How about OT O’Neill, then? I’m going to guess that he’s taken in the second, but I’m no draft guru. I know some people are thinking third, but I’m not sure that he’ll last that long.
If the right player is there at safety, you’re damn right that Belichick won’t be hesitant to pull the trigger and surprise some of us. Chung and McCourty aren’t getting any younger, Richards blows, and it looks like he’s looking for a 4th safety to play 15-20 snaps a game on many weeks. To take it one step further, we’ve been pretty lucky on the injury front at that specific position, so we could be due. If that’s the case, a guy like Reid or Harrison could be thrown into a larger role fairly quickly. This is also assuming that Harmon’s situation is just a minor setback which will result in a 1-2 game suspension, and that he hasn’t rubbed BB the wrong way or had any previous marks in the substance abuse program.
There aren’t many positions which don’t need to be addressed either this year or next, assuming that most of the WRs in the mix won’t be retained, and that we’ll likely be losing Mason and Flowers. It’s going to be interesting to see how Belichick prioritizes everything, since it’s so key for the future. It’s also why I’m against moving up more than something similar to the Jones/HT situation of 2012.