That's puzzling to me. Why would the Patriots think that the guy who is considered the top prospect for a position of need would not be a good fit? I'd kill to get inside BB's head regarding those issues.
We pretty much passed on 3 of the top prospects for the position.
We play a stout 3 man line and all premium starters need to be big strong tackles in college.
Either a huge tall tackle, or a small DE, who hopefully can convert to a LB.
That's a huge gap for a "defensive end" between 300-330 lb guys and 250-270 pound guys who can cover and perform other LB duties.
Players that can't play LB, but aren't huge tackles make great ends in 4 man lines.
One end, would be the quicker (like a Freeney) we don't want because they don't play linebacker. the other end could be big and quick (280-290) but not a double team, huge player we need to play end in our version of the 3-4.
Seymour probably has ranged from 310-330 during his career. He is also agile and can rush. Marcus Stroud is close (physically), most college players are nowhere close. That is why we picked Seymour 6th overall.
If we spend a high pick on a DE who can't or won't do the grunt work, we'll have to replace him with a big, less talented player, thus making him an unhappy backup/specialist, when he might be an all pro in a 4-3.
If we draft a small DE high and he can't play LB, we end up with an unhappy specialist that could be an every down player on a 4-3.
You can pick up one dimensional big linemen, or pass rush only guys in FA.
