New England Patriots 2008 draft
The Patriots primary personnel needs entering the 2008 NFL draft were linebacker, cornerback, tight end, fullback, and backup quarterback (current back up Matt Cassel isn’t likely to be around for the 2008 season and I don’t think the Patriots are ready yet to bank on Matt Gutierrez as the number two, and even if they are they would still need a number three). Patriots drafted three linebackers, two cornerbacks, one quarterback and one kick returner.
New England Patriots had the following picks at their disposal in the 2008 draft (overall draft pick order in parenthesis):
Round 1, Pick 7 (7) Traded to Saints for overall picks 10 and 78.
Round 1, Pick 10 (10) Linebacker Jerod Mayo from Tennessee
Round 2, Pick 31 (62) Cornerback Terrence Wheatley from Colorado
Round 3, Pick 6 (69) Traded to Chargers for 160 in 08′ and 2nd round ‘09
Round 3, Pick 15 (78) Linebacker Shawn Crable from Michigan
Round 3, Pick 31 (94) Quarterback Kevin O’Connell from San Diego State
Round 4, Pick 30 (129) Cornerback Jonathan Wilhite from Auburn
Round 5, Pick 18 (153) Matt Slater from UCLA
Round 5, Pick 25 (160) Traded to Tampa Bay for 153
Round 5, Pick 29 (164) Traded to Saints
Round 6, Pick 31 (197) Linebacker Bo Ruud from Nebraska
Round 7, Pick 31 (238) Traded to Tampa Bay for 153
| New England Patriots draft picks 2005-2008 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The following are the players drafted by the New England Patriots 2005 - 2008. They are listed in the order they were drafted by the Patriots. | |||
| Still with the Patriots | |||
| With other team | |||
| No longer in the NFL | |||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Logan Mankins | Laurence Maroney | Brandon Meriweather | Jerod Mayo |
| Ellis Hobbs | Chad Jackson | Kareem Brown | Terrence Wheatley |
| Nick Kaczur | David Thomas | Clint Oldenburg | Shawn Crable |
| James Sanders | Garrett Mills | Justin Rogers | Kevin O’Connell |
| Ryan Claridge | Stephen Gostkowski | Mike Richardson | Jonathan Wilhite |
| Andy Stokes | Ryan O’Callaghan | Justise Hairston | Matt Slater |
| - | Jeremey Mincey | Corey Hilliard | Bo Ruud |
| - | Dan Stevenson | Oscar Lua | |
| - | LeKevin Smith | Mike Elgin | |
| - | Willie Andrews | - | |
First Round: Linebacker Jerod Mayo
NFLDraftScout.com pegs Mayo as outside linebacker because of his lack of strength while other analysts see him as inside linebacker because of his lack of speed. I assume Patriots will try to play him inside first, since the team is a bit weaker there. Of course, the draft isn’t over yet. Patriots might get an inside linebacker later in the draft and bump Mayo outside.
I’ve watched a Mayo highlight reel and it looked like it could have been Volunteers defensive end Robert Ayers’. I hope Mayo paved the way for Ayers and not the other way around.
Having watched an extended highlight reel I’m having some doubts about Mayo’s ability to play inside linebacker for the Patriots. He really does seem to lack the kind of upper body strength you need to shed blocks inside and most of the plays he makes seems to be either when he’s in a swarm or at or from the edge. On the other hand, Tedy Bruschi was a pass rushing defensive end in college who became an inside run stuffing linebacker in NFL. Perhaps the Patriots plan on getting an inside linebacker later in the draft and shuffle Mayo outside, as I speculate above.
Second Round: Cornerback Terrence Wheatley
Patriots selected Colorado cornerback Terrence Wheatley with their second round pick. NFLDraftScout.com calls him a “shutdown cornerback.” A highlight reel on YouTube suggests that he has good on-field speed (he ran a blazing 4.37 40 at the Combine) and that he can handle himself on the proverbial island against wide receivers. The boys at Patriots Football Weekly thought the Patriots would pick Reggie Smith from Oklahoma. Smith’s highlight tape is certainly more impressive than Wheatley’s, but I’m guessing the Patriots think Wheatley has more athletic ability and thus a better chance of sustained success in the league.
Third Round: Linebacker Shawn Crable
Shawn Crable’s highlight reel is pretty unspectacular but he has the size to play outside linebacker in the Patriots 3-4 scheme and he’ll have a couple of seasons as back-up before having to become starting-grade material. Seems like a good, need-based pick.
Third Round: Quarterback Kevin O’Connell
Quarterback Kevin O’Connell from San Diego State has nice size, arm strength, accuracy, speed and zip on the passes. The offense he directed at SDSU was a bit more complex and varied than the typical college scheme and he took snaps both in the shotgun and under the center. It will be fun to see how he does in training camp. Having watched some Aztecs highlight I have to say that O’Connell plays a bit like Cassel. A lot of running around. He needs to curtail that and develop a strong pocket presence.
