The true Blue Chip athletes do not have to compete on a competitive slate.
What you said was spot on for my blue chip mid 1994. Unclear what Pattern’s issue is.
I don't think that Pattern and USMA are too far apart. Pattern posted the official policy statement, and yes,,,, Recruited athletes are expected to use the same Admissions process as everybody else, including
applying for MOC nominations. I think where the two comments differ is the recognition that a Blue Chip athlete could get without
receiving a MOC nomination, as the Supe has a handful (is it 100?) slots that he can use for Blue Chip athletes. How many of these Supe nominations are used for Blue Chip athletes is purely speculation, as they may be used to get other highly qualified candidates that don't get admitted into the class (for example -- the #2 candidate in a highly competitive Congressional district).
The takeaway, and I think that someone posted this earlier, is that every candidate, recruited athlete or not , should apply for all Nomination sources they are eligible for, that gives Admissions more flexibility in how they fill the class.