New England Patriots build with eye beyond 2014

The New England Patriots added nine players in the 2014 NFL Draft to bolster their squad that fell one game short of reaching the Super Bowl in 2013.

Bill Belichick once again made some surprising selections, which seem to have become the norm for the Patriots in the last few years.

However, the future Hall of Famer always seems to make it work as he prepares for his 16th season with the club. And lets not forget he was listed as one of the favorites for coach of the year (NFL news is available on betting sports), so keep an eye on the odds for this year.

Dominique Easley

With their first pick in the Draft the Patriots selected Dominique Easley of the Florida Gators. This surprised many people and not just because of the 22-year-old’s injury problems.

Easley tore his ACL during the 2013 season and missed the majority of the campaign, just two years removed from the same injury but in his other leg.

The defensive tackle also breaks the trend of what Belichick looks for at the position inside on the defensive line. In the past the 62-year-old has drafted 300lb and over players like Vince Wilfork and Ron Brace to control the line of scrimmage.

Easley is much more of an aggressive player and likes to get into the backfield as often as he can. This seems to indicate that the Patriots will adapt their defense to become more attacking down the line to ease the burden on pass rushers Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich.

Jimmy Garoppolo



Perhaps even more surprising than the selection of Easley was the use of the club’s second-round pick on Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Patriots had worked out some of the top signal callers available before the Draft, but many believed that they would use a later selection on the position.

So it came as a shock to see New England use the 62nd pick on Garoppolo, who was highly rated coming out of EIU but wasn’t tested against the strongest competition during four-year college career.

Tom Brady is still under contract until the 2017 season and shows no sign of a decline, and even though rumors persist about the future of Ryan Mallett he still remains a Patriot, although his deal runs out next March.

The 22-year-old could become the heir-apparent to Brady and it will be interesting to watch his development over the next few years to see if he could become the next Aaron Rodgers, in ousting a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Offensive Line



In the later rounds, Belichick used two picks in the fourth round to strengthen his offensive line by selecting Bryan Stork from FSU and Cameron Fleming from Stanford. Current center Ryan Wendell struggled with pass protection last season and will face immediate competition from Stork for 2014.

Meanwhile, Fleming could be used in a similar role to Marcus Cannon from 2014 as the club’s swing tackle. Sebastian Vollmer should return from a broken leg but has had other injury struggles in the past, and left tackle Nate Solder sustained two concussions in 2013.

The Patriots don’t always do things in a predictable fashion, but with Belichick at the helm there’s no reason why these players shouldn’t be at the heart of another surge to the Super Bowl.