New England Patriots
Battle card · first-round draft history, season-by-season record, and how Patriots top picks have shaped the franchise.
R1 Picks
63
Hall of Famers
4
6.3% hit rate
Avg pick slot
17.6
Highest pick
#1
Jim Plunkett · 1971
All-time record
496–381
0.566 win %
Playoff seasons
28
of 56
The Story
- New England Patriots have made 63 first-round selections and produced 4 Hall of Famers (6.3% hit rate).
- Their highest selection on record is #1 overall in 1971, when they took Jim Plunkett.
- Across 56 seasons in this dataset they have a 496-381-0 record (0.566) and reached the playoffs 28 times.
- In seasons after holding at least one top-10 pick, New England Patriots added an average of 2.9 wins versus the prior year (13 such seasons in the data).
- Their most-drafted position group is OL, taken 15 times in Round 1.
- Georgia is their go-to talent pipeline, supplying 5 first-round picks.
- Their best season was 2007: 16-0-0 (+315 point differential).
- Their worst was 1990: 1-15-0 (-265 point differential).
Wins per Season
R1 Pick Slot by Year
Position Breakdown
Point Differential by Season
Impact of Top-10 Picks (Next-Season Wins Delta)
| Draft Year | Pick | Player | Prior-Year Wins | New-Year Wins | Delta | HoF? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | #1 | Jim Plunkett | 2 | 6 | +4 | |
| 1973 | #4 | John Hannah | 3 | 5 | +2 | HoF |
| 1976 | #5 | Mike Haynes | 3 | 11 | +8 | HoF |
| 1982 | #1 | Kenneth Sims | 2 | 5 | +3 | |
| 1984 | #1 | Irving Fryar | 8 | 9 | +1 | |
| 1990 | #8 |
Chris Singleton
+ #10 Ray Agnew
|
5 | 1 | -4 | |
| 1993 | #1 | Drew Bledsoe | 2 | 5 | +3 | |
| 1994 | #4 | Willie McGinest | 5 | 10 | +5 | |
| 1996 | #7 | Terry Glenn | 6 | 11 | +5 | |
| 2001 | #6 | Richard Seymour | 5 | 11 | +6 | HoF |
| 2008 | #10 | Jerod Mayo | 16 | 11 | -5 | |
| 2024 | #3 | Drake Maye | 4 | 4 | +0 | |
| 2025 | #4 | Will Campbell | 4 | 14 | +10 |
Hall of Fame Selections
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | #4 | John Hannah | G | Alabama |
| 1976 | #5 | Mike Haynes | DB | Arizona St. |
| 1995 | #23 | Ty Law | DB | Michigan |
| 2001 | #6 | Richard Seymour | DE | Georgia |
Every First-Round Pick
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | College | HoF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | #4 | Phil Olsen | DT | Utah St. | |
| 1971 | #1 | Jim Plunkett | QB | Stanford | |
| 1973 | #4 | John Hannah | G | Alabama | HoF |
| 1973 | #11 | Sam Cunningham | RB | USC | |
| 1973 | #19 | Darryl Stingley | WR | Purdue | |
| 1975 | #16 | Russ Francis | TE | Oregon | |
| 1976 | #5 | Mike Haynes | DB | Arizona St. | HoF |
| 1976 | #12 | Pete Brock | C | Colorado | |
| 1976 | #21 | Tim Fox | DB | Ohio St. | |
| 1977 | #16 | Raymond Clayborn | DB | Texas | |
| 1977 | #25 | Stanley Morgan | WR | Tennessee | |
| 1978 | #18 | Bob Cryder | T | Alabama | |
| 1979 | #25 | Rick Sanford | DB | South Carolina | |
| 1980 | #14 | Roland James | DB | Tennessee | |
| 1980 | #25 | Vagas Ferguson | RB | Notre Dame | |
| 1981 | #19 | Brian Holloway | T | Stanford | |
| 1982 | #1 | Kenneth Sims | DE | Texas | |
| 1982 | #27 | Lester Williams | NT | Miami (FL) | |
| 1983 | #15 | Tony Eason | QB | Illinois | |
| 1984 | #1 | Irving Fryar | WR | Nebraska | |
| 1985 | #28 | Trevor Matich | C | BYU | |
| 1986 | #26 | Reggie Dupard | RB | SMU | |
| 1987 | #23 | Bruce Armstrong | T | Louisville | |
| 1988 | #17 | John Stephens | RB | Northwestern St. (LA) | |
| 1989 | #16 | Hart Lee Dykes | WR | Oklahoma St. | |
| 1990 | #8 | Chris Singleton | LB | Arizona | |
| 1990 | #10 | Ray Agnew | DT | North Carolina St. | |
| 1991 | #11 | Pat Harlow | T | USC | |
| 1991 | #14 | Leonard Russell | RB | Arizona St. | |
| 1992 | #13 | Eugene Chung | G | Virginia Tech | |
| 1993 | #1 | Drew Bledsoe | QB | Washington St. | |
| 1994 | #4 | Willie McGinest | DE | USC | |
| 1995 | #23 | Ty Law | DB | Michigan | HoF |
| 1996 | #7 | Terry Glenn | WR | Ohio St. | |
| 1997 | #29 | Chris Canty | DB | Kansas St. | |
| 1998 | #18 | Robert Edwards | RB | Georgia | |
| 1998 | #22 | Tebucky Jones | DB | Syracuse | |
| 1999 | #17 | Damien Woody | C | Boston Col. | |
| 1999 | #28 | Andy Katzenmoyer | LB | Ohio St. | |
| 2001 | #6 | Richard Seymour | DE | Georgia | HoF |
| 2002 | #21 | Daniel Graham | TE | Colorado | |
| 2003 | #13 | Ty Warren | DE | Texas A&M | |
| 2004 | #21 | Vince Wilfork | NT | Miami (FL) | |
| 2004 | #32 | Ben Watson | TE | Georgia | |
| 2005 | #32 | Logan Mankins | G | Fresno St. | |
| 2006 | #21 | Laurence Maroney | RB | Minnesota | |
| 2007 | #24 | Brandon Meriweather | DB | Miami (FL) | |
| 2008 | #10 | Jerod Mayo | LB | Tennessee | |
| 2010 | #27 | Devin McCourty | DB | Rutgers | |
| 2011 | #17 | Nate Solder | T | Colorado | |
| 2012 | #21 | Chandler Jones | DE | Syracuse | |
| 2012 | #25 | Dont'a Hightower | LB | Alabama | |
| 2014 | #29 | Dominique Easley | DT | Florida | |
| 2015 | #32 | Malcom Brown | DT | Texas | |
| 2018 | #23 | Isaiah Wynn | T | Georgia | |
| 2018 | #31 | Sony Michel | RB | Georgia | |
| 2019 | #32 | N'Keal Harry | WR | Arizona St. | |
| 2021 | #15 | Mac Jones | QB | Alabama | |
| 2022 | #29 | Cole Strange | OL | Chattanooga | |
| 2023 | #17 | Christian Gonzalez | DB | Oregon | |
| 2024 | #3 | Drake Maye | QB | North Carolina | |
| 2025 | #4 | Will Campbell | OT | LSU | |
| 2026 | #28 | Caleb Lomu | OT | Utah |