17. OT Nate Solder C

In BB we trust? No, not this time. I don’t like this pick. Solder isn’t strong enough to be an elite tackle. 6-8 308 is very skinny for his height and his short arms and the fact that he’s already put on 25 pounds to move from tight end to tackle (and 65 pounds since arriving at Colorado) suggest that he doesn’t have a lot of room to bulk up more. I didn’t have a first round grade on him.

33. CB Ras-I Dowling B

I had a first round grade on Ras-I Dowling and that has been the case for 2 years, but they had bigger needs than cornerback. As long as Leigh Bodden is healthy, their depth is fine at that position. I understand drafting a cornerback at some point as a luxury pick, but not at this point.

56. RB Shane Vereen C

I knew they’d try to add another running back. All of their running backs other than Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green Ellis are old and done and they like having multiple running backs to hand off to, but in the 2^nd round? You can find a 3^rd running back in the late rounds. They didn’t need a starting back. They needed depth. You take starters in the 2^nd and depth in later rounds.

73. RB Stevan Ridley F

A 2^nd running back? I understand wanting to be able to hand the ball off to 4 different running backs, but they didn’t need to use a 2^nd and a 3^rd rounder on them. BJGE and Woodhead are good. They weren’t the weakness of this team. That was the front 7, as well as the guard position with Stephen Neal retired and Logan Mankins still not signed long term. They also need a big play receiver.

74. QB Ryan Mallett A-

I had a 2^nd round grade on Mallett so this is one case this year where a team gets a good value by taking a quarterback. Given that, I understand the desire to take Mallett to groom him behind Brady given his physical talents. However, they did have other needs and I would have preferred to have seen them build more for now than the future, but these are the Patriots we’re talking about.

138. G Marcus Cannon A

Again, building for the future. Cannon probably won’t be able to play in 2011 because he has to undergo 12 weeks of treatment for a mass in his stomach, but when he is healthy, he’s a 2^nd round prospect. He also fills a need.

159. TE Lee Smith C+

In a way this makes some sense. Alge Crumpler is getting up there in age and Smith can take his role as a pure blocking tight end. I just had Smith rated lower than the 5^th round for character reasons.

194. RLB Markell Carter B-

This is the first front seven player they drafted. Wow. I didn’t have Carter in my top 300, however, so this is a reach.

219. CB Malcolm Williams D

A 2^nd cornerback? This wasn’t needed at all and Williams wasn’t in my top 300.

Overall:

Again, the Patriots planned for the future. They came out of this draft with an extra 1^st and an extra 2^nd in a stronger 2012 draft class and they got a potential future replacement for Tom Brady in Ryan Mallett. If Mallett stops doing blow, he could be an amazing player. Big IF though. They also got a future starter at guard in Marcus Cannon, assuming he recovers well. However, this team is built to win now. Their 3 biggest needs were offensive line, the defensive front 7, and adding a big play receiver. They got their left tackle replacement for Matt Light in the first, though I think they would have been better off with someone like Anthony Castonzo, Derek Sherrod, Gabe Carimi, or Ben Ijalana. However, they didn’t get an immediate guard replacement for Stephen Neal. They didn’t draft a front 7 player until the 6^th round and I think they reached there. They didn’t draft a single receiver. Those were needed much more than 2 cornerbacks and 2 running backs. They only needed one cornerback, and not one in the 2^nd round, and two running backs could have been added much, much later. They had very few picks I actually liked. I don’t think they’re done, however. With 2 picks in each of the first 2 rounds next year, I suspect they’re going to try to add a veteran pass rusher and/or receiver through a trade, rather than relying on rookies, a smart idea. Maybe BB stockpiled all these picks for this year, in hopes of trading some for veterans and then just got screwed over by the lockout and traded them instead for future picks, which they could trade for players once the lockout ended. That makes sense. That’s what saves this draft grade for them.

Grade: C