New England Patriots: Twitter reaction to selection of Duke Dawson

The New England Patriots elected to trade multiple times in the second round. Here is the reaction to the selection of cornerback Duke Dawson.

After making two trade downs and one trade up, the New England Patriots finally made their first selection on Friday night. With the Patriots selecting two offensive players in the first round, many were expecting them to address some of the defensive needs on Friday night.

With the 56^th overall pick, the Patriots finally did so, as they selected cornerback Duke Dawson from Florida. Dawson is 5’11”, and 197lbs and will likely be going right into the slot cornerback position for the Patriots.

This offseason, the Patriots saw Malcolm Butler leave in free agency as expected after his benching in the Super Bowl. Even though Butler didn’t play in the Super Bowl, he was a very important part of the Patriots defense in the regular season and needed to be replaced.

Now, the Patriots have added Jason McCourty and Duke Dawson to their secondary to help replace Butler. With all of the trading, it appears like the Patriots are going to be passing on taking a quarterback in the draft this season. However, they did add a second round pick from the Bears in 2019, which could be very valuable.

The selection of Dawson certainly fills a need for New England for next season. Here is what the reaction on Twitter was.

With talented safeties and now some depth at the cornerback position behind Stephon Gilmore as their lockdown guy, the Patriots’ secondary is in good shape heading into next season. While Dawson may not compete for a starting job with the Patriots, him being a reliable cornerback in the slot is very valuable in the NFL these days. The Patriots were certainly busy on Friday night, and we will have to wait and see if they have more trades up their sleeve.