2009 NFL Draft: New England Patriots First Round

This entry is the next in a series that will be looking at what the consensus is amongst 15 mock drafts posted on main stream websites.  The drafts being utilized are ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, The National Football Post, DraftScout’s Rob Rang, Chad Reuter, Michael Lombardi, Clark Judge, and Pete Prisco, NFL.com’s Pat Kirwan, Steve Wyche, Charles Davis, Jamie Dukes, Pro Football Weekly, SI.com’s Don Banks, and Scout.com.  So with that being said let us look at what the consensus on the New England Patriots is.

The consensus with the Pats is they need to get younger and more athletic on defense.  They have been winning the past few years with a corps of veteran linebackers and a patchwork secondary at times.  The most popular pick for the Patriots has been USC linebacker Clay Matthews with six picks.

USC linebacker Brian Cushing, UConn corner Darius Butler, Northern Illinois pass rusher Larry English, and Illinois secondary man Vontae Davis are mentioned in two mock drafts.

UConn rusher Donald Brown and Oklahoma State tight end Brandon Pettigrew are mentioned as possibilities as well.

Bottom Line: Given they signed Chris Baker via free agency and already have Ben Watson drafting a tight end seems pretty unlikely.  They also added Fred Taylor via free agency making a running back lower on the priority list as well.  The Pats do have a need for an edge pass rusher but this may be a bit high for a guy like English to go.  Butler and Davis seem more likely selections but I think Belichick may wait until the top of the second round to grab Butler, who is likely to still be there, or Wake Forest’s Alphonso Smith.

Matthews or possibly Cushing are likely to be the guy as the Pats dealt Mike Vrabel and need to continue to get y0unger at the linebacker position and God only knows how much longer guys like Tedy Bruschi, Junior Seau, Adalius Thomas, and Roosevelt Colvin are going to be around.