John Rooke: Patriots Draft 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

John Rooke, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

About an hour before the first round of the NFL Draft began last night, Patriots owner Robert Kraft had some prophetic words for the assembled crowd of season ticket holders and fans at Gillette Stadium.

“Don’t be surprised if we use a lot of our picks,” Kraft told the crowd, while noting that Patriot ownership of five selections in the first 75 picks overall is the most for any NFL team since 1991.

Considering that the Patriots have had a recent history of trading away picks, trading down in the draft, and generally not doing what consensus might believe, Thursday night’s opening round of the 2011 draft was a little surprising. And then it wasn’t.

First, teams selecting ahead of the Patriots took a couple of quarterbacks (Jake Locker to Tennessee at 8, Christian Ponder to Minnesota at 12) that were not expected to be chosen until later – if at all – in the round. In effect, that moved some talented players toward New England – players the Patriots had not expected to be available to them.

Such is the intrigue of the draft, every year. You just never know what to expect. So, you might say, expect the unexpected? Defense had been prominently mentioned in recent days as an immediate need in New England, especially in the pass rush department…but with the 17th selection overall, the Pats took offensive tackle Nate Solder of Colorado (6-8, 319), to begin a makeover on the offensive line instead.

“I worked Nate out just a couple of days ago,” Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia said, “and he’s got great athleticism for a big guy. We really like him. He moves his feet well, and he’s just very athletic. Whatever deficiencies he might have, we feel he can improve, and we will work with him. We think he’ll be the kind of player you’ll want to have on this team.” Solder was originally a tight end at Colorado, and converted to tackle while in school.

True to recent form, the Patriots ultimately decided to trade their pick at #28, although they did hold onto the selection until Kansas City selected just prior at 27. The Patriots then announced a trade with the New Orleans Saints, sending the 28th pick in the 2011 draft to the Saints, and receiving the 56th overall pick (second round) for this year, as well as the Saints 1st round selection in the 2012 draft.

The Pats now hold three selections in the second round Friday night, at #33, 56 and 60 overall.

The years may come and go, the seasons and players may change…but it doesn’t appear the Patriots’ draft philosophy will change anytime soon. Bob Kraft told fans at the start of the draft to not be surprised if the team used a lot of their picks. But he didn’t say when they would use them.