I'm just not seeing it happen. I'm not Belichick by any means but I really don't see why Alphonso Smith and Darius Butler are being considered in some of these mocks at pick 23. I believe the needs are elsewhere considering we have Springs,Hobbs and Bodden along with 2 players we just drafted last season in Wilhite and Wheatley. I realize that the first 3 are under short contracts, regardless I do not see CB as that much of a need as some do.
Even if the Patriots decide to go best player available I wouldn't rate these cb's ahead of some of the DE's,LB's,Safeties and O-lineman that are sure to be there when we draft. The weak QB class will ensure that imo.
The only situation I could see CB is if Malcolm Jenkins falls to us. I'm not ruling out a CB at 23 because the Patriots value is not my value. I am an armchair Gm after all.
I don't see it either, and completely agree.
In my first mock draft of the season from January 15, I suggested that CB was a position of need but that I thought the Pats would go the FA route rather than the draft, even though, at the time, Alphonso Smith and DJ Moore looked like prototypical Pats CBs. My reasoning was that we had just drafted 2 CBs in 2008 with Wheatley and Wilhite, and that I thought the FO would rather fill holes with veteran leadership than with more rookies, and that both Wheatley and Wilhite had showed at least flashes of promise.
Since that time, the FO has gotten Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs, and Smith and Moore have looked less athletic than anticipated. We currently have 5 solid CBs with Hobbs, Bodden, Wheatley, Wilhite and Springs. It is t rue that Hobbs and Bodden are currently only signed through 2009, but in an uncapped year Hobbs is an RFA and there is no reason to believe at this point that we can't sign at least one of the two long term.
I just don't see the rationale for drafting a rookie CB in the top 100. The rookie would either sit or would push one of our promising 2nd year guys out of more playing time, which they need to develop. Neither option makes much sense to me. Darius Butler looks like a terrific Pats CB prospect and Sean Smith, intriguing size and athleticism, and Alphonso Smith's ball skills can almost make me forget that he short, can't jump, and isn't very fast. But even giving them the most optimistic view possible, I just don't see us going CB first day when there are other more pressing needs, and lots of players of comparable talent likely to be available. I could understand a 2nd day guy like Joe Burnett or Lardarius Webb, but not using a top pick when it could mean missing out on a Barwin, Beatty, Delmas or Gilbert.
