With the Seventh Pick, the New England Patriots...
...trade their pick to the New Orleans Saints, who use the selection on USC DT Sedrick Ellis. The Saints sent their first (10th overall) and third round picks to the Pats for NE's first (7th overall) and fifth rounders. Good move for the Saints, as Ellis would not have been around at 10; better move for the Pats, who can still get a prime-time player while saving some serious dollars at the tenth spot and improve what was previously a fifth rounder to a third.
Let's try this again: With the tenth pick, the New England Patriots select...
...Tennessee LB Jerod Mayo!
Huh? I think it's fair to say no one saw this coming. Some of us predicted they may take a linebacker if they remained in the top 10, but no mock drafts I saw had Mayo to the Pats in any scenario. Seems the Pats are just breaking all their rules the past 2 years, starting with signing free agent Adalius Thomas to a big contract prior to last season and ending with electing to address a need position with their top pick in the case of taking Mayo at 10. Don't get me wrong; Mayo's got great value (the Pats may even view him as a prototypical "value pick") and Mel Kiper gave the selection an A grade (if Kiper says it's a good pick, it must be good, right?), but most of the experts out there pegged Mayo as a mid to late first rounder, not a top 10 pick. That being said, Mayo, who projects to play ILB in New England's 3-4, fits the Patriots mold as he combines size (6-1, 242 pounds), speed (4.54 40 time) and athleticism. He's also intelligent, instinctive and versatile and is said to have a non-stop motor... and we haven't even mentioned the level of competition he faced in the stacked SEC. Mayo's not without some negatives as he's got some durability concerns stemming from a knee injury that sidelined him for all but 5 games during the 2005 season, but he seemed to overcome those issues and appeared in all 14 games in the 2007 season. As with any draft choice, free agent acquisition or trade, time will tell if this was a smart move, but with the selection of Jerod Mayo the Pats have given one of their oldest positions a serious injection of youth. Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss tells us they were Mayo guys from the get go, so it appears they got the man they wanted. Can't be a bad thing, right?
The rest of the Boston Sports Buzz crew will be commenting on the selection as the weekend progresses, so check back often for a couple other takes on the Patriots' first round selection. We'll also feature a full breakdown of all the Pats' picks in the next several days.
Let's try this again: With the tenth pick, the New England Patriots select...
...Tennessee LB Jerod Mayo!
Huh? I think it's fair to say no one saw this coming. Some of us predicted they may take a linebacker if they remained in the top 10, but no mock drafts I saw had Mayo to the Pats in any scenario. Seems the Pats are just breaking all their rules the past 2 years, starting with signing free agent Adalius Thomas to a big contract prior to last season and ending with electing to address a need position with their top pick in the case of taking Mayo at 10. Don't get me wrong; Mayo's got great value (the Pats may even view him as a prototypical "value pick") and Mel Kiper gave the selection an A grade (if Kiper says it's a good pick, it must be good, right?), but most of the experts out there pegged Mayo as a mid to late first rounder, not a top 10 pick. That being said, Mayo, who projects to play ILB in New England's 3-4, fits the Patriots mold as he combines size (6-1, 242 pounds), speed (4.54 40 time) and athleticism. He's also intelligent, instinctive and versatile and is said to have a non-stop motor... and we haven't even mentioned the level of competition he faced in the stacked SEC. Mayo's not without some negatives as he's got some durability concerns stemming from a knee injury that sidelined him for all but 5 games during the 2005 season, but he seemed to overcome those issues and appeared in all 14 games in the 2007 season. As with any draft choice, free agent acquisition or trade, time will tell if this was a smart move, but with the selection of Jerod Mayo the Pats have given one of their oldest positions a serious injection of youth. Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss tells us they were Mayo guys from the get go, so it appears they got the man they wanted. Can't be a bad thing, right?
The rest of the Boston Sports Buzz crew will be commenting on the selection as the weekend progresses, so check back often for a couple other takes on the Patriots' first round selection. We'll also feature a full breakdown of all the Pats' picks in the next several days.
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