What possible plan included drafting Tavon Feckin Wilson with the 48th overall pick?
I don't know. That's the friggin' point. Just because we don't understand the logic doesn't mean there wasn't one, and just because a pick doesn't work out doesn't make it a bad one. Of course there were bad picks mixed in, everyone has them, and Wilson may in fact be one. But not necessarily, and not just because we don't understand it.
The Pats entered the 2012 draft with only 6 picks: 27, 31, 48, 62, 93, and 126. Safety was an area of need, and their top safety on the roster going into the season was going into a contract year. There were only 2 safeties considered top 50 picks, and both went higher than predicted. The Pats used 93 and 126 to trade up for Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower, and hit home runs with both picks. Do you blame them for that? I consider getting 2 studs a highly successful draft. With 2 remaining picks at 48 and 93, the Pats eventually managed to snag 2 solid contributors in Nate Ebner and Alfonzo Dennard.
The Pats had no ammo to move up from 48 after moving up twice in the 1st. The needed more picks. The guys picked after Wilson:
49. Kendell Reyes, DT. Good player. Would have been a good pick, but didn't really fit the direction the D was going, and a lesser need than S.
50. Isaiah Pead, RB. We didn't need and RB, and he hasn't set the world on fire.
51. Jerel Worthy, DT. GB dumped him after 2 years (after trading up to get him), and we eventually got a shot at him.
52. Zach Brown LB. Maybe, but we'd already taken an LB, and he has been inconsistent.
53. Devon Still, DT. Hasn't done anything, aside form the social interest of his family story.
54. Ryan Broyles, WR. Hasn't done anything. A huge reach.
55. Peter Konz, OL. A turnstile.
56. Mike Adams, OT. A turnstile.
57. Brock Ostweiler, QB. No comment.
58. Lavante David, LB. Home run.
59. Vinny Curry, DE. Might have been ok, but nothing special.
60. Kelechi Osemele, G. Would have been ok, but the Brian Waters situation wasn't anticipated.
61. LaMichael James, RB. Since cut.
62. Casey Heyward, CB. Solid CB, but not much more so than Alfonzo Dennard.
Not a ton of talent bursting at the seams, aside from the obvious Lavante David pick.
So we picked a player with some versatility at a position of need, when the pickings were slip because we had hit 2 home runs. And people still act like it's a worse crime than the things AHern is accused of.
If the answer was that we took 'Tavon Feckin Wilson' because we saw nothing better after using up all our draft capital, whiffed on David after already taking a LB, and couldn't find a good trade down option, I can live with it. Big effin' deal.