New England Patriots: Grading the 2011 Draft Class

5          Lee Smith       TE       Marshall        Grade: F

Smith was a talented tight end that didn’t get a chance to flourish in New England. When the team drafted Gronkowski and Hernandez in 2010, it was always going to be an uphill struggle to make the team. A fact made even more difficult by the fact that the team only carried the two aforementioned tight ends for the 2011 season. Smith then moved to Buffalo and then the Raiders and has carved out a niche as a blocking tight end. Only breaking double-digit catches once in his six seasons his production has increased with the Raiders and he looks good to keep his roster spot for the coming season.

6          Markell Carter      LB       Central Arkansas    Grade: D+

Considered an outside bet to make the final roster, Carter impressed a lot of onlookers in training camp. Drafted as a linebacker, he increased his weight to so that he could also play defensive end. He spent the first season on the Practice Squad, which is rare for the Patriots, as they like to move players around which showed they saw potential in him. He gave an eloquent and personal interview with the excellent Patriots Football Weekly guys from Patriots.com at the start of his second season with the team that you can listen to here – (http://www.patriots.com/audio/2012/05/17/markell-carter-pfw-progress). Check it out its well worth a listen. He was released the following season and continued to play football albeit outside the NFL in the CFL and Arena Football.