Despite the character concerns and poor forty time, the Patriots stopped Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallet’s slide and took him with the 74th pick in the draft.
The gunslinger is described as the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft, but he’ll sit behind Brady and develop.
This choice does make sense from a value standpoint, but for a team that prides itself on adding high-character guys, the red-flagged Mallet seems like an illogical fit.
I do appreciate his physical gifts and production in the SEC, but he’s not going to see the field for at least three or four years, and the Patriots clearly have much bigger needs on defense that have not been addressed.
One pick before that, the Patriots made a head-scratching decision by drafting another running back, LSU’s Stevan Ridley. He was an extreme reach in the third round and seems like nothing different than BenJarvus Green-Ellis. This may indicate Green-Ellis’ departure and certainly seems to signal the end of the Kevin Faulk era.
I can’t say I’m too pleased with Belichick’s approach. With all these high-round picks, he has yet to add a front-seven defender which seemed to be the team’s biggest need.
The trading down and picking up mediocre players is getting to be tiring and he doesn’t seem to be helping this team get better immediately especially in terms of getting pressure on the quarterback.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
