A Look At The 2011 Patriots Draft Class

The diehard draftniks in Patriot Nation did not get their premiere pass rusher or powerful running back but just a few hours after the end of the 2011 NFL Draft, I am a strong believer that Bill Belichick has put his team in a position to once again contend for the Super Bowl.

The Patriots selected nine players over the course of the three days.  The experts - and the callers to sports radio - believed that Belichick would draft either a defensive lineman or linebacker who could pressure the opposing quarterback as well as a physical running back to help balance the Patriots offense. 

The experts, well, they were wrong.

Starting with the 17th pick in the first round, Belichick took Nate Solder, a massive (6-8, 320) offensive tackle from the University of Colorado.  The Patriots offensive line is one in transition as Matt Light faces free agency  (if there ever is free agency), Logan Mankins could once again be a contract holdout, and Stephen Neal has retired.  Solder was a two-time All-Big 12 selection at Colorado and he will team up with Sebastian Vollmer to give the Patriots a massive tandem of tackles for (hopefully) the next decade.  In a perfect world, Light would return to give Tom Brady a veteran to protect his blind side in 2011 but by investing such a high pick in Solder, Belichick could be expecting him to play immediately.

The Pats traded their other pick in the first round to the Saints for a second round pick in this draft and a first round pick in 2012.  With that pick New Orleans drafted Mark Ingram, the big running back from Alabama who many Patriots fans wanted to see lining up behind Brady this fall. 

In the second round, the Patriots added two players and traded a third pick.  With the 33rd pick they took Virginia cornerback Ras-I Dowling.  Dowling is big (6-2, 200) and fast (4.4 time in the 40-yard dash) but only played in five games in 2010.  After taking Devin McCourty a year ago and watching him develop into an All-Pro as a rookie, Belichick hopes to strike gold again.  Later in the second round (56th pick) they took California running back Shane Vereen who compiled almost 1200 rushing yards in 2010.  Vereen will join BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead to give the Pats another good option out of the backfield.

Belichick took another running back, Stevan Ridley of LSU, with their first pick in the third round (73).  Whereas Vereen is more of a speed back, Ridley is a physical runner who played both tailback and fullback for the Tigers. 

The biggest surprise from the Patriots came with their second third round pick when they took Ryan Mallett, the University of Arkansas quarterback.  Mallett led the Razorbacks to the Sugar Bowl and was one of the best quarterback prospects in this draft but concerns about his character led him to slip to the 74th pick.  The common line of thinking is that Mallett will benefit from being with the Patriots and learning the art of being an NFL quarterback from Brady.  While there is obviously no expectation of Mallett playing significant time in 2011, I am looking forward to seeing him throw the ball long in the preseason.

After not having a fourth round pick, the Pats continued the draft by taking Texas Christian offensive lineman Marcus Cannon with the 138th pick.  Cannon played tackle at TCU but he projects to be a guard in the NFL.  Like Nate Solder, he is huge (6-5, 355) and the Patriots need that kind of physical presence on their line.  He was a critical member of the success at TCU and only slipped to the fifth round because he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which he is expected to fully recover from.

They wrapped up the weekend by taking Lee Smith, a big blocking tight end from Marshall with the 159th pick; Markell Carter, an outside linebacker from Central Arkansas; and Malcolm Williams, an athletic but very raw cornerback from TCU.

While the pass rusher never materialized, the Patriots did begin to rebuild their offensive line, added a good cornerback and depth at running back, and swung for the fences with Mallett who could be the eventual heir to Brady.  The experts may not give them a good draft grade right now but they received similar reviews last year and six players - McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Jermaine Cunningham, Brandon Spikes, Aaron Hernandez, and Zoltan Mesko - contributed to a 14-2 team so its important to be patient and allow Belichick and his staff to coach up these young men and watch them develop as professionals.