What if Bill Belichick doesn\u2019t have a player he covets, fall into his lap at pick #23 and he can\u2019t find a trade partner to drop down?\u00a0 Who will he select?\u00a0 Everyone knows the team lacks speed at the skill positions.\u00a0 They could use another OT or OC with uncertainties surrounding Marcus Cannon (age) and David Andrews returning from injury.\u00a0 The safeties on this team are old and probably will not be back in 2021.\u00a0 They could use a couple of linebackers to replace Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins.<\/p>\n
Lets think out of the box about three players that if selected would raise some eyebrows and be a bit of a risk, but with the possibility of high rewards.<\/p>\n
Cesar Ruiz \u2013 OC Michigan 6\u2019 307#, 33 1\/8th<\/sup>\u201d arms, 5.08 40, 38 BP, 33\u201d vert, 113\u201d BJ, 7.91 3 cone<\/strong> – Ruiz started 5 games as a true freshman for the Wolverines.\u00a0 He was the top OC recruit in the country out of High School.\u00a0 He is tenacious and wins with controlled aggressiveness and solid technique.\u00a0 He gets to the second level with his quickness.\u00a0 He is one of a few players that might be available at #23 that Evan Lazar has a 1st<\/sup> round grade on.\u00a0 The Patriots are the only ones that know if Andrews can come back this season.\u00a0 If he can\u2019t this selection makes more sense. \u00a0The Patriots have no backup on the roster.<\/p>\n Jeremy Chinn- S Southern Illinois 6\u20193\u201d 221#,\u00a0 4.45 40, 20 reps, 41 vert, 138\u201d BJ, DNP 3 cone<\/strong> – Team Captain, 1st<\/sup> Team FCS All American, Academic All American (3.55 GPA), Good Character, 243 career tackles. \u00a0Wowed them at the Senior Bowl practices.\u00a0 In the box Safety who would play the big nickel and be able to stay with TEs.\u00a0 Has the speed and range to play FS.\u00a0 He had better numbers at the combine than Kenneth Murray LB Oklahoma that many have the Patriots selecting with this 1st<\/sup> pick.\u00a0 Could play WLB.\u00a0 Chinn\u2019s uncle is Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater. \u00a0His 20 reps at 225#\u2019s is one less that the TE\u2019s listed as Pats favorites.\u00a0 Bill Belichick like players from the big 5 conferences because they faced better competition which gives them a leg up when making the jump to the much bigger and faster NFL caliber players. \u00a0\u00a0Chinn played in the FCS.<\/p>\n Ezra Cleveland OT Boise St. 6\u20196\u201d 311 4.98 40, 30 reps, 30\u201d vert, 111\u201d BJ, 7.26 3 cone<\/strong> \u2013 Another player that surprised at the combine.\u00a0 His footwork was superior and at his size running under 5.0 is hauling it.\u00a0 Strength numbers are good for such a tall player with 33 3\/8th<\/sup>\u201c arms.\u00a0 Had a turf toe injury that he played through his entire senior season in 2019.\u00a0 Played all 12 games at LT but has the ability to be a good swing tackle. \u00a0It\u2019s no secret Marcus Cannon is getting up there in age (32 this season) and he has had nagging injuries as he gets older.\u00a0 He has a big cap number that if cut or traded could reduce the Cap Number by $4.5M.\u00a0 That\u2019s enough to sign the entire draft class and perhaps a FA or two.<\/p>\n I quoted some low Wonderlic scores on some players.\u00a0 Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated immediately came to the defense of Justin Herbert stating that he had a 39 score and not the 25 that was reported.\u00a0 My source was the venerable Football reporter Bob McGill.\u00a0 He has 36 years\u2019 experience covering the draft for the Milwaukee Sentinel and now The Atlantic.\u00a0 Well, they both may be correct!\u00a0 It appears the players are given a second opportunity to take the test if they didn\u2019t test out as well as they thought they should.\u00a0 However, scouts rely on the 1st<\/sup> test.\u00a0 Tua Tagailvoa scored 13 on the first test and 19 on the second.<\/p>\n There was quite a stir on Friday when a Twitter poster named Jan Helmkamp posted the Patriots were in serious negotiations with Detroit for the #3 overall selection?\u00a0 This post caught the eye of Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 the Sports Hub and the rumor blew up.\u00a0 Is this type of deal even possible?\u00a0 Yes, but it would be quite costly.\u00a0 The Patriots would have to include someone like Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore in the deal with their own 1st<\/sup> round pick, #23.\u00a0 I would think DET would also have to throw in a 3rd<\/sup> round pick to make the deal happen.\u00a0 Is this deal as far-fetched as it seems? \u00a0Not really, especially if the Pats can\u2019t get Gilmore to agree with a long term extension.\u00a0 The DET 3rd<\/sup> round pick would equal what the Pats would get as compensation should Gilmore leave under Free Agency.\u00a0 The one position on the team that has depth is the secondary.\u00a0 Every other position on the team is below average.<\/p>\n I previously talked about how difficult it may be to sign Un-Drafted Free Agents (UDFA) at the end of the draft.\u00a0 Bill Belichick may use that bevy of late round picks (from trades and awarded Compensation picks) to get a head start on those UDFAs by actually making them draft picks.\u00a0 I figure Rounds 1- 5 will be the real selections with what I will be calling priority Free Agent caliber players taken in Round 6 and 7 (6 picks).<\/p>\n Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera stated the new virtual draft rules will make it difficult to make trades.\u00a0 He said that if a trade isn\u2019t agreed to with the first couple of minutes of being on the clock, the Redskins are not going to waste time, and will move on to making their selection.\u00a0 This means trade inquiries will be made well ahead of the pick in question, with the proviso the player the other team wants is still on the board.\u00a0 Belichick has used the days leading up to the draft to make calls to other GMs setting up and agreeing on trade compensation should the Draft Board fall a certain way.\u00a0 Some teams will not want to trade with the Patriots under any circumstances.<\/p>\n This is really going to be an unprecedented draft.\u00a0 TV personalities from three different networks (ABC, NFL Network and ESPN) are going to be working with each other.\u00a0 The league will have 180 different feeds of coaches, GMs, owners and field reporters.\u00a0 They have lined up 58 prospects live from their homes.\u00a0 Each one was given a distributed video tech kit.\u00a0 This included two different camera phones, tripods, lighting and power systems. \u00a0The league has run three separate tests including a Mock Draft today.\u00a0 Adam Schefter reported the CIN #1 pick had problems.\u00a0 The NFL is using Microsoft Teams software to make the team player selections.<\/p>\n Look for a full 1st Round Mock Draft on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What if Bill Belichick doesn\u2019t have a player he covets, fall into his lap at pick #23 and he can\u2019t find a trade partner to drop down?\u00a0 Who will he select?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":25352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2269,2282,34,2297,2298,2296,44],"class_list":["post-28126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-news","tag-2020-nfl-draft","tag-2020-patriots-draft","tag-bill-belichick","tag-cesar-ruiz","tag-ezra-cleveland","tag-jeremy-chinn","tag-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n