rd overall) and Garcia (selected No. 85 overall in 2017), and the Patriots could welcome seven new players who were taken in the top 100 of the draft the last two years, an astounding influx of talent for a team that has played in the Super Bowl in both of those seasons.

On Garcia and Rivers — as well as linebacker Harvey Langi — Belichick referenced some other players who didn’t play much at all as rookies, but were able to make the leap their second season.

“This year, we have quite a few players who for one reason or another, (because of) various circumstances, didn’t have a lot of production last year. That may change this year,” he said.

“(But) the players almost always, pretty much without exception, improve from year one to year two. Some players had very little production in year one, guys like Trey Flowers, James White, Tom (Brady). There are a number of players that fall into that category. We have players this year that were on the roster last year that didn’t have a lot of production. We’ll see how it goes this year. I don’t know.”

At the start of the offseason, I asked a former NFL scout about the Patriots’ needs and where they might be inclined to go this offseason. He mentioned one of the keys in approaching free agency and the draft is kicking the tires on some of your own guys who ended the year on injured reserve and seeing what they might be able to contribute going forward. That would come into play, specifically when you’re talking about the potential of Rivers and Garcia, two guys who are part of the conversation when it comes to a perceived area of need for the Patriots in 2018 — pass rush and left tackle.

On Friday, I asked Belichick about how much you weigh the health situation of those players against any perceived draft needs. He wasn’t biting.

“The whole draft-need thing? I really don’t understand that,” he said. “You put a card up on the board, that doesn’t mean the guy is a good player. I think it’s important to acquire good players wherever they are. You take a player at a position where you have a so-called need, but he’s not good enough to fill that need, it’s a wasted pick. I don’t understand the whole need thing. I understand player value.”

If you’re talking value, it’s an easy conversation to have: Garcia looks robust. Rivers sounds ready. And Belichick is sitting on the sort of draft capital that makes him the envy of the league.

Wouldn’t you be feeling good?