Belichick is in a league of his own as a team builder. Many have tried to emulate him, all have failed. I think a more achievable point of comparison is Howie Roseman.
He's been GM of the Eagles since 2010 (although Reid and Chip Kelly both leave questions about how much power he had, he was in the mix). In that time, they've had 9 first round picks. They've spent one on Wentz, one on Nelson Agholor, and the other 7 on trenches. '
The two hardest things in the game to find are big, athletic men who don't suck at playing football, and quarterbacks who don't suck at playing football. Both go early, and Roseman knows this, and he keeps both loaded to the freaking gills. They drafted LT Andre Dillard in the first round this year, even with two starting tackles firmly in place. Why not; he was the most talented lineman available.
Philly usually loads up on high-athleticism guys in the later rounds, which is something Dallas also does and one area where I think Dallas has it correct. You want to find mid to late round guys who have starter potential. Philly doesn't do this exclusively, there's a couple Donnell Pumphrey type role players they pick, but the focus is definitely on upside.
Then with the salary cap, they take an interesting approach that's both value-focused and maxes out the credit card. Don't know how long they will be able to keep it up, but Roseman is a GD cap wizard, so we will see. That's the part that's hardest to replace - we're a fairly smart team financially but we are not Roseman smart.
Focus on trenches, draft athleticism, value minded, aggressive in FA. I think that's more doable than New England's "get the best DC ever, get a top 5 all time QB playing below market value, and have your coach build a system of interchangeable parts at every position on the field."
