Let me start off by saying I think this is going to be another year filled with trades in the first couple rounds. I'd be shocked if the Patriots stay in the 1st round, as they have an almost historically low number of picks for the franchise this year.
One other thing to note: my #10 pick should be stud CB Dee Milliner out of Bama, but ESPN's Draft Machine simply didn't have him listed anywhere. I picked a random very late projected CB to fill that spot.
There is talk now that KC is aiming for Eric Fisher but I'm standing by my pick. Joeckel is a franchise tackle, like a Michael Oher or even Jonathan Ogden or Tony Boselli. He'll be there for 10 years and will anchor that line. Fisher will be good but I think Joeckel is the surest thing in the entire draft.
A couple things about the Patriots pick at #29 - if Rhodes makes it to them they take him. He's big, physical and the kid can tackle. He is very long in the arms and can go up and get the ball at the highest point and he is a physical specimen. The Patriots would love nothing more than to draft him and play him at CB along with Talib, while McCourty goes to Free Safety and Adrian Wilson lays the wood at Strong Safety. That is a NASTY NASTY secondary. Will it happen? Who knows, some are talking Rhodes going to the Colts, or even New Orleans because of his size and physicality but this draft is deepest in the secondary.
Which brings me to Tyrann Mathieu. Yes he's had his fair share of problems, but he is a playmaker and at the time of his dismissal from LSU from Les Miles, he was one of the highest regarded defensive players in the country. If teams believe he has turned his life around, he could drop a bit and land on a team that would use his skillset to the max. I could easily see him landing on the Patriots, Jets, or Baltimore. He's a difference maker. The question is who wants to take a chance on him? It should be noted the Patriots had him in for a predraft visit and walked away happy with what they heard and saw from the Honeybadger.
Talking about predraft visits, the Pats used about 25% of their allotted pre-draft visits with wide receivers, which makes sense with the losses of Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd. Will they take a WR in the first one or two rounds? Historically speaking that's never worked out for them (see Bethel Johnson and Chad Jackson) so maybe in the 3rd round? They value quality over positional needs unless the two meet, so that remains to be seen.
The Pats also had Eddie Lacy in for a predraft visit, someone who could be the only RB to go in the first round. They also had in injured RB Marcus Lattimore and could be eyeing the 2nd round for him.
One thing I do know about the Patriots is they always do the unexpected. Did anyone expect them to trade up to get Hightower last year? Or to take Chandler Jones? No one has a better system in place for draft day, and no matter what they do it will be very interesting.
