After watching Round 1 of last nights draft, I was mildly disappointing in the Patriots. With two first round picks, I was excited to see the talent that could come off the board, and fill our need for a pass rusher and a running back. When they took
OT Nate Solder with the #17 pick, and then traded #28 for a third second round pick to the Saints, I didn't know what to think. They clearly had an opportunity to move up for
Cameron Jordan, and
Mark Ingram was sitting at 28 waiting for them. However, I took comfort in the fact that they know a lot more about their team than I do, and these crazy draft day trades usually work out for us.
Then I came up with this scenario.
The Patriots have THREE second round picks tonight, and I can bet you all the money in the world that they will get rid of one or two of these picks. However, I don't think they will get rid of them unless they are getting a first round pick in next years draft by one of the teams looking to move up for a quarterback (possibly Cincinnati, Buffalo, etc). If they get a first-round pick for next year, that would give them three (their own, NO from last night, and the one they'd acquire). THREE first-round picks. They could easily package two of them and move up to the most coveted spot in the draft, the number one overall pick.
Andrew Luck, QB Stanford, if he would have came out this year, would have been the number one pick in this draft. He is by far the best player in college football. He completed over 70% of his passes last year at Stanford, and threw for 32 touchdowns. His passer rating was sky-high, at 170.2. Think about having this stud quarterback be mentored by
Tom Brady, one of the all-time greats, just like
Aaron Rodgers was mentored by
Brett Farve. Rodgers turned out to be a pretty good pro, wouldn't you say?
So don't panic because we didn't take a pass rusher in the first-round. The draft is DEEP with pass rushers, and I would expect them to take one with one of their second round picks tonight. Watch the draft tonight, on ESPN.
PS- Good luck to
Jordan Todman tonight, you're representing Dartmouth well.