One of the best things the guys over at Real Clear Sports do, besides linking to the best sports columns on a daily basis, is compile and average rankings. The most recent example of this is their 2011 NFL Draft Report Card, a look at the draft grades handed out by some of the top media outlets around the web.
RCS took the grades for all 32 NFL teams from Mel Kiper, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, Sports News, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports and USA Today, averaged them together to create a GPA of sorts for each team.
The Detroit Lions lead the way with a 3.68 average after earning at least an A- from seven of the eight rankings (CBS gave the Lions a B+). At the bottom is the Seattle Seahawks, who scored a 2.05, with two Ds. The Jacksonville Jaguars earn the honor of having the worst grade of any team, getting an F- from SI.
So how'd the New England Patriots do? Pretty mediocre, really.
The eight grades for the Pats averaged out to a score of a 2.54, or the equivalent of somewhere between a C+ and a B-. Their grades ranged from an A+ (Sporting News) to a C- (SI).
Of course, it will be a while until we know just how the Patriots 2011 NFL Draft class pans out but for now, opinions of both experts and fans are mixed.