Patriots: Biggest draft steal of every year of the past decade
By Adam Weinrib
2012 Patriots Draft Steal: Dont’a Hightower
Anytime you can get a defensive MVP like Dont’a Hightower with your second first-round pick, in a scenario where teams 22-24 have a chance to swipe him from you and don’t, that’s a draft steal.
The rest of this Pats draft after the first round was also quite terrible. So these are the rules. This is what you get.
Outshining players like Tavon Wilson, Jake Bequette, and Nate Ebner (sorry!), Hightower has been the most important player in Bill Belichick’s most important unit for nearly a decade now. The argument for him earning “draft steal” honors doesn’t even need to be made, but the 2020 season presented solid evidence of him being the linchpin that makes the entire defense go, turning New England from a high-flying offense into an annual contender.
When Hightower opted out of last season, New England’s infrastructure crumbled, especially with a lot of new kids — like Josh Uche and Chase Winovich — who needed wrangling on the d-line. Hightower will easily transition into a mentorship role whenever his physical tools start to wane, but we don’t seem to be anywhere close to that reality yet, either.
Most important play of the 28-3 comeback, arguably, with his strip-sack on Matt Ryan. The lone difference between that team and the one that lost to Philly the next year (he was on IR). The captain of Belichick’s favorite unit and a future Hall of Famer. That’s enough to vault you past Northwestern wideout Jeremy Ebert for this 2012 Draft Steal honor.