New England chose Illinois safety Tavon Wilson at No. 48 (second round). All I know is what other more informed media members said on Twitter or during the broadcast on ESPN; apparently, he's a project that wasn't expected to be selected nearly that high. He wasn't even invited to the combine. I guess Bill Belichick knows something about him we don't.
After trading down, the Pats other selection was Jake Bequette, a defensive end from Arkansas at No. 90 (late third round). Again, I'd never heard of this guy either although I saw a couple Razorbacks games the last few seasons. He sounds like a guy that can play multiple positions on the defensive line and get after the quarterback from time to time.
The overarching point is that New England has focused its first four picks in the 2012 Draft on defensive players which is fantastic. Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower were far more sexy picks yesterday but grabbing a safety and defensive end directly addresses two of the team's biggest weaknesses. The talent really starts to drop off in the third round and if you listened to Felger and Mazz this afternoon, they rattled off all the third-round picks the Patriots have drafted the last few seasons. All bums. That's why I can't get too excited about these Day 2 players. Maybe one of them will pan out but odds are at least one will be gone in a few years, having never made an impact (Tyrone McKenzie, Shawn Crable, etc.) in an actual game.
The 2012 NFL Draft concludes tomorrow with Rounds 4-7 (starting at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN). Don't expect too many moves out of Foxborough since they only have one remaining pick (5th round, 158 overall); if they only use one choice, it will be their smallest draft class in franchise history. Something to pay attention to.
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