The Saints bolstered their defensive backfield with their second 3rd round pick, taking Johnny Patrick of Louisville. This is the first pick I don’t love by the Saints in this draft. I really wanted Drake Nevis of LSU and he was gone the pick before us, so at least I won’t go crazy about us passing on him. To be honest, I don’t know much about Patrick. The fact that he’s joined the Saints makes me wonder if the writing is on the wall for veteran Randall Gay.
The top 3 spots seem on lockdown with Tracy Porter, Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson. If Randall Gay is on the team despite his large contract, he’ll be the #4. That means Patrick will be competing between #4 and #5 corner on the roster. I think this adds depth, but I have a hard time imaging him as a guy that’s going to be a difference maker on the roster. I know those guys are sometimes hard to find in the 3rd round, but still, I don’t love the pick. He’s a dime back and a special teamer at best. It seems to me the Saints could have done better.
Here’s Patrick’s write up on NFL.com:
Overview: “Patrick is a productive collegiate cornerback that has a chance to develop into a starter at the next level. He excels in zone coverage, as he is always in solid position and flashes the ability to jump underneath routes. He also has the ball skills to make difficult interceptions. He uses a strong press to reroute receivers and has a knack for anticipating routes in zone coverage. However, he loses momentum in transition and does not have the deep speed to stick on vertical routes. Patrick is not a strong tackler, but he has the cover skills to possibly sneak into the second day of the draft.”
Strengths: “Patrick has good size and a muscular build. Plays with balance and shows a smooth back pedal. Delivers an effective press at the line and can turn and run with receivers. Reads the QB’s eyes in zone coverage, gets into passing lanes, and has the body control and soft hands to make picks.”
Weaknesses: “Does not have elite recovery speed and lacks the hip fluidity to mirror in man coverage. Plays too aggressively at times and gets burned by play action and double moves. Can get overwhelmed by bigger receivers in jump ball situations. Gets down on himself and play suffers after mistakes. Inconsistent tackler.”
I’m not going to lie, I kind of hate this pick. He can’t tackle, he doesn’t have speed, and he bites on fakes (which essentially means he has poor poise). That doesn’t sound like a guy that can contribute on special teams and it doesn’t sound like an intelligent player. We’ll see how it pans out, but of the 4 picks so far this is by far my least favorite.
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