Patriots Flag Football: Kiper's Commentary, Round Three

Before we look at the picks, let's recap the selections from the earlier rounds. Keep in mind that each team has the use of Tom Brady on offense and Jamie Collins on defense.

Alec Shane - Devin McCourty - CB/S and all around great athlete; Julian Edelman - WR/KR/PR/QB/Slot CB and all around athlete.

Greg Knopping - Danny Amendola - WR/KR/PR and shifty as the Saharan sands; Aqib Talib - CB and another fast athlete

Rich Hill - Rob Gronkowski - TE and unstoppable over the middle and up the seam; Chandler Jones - DE and TE in a past life

Adam Fox - Shane Vereen - RB/WR with loads of speed and shiftiness; Jerod Mayo - LB with sideline to sideline speed

The teams now have an offensive and defensive player to balance things out. Where do they go from here?

Round Three:

Alec Shane chose Matthew Slater. Slater is a special teams ace, but he also lightning fast and has played both wide receiver and safety. Now while he isn't very good at either of those last things against NFL level competition, he likely won't be playing wide receiver against someone who makes his living at corner back here. In other words, his weakness may be stronger than the other guy's weakness, and in flag football, that can mean the difference in the win column.

Greg Knopping chose Aaron Dobson. Dobson is also a speedy wide receiver, but unlike Slater, he's actually very good at it. On defense though, he projects to either CB or FS, and has less experience at it than Slater. It is interesting that Alec is hoarding some of Greg draft picks from last year. I'd say these two are still neck and neck, with Greg having a slight lead on pure talent and Alec inching ahead on flexibility.

Rich Hill chose Ras-I Dowling. After winning the battle of the scales (Rich wins the sheer raw tonnage to date), Rich picked up some speed with the best corner on the board that isn't facing jail time. Ras-IR, as I've been calling him, has flashed brilliance for the past two off-seasons only to land on IR as the season begins. The talent looks good if he can stay healthy, which for this game isn't a problem. If Ras-I can lock down the opposing receiver, then Tom Brady is staring down Gronk, Chandler Jones, and Jamie Collins for a pass rush with no one around to stop them.

Adam Fox chose Leon Washington. Washington is a dangerous kick and punt returner who also spends time at running back. He is dangerous in space, averages 4.7 yards per carry as a back, and 7.7 yards per reception out of the backfield. With the equally talented Vereen, Adam could run some interesting no huddle options with Vereen or Washington lining up either in the backfield or at WR, and Mayo lining up either at TE or lead blocking FB. The key would be to get one good block and let the "shakers" work from there. That just might work!