Objective Patriots fans (an oxymoron) have to say that tonight's first round pick-defensive tackle Dominique Easley (29th overall)- in the 2014 NFL Draft was both a good sign and a bad sign for the team. The fact that New England kept the pick and didn't start its usual frustrating pattern of trading down for mostly buckets of crap was nice as hopefully they have realized that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won't be around forever. You have to do everything you can to win with them and surround them with plenty of talent to maximize their championship window. Still, did they really have to take a guy with two ACL tears at the University of Florida (to both knees) this high?
If he didn't get hurt, he could have been a mid-first round pick but who were they bidding against now? When he's healthy, Easley can play defensive end and defensive tackle. New England's defensive linemen are either old and recovering from injuries or young scrubs. In the past, Belichick has enjoyed success with former Gators: Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Spikes most recently come to mind, Chad Jackson and Jermaine Cunningham not so much. It Is still scary that Belichick seems to always pick players that were recruited by or played for his close buddies (Nick Saban and Urban Meyer) or Rutgers in college.
The only thing more pointless than mock drafts is draft grades that come out the same night/weekend of the actual event. Who knows anything until these guys actually get to training camp and start playing in preseason games let alone complete a few seasons in the NFL. Until then, we'll just conclude that everyone is perfect. Rounds 2 and 3 are tomorrow night (7, ESPN2) at Radio City Music Hall. For what it's worth, New England has two picks: No. 62 in the second round and No. 93 in the third. I'll eat my hat if they keep both of those as well. Their other most obvious needs are safety, linebacker, tight end, wide receiver and backup quarterback so expect nothing but offensive and defensive linemen.
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