Patriots Rookie Projections: Recap

by Greg Knopping on May 18, 2011 4:00 PM EDT in New England Patriots NFL Draft

Over the past nine days, we ran a series of posts looking at the nine rookies from the Patriots 2011 NFL Draft class, and we projected what they might do in 2011 and beyond. Lets recap:

Round 1, Pick 17: Nate Solder, OT, Colorado | Story Link

Projection: 16 GP, 5 GS

Bottom Line: Top back-up rookie season, starter by 2012 or 2013 the latest

Round 2, Pick 33: Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virginia | Story Link

Projection: 14 GP, 2 Starts; 33 tackles, 8 PD, 2 INTs

Bottom Line: Top back-up at boundary CB in 2011, starter by 2012/13

Round 2, Pick 56: Shane Vereen, RB, California | Story Link

Projection: 16 GP, 3 GS; 82 carries, 386 yards, 1 TD; 24 receptions, 218 yards, 1 TD

Bottom Line: 3rd down and rotational back in 2011, starting candidate in 2012

Round 3, Pick 73: Stevan Ridley, RB, LSU | Story Link

Projection: 15 Games Played, 1 Start; 58 carries, 224 yards, 3 TDs; 4 receptions, 21 yards

Bottom Line: Reserve RB and FB in 2011, possible starter on 1st/2nd down in 2012

Ryan Mallett, Marcus Cannon and the rest of the picks after the jump!

Round 3, Pick 74: Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas | Story Link

Projection: 2 Games Played; 11/18, 124 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Bottom Line: 3rd QB for 2011, 2nd QB 2012, with a chance to be traded or take over in 2014

Round 5, Pick 138: Marcus Cannon, G/T, TCU | Story Link

Projection: 0 Games Played

Bottom Line: Recover and learn in 2011, starting right guard in 2012

Round 5, Pick 159: Lee Smith, TE, Marshall | Story Link

Projection: 3 Games Played, 1 Start; 1 reception, 7 yards

Bottom Line: Practice squad in 2011, top blocking tight end in 2012

Round 6, Pick 194: Markell Carter, DE/OLB, Central Arkansas | Story Link

Projection: 2 GP, 0 GS; 3 tackles, .5 sacks

Bottom Line: Project pass rusher who could pay dividends down the road.

Round 7, Pick 219: Malcolm Williams, DB, TCU | Story Link

Projection: 0 Games Played

Bottom Line: Practice squad candidate in 2011, with special teams value in 2012/13

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Comments

Malcolm has tons of athleticism. I know that he was the back up safety at TCU but I think he might make a good slot corner. Who knows?

by Patriots12 on May 18, 2011 6:48 PM EDT reply actions

Yep. He's a spaghetti player.

Throw him at the wall along with the 4th and 5th CBs and 5th S, and see who sticks.

Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Contributing Writer at PatsPulpit

by Comedic.Sans on May 19, 2011 6:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Unfortunately all we can do is speculate at this point.

by Patriots12 on May 19, 2011 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I spoke with a former CAL DE last night; class of 2010. He doesn’t follow pro football much, but his eyes lit up when I said the Pats drafted Vereen. My friend couldn’t say enough good stuff about him. Said Vereen was overshadowed some because he didn’t have J. Best’s freakish speed, and played on an awful team this year, but that he’s tough, hard-working, and veryy strong. My buddy thought the Pats got a steal. I asked him how/if he compared to the current CAL backs in the NFL, and he basically said Vereen is a much, much better version of Justin Forsett. Which I guess is good, because Forsett is terrible.

by heisthejuan on May 18, 2011 7:55 PM EDT reply actions

Does he remind you of Maurice Jones Drew?

Non Sibi Sed Patriae ;I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life.
In Bill We Trust.

by NinjaZX6R on May 18, 2011 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions

The further we get away from the draft

the more I get the feeling that Ridley might be the more featured back. Vereen’s scouting report mentions ball security issues when he is eluding the 2nd level pursuit. NE has always emphasized ball security…last year was unreal as far as that goes. I am seeing Ridley as a more explosive version of LawFirm with better pass catching ability(though still not great).
There is a lot sentiment that Ridley might play more of the Morris role, but I think that the TEs might be called on to flex into a large portion of that role. I expect that we keep 4 TEs this year. At the expense of the 5th RB or 6th WR. Hernandez has shown great ability to run with the ball in his hand. If he can add blocking prowess of a FB. He could potentially be viewed by the defense as a very big WR, receiving TE, dual threat FB, or something of a Hillis-eque RB depending on where he lines up. That might be all be pure fantasy on my part, but I think that Hernandez could pull it off. And if he does the flexibility we would have with personnel grouping would be awesome.

by BenCoatesFTW on May 19, 2011 8:59 PM EDT reply actions

Hernandez would...

have to learn to block a lot better. I also don’t recall seeing him run through big guys as a FB might.

by pablum257 on May 20, 2011 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm incredibly late in the analysis...

but as far as offense goes it is easy to see why BB looked hard at RB instead of WR in this years draft, plus decided to take Mallett.

The 2012 class appears to be a better class overall indeed. However, at an early glance it seems to lack depth at RB (Trent Richardson, Knile Davis and perhaps Lamichael James but not much behind them) and QB (Luck and Barkley, being a little top-heavy). At the same time it appears loaded with depth as far as big receiving wideouts are concerned. That would be the reason for the team looking at RB instead of WR.

With the ever ongoing strategy of picking lots in the 2nd and 3rd round the Pats are in a great spot to make a value-pick at WR next year.

While I think BB and company first and foremost looks at value their strategy of piling up on 2nd and 3rd round picks certainly means they are playing the strengths of each draft and thus not just ending up with more picks than anyone else but also (at least in their own view) better value from those picks.

I know to little about the OLB prospects of 2012 but if the class is better than the 2011 one (which I find it hard not to believe it is) this draft makes even more sense than it did initially.

I love the pick of Solder, BTW. He might not give us instant gratification but he’ll be a beast for us not too far away.

by BJA on May 20, 2011 7:12 AM EDT reply actions