Open Rants by RTORRES27

A draft day in New England is normally boring as they always have low picks and trade a lot of them for veterans, but this year will be different. They traded away Jimmy G and B.Cooks and now are possibly on the race for a QB and have 5 top 100 picks.

We all now that the NFC is STAKED with Super Bowl quality teams so if they want their 6th title they need a solid draft. New England needs to sign a young core to free up some cap space and prepare for the future.

Picks:

1. DT

2. LB

3. OT

4. G

5. Future QB

6. CB

The Draft:

Round 1, Pick 23 - Taven Bryan - DT - Florida

We have good players at this position (Shelton and Brown) but neither of them contributes a lot pressuring the QB. Bryan is explosive and will contribute a lot. With a bit of development he could be great.

Round 1, Pick 31 - Trade with Tampa for Round 2-Pick 6 and Round 4-Pick 2

There is no obvious player to take and I think that an extra fourth rounder will be important.

Round 2, Pick 6 - From TB - Mason Rudolph - QB - Oklahoma State

Some talented players will be available but Broncos and Dolphins(QB needy) will pick before their next selection so I think they draft Rudolph here. I also hope that some teams don't panic and take a Day 2 QB on the first round, Rudolph is not ready and will need a lot of coaching so second round is fine for him. With good size, intelligence, pocket presence and a dangerous deep ball he can be our future starter. Transitioning to an NFL offense going against a much better competition than Big 12 will be a big challenge. He also will need to develop on some key aspects as accruacy and field vision, but everyone know that the Patriots staff is more than capable of developing a young QB. I also like Kyle Lauletta and he should be the plan B as I don't see them trading up for a QB on the first round.

Round 2, Pick 11 - Darius Leonard - LB -  South Carolina State

This may be high for Leonard but this is a BIG need and I have seen bigger reaches than this coming from the Patriots in recent years. Leonard is impressive, he is athletic, makes big plays and is a excellent run defender. The physical part of his game should be improved but he could eventually turn into a three down LB. I like this pick a lot and Patriots only have injury prone Hightower and some average rotational players.

Round 2, Pick 31- Martinas Rankin - OT - Mississippi State

Nate Soldier is gone and a new LT is needed. Rankin is the right player to develop as he is athletic, smart and is clean on the 'mental' side, with some time gainig experience and strengh he should be easily the starter.

Round 3, Pick 31 - Nick Nelson - CB - Wisconsin

Nelson is one of the impressive CBs from this class but is expected to drop because of a recent injury. Even if it hurts his pre season I think that it will not matter for the Patriots because of the signig of Jason McCourty but a future CB should be considered in New England and this will be a good value pick.

Round 4, Pick 2 - From TB - Quessenberry - UCLA / Welsh - Iowa --- G

The Guards on the roster are not awful but a young prospect could come to compete for the starting job and eventually be upgrades on the position and both of this prospects could do that.

I think that this would be a quality Draft to build the future of the franchise. The cap situation is not so good and we don't know when Brady and Bellichik will retire and stop making some magic on a good but not amazing roster. Compare the defence on the first games of the season to the playoffs... only amazing coaches could make the same players play much better. The only player that will contribute from Week 1 is Bryan, but Patriots would have the potential QB and LT of the future being coached and also an early rotational player in Leonard. Also Nelson will definetly play after he recovers from his injury and the guard will also compete during the season for the starting job.

I hope that you enjoyed.