Bill Belichick reveals interesting philosophy when grading players

Future Hall of Fame head coach appeared on the Pat McAfee Show to discuss the NFL Draft and his process on grading players.

Jan 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots former head coach Bill Belichick holds a / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The process of selecting and developing players in the NFL Draft is an arduous one. There is no proven path to success for a prospect and the development curve can be significantly different for each player.

Nobody understands this more than future Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick. He has been coaching in the National Football League since 1975 when he joined the Baltimore Colts, including 29 years as a head coach.

He appeared on The Pat McAfee Show where they announced he would be joining their NFL Draft stream. However, that wasn't the most intriguing thing that came out of his appearance. The discussion came up about development and he told McAfee that they would grade players based on they think they will be in year two.

"Well, I'd say in my experience, we've always graded a player for what we think a player will be in year two," Belichick said. Year two could be halfway through his rookie year, it could be a year and a half, might not be year two it might be almost year three. But there is a point where the player figured things out, he gets it, he understands professional football. He's had a chance to train to physically develop to a point where he can be at a very high competitive point, and then what do you have?"

This in itself is an interesting thought process, as the projection has always been key here. However, identifying that type of projection is really important. Understanding what you are getting into with a player is extremely important and can help identify some of the unique selection