While Bill Belichick isn’t the New England Patriots’ head coach anymore — a position he held for 24 years — his new book The Art of Winning seemingly goes through his time in Foxborough, MA, displaying how he was able to instill a winning culture in his teams. In fact, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe got to read the book before it hits shelves, and in his written review, he unveiled a mistake the Patriots made that still haunts Bill Belichick to this day: passing on Lamar Jackson in the 2018 NFL Draft.
“Where the book falls short is chapter 10, ‘Mistakes,’ ” Volin wrote. “Belichick does admit to a few—[including] not drafting Lamar Jackson in 2018…”
In the 2018 NFL Draft, not only did they miss out on drafting a three-time All-Pro and two-time league MVP, but the person who did get drafted didn’t have as illustrious a career with the Patriots. Instead of drafting Jackson with the 31st pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected Sony Michel, a running back out of Georgia with over 3,600 rushing yards across four seasons with the Bulldogs.
Michel wasn’t nearly as effective with the Patriots, only lasting with New England for three seasons before getting traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
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Now, some could argue the Patriots didn’t need a quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft, as they still had Tom Brady at the helm. However, Brady was 41 at the time, giving the Patriots more than enough reason to draft a quarterback for the future. Not only was he 41, but Brady eventually left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency ahead of the 2020 season.
So, had Belichick and the Patriots selected Jackson with the 31st pick, their reign over the NFL would likely still be happening.
Instead, the Patriots are on their second head coach post-Belichick, drafting within the top five picks for the second year in a row.
The saying is that hindsight is always 20/20. And in Bill Belichick’s upcoming book, The Art of Winning, it shows how badly he and the Patriots messed up on not drafting Lamar Jackson in the 2018 NFL Draft. Aside from that, it’s safe to say Belichick’s NFL career was pretty decent.