Fourth Round: Cornerback Jonathan Wilhite
Cornerback Jonathan Wilhite from Auburn was one of the strongest cornerback at the Combine. Seems like a pretty marginal pick but adds to the competition and depth at cornerback.
Fifth Round: Kick returner Matt Slater
Matt Slater from UCLA is a strange pick. He’s a raw athlete with a reported 4.4 40. He was recruited as a wide receiver but switched to defensive back but is listed as wide receiver in the draft. Was reportedly mostly a special team’s gunner for the Bruins. And a good kick returner. And they traded up seven spots to get him. Odd. I’m speculating that the Patriots want to reduce or eliminate the kick-off return workload for Maroney and Willis. If Slater can handle kick-off returns he’ll probably get a shot at playing wide receiver, but that’s really looking way beyond the corner, I think.
Sixth Round: Linebacker Bo Ruud
Patriots picked Bo Ruud, an outside linebacker from Nebraska in the sixth round. I’m guessing his best chance to earn a roster spot is through special teams play. Ruud is tall (6′4″) but not particularly big (234 lbs).
The First Round: Countdown to trade down
Miami Dolphins used their first overall pick to snag offensive tackle from Michigan while Saint Louis Rams picked defensive lineman Chris Long from Virginia. Patriots is playing AFC Division East opponent Miami twice and the Rams once in the 2008 season, so it seems like a positive for the Patriots that neither team picked a runningback, wide receiver or other high-impact player. Long term, Jake Long could become an anchor for a steadily improving offensive line for Miami.
Who do you think will win the battle in the trenches between Long and Patriots’ left defensive end Ty Warren? My vote’s on Tiny. Anyway, Long v. Warren could be a heck of match-up over the next five years. I hope they develop a strong personal dislike for each other. I have it on no authority whatsoever that Warren refers to Long as Mandy, after spectacular draft bust Tony Mandarich. Spread the word.
Atlanta Falcons picked Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan with the third pick. Good move by the Falcons to get a franchise quarterback. Not that I think he is one.
Three white players were selected with the three first picks. That can’t have happened too many times over the past three decades.
Patriots also play Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets, who draft fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, in the first round.
Raiders chose Darren McFadden, a runningback from Arkansas. Patriots play the Raiders in week 15 and by that time the Raiders will have quit on the season and McFadden will be busy fathering babies out of wedlock.
Kansas City selected Glenn Dorsey from LSU. Very good pick by the Chiefs, but he shouldn’t be much of factor in the opening regular-season game against the Patriots.
New York Jets snagged Vernon Gholston, a speedy defensive end pass rusher who could very well create problems for Patriots’ tackles Matt Light and Nick Kaczur. However, he will have to have more than just outside speed because if he doesn’t have inside moves they’ll just ride him out. Interesting match-ups ahead. Also: Gholston v. Long when Jets meet Dolphins. Good stuff.
Patriots traded down to ten. Saints used the seventh pick to take defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. Good move by both teams. Pats got 10 and 78. That leaves New England with three picks in the third round in a pretty deep draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to pick defensive end Derrick Harvey at eight and Cincinnati Bengals took USC linebacker Keith Rivers at nine.
Finally, the New England Patriots picked inside linebacker Jerod Mayo from Tennessee. I know just about nothing about Mayo, but the team is in dire need of fresh blood at inside linebacker, so the pick addresses that need.
Draft Punditry
ESPN pencil neck John Clayton rates the Patriots as first day losers because they ended up with a linebacker whom they could have had at 21. Clayton says the Patriots “hated” their original seventh spot since they are big on team, not on stars (you’d think ESPN analysts would know better than speaking of Patriots and hate, but apparently they don’t), yet rumors had it that the Patriots tried to trade up, presumably to get Gholston or Dorsey at five.
I heard Scott Zolak lament on a show on WEEI that the Patriots didn’t draft an offensive lineman in the fist four rounds. I really don’t understand what that would have done for the Patriots. His reasoning was the offensive line’s breakdown in Super Bowl against the New York Giants, but since it was a collective failure for the line the rational response would have been to get five new linemen, if one were to follow Zolak’s thought process. The offensive line is simply not an area the Patriots need to worry about this year.
Besides, Patriots drafted three offensive linemen last year, all three were let go and all three were picked up by other teams, which tells me that they were pretty promising players but not better than any of linemen already on the roster. In hindsight, perhaps they should have kept Clint Oldenburg of the three, but there is no way he would have done better against the Giants pass rush than guards Logan Mankins, Stephen Neal, Russ Hochstein did.
Seattle Seahawks picked Notre Dame tight end John Carlson with the 7th pick in the second round (38). I had hoped the Patriots would pick him but there are other tight ends on the board. No worries. Jets taking Jordy Nelson with the 36th overall pick seems like a serious reach. Picking tight end Fred Davis from USC at 48 strikes me as a good move by Washington Redskins. Very odd draft by the Chicago Bears. They could have snagged runningback Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois) and either of quarterbacks Chad Henne (Michigan) or Brian Brohm (Louisville) (I think the latter is vastly better), but they went with offensive tackle Chris Williams and runningback Matt Forte instead.
