I think the trade-ups, but a few spots not packaging 1s to move up a ton of spots (for example), militates for that conclusion.
We're used to seeing them wait to see who falls... figuring, meh, we can get him later, or the moral equivalent... etc. ...or else targeting a specific position and type(s) of player they were able to grab sort of away from the spotlight (Gronk/Hernandez in '10...) It always seemed like sculpting best value and figuring out how it fit in, maybe emphasizing need (Dowling/Solder in 11) and picking their "best available" but definitely not trading up.
This time it looked like the ones they truly targeted were in reach and they figured hellyeah, we'll pull that trigger.
One thing I love about how they did it was they used 2011 picks to buy 2011 picks -- the "time value of money", with the currency being draft order, is excessive in the NFL draft. In the past the Pats have always scored big just by growing the value of picks into the future... this time they cashed some in, and then some.
Would not be surprised by anything (cuz it IS BB,) but I would certainly not be surprised to see them parley one of the 2s into ammo for the rest of the weekend. (You know... get another 2 and a 3 for 48, get a few more for the 2 and the 3, blah blah blah.)
Always fun & always interesting.
Now that the front 7 biz seems taken care of (I think), where do you guys think this is headed?