New England Patriots: Revisiting and Grading the Draft: 2011
By Hal Bent
Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen (34) against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 2011 NFL DRAFT TOTAL GRADE: B
The 2011 NFL Draft gave the Patriots five players who played key roles in their success over the past four seasons. Running backs Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley both were major parts of the success of the Patriots offense. Nate Solder has been a rock at left tackle. Ryan Mallett was a serviceable back-up quarterback who may get a shot to show his stuff this year in Houston. Marcus Cannon was re-signed as the top back-up at tackle.
The grade suffers due to the terrible swing-and-miss with cornerback Ras-I Dowling at the top of the second round. Lee Smith would have stayed and contributed if New England could have kept him on the active roster or smuggled him through waivers. Carter and Williams were misses, but in the sixth and seventh round it is hard to fault the Patriots for not finding a contributor. Overall, it was a very successful draft that contributed to four consecutive trips to the AFC Championship game and a Super Bowl championship last season.