Patriot’s Draft day direction/Targets:
By Willy
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
For months now there have been hundreds of Mock Drafts flying around the internet. Some people simply put their favorite college players and or assume they know which direction the Pats will go based on their roster needs or players called in for a visit. I’d like to make one thing very clear, no one and I mean no one knows what Bill Belichick will do except for the man himself. That includes the Patriot’s scouting staff. Their scouts have the main job of scouting a player’s strengths and weaknesses, and finding players on the upward or downward swing, for the purpose of grabbing a player in the right round.
*Most teams allow their scouts to be a part of and have a say on draft day, Bill doesn’t allow this.
I recently read Michael Holley’s book “War Room”, which helps you understand everything that goes into drafting any given college player. Though the book helps you to understand what Bill looks for in a player and why he may trade up or down, it doesn’t help you to understand what makes him lean in one direction over the other.
*One more little nugget of information… is that Bill tends to look at players (mostly Defensive players) that have good size and have an “Explosive” first step. Also, he prefers players that can play more than one position (if possible).
With this knowledge, I will attempt to lay out the Patriots draft board. Unlike other Mock Drafts, I won’t simply name one name but several good options.
The First round of the draft starts; Thursday May 8th, followed by rounds 2-3 on Friday, Rounds 4-7 on Saturday.
Though this years draft is a very good one, with Starting players through the first 3 rounds, I would like the Patriot’s to move up in the 1st round, securing one of the best defensive players available (See list below). If Bill cannot move up, watch for him to trade out of the 1st round, picking up more picks but this isn’t what I would do.
My reasoning for moving up is all tied to their off-season acquisitions. With the additions of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner on Defense, along with the surprising play of some of last year’s draft choices make them very close to being a legitimate Championship contender (Their just 2-3 pieces away, so the time is now to be Bold!).
Here are my choices for each round
1.
Trade up (from 29) to acquire:
2.
Pick (62), go after a
3. If they haven’t picked one yet,
4. Three 4th round picks (105, 130, 140).
I would look to acquire any of the following players:
Devonta Freeman or Storm Johnson (RB).
Bryan Stork (Ctr). Russell Bodine or David Yankey (G-).
Jonathan Dowling (FS/SS). Kenny Ladler (FS). Craig Loston (SS).
Jaylen Watkins (CB).
Jeff Janis, Brandon Coleman, Martavis Bryant, Devin Street (WR).
Jake Murphy (TE).
Yawin Smallwood (ILB). Christian Jones (ILB/OLB).
Jordan Tripp or Prince Shembo (OLB).
Daniel McCullers or Kelcy Quarles (DT).
Trevor Reilly, Telvin Smith (OLB).
Louchiez Purifoy (CB/S-).
No 5th round picks
6. Three 6th round picks (179, 198, 206). I would look to acquire any of the following players:
Avery Williamson, Jordan Zumwalt, Yawin Smallwood, Brock Coyle (ILB).
Marion Grice (RB).
James Gayle or Taylor Hart (DE). Deandre Coleman (DT).
John Urschel (G).
Khairi Fortt (ILB/OLB). Ronald Powell (OLB).
Nevin Lawson (CB). Ed Reynolds, Dion Bailey or Marqueston Huff (FS).
7. Final round choices (244):
Ryan Groy or Andrew Norwell (G-)
Corey Linsley (Ctr).
Sullivan Grosz, Chris Whaley or Jay Bromley (DT).
Xavier Grimble (TE).
Kevin Pierre-Louis (OLB but use as a Safety)
Jonathan Brown or Tyler Starr (OLB).
Brock Vereen (SS). Jonathan Dowling (FS).
Enjoy the Draft and Go Patriot’s!