New England Patriots 2012 NFL Draft: What To Watch For On Day Three

New England has had what most consider to be a superb draft thus far. They’ve addressed some real concerns on their defensive front with the drafting of Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower and Jake Bequette. Trading down to grab Tavon Wilson was a bit of a head-scratcher for some, but he had been on the Patriots radar the entire time. It makes sense to add more depth to a secondary that was devastated by injury last season (NONE of us want to see Julian Edelman playing Safety). Wilson will be a good insurance policy to back-up the awesomely talented, but oft-injured, Patrick Chung.

Coach Belichick has become a master of drafting starting talent in the later rounds. We all know about Tom Brady in the 6th, but lesser known is that Dan Koppen, Matthew Slater & Zoltan Mesko were all taken in the fifth. With one pick remaining this year in the 5’th round, its really anyone’s guess who it’s going to be. With a total of 5 this season, this is fewest number of draft picks that Bill Belichick has ever had to work with. This also marks the first time the Patriots have drafted all defensive players under his guidance. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind.

• It would be nice to see another OT added to the mix. When your QB is Tom Brady, this is a position in which you can never have too much depth. Matt Light retiring also adds more weight to the need for quality back-ups. We all saw what happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers last year when they lost 2 starting lineman in the playoffs. Big Ben was running for his LIFE, and Brady isn’t known for being mobile.
• Our receiving corps, though infused with talent during the off-season, is aging. We need to start developing some younger talent to remain competitive. With the massive contracts being given to WR’s this year, we don’t want to keep playing the free agent game. With the real chance that Wes Welker could hold out, a late round WR might be just what the doctor ordered.