The 2012 NFL Draft Is Over: Mel Kiper Can Go Back Into His Cave Now

By the time the third and final day of the NFL Draft rolls around, who besides the paid professionals can muster enthusiasm anymore?

The New England Patriots made their final three selections today and as you'll see by their random resumes, they will be all long shots to make the 53-man roster in the regular season let alone do anything memorable. The Pats only had one pick, that is before they flipped it (5th round, 163 overall) to the Packers for three later picks.

Without further ado, say hello to Ohio State safety Nate Ebner (6th round, 197 overall), Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (7th round, 224 overall) and Northwestern wide receiver Jeremy Ebert (7th round, 235 overall).

I'll sum up those three guys in a few sentences. Ebner was a former rugby player and walk-on for the Buckeyes that potentially could make it based on special teams. Dennard is pretty talented but he got arrested (assaulting an officer and resisting arrest) last week and also was ejected from a Bowl game in 2011 for fighting South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey. Clearly, he's a bozo but Bill Belichick must think he's worth the risk (not that a seventh-round pick is much of a risk). Finally, Ebert was the leading receiver for the Wildcats the last two seasons and he's a white slot receiver that converted from quarterback in high school. In other words, he's Julian Edelman 2.0.

All seven members of the Patriots' Draft Class of 2012 are on Twitter so do yourselves a favor and give them a follow, that is if you're on Twitter yourself. Chandler Jones-@chanjones99; Dont'a Hightower-@zeus30hightower; Tavon Wilson-@TavonWilson3; Jake Bequette-@JakeBequette91; Nate Ebner-@Natebner34; Jeremy Ebert-@Jebes11.

It is dorky but definitely one of the best aspects of when the Celtics/Patriots/Red Sox/Bruins acquire a new player is to see if they are on Twitter. Most of these days, a majority from the NFL and NBA are on it. MLB is getting there but sadly NHL is still in the dark ages (only 1 Bruin-Tyler Seguin). It's the best way to connect to guys on your favorite teams.

UPDATE 4/29: The Patriots also signed rookie free agent Brad Herman, a tight end out of Iowa. The only shot he has to make the team is on the practice squad since New England has Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Daniel Fells all way ahead of him on the depth chart.

UPDATE 4/30: Kentucky wide receiver Matt Roark will join the Pats. He is yet another converted quarterback who also plays special teams and blocked seven kicks for the Wildcats (6 extra points, 1 field goal). I guarantee this scrub won't make it out of mini-camps or August. No chance.

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Patriots Draft 2 Players I've Never Heard Of, At Least They're On Defense

For somebody that lives in Massachusetts and went to a college (Providence) that doesn't even have a football program, I think I watch more college football than can be reasonably expected. I'm no Mel Kiper or Todd McShay though, I have my limits so I can't pretend that I'd heard of either of the Patriots' picks tonight in the second and third round.

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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Patriots Trade Up Twice In 1st Round, Grab 2 Defensive Studs

We all know that NFL mock drafts are one of the most useless exercises in sports but that is especially true when you consider the unpredictability of the New England Patriots.

Felger and Mazz had the right idea today as they literally threw highlighters at a draft board, that seems like as good a method as any to figure out what Bill Belichick and Co. will do in any given year.

With two picks in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, this appeared to be year that the Pats could finally take advantage of their spot rather than endlessly trading down as always. Still, nobody could have expected the haul they picked up. By making two trades up (their first two 1st round trade ups since 2003-Ty Warren), New England selected Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones at No. 21 and Alabama inside linebacker Dont'a Hightower at No. 25.

They dealt their first pick (No. 27) and a third-rounder to the Bengels to select Jones; for Hightower, they parted with the other first round pick (No. 31) and a fourth-rounder to the Broncos.

I can't tell you how exciting it was to see this team be aggressive, I think this validates the unspoken truth that Belichick and Tom Brady's championship window is rapidly closing. Rather than think about the future (next season like the Boston Globe's Greg Bedard wrote today), they went for the present. After all, this was a team that was a few plays away from another Super Bowl victory. Plus, most of that team will return next fall.

This addresses their two biggest needs: a guy that can rush the quarterback from the defensive end and another guy that can make plays all over the field while also pressuring the quarterback.

Ironically enough, even though it's way closer, I hardly ever paid attention to Syracuse football since they've been so bad the last few seasons. Therefore, I don't know much about Jones other than what I've read in the predraft hype. He's long and somewhat raw but he has plenty of potential. On the other hand, I watched a million of Hightower's games since Alabama has been the best team over the last three seasons (2 National Championships). He's a beast, similar to Brandon Spikes. That's why I love that move, he's a tough football player that is also a big-time winner.

From ESPNBoston.com
At 6 feet 5, 266 pounds, Jones played in seven games last season for Syracuse as a junior, missing five games with a knee injury suffered in the season opener against Wake Forest. He recorded 4.5 sacks on the season, as well as 38 total tackles (7.5 for a loss) and two forced fumbles.

Jones played in 13 games as a sophomore in 2010, notching 57 tackles (9.5 for a loss), three forced fumbles, and four sacks. As a freshman in 2009, Jones had 52 tackles in 12 games, including 10 tackles for losses, in addition to 1.5 sacks.

A native of Endicott, N.Y., Jones was a first-team All-Big East selection last season.

Last season, Hightower was a defensive captain for the national champion Crimson Tide, a consensus first-team All-American selection by the Associated Press, a second-team All-SEC selection and a finalist for the Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik, Butkus Award and Lott Trophy.

He started 12 games at middle linebacker for Alabama in 2011, leading the team with 85 tackles (11 for losses), four sacks, eight quarterback hits, one interception and one forced fumble.

Hightower is a native of Lewisburg, Tenn., and played at Marshall County High School.

Both Chandler and Hightower were juniors last season.

After trading their third-round (93rd overall) and fourth-round (126th overall) picks in the pair of first-round deals, the Patriots have only their two second-round picks (No. 48 and 62 overall) remaining in this draft. I would expect them to execute more trades tomorrow (down) so that they can accumulate more picks. I'm fine with that after the incredible work they put together tonight.

Enjoy these highlights of the two newest Patriots:




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