A Collective Grown

In terms of depth, it’s the best rookie class Coach Bill Belichick has had in his four years as coach of the New England Patriots. But Belichick, who insists that his first-year players spend extra time each week with their position coaches to better bridge the knowledge gap between rookie and veteran, doesn’t really consider them rookies anymore.

And today, the first day of February, nine months since they assembled in Foxboro for their rookie minicamp, most of them don’t really think of themselves that way, either.

“I don’t think I ever hit what they call a rookie wall,” said safety Eugene Wilson, for whom today’s Super Bowl will mark his 23rd game of the season, including exhibitions, roughly double his college load. “It has been a long season. But it’s been great. This is the game everyone plays to get to.”

Could the Patriots have gotten here without Wilson? They traded up in the second round to draft the Illinois cornerback 36th overall, then watched Lawyer Milloy’s replacement, Antwan Harris, fail to get the job done in the Patriots’ opening 31-0 loss to the Bills in Buffalo.

The next week, when the coaches told Wilson that he’d be switching to safety, a position he’d never played in his life, he said, “I thought it was a joke.”

The joke, as is turned out, was on anyone who thought Wilson wouldn’t be up to the challenge. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Wilson, though small for an NFL safety, has been a surprising tower of power, making more highlight hits than anyone on the defense, including his mentor, Rodney Harrison.

He’s also a sure open-field tackler who has intercepted four passes. And as a former -- and perhaps future -- cornerback, he’s so good in coverage that when opponents line up three wide receivers, the Patriots don’t even have to substitute a nickel back because Wilson covers the third receiver.

“That’s a luxury that any defensive coordinator would love to have,” said Belichick, a former defensive coordinator.

Wilson, along with center Dan Koppen, a fifth-round pick who also entered the starting lineup in Week 2 and never left, have been the mainstays of a rookie class that has gotten key contributions from the fastest player on the team, kick returner/wide receiver Bethel Johnson, and nickel back Asante Samuel, as well as help, mostly on special teams, from fourth-round pick Dan Klecko, seventh-round pick Tully Banta-Cain and undrafted free agent Shawn Mayer.

“I think it is a combination of the coaches and the older guys on the line who helped me adjust,” said the soft-spoken Koppen, when asked to explain his immediate success. “We just try to come to work each day and get better. Unless you are a first-round pick, it comes as a shock if you play as much as I did as a rookie. There were just certain things that happened [an injury to center Damien Woody] that forced me in.”

But it was the play of Koppen, who also was mentored by Woody the year they were together at Boston College, that kept him from being forced out.

At 6-2 and a rather nonmuscular 295 pounds, Koppen seems smaller and less powerful than the prototypical NFL center. But by knowing his assignments and having the rare rookie skill to make the right blocking adjustments on the fly, he has done what Belichick calls “a solid job.” In Belichick-speak, that’s a compliment.

When the Patriots won the Super Bowl two years ago, they also had two rookie starters. And while it could be argued that those rookies, defensive lineman Richard Seymour and offensive left tackle Matt Light, had more impact because of their positions, they’re the only players from the 2001 draft class still on the team.

While the future is unknown, the Patriots already have gotten a huge boost from their 2003 class, which is all the more remarkable given that their No. 1 pick (13th overall), former Texas A&M; defensive end Ty Warren, has been slow to develop. Warren, who has one sack, started four games because of Ted Washington’s broken leg but has played only a cameo role since Washington returned in November after missing six games.

The most breathtaking Patriot rookie has been Johnson, their second of two second-round draft picks (45th overall). Johnson, who might be the fastest player in the NFL, led the AFC in kickoff return average (28.2) and had five returns of 50 yards or more, including a 92-yard touchdown return on the last play of the first half at Indianapolis in the Patriots’ 38-34 regular season victory over the Colts.

Johnson also caught 16 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns during the regular season, and had two catches for 55 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 17-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans in the divisional playoff.

“Bethel is one of those players who has rare, rare talent,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “He is as fast as anyone I’ve ever seen. When I drop back, I can’t throw the ball far enough for him not to be able to run it down.”

Samuel, the fourth-round pick (120th overall) out of Central Florida, stepped in for an injured Ty Law in the home opener against the Jets, intercepted a Vinny Testaverde pass and returned it 55 yards for a second-half touchdown in the 23-16 victory. He was named AFC rookie of the week for his play.

Samuel, who had two interceptions, made 31 tackles and knocked down nine passes as a nickel back this season, isn’t as polished as Wilson, but Harrison said he was stunned by how “calm and cool he is. I was never that mature as a rookie. I mean, the guy acts like a six- or seven-year veteran.”

And usually, these rookies have played like it. Will they continue to develop?

Belichick and Scott Pioli, the team’s vice president of player personnel, are adamant in their belief that it takes three or four years to see how rookies turn out, and there’s certainly wisdom to that.

If you had critiqued Belichick’s 2000 Patriot rookie class, his first and overall his worst, at the end of that season, the biggest contribution came from fourth-round pick Greg Robinson-Randall, who became the starting right tackle. Second-round pick Adrian Klemm and third-round pick J.R. Redmond (the Patriots lost their No. 1 pick as compensation for signing Belichick) contributed a little in backup roles.

If you had evaluated the contribution of their sixth-round pick, Brady, it wouldn’t have been much. Brady didn’t even dress for 14 of 16 games. But look at him now.