2013 NFL Draft: New England Patriots Select DE Michael Buchanan

Jan 26, 2013; Mobile, AL, USA; Senior Bowl north squad defensive lineman Michael Buchanan of Illinois (99) prior to kickoff of a game against the Senior Bowl south squad at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots decided to go with DE Michael Buchanan with their first pick of the 7th round. He’s 6-5 and 255 Ibs, and he also played the “Bandit” position for Illinois – a hybrid DE/OLB position. He has very nice height and length for his position. He also an excellent first step, covers a lot of ground with his long strides off the edge. He’s also showed some good motor to get secondary rushes and chase the ball-carriers down-field. He’s very effective at linebacker. Something that I love about this player? He’s got great leadership skills, as he was a respect leader by his coaches and handed a off-season altercation very well.

The thing about Michael Buchanan is that he is a very lean edge defender who needs to get bigger and stronger, but he flashes violent hands on the edge, covers a lot of ground off the edge, has one of the better first steps in the class and has shown good motor as a pass-rushing defensive end (7.5 sacks in 2011). Some weaknesses about him are his very lean build and also lost twenty pounds before the season due to having his jaw wired shut after a fight in June. Lacks upper-body strength to get off NFL-caliber blockers and push aside defenders in close quarters.Very upright playing style. Has major leverage issues due to getting tall right out of his stance. Struggles to anchor against better tackles in the run game, gives good effort but gets pushed off the line. Height makes him susceptible to cut blocks, does not recover quickly. Misses a lot of close sacks and gets run up-field too often.

After weighing out the pros and cons of Michael Buchanan and I love this pick, he has some stuff that he needs to pick up but it’s very good value. I love this selection and I can’t wait to see what they do with their last pick in the next few minuets.

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