With the fourth round pick they got from the Denver Broncos, the Patriots selected Central Florida cornerback Asante Samuel. He had 8 total picks at UCF in three years but he also had 233 punt return yards in 2002. Belichick thrives on special teams aces so Samuel could be a good punt returner on games Troy Brown might not play. Who knows, he might be a good corner too.
With the pick they got from the Patriots, the Broncos took Clemson defensive end Bryant McNeal 128th overall. The Patriots then traded their 5th round pick, 154th overall to the Tennessee Titans along with their seventh round pick for pick 164 along with the Titans 6th and 7th round picks. The Titans took Ohio State safety Donnie Nickey. With the other pick they got from the Patriots, the Broncos took Ole Miss center Ben Claxton 157th overall. With the pick they got from the Titans, the Patriots took Boston College center Dan Koppen 164th overall. Ironically the man Koppen blocked for, quarterback Brian St. Pierre, was drafted the pick before by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Koppen was an anchor on the offensive line for BC that went 9-4 on the season with a victory over Rutgers in the Motor City Bowl. The Patriots have Mike Compton, Joe Andruzzi and Damien Woody already at guard and center but you never know when injuries will pop up. Having O-Line depth is never a bad thing.
164th overall - Dan Koppen
With the sixth round pick they got from the Patriots, the Bears traded it to the Jaguars. The Jaguars took all-pro tackle Jonathan Ogden's younger brother Marques out of Howard University. As for the Patriots, 3 years ago they took quarterback Tom Brady with pick 199. This year in the sixth round at pick 201 the Patriots took Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury had one of the best years in college football history, passing for over 5,000 yards with 45 touchdown throws. Texas Tech went 9-5 on the season including a 55-10 rout of Clemson in the Tangerine Bowl. So if he's this good, how did he fall this far? Mike Leach's offense is designed so that pretty much any quarterback can be successful there. The word is he's a system quarterback but he's going to get his chance come camp. After all, he was pick number 201 and pick 199 won Superbowl 36 MVP.
With the 7th round pick they got from the Patriots (that they got from Green Bay in the Grant Williams trade) the Titans took Florida State offensive tackle Todd Williams 225th overall. With the seventh round pick they got from the New Orleans Saints, the Patriots selected California linebacker Tully Banta-Cain. This is another head scratcher as he was All Pac-10 his senior year and recorded 26.5 sacks in his time at Cal. Why did he fall this far? Supposedly he's too big to be a linebacker and too small to be a defensive end in the NFL. I'm sure Coach Belichick will have a role for him.
With their own seventh round pick, the Patriots selected Baylor defensive tackle Ethan Kelley. Kelley was an interesting prospect as he spent the first two years at Baylor on the offensive line then tried out for defensive tackle his junior year. He made 133 tackles with four sacks in his two years on the defensive side. The fact he didn't spend all four years on the defensive line or make All Big-12 dropped his stock in the draft. We'll see how he does once he makes the jump to the pro game.
The Patriots took six players on Day 2 and most of them are strictly for depth. However, having a stud like Kingsbury, Big East Defensive player of the year in Klecko and a solid lineman like Koppen might be good value. They may get cut the first week as well, we won't know until training camp. Let's hope for the best.
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