2013 NFL Mock Draft: New England Patriots select Jonathan Hankins

Each week, I like to take a close look at the 2013 NFL Mock Draft on the FanSided.com main page and review who they had the New England Patriots selecting in that week. This time around, the guys on the main page had the Patriots picking up Ohio State Buckeyes star defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins.

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Hankins is starting to fall in some 2013 NFL Mock Drafts, and FanSided.com isn’t the only outlet to have Hankins falling to the 29th pick to the New England Patriots. Daniel Jeremiah had the Pats taking Hankins in the first round of his mock draft on the NFL Network, and it’s a selection that I disagree with.

The Patriots could use a defensive tackle in a class filled with them, but Hankins isn’t the right fit. He’s a talented player and deserving of a mid first-round selection, but the Patriots already have an elite run-stopping DT in Vince Wilfork and a solid run-stuffer in Kyle Love at DT. What they need is more of a pass rushing force on the interior, and Hankins doesn’t provide that. The Ohio State standout is more of a run-stopper and while he is great in that regard, he isn’t necessarily the best fit for the Patriots.

This week’s mock draft took a more outside-the-box approach, as they had the New York Jets taking Cordarrelle Patterson and the Tennessee Titans taking Sharrif Floyd with the tenth pick. Xavier Rhodes was listed as a mid first-round pick, and Jonathan Cyprien leap-frogged Matt Elam as a first-rounder. In fact, neither Elam nor other top Patriots target Tavon Austin made it into the first-round.

Austin and Elam are my favorite two prospects for the Patriots, and I would love the Pats to pick up either one of those guys. If they were both available like in this mock, I would take either one of them depending on if wide receiver or safety is more of a need for this Patriots team.

You can view the full mock draft here.

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