So, no one likes the trade up for Carpenter. Well, if I had posted Logan Mankins at #32 last year, no one would have liked that either.
I'm actually not as dumb as I look. I gave this more thought than comes across as first blush.
There are only three players outside of the top-10 who are likely rookie starters for the Pats (barring injury) in this draft: Greenway, Holmes and Carpenter. And I've taken Holmes off my board for attitidue reasons. So, true to my Value Grouping philosophy, if you have the ammunition to trade up into the end of a value group, that's the time to do it.
If you dont like the trade up, the only other option is to trade down. Winston Justice is NOT an option after being suspended from his college team for an entire year. Deangelo Williams may be an interesting player for us, but he projects to sit on the bench for the season.
If you want to trade down, then you should expect to have Monty Beisel as your starting ILB, because there isn't anyone else in the draft to help out. Carpenter frees Vrabel to play inside. Greenway will play inside and shift Vrabel to outside. All the other LB prospects, and there are many, are just that: prospects. Lawson will need time. Kiwanuka will need time. Ryans, Howard, McIntosh are all a cut below on my board.
I recently put a draft class together with 11 picks, and tried to fit them onto the roster. News flash: they dont fit. Realize, we already have 6 safeties on the roster with starting experience. May as well use some of the extra picks to trade up for a player who can make a difference, instead of stockpiling picks for players that we're going to waive (Dexter Reid is playing for the Colts...).
I promise you that BB will not draft 11 players... maybe 8 or 9. So, "wasting" two mid-round picks to make sure of a player who's a certain starter for us isn't such a bad thing.
Carpenter as a 4th round pick...? He is not going to drop into the 4th round. Didn't I make my point, about the number of team looking for help at OLB? 2nd round, maybe, but not 4th. Think of it this way, if Carpenter lasts until #52, BB will take him without a doubt. But first that means Miami has passed on him twice, and Cleveland at the top of the 2nd-- which is impossible.