Patriots: Best and worst draft choices, by round, in the Belichick era
By Jon Galvin
Round 3
Best: Duron Harmon, DB (2013).
Honorable Mention: Logan Ryan, DB (2013); Joe Thuney, OG (2016).
Harmon was a solid safety who played seven seasons and earned three Super Bowl rings with the Pats. Harmon and Ryan prove that the Patriots' real problem with drafting defensive backs might be that they just need to wait until the 3rd round to select one.
Thuney was a great pick who, unfortunately, only played five seasons for the Pats before he went to the Chiefs so he could help win Super Bowls by protecting Patrick Mahomes.
Worst: Tie -- Derek Rivers, DE (2017) and Antonio Garcia, OT (2017).
Not-so-honorable Mention: Taylor Price, WR (2010).
I have discussed Rivers and Garcia elsewhere as being worthy the honor of being among the Pats top 5 recent draft busts, so I won’t belabor here how bad these 3rd-round picks were. Neither ever contributed anything to the Patriots.