Patriots; Second Round Success

With a lot of needs on defense and not enough picks to fill the gaps, the Patriots headed into day one of the draft with a plan. The Patriots opted to trade their 39th overall pick to the Vikings and got three extra picks in return. A lot of people don't like the philosophy because they just prefer a better player, but in this particular case the philosophy may have just led to every gap being filled this year. Overall, the jury is going to be out on these players for the next couple years to see just what they can do, but I do love the Patriots approach. I wrote a series of articles highlighting the needs of the Patriots and they went out and literally filled every hole that I saw in the team.

Here's my take away from round two:



Jamie Collins

With their first chance in the draft, the Patriots selected OLB Jamie Collins with the 52nd overall pick. In his senior year at Southern Mississippi, Collins racked up 92 total tackles and 20 of them for a loss. He racked up ten sacks and forced four fumbles. I truly believe he was not brought on to just blitz the quarterback, but he was brought on to cover. Collins is a speed guy that is able to cover running backs and tight ends, which is something the Patriots lacked on. It was my number one need going into the draft and it's obvious that they agreed. Collins batted down 18 passes in coverage and has three interceptions in his career at Southern Mississippi and is a former safety.
With the Patriots second choice, they chose WR Aaron Dobson from Marshall with the 59th pick. Dobson has a reputation for being a crisp route runner and having exceptional hands and those are two things that fit very nicely in this offense. In 2011, Dobson caught 12 touchdown passes as a career high and though his touchdown totals decreased in 2012, Dobson caught more passes for more yards in his senior year. Sometimes it is better to go with a player that has the highest ceiling, but then again sometimes it is better to go with the player whose ground level is higher than everyone else. This 6'3, 210 pound monster comes in with a similar body type to Terrell Owens or Anquan Boldin and those are the new generation of wide receiver. His scouting report has him contributing instantly on any NFL team so we may see flashes of greatness out of the Brady-Dobson combination immediately.

The second round was one that I believe the Patriots did a nice job in. they got someone who can possibly take away that pesky tight end or running back that has always killed us. They also got a wide receiver with the body type where Brady can just throw a jump ball in the air and he can go up and grab it. Looking ahead these players will have a lot of refining to do if they want to make it, but I love the raw ability of both. Check back for my third round summary in which the Patriots selected CB Logan Ryan and safety Duron Harmon.

Josh Brown
@TitleTownTalkSB