Box it's a good question. I think at this point given our roster depth, we can afford to add one sure thing stud instead of roll the dice on two possible stars.
I know we traditionally have valued picks and give ourselves as many bullets as possible to hit a bulls eye, but given our roster how many drafted players will even make the team? We can't keep rolling back picks every single year. Even if we roll 1 or 2 picks from this year to 2010, we still have way too many picks than open roster spots.
NE started the season with 6 draft picks on the roster:
Mayo
Wheatley
Crable
O'Connell
Wilhite
Slater
A seventh was on IR: Ruud
Another four UDFA rookies started on the Practice Squad:
Wendell
Redd
Adams
Green-Ellis
And three more joined/re-joined the Practice Squad/Team during the season:
DeVree
Robertson
Craig
At the end of the season NE had 14 rookies under contract. That argues that the opportunity for rookies from this draft is actually better than you suggest. BB 'is' rebuilding the defense and the depth chart and will make room if a draft pick upgrades this team. For fun let's examine OL:
The five starters are locks for 2009; Mankins, Neal, and Kaczur are UFA in 2010.
Hochstein is a UFA, Britt is an RFA.
Yates, LeVoir, O'Callaghan, Connelly, and Wendell round out the OL.
Hochstein is a fan favorite, but he's not the OG he was. He can be replaced by a cheaper interior OL in this draft, one who has an upside Hoch no longer has.
Britt was upgraded by LeVoir, he's replaceable.
Yates, can be upgraded.
O'Callaghan, Connelly, and Wendell are probably staying if Hochstein and Britt and Yates are replaced, but they aren't assured of a roster/Practice Squad slot either.
With those "excess" Day Two picks BB could upgrade three Reserve OL slots out of a deep looking OL draft class. You can do a similar excercise with the other position groups and get similar results.
If you assume 3 comp picks, NE's 7, the SD pick, and at least 1 for Cassel those three possible Day Two OL picks leave 8 to work with. Roll one forward to 2010, that's 7. Bundle one or two Day Two picks to get the player you want and you still have picks for:
S
CB
LB
TE
WR
I'd love Curry, but I wasn't happy bundling a 3rd and 2nd for Chad Jackson and bundling two higher picks for Curry is just the wrong way to go.