Over at ESPNBoston, Mike Reiss went through a list of players available to the Patriots in the 2007 NFL draft, from their 4th round pick onwards.
Recently, the Patriots have been chided for doing a "poor" job in the draft, especially due to the complete non-draft of 2007 (where we still managed to get Brandon Meriweather, Wes Welker and Randy Moss). This blog post looks at the potential players the Patriots could have grabbed, after the 4th round.
The list is of players that have done well in the NFL. However, some players fit well with some teams that don't do well with others (ie: a small 4-3 ILB won't fit on the Patriots 3-4 defense). Also, the Patriots may have been full as certain positions as well.
Players that would have fit:
137. RB/FB LeRon McClain (Ravens, fourth round)
140. CB Brandon McDonald (Browns, fifth round)
142. WR Steve Breaston (Cardinals, fifth round)
153. TE Kevin Boss (Giants, fifth round)
162. TE Brent Celek (Eagles, fifth round)
168. CB Corey Graham (Bears, fifth round)
170. CB William Gay (Steelers, fifth round)
172. WR Legedu Naane (Chargers, fifth round)
204. DE Jacob Ford (Titans, sixth round) (as an OLB)
218. LB Zac Diles (Texans, seventh round)
224. S Michael Johnson (Giants, seventh round)
225. P Brandon Fields (Dolphins, seventh round)
240. LB Brandon Siler (Chargers, seventh round)
244. RB/FB Jason Snelling (Falcons, seventh round)
250. RB Ahmad Bradshaw (Giants, seventh round)
I eliminated some of the smaller linebackers, as well as the fullbacks who wouldn't really fit in our committee as a pure fullback.
Looking at the Patriots roster, they had Ben Watson, recently signed Kyle Brady and freshly drafted David Thomas. There was no real need to draft another tight end, when they had two young players already on the roster.
At wide receiver, they had Randy Moss, Wes Welker, 2006's #1 (hah) Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, Donte Stallworth and Kelley Washington. No real space for additional WRs.
After the 2006 season, Laurence Maroney was being looked at to be the new #1 RB after splitting carries with Corey Dillon. With newly signed Sammy Morris and old timer Kevin Faulk, it didn't seem as if the Patriots were looking to become a committee at this point in time (although, in retrospect, the Patriots could have utilized additional running backs).
Eliminating the players that I think the Patriots wouldn't be interested in, the following players are left over:
140. CB Brandon McDonald (Browns, fifth round)
168. CB Corey Graham (Bears, fifth round)
170. CB William Gay (Steelers, fifth round)
204. DE Jacob Ford (Titans, sixth round) (as an OLB)
218. LB Zac Diles (Texans, seventh round)
224. S Michael Johnson (Giants, seventh round)
225. P Brandon Fields (Dolphins, seventh round)
240. LB Brandon Siler (Chargers, seventh round)
That's 8 players that could POSSIBLY fit on the roster- and that's a major maybe.
So am I just trying to make the Patriots look good (a large possibility), or did the Patriots do a great job of skipping an extremely weak draft? Or should the Patriots have been able to grab these remaining players with their draft picks?