Former No. 1 draft pick Drew Bledsoe, celebrating after throwing a TD pass in 2000, helped turn the Patriots around.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

With the Patriots having the seventh pick, courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers, New England fans are looking forward to the opening round of the annual NFL Draft tomorrow.

Today, though, I’m looking backward.

A lot of players have been picked by the Pats since I’ve been covering them. I’ve been around since Ricky Sanford, a defensive back from South Carolina, was taken in the first round in 1979, through the second of last year’s two seventh-round choices, offensive lineman Mike Elgin of Iowa.

Tomorrow’s Draft Day will be my 30th, so it seems a fitting time to look back over those three decades of drafts and put together what I’d call a Patriots “Dream Draft” — the best player taken in each round over the last 30 years:

Round 1: Drew Bledsoe, QB, 1993

Along with Bill Parcells, he returned the Patriots to respectability. The first player taken that year — the Pats had gone 2-14 in ’92, after having been 1-15 in 1990 — Bledsoe had them in the playoffs in ’94, and took his team to a Super Bowl in ’96. He also made playoff appearances in 1997 and ’98, when Pete Carroll was coach.

I gave Bledsoe the nod over left tackle Bruce Armstrong, a six-time Pro Bowl selection who holds the club record for games played (212), because — reminder here to Parcells, now GM in Miami — it’s a quarterback, not an offensive lineman, who turns a team around.

Best all-time No. 1: John Hannah, OG, 1973, by a narrow margin over cornerback Mike Haynes, 1976. Both are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Best First Round Ever: 1973.

In addition to Hannah, who was taken fourth overall, the Patriots also selected RB Sam Cunningham (11) and WR Darryl Stingley (19).

Round 2: Andre Tippett, LB, 1982

A fearsome pass rusher, Tippett will be inducted this summer into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Hannah and Haynes. He is the Patriots’ all-time sacks leader, with 100 — well ahead of the next man on the list, defensive end Julius Adams, who had 79.5 from 1971 through ’87. Almost unblockable because he was too fast for big linemen and too powerful for smaller running backs, Tippett set a season record for sacks in 1984, with 18.5, and had 16.5 in ’85.

Round 3: Tedy Bruschi, LB, 1996

One of the more popular players the Patriots have ever had, Bruschi has been to five Super Bowls, more than any player in team history. Next-best at No. 3 is RB Curtis Martin (1995.)

Round 4: Asante Samuel, DB, 2003

Pats fans irritated that Samuel, who’s had 16 interceptions over the last two seasons, has signed with the Eagles may prefer either linebacker Don Blackmon (1981) or defensive end Jarvis Green (2002).

Round 5: Ben Coates, TE, 1991

Bledsoe’s “go-to” guy, Coates was the Patriots’ leading receiver for five of six seasons, from 1993 through ’98, including a career-high 96 catches in 1994.

Another notable fifth-rounder was free safety Fred Marion (’82), who had a team-high seven interceptions when the Pats won the AFC championship in 1985 and went to the Super Bowl for the first time.

Round 6: Tom Brady, QB, 2000

Would anyone dispute that he’s the biggest Draft Day “steal” in NFL history? And he wasn’t even the first player taken by New England in the round. That was cornerback Antwan Harris, at No. 187 overall. Brady, who has been to four Super Bowls, winning three and earning MVP honors in two of those, went 12 picks later, at No. 199.

Round 7: Craig James, RB, 1983

A star at Southern Methodist, where he teamed with Eric Dickerson in the Mustangs’ famed “Pony Express” backfield, James was playing for the Washington Generals of the USFL when the Pats picked him in ’83. He came to New England the following year and, in the Super Bowl season of ’85, led the team in rushing with 1,227 yards on 263 carries.

Round 8: Troy Brown, WR, 1993

Cut in 1994 by Parcells, who had drafted him the year before, Brown returned to the Pats later that season and went on to become the team’s all-time receiving leader. He also has returned more punts, for more yards, than any player in team history and, as if that weren’t enough, when injuries decimated the New England secondary in 2004, Brown filled in at defensive back and made three interceptions, helping the Pats win their third Super Bowl in four years.

It’s too bad the draft no longer lasts eight rounds because, in addition to Brown, the Pats have picked up the likes of FB Sam Gash (’92), DB Ronnie Lippett, (’83), and TE Lin Dawson (’81) in the eighth round.

Round 9: John Spagnola, TE, 1979

He played 10 years in the NFL. Unfortunately, none of them were for the Patriots, who had Russ Francis and Don Hasselbeck when they drafted Spagnola out of Yale.

Round 10: Toby Williams, DL, 1983

A teammate at Nebraska of Irving Fryar (taken by New England with first pick in the 1984 draft), Williams started 56 games for the Pats through the ’88 season.

Round 11: Marvin Allen, RB, 1988

Not only did Allen average four yards a carry on 94 rushing attempts, as well as returning kickoffs, for the Pats over four seasons, but he also has been one of the team’s top scouts since 1997.

Round 12: Greg Taylor, RB/KR, 1982

A sentimental pick. Although he played in only one game for the Patriots, I covered him in high school, at Highland Springs, just outside Richmond, and also at the University of Virginia.

Here a couple of “bonus” picks:

Best Draft Day Trade: That’s easy — last year, when the Pats picked up record-setting wide receiver Randy Moss from the Raiders for a fourth-round choice.

Worst Draft Day Trade: Also easy — 1985, when the Patriots traded their first-round pick, 16th overall, to San Francisco, for the Niners’ No. 1 (28th overall) and No. 2 (56th). The Patriots wound up with OL Trevor Matich and DL Ben Thomas. The 49ers used that 16th pick to take a wide receiver by the name of Jerry Rice out of Mississippi Valley State.

Best Overall Draft: Not so easy. How’s about you make the choice between 1982 (Kenneth Sims, Lester Williams, Robert Weathers, Tippett, Darryl Haley, Cedric Jones, Clayton Weishuhn, George Crump, Brian Ingram and Marion); 1992 (Bledsoe, Chris Slade, Vincent Brisby and Brown); or 1995 (Ty Law, Ted Johnson, Martin and Dave Wohlabaugh.)

jdonalds@projo.com