Possibly better known for eye gouging an opposing player this past season, than being All-SEC three years in a row and All-American the past two years, Florida MLB Brandon Spikes presents an interesting player. And the Patriots appear to be interested.
Albert Breer of the Boston Globe recently found out that Spikes had a private workout with the Patriots. Spikes comes in at 6-3, 249 lbs, which makes his a prototypical player for the Patriots MLB position. However, apart from his eye-gouging character concerns (see what I did there?), Spikes ran a terrible 40 time at his Pro Day. As in, 5.05 seconds. In comparison, his quarterback Tim Tebow ran a 4.72 at the NFL Combine. Offensive Lineman Bruce Campbell ran it in 4.85. That means that Spikes ran a slower time than an offensive tackle. However, the conditions at the Florida Pro Day were sloppy at best- it was soggy and slow. In attempts to better his draft status, Spikes will most likely run again at Florida's second Pro Day on April 7th .
Spikes is a great player who could definitely find a niche in the middle of our defense. With the supervision of defensive captain and MLB Jerod Mayo, perhaps Spikes could turn his character issues around and he could become a great performer for our defense that is hungry for quality linebackers. If the value of the pick is good- read: If Spikes drops to our last two 2nd round picks- than perhaps we should pull the trigger and pick him up.